[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 30




CHINA:

Corruption and the Death Penalty in China


On Monday, July 4, 2016, Ling Jihua was sentenced to life imprisonment by the 
No. 1 Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin after a closed-door trial. He was 
convicted of taking bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets and for abuse of 
power. Upon hearing his sentence, Ling read aloud from a prepared script 
stating that he did not contest the conviction and "thanked" the court and the 
lawyers for their work.

Ling is a former Chinese politician and one of the principal political advisers 
of Hu Jintao, the former President and General Secretary of the Chinese 
Communist Party (CCP). He served as the Director of the General Office of the 
CCP from 2007 to 2012, and was seen as a promising candidate for promotion to 
the top leadership at the 18th Party Congress in 2012.

Ling's political career took an abrupt turn when his 23-year-old son was killed 
in Beijing, while driving a Ferrari and being accompanied by two young ladies 
in March 2012. This accident was widely discussed as a scandal that caused 
embarrassment for the Party elite. Ling was quickly demoted and officially 
placed under investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection 
by December 2014. In July 2015, Ling was expelled from the Communist Party and 
was arrested for criminal proceedings.

The conviction and the sentence were anticipated. The trial, to some extent, 
mimicked that of other convicted senior party officials such as Bo Xilai in 
2013 and Zhou Yongkang in 2015. All 3 were convicted of taking bribes in 
addition to other charges. Ling was found guilty of having taken more than 77 
million yuan in bribes personally and/or through his family. His wife, Gu 
Liping, testified against him via video and Ling's deceased son was also 
mentioned as having taken bribes.

Though all of these cases are often discussed as political cases, they are all, 
officially, outcomes of President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign, which 
was initiated more than three years ago after Xi had taken power. In contrast 
to Xi's resolution to eliminate the persistent corruption problem that plagued 
the Party, what is often little noticed are the changes to laws regarding 
corruption, in particular the application of the death penalty in corruption 
cases.

Let's start with the current Chinese Criminal Law, the 9th Amendment adopted in 
2015. The 9th Amendment makes the death penalty applicable to both embezzlement 
and bribe-taking, but only when "the amount involved is extremely large, which 
caused extreme damage to national and people's interests" (Articles 383 & 386). 
In contrast, a 3rd corruption crime, misappropriation of public funds, is not 
subject to capital punishment.

On Nov. 2, 2015, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) adopted the "Sentencing 
Guidelines on Embezzlement and Bribe-taking Cases", in which the SPC raised the 
threshold amount that could trigger the use of capital punishment in 
embezzlement and bribe-taking cases to 100 million yuan. It was suggested that 
generally, life imprisonment should be applied for cases with less than 100 
million yuan, and that the death penalty with a 2-year suspension be applied 
for cases with an amount above 100 million yuan, while the death penalty with 
immediate execution should be available for extreme cases. Although this 
document is not an official interpretation of the Criminal Law, but an internal 
document, it is likely to influence lower courts.

On April 18, 2016, the SPC and the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) adopted 
the "Interpretation on Issues with regard to How to Handle Embezzlement and 
Bribe-taking Cases" - this time, it was an official interpretation. In this 
interpretation, the SPC and the SPP lowered the threshold amount to 3 million 
yuan, which is seen as equivalent to the "extremely large amount" stipulated in 
the 9th Amendment. Moreover, the interpretation points out that the death 
penalty is also applicable to cases with an amount of 1.5 million yuan or more, 
when there are other "extremely severe circumstances".

Such legal changes regarding the use of the death penalty need to be examined 
from a historical perspective: In 1979, the 1st Chinese Criminal Law made the 
death penalty applicable to both embezzlement and bribe-taking, when the 
"circumstances are extremely severe". In 1988, the Standing Committee of the 
National People's Congress set the amount threshold to 50,000 yuan for 
embezzlement and 10,000 yuan for bribe-taking. In 1997, the revised Criminal 
Law raised the threshold to 100,000 yuan. Despite the tug of war between the 
SPC and the SPP, the threshold amount, as discussed above, is set much higher 
now (at 3 million yuan).

