[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 13


TRINIDAD & TOBAGO:

AG: We will apply hanging law


Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi yesterday signaled Government’s intention to 
introduce measures to apply the death penalty in relation to convicted 
murderers.

During the Budget debate, as he gave an overview of plans for his Ministry, 
Al-Rawi disclosed that he has already established a “tracking committee” to 
monitor murder cases and suggested that measures could be introduced to bring 
about “institutional strengthening” in order to open the door to the hangman 
once more.

“Madam Speaker, I wish to say, in relation to murders, I have established a 
tracking committee and of the matters that are now in the Assizes for trial, 
Trinidad and Tobago can expect that there will be an explanation as to why 
people have not faced the hangman,” the Attorney General told MPs gathered at 
the International Waterfront Centre, Wrightson Road, Portof- Spain. “There will 
be an explanation when they do face the hangman, because if you have the laws 
of Trinidad and Tobago they must be applied and we intend to apply them with 
due process. But that due process can only happen by way of institutional 
strengthening.” Al-Rawil gave no further details.

The PNM and the opposition People’s Partnership have taken similar stances in 
relation to the death penalty in the past, with both in support of hanging.

However an attempt by the People’s Partnership to pass legislation to 
categorise murder cases into different classes and to impose the death penalty 
in only the most grave of cases was shut down by the then Opposition PNM in 
2011.

The PNM said the bill was too unwieldy to implement and would open the door to 
legal challenges.

Hanging remains the law but is not implemented because of common-law 
stipulations which limit the time-frame within which capital punishment can 
occur. Protracted delays in the legal system, involving a multi-tiered system 
of criminal justice as well as time-consuming appeals to local and 
international bodies, have often meant the timeframe for a person to hang 
lapses. No executions have taken place since 1999.

(source: Newsday)





PAKISTAN----executions

Pakistan executes 9, including 4 brothers in a year


Pakistan lifted the moratorium on the death penalty following a Taliban attack 
on a school that killed 150 people.

A Pakistani prison official says authorities have hanged nine convicts, 
including 4 brothers, the latest in a series of death sentences to be carried 
out since the country lifted a moratorium last year.

Tuesday’s executions bring the nationwide total to 255 since December, when 
Pakistan lifted the moratorium on the death penalty following a Taliban attack 
on a school that killed 150 people, mostly children.

Pakistan has presented the reinstatement of capital punishment as a response to 
years of militant violence, but human rights groups say the majority of those 
executed were convicted of criminal offenses.

Prison official Khurram Ijaj says those executed Tuesday include four brothers 
convicted of murder. None of the 9 were convicted of terrorism-related 
offenses.

(source: Indian Express)

*****************


7 murder convicts hanged across Punjab----7 more death row convicts were hanged 
across the different cities of the country today, such as Bahawalpur, Gujrat, 
Sialkot and Attock.


7 more death convicts were hanged across 4 cities of Punjab province. In 
Gujranwala district jail, 2 brothers were hanged for murder. Convicts Aslam and 
Azam were involved in the murder of Aslam’s father-in-law. In Bahawalpur also, 
2 brothers Ghulam Sarwar and Ghulam Qadir were also hanged for the murder of 
daughter and son-in-law.

Among those who were hanged also included a SHO who had killed his wife and 
father-in-law. Convict Muhammad Ashraf was hanged till he was dead for 
murdering a father and his son in Attock central jail. Murder convict Muhammad 
Akram was also hanged in Sialkot district jail whilst in Mandi Bahauddin, 
convict Niaz was forgiven by relatives of the slain hence he escaped the noose.

The moratorium on death penalty was suspended in Pakistan, following the deadly 
Peshawar Army Public School massacre, in which 150 children were slaughtered by 
terrorists belonging to the TTP. Following the debate, the Prime Minister 
suspended the moratorium on death penalties and important militants belonging 
to banned outfits were also hanged.

(source: arynews.tv)


MOROCCO:

Activists Protest Death Penalty in Rabat


A number of activists gathered yesterday before the parliament building in 
Rabat to protest the continued existence of the death penalty in
Morocco.

Lawyer Abderrahim Jamai, the leader of the protest stated a profound reform of 
the Penal Code is needed” considering that injury to life itself is a crime and 
“violation of what is most sacred in human rights, the right to life.”

Similarly, the president of the Association Marocaine des Droits Humains, Ahmed 
El Haij stipulates that there will only be justice when the government 
prominently considers the abolishment of the death penalty.

The death penalty exists in the penal code of Morocco primarily as a punishment 
for crimes resulting in the death of another person, including aggravated 
murder, abuse, arson, and terrorism. Treason and espionage are also punishable 
by death.

According to the Cornell Law School Death Penalty Database, there are currently 
104 prisoners who have been sentenced to death in Morocco and are currently 
living on death row. Morocco has not carried out an execution since 1993 when 
Commissioner Tabit was convicted for many counts of rape, assault and barbaric 
acts.