Of course, how to interpret such legal changes is another story. On the one 
hand, it reflects China's decision to restrict its use of the death penalty in 
the new era, which is consistent with the national policy of "balancing 
leniency with severity". Raising the threshold amount serves this purpose, as 
corrupt officials such as Ling can be spared. On the other hand, such legal 
changes may simply reflect the reality in China, including the worsening 
corruption among Party members over time as indicated by the increasing amounts 
involved in corruption.

What is not clear at this moment is how such legal changes would accommodate 
President Xi's anti-corruption campaign politically. The message sent via these 
changes could be seen as counter-productive to the campaign to say the least. 
Lastly, it is also worth mentioning that the 9th Amendment in 2015, for the 1st 
time in the PRC's penal history, adopted "Life Imprisonment without Possibility 
of Parole" (LWOP) as an official punishment applicable to embezzlement and 
bribe-taking cases (Articles 383 & 386). The LWOP is only optional (subject to 
judicial discretion) after one is sentenced to the death penalty with a 2-year 
suspension and successfully serves the 2-year reprieve period. Whether this is 
a move by the legislature to test the water with the long-term goal of 
replacing the death penalty with the LWOP in corruption cases remains to be 
seen.

(source: thenewslens.com)






SOUTH SUDAN----executions

2 South Sudanese soldiers executed in Wau


South Sudan army's (SPLA) 5th division in Western Bahr el Ghazal state on 
Friday executed 2 soldiers charged with murder and various crimes.

The duo were arrested on 17 July and kept at Wau central prison after for 
allegedly murdering a couple at a residential area situated within Wau town.

They faced firing squad in front of a military parade at the army division 
headquarters. Hundreds of Wau residents also witnessed it.

Wau town mayor, Akol Akol Ajith, said the 2 soldiers were sentenced to death 
after the military high court found them guilty.

"The order to execute these soldiers comes from above and this is what will 
warn the soldiers from involving in such crimes," said Akol.

No one, according to the town mayor, is above the stipulated laws.

A military judge cautioned soldiers against violating army regulations.

"This is a warning to those soldiers who used to violet the military 
regulation, it is also what tell the people of South Sudan that any soldier 
found committing crime against civilian should be deal with," a judge, who 
preferred anonymity said on Friday.

This is the 1st such an execution has taken place at the army's 5th division 
headquarters in Western Bahr el Ghazal state over the years.

(source: Sudan Tribune)






INDONESIA:

Tied to post, blindfolded, given 3 minutes to relax: How Indonesia carries out 
its death penalty----Here are 15 steps on how Indonesia executes its convicts 
via firing squad


On Friday, July 29, about 45 minutes after midnight, Indonesia executed 4 drug 
convicts who were handed the death penalty.

14 were scheduled to be executed but in the end, only 4 were killed. Of the 4, 
2 were from Nigeria, 1 from Senegal and 1 from Indonesia.

For those not already in Nusakambangan prison island, where executions take 
place, drug convicts are usually transferred the island a few days before they 
are to face the firing squad.

Their families, and embassies for foreign nationals, are given just 72 hours 
notice before the executions.

The 4 that were executed were Indonesian drug lord Fredi Budiman, Osmane Seck 
of Senegal, Humphrey Ejike from Nigeria, and Michael Titus Igweh also from 
Nigeria.

31 other individuals were said to have witnessed the executions including 
members of the police, the Attorney General's office, spiritual advisers, and 
at least 1 embassy representative, among others.

How is the death penalty carried out?

This is how executions in Indonesia take place, according to the law, 
specifically regulated in Article 15 Perkapolri 12/2010:

1. The convict is given clothing that is clean, simple, and white before being 
taken to the place or location of the implementation of capital punishment. The 
convicted person, en route to the shooting spot, may be accompanied by a priest 
or spiritual adviser.

2. 2 hours before execution, the execution team has already been set up. The 
firing squad is ready on site 1 hour prior to the execution and gathered 
togethered in a prep area. They will have prepared 12 long-barrelled guns, 
positioned within 5-10 meters of the pole where the person will be tied for 
execution.