This large gap in executions may indicate an unwritten moratorium on carrying 
out death sentences since 1993, yet justices still sentence prisoners to death 
because the penalty still exists in the penal code.

(source: Rebecca Sawatzki is student of International Relations pursuing a 
bachelor’s degree at Loyola University Chicago with minors in Arabic and French 
Languages. In the past she has worked as a Peer Mentor at her 
university----Morocco World News)


ZAMBIA:

4 armed robbers to hang


The Kabwe High Court has sentenced 4 men of Kabwe to death by hanging after 
they were found guilty of aggravated robbery.

In this case, Moses Mwape, 27, Davies Chisenga, 30, Thomas Kasuba, 32 and 
Charles Saulos 29, appeared before Kabwe High Court Judge-in-charge Dominic 
Sichinga when the matter came up for judgement.

Mr Justice Sichinga also sentenced Mwape to 15 years imprisonment with hard 
labour in another case in which he is jointly charged with 5 others for 
aggravated robbery.

Mr Justice Sichinga told Mwape that the sentences will run consecutively.

Mr Justice Sichinga said the prosecution had proved its case against the 4 
accused persons and imposed the death penalty on them last Wednesday after he 
found them guilty of aggravated robbery.

“Having found you guilty of this charge, I sentence you to death by hanging and 
may God have mercy on your souls,” Mr Justice Sichinga said.

Particulars of the offence are that, the 4 on November 19, 2014 in Mkushi 
district jointly and whilst acting together, and being armed with 2 fire arms 
namely pistols, did steal from Mulenga Farm.

The 4 men allegedly stole money amounting to K2,152, a radio cassette, 1 
blanket, 1 battery-charging machine and assorted groceries all valued at K9, 
686 and that at the time of stealing, they used actual violence to obtain the 
said properties.

During trial, Catherine Musonda aged 26 years narrated to the court that on 
November 19, 2014 around 21:00 hours, 4 men entered the farm house where she 
and 4 other people were working and threatened them with a gun.

Musonda told the court that one of the men dragged her to a shop within the 
farm premises and tore her chitenge wrapper and raped her.

She said afterwards, the other men brought her colleagues into the shop and 
tied them before locking them up in the shop.

(source: Daily Mail)




IRAN----executions

Iran regime hangs young woman for alleged crime at age 16


Iran's fundamentalist regime on Tuesday hanged a young woman for a crime she 
allegedly committed at the age of 16.

Fatemeh Salbehi, 23, had been accused of murdering her 30-year-old 'husband' 
when she was a teenage schoolgirl.

She was hanged at dawn in Adel-Abad Prison in the city of Shiraz, southern 
Iran.

Ms. Salbehi had been forced to marry a man nearly twice her age and said she 
had never seen the man prior to their marriage.

Ms. Salbehi was believed to have admitted to the murder while under duress in 
detention. But in the regime's courts she maintained her innocence.

Amnesty International said on February 8, 2011: “Fatemeh Salbehi’s husband, 
Hamed Sadeghi, said to be an employee of the Public Relations Office of the 
local judiciary, was found dead in their home in Shiraz in May 2008, when 
Fatemeh was at school. Fatemeh Salbehi was arrested and interrogated without 
the presence of a lawyer. Fatemeh Salbehi first “confessed” to murder, but then 
stated that 2 others broke into the home she shared with her husband and killed 
him. Fatemeh Salbehi was convicted of murder by Branch Five of the Fars 
Criminal Court and sentenced to death. This sentence was later upheld by the 
Supreme Court.”


***************


Another 8 prisoners hanged in Iran en masse


The fundamentalist regime ruling Iran on Monday collectively hanged 8
prisoners in the western city of Orumieh in addition to 3 other prisoners 
executed in public in southern Iran.

The 8 prisoners were hanged at dawn in Orumieh's central prison. They were 
accused of drugs-related offences. The 8 prisoners had been transferred to 
solitary confinement a day earlier.

Also on Monday, the mullahs' regime hanged 3 prisoners in public in Kazeroun, 
southern Iran.

The 3 prisoners were found guilty of ‘Moharebeh,’ or waging on God, by the 
fundamentalist authorities, according to the regime's state broadcaster.

Iran's fundamentalist regime on Sunday hanged a man in the southern port city 
of Bandar Abbas after serving 15 years of a prison term.

The regime on Saturday hanged 3 other prisoners in the central prison of Rasht, 
northern Iran, on the World Day Against the Death Penalty.

The mullahs' regime in Iran continues to execute more of its citizens per 
capita than any other U.N. member state. Some 2000 people have been executed 
during Hassan Rouhani’s presidency in the past 2 years.