3. When all preparations are set, the Acting Commander reports the readiness of 
his team. There is then a final examination by the Execution Team Leader of the 
weapons that will be used and of the preparations.

4. When the Execution Team Leader is content, the Acting Commander then orders 
his shooters to fill 12 rifles with ammo. Of the 12, only 3 will have live 
ammunition while the 9 others will not. The rifles will have 1 bullet each. 
This is to rid the shooters of guilt, so the shooters will not know whether it 
was them who killed the convict.

5. The convict is then brought out by a team to the shooting location. 
Handcuffs are released and the convict's hands and feet are tied to the 
execution poles. The convict could be in standing, sitting or kneeling 
position.

6. The convict is then given a last chance to calm down for a maximum of 3 
minutes. At this time, they could be accompanied by a priest or a spiritual 
adviser.

7. When the convict is ready, his or her eyes are covered with black cloth, 
unless the convict refuses.

8. The convict's white clothing is then marked in black right on his or her 
heart, as the shooting target.

9. The Commander of the team that escorted the convict then tells the Execution 
Team Leader that the convict is ready for execution and the death penalty is 
ready to be carried out. The Execution Team Leader then gives the sign or 
gesture to the Acting Commander to begin shooting.

10. The Acting Commander then takes his place on the right side of the firing 
squad. Once he is in place, the firing squad then takes its shooting position. 
The Acting Commander wields a sword as a symbol for the firing squad to aim 
towards the heart of the convict.

11. The Acting Commander brandishes the sword forward in a gesture to the 
firing squad to unlock weapons. The Acting Commander then drops his sword as a 
gesture to the firing squad to carry out the shooting simultaneously. The 
gestures, rather than vocal statements, are in order for the convict to not 
hear when they are about to get shot.

12. When the shooting is finished, the Acting Commander, the Team Leader, and 
the doctor check the condition of the convict and if, according to doctors, the 
convict is still showing signs of life, the Attorney Executor and Acting 
Commander order another shooting.

13. The Acting Commander orders the commander of the firing squad to shoot the 
convict on the temple, right above the ear. The shooting can be repeated as 
long as there is sign of life, according to the doctor.

14. The implementation of the death penalty is declared finished, if the doctor 
has stated that there are no more signs of life in the convict.

15. Once done, the firing squad commander orders its members to release the 
magazine and empty their weapons. The Acting Commander then declares to the 
Execution Team Leader, "The death penalty has been delivered."

After execution, the bodies are then taken away and identified by family, who 
have been transported to Nusakambangan island. For those without family, their 
spiritual advisers are the ones that await the body.

The bodies are then transported by ambulance to funeral homes, before being 
taken home by families for their respective funeral services.

International human rights organizations and other countries have condemned 
Indonesia's capital punishment, as international law has prohibitted the death 
penalty for drug-related offenses. Hours after the execution, Indonesia said it 
would review its death penalty.

"The government is taking everything into consideration, because this is not an 
enjoyable thing to do," said Cabinet Secretary Pramono Agung.

'15 minutes to die'

In the last round of executions, the AFP reports that the shooting spot was in 
a clearing, in the middle of the jungle.

The other 10 drug convicts who were spared were not notified until 6am that 
they would no longer be executed - about 4 hours after the government announced 
to the public they were only going to execute 4. The convicts waited 6 hours 
for their turn, according to Arinta Dea Dini Singgi, the lawyer of Merry Utami. 
Utami, the only Indonesian woman from this group of convicts that were 
scheduled to be executed, was spared.

Of the 4 that were executed, 1, Nigerian Humphrey Ejike, was cremated. The 
other 2 Nigerians were sent back to their country of origin, while Budiman, the 
lone Indonesian, returned to Surabaya where he is originally from. This was his 
final request.

ABC News Australia quoted Father Charles Burrows, a Catholic priest based in 
Cilacap who spoke with the convicts before their death, said some of the 
convicts took up to "15 minutes" to die.

He said he and some other spiritual advisers "were given some minutes to talk 
to the prisoners or console them somewhat."

Some were also consoled while already tied to the pole, then the convicts "were 
shot pretty quickly after that."