A statement by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 
Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on August 5 said: "Iran has reportedly executed 
more than 600 individuals so far this year. Last year, at least 753 people were 
executed in the country."

Amnesty International said on September 7 that “the Iranian authorities must 
end their unprecedented killing spree – more than 700 people have been executed 
so far this year."

(source for both: NCR-Iran)


***************




18 Prisoners Hanged in Two Days


According to official sources, 3 prisoners were executed in public in the 
province of Fars on Monday October 12 for alleged drug charges. On the same day 
close sources report a total of 14 other hangings were carried out by Iranian 
authorities: 6 prisoners were hanged in Karaj Central Prison for alleged drug 
and rape charges and 8 prisoners were hanged in Orumiyeh Central Prison for 
alleged drug charges. The names of the 6 prisoners in Karaj are: Bahman 
Karimzadeh, Akbar Shafie, Farhad Dadashi, Nader Seifi, Kiumars, and Hadi 
Mohammadi. Iranian official sources have not reported or commented on 14 of the 
17 executions carried out on Monday.

The public executions were reported by the Justice Department in Fars who 
identified the prisoners as Nariman J., Yasser J., and Nasser P. The report 
alleges the three prisoners were sentenced to death by a revolutionary court 
for "multiple armed robberies, murder, and intimidation through use of an armed 
weapon."

One day earlier, a prisoner charged with murder was hanged in Bandar Abbas 
Central Prison. The news was reported by the Justice Deparment in Hormogan and 
identifies the prisoner as M.T., aged 47, charged with murder, was held in 
prison from 1995 until the day he was executed.


(source: Iran Human Rights)



GLOBAL:

Cork Fine Gael MEP Deirdre Clune wants to abolish death penalty (abroad)

8 states still have the death penalty in their legislation for homosexuality


Deirdre Clune MEP (Ireland South) has said that 2,466 people in 55 countries 
are now known to have been sentenced to death in 2014. Clune, who is a member 
of the EU Employment and Social Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, 
has supported a motion calling for a global abolition of the death penalty.

“There were 23% more people executed in 2014 than in 2013, which includes a 
number of women who were stoned to death for adultery in Pakistan, Nigeria, 
Iran and Saudi Arabia,” MEP Clune said.

“Eight states still have the death penalty in their legislation for 
homosexuality (Mauritania, Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan, 
Afghanistan and Qatar) with 33 more states applying the death penalty for drug 
related offences.”

“Iran reportedly executed 394 drug offenders in the first 6 months of 2014, 
compared with 367 in the whole of 2014. Whilst I do not condone criminal 
activity, the application of the death penalty goes against several clear and 
definitive human rights treaties,” she continued.

“Belarus is the only UN Member State in Europe that still uses the death 
penalty. I would urge the European Commission to make it clear to countries 
that the EU supports and trades with, that we are opposed to the use of the 
death penalty and that dialogue with those countries and the UN should commence 
to work towards ending the use of the death penalty as a means of punishment,” 
she concluded.

(source: thecork.ie)




GLOBAL:

EU encourages the abolition of the death penalty worldwide


Every year on 10 October, the European Union joins in the observance on the 
occasion of the European and World Day against the Death Penalty.

The European Union holds a strong and principled position against the death 
penalty. The abolition of the  death penalty worldwide represents one of the 
main objectives of the EU’s human rights policy and a  personal priority for 
High Representative/Vice President, Federica Mogherini.

On a Joint Declaration* by the European Union High Representative for Foreign 
Affairs and Security and  the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the 
European and World Day against the Death Penalty, 10 October 2015, Federica 
Mogherini said: "Today we reaffirm our strong opposition to capital punishment. 
The death penalty is inhuman and degrading, and allows judicial errors to 
become irreversible and fatal".

The European Union welcomes countries that apply a 'de facto' abolished 
practice, as Papua New Guinea, and encourages all States to accede to the 
Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on  Civil and Political 
Rights, which is a fundamental UN International instrument for the abolition of 
the  death penalty.




Background

There is a worldwide trend towards abolition: between 1993 and 2015, the number 
of countries that abolished the death  penalty by law for all crimes, grew 
considerably. As of December 2014, 140 countries - more than 2/3 of the 
countries of the  world - were abolitionist in law or practice.

In 2014 and during the first semester of 2015, the EU issued almost 30 
statements on numerous general and individual death  penalty cases and carried 
out more than 30 demarches.

The EU is the leading institutional actor and lead donor to the efforts by 
civil society organizations around the world in the  abolition of the death 
penalty. Its action in this area represents a key priority of its external 
rights policy.

The EU is also the first regional body to have adopted rules prohibiting the 
trade in goods used for capital punishment (and  torture and ill-treatment), as 
well as the supply of technical assistance related to such goods.

In multilateral fora, the EU led an intensive lobbying campaign for the UN 
General Assembly resolution on a “Moratorium on  the use of the death penalty”. 
In December 2014, the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution with an 
unprecedented  number of 117 votes in favour.

(source: pngfacts.com)







ETHIOPIA:

Why we observe the World Day Against Death Penalty


October 10,2015 is the 13th anniversary of the World Day Against Death Penalty. 
The African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) hereby join other similar 
institutions and individuals with the same conviction across the globe to 
reaffirm their strong and absolute opposition to capital punishment and the 
death sentence in all cases and under all circumstances across the world.

In countries where the death penalty still exists, we call for its eradication 
and insist that it be carried out according to the international minimum 
standards. We are deeply concerned with the practice of death penalty globally, 
in particular, the recent mass trials in Africa leading to a vast number of 
death sentences, which would constitute gross violation of articles 4 and 5 of 
the African Charter on Human and People's Rights.

In view of the foregoing, we commend and congratulate the African Union for 
taking a pro-active step in drafting the Protocol to the African Charter on 
Human and Peoples' Rights on Abolition of Death Penalty and encourage the 
African Union policy making organs to swiftly adopt the Protocol during its 
January 2016 Summit and to implement the Declaration of the Continental 
Conference on the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Africa adopted on 2 July 
2014.

Finally, we are utilizing this medium to call on all Member States of the 
United Nations to support the resolution on a moratorium of the use of death 
penalty which will be adopted at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly in 
December 2015.

(source: Gary Quince Head of the European Union Delegation to the African Union 
and Aisha Laraba Abdullahi Commissioner for Political Affairs, African Union 
Commission----newbusinessethiopia.com)






BARBADOS:

Let’s have full debate on the death penalty!


Barbados has gone nearly three decades without imposing the death penalty, 
though it remains on the country’s law books. But this weekend came a strong 
reminder that the issue is not a silent one for some,
  even if they are far beyond our shores.

On Saturday, the globe observed World Day Against The Death Penalty, and with 
it came the message from the European Union for the Caribbean to take the 
“emotions” away from the debate on the death penalty and to abolish hanging as 
punishment for capital murder.

Said head of the European Union delegation to Barbados and the Eastern 
Caribbean, Ambassador Mikael Barford: “The EU sees the death penalty as cruel 
and inhumane; and scientific research has shown that the death penalty in no 
way acts as a deterrent to crime. Its abolition is essential for the protection 
of human dignity, as well as for the progressive development of human rights.

Ambassador Mikael Barford
Ambassador Mikael Barford

“This is a moral issue about the value of human life. As a deeply religious 
Caribbean society, this is one of the basic tenets that as a community we hold 
dear. Sentiments such as ‘it is cheaper to kill them then to keep them in 
prison’ have no place in this era of civilization,”
he stated.

Equally, proponents could argue that capital punishment should be used as a 
rare option for the most heinous crimes; a punishment carried out not as a 
deterrent, but as a true penalty for those we are certain deserve it.

The EU official went on to register his satisfaction that Barbados had not 
executed any convicted killers since 1984 and that the last execution in the 
Caribbean was carried out in St Kitts/Nevis in 2008.

The fact is our authorities have already demonstrated that the country is 
moving in line with the expectations of the European Union.

We recall Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite in January piloting the Offences 
Against The Person Act which effectively gave judges a range of options for 
sentencing those convicted of murder. Mr Brathwaite explained that the 
mandatory imposition of the death penalty was being changed in keeping with 
Barbados’ obligations under the Inter-American Convention On Human Rights.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has long ruled that the mandatory 
death penalty violates Articles 4(1) and 4(2) –– which prohibit arbitrary 
treatment and limit the death penalty to the most serious crimes –– of the 
Inter-American Convention On Human Rights.

But from Barbadians, who are now almost weekly jolted by senseless shootings 
and other worrying crimes, the Government and the EU ambassador would find it 
difficult to get any support. Cries for justice have been mounting from 
grieving families robbed of their loved ones. And they too have a valid case.

While we cannot say beyond a shadow of doubt that the death penalty is a 
deterrent to violent crime, we aver there is some substance in that credo held 
for centuries: let the punishment fit the crime.

On neither side of the divide can the death penalty be treated with kid gloves. 
It requires strong action, and there must be consensus on how the issue is 
handled.

It is for this reason that we support Ambassador’s Barford’s position that 
leaders should show more courage, and launch a meaningful public debate. This 
tendency to keep things under the carpet has failed in every instance.

The issues are numerous. Is the death penalty a real deterrent? Should a killer 
be allowed to dole out death but get life? What are appropriate means of 
administering justice? Should Barbados abandon the death penalty because it is 
difficult to administer or because of international pressure?

What do the people want?

All profound questions, no doubt; and it’s appropriate that citizens, experts, 
victims and authorities all have their say in providing the answers.

The time has passed for the debate to begin.

(source: Editorial, Barbados Today)