"There was a lot of anger in the 1st (executions), not last night," he said. 
"They realize they're going to die, so you best try and die with dignity."

(source: rappler.com)

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

ICJ condemns the executions in Indonesia


The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has condemned the executions of 4 
persons in Indonesia.

According to a press release on July 29, the ICJ vigorously calls on the 
Government of Indonesia to impose an immediate moratorium and take steps 
towards the abolition of the death penalty in the country.

The execution of these 4 persons is reprehensible. Indonesia should stop 
further executions, said Sam Zarifi, ICJ's Regional Director for Asia and the 
Pacific.

These executions damage Indonesia's standing in the international community 
since they go against the growing international consensus around the world to 
abolish the death penalty, he added.

The individuals executed shortly after midnight on July 29 were Freddy Budiman 
(Indonesia), Seck Osmane (Nigeria), Michael Titus Igweh (Nigeria), Humphrey 
Jefferson Ejike Eleweke (Nigeria).

Indonesia is a current member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, 
having been first elected in 2006.

The General Assembly resolution that created the Council specifically provides 
that members elected to the Council shall uphold the highest standards in the 
promotion and protection of human rights? (res 60/251, 2006, para 9).

According to the ICJ, one of the persons executed, Michael Igweh was allegedly 
tortured by law enforcement authorities to extract his confession.

The Geneva-based organization, on several occasions, has called the Government 
of Indonesia's attention to its violations of Article 14 of the International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantees the right to a 
fair and public hearing by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal 
established by law. Any reliance on confessions extracted by torture would be a 
gross violation of the fairness of the trials.

Because of the irreversible nature of the death penalty, trials in capital 
cases must scrupulously respect all international and regional standards 
protecting the right to a fair trial, Zarifi further said.

The ICJ opposes capital punishment without exception and emphasizes the impact 
of the executions on the families of those who were executed.

The 4 persons executed were on a list of 14 people set to be executed soon. The 
other individuals are: Merri Utami (Indonesia), Zulfiqar Ali (Pakistan), Gurdip 
Singh (India), Frederick Luttar (Zimbabwe), AgusHadi (Indonesia), Pujo Lestari 
(Indonesia), Eugene Ape (Nigeria), Okonkwo Nonso Kingsley (Nigeria), Ozias 
Sibanda (Nigeria) and Obinna Nwajagu (Nigeria).

The ICJ strongly urges the Government of Indonesia to stop any further 
executions, immediately impose a moratorium, and take steps towards the 
abolition of the death penalty.

In December 2014, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 69/189, affirming 
for the 5th time that the use of the death penalty undermines human dignity and 
calling for countries that still maintain capital punishment to establish a 
moratorium on its use with a view to its abolition.

(source: mizzima.com)

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

Jokowi and the Death Penalty: Weighing the Costs and Benefits----Indonesia's 
president continues to execute drug offenders, despite international pressure.


The 3rd wave of executions announced by the Indonesian attorney general's 
office has created an uproar and made headlines all around the world. Out of 14 
slated to be executed, 4 - 1 Indonesian citizen and 3 Nigerians - were shot 
dead by a firing squad on early Friday.

Jakarta's tough stance on the death penalty during the administration of 
President Joko Widodo, commonly known as Jokowi, has exposed Indonesia to a 
wave condemnation. However, despite heavy criticism from the international 
community, including human rights advocates and foreign governments, Jokowi is 
determined to continue the executions, based on the argument that Indonesia has 
an alarming level of drug crime that particularly affects young people. Under 
this narrative, drug-related crimes are portrayed as the main threat to 
national security, more serious than terrorism and corruption.

Thus far, Jokowi has not compromised on any drug convicts on death row, 
including foreign nationals, in order to carry out his "war on drugs" policy. 
In particular, the executions of Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran 
of the Bali 9 in 2015 triggered a lot of debate on Indonesia"s tough stance on 
the death penalty.

In its position as a retentionist state, Indonesia considers the death penalty 
as necessary in deterring crime, maintaining the law and order of the society, 
and safeguarding the interest of their people.

The debates in this furor, however, are not just about the death penalty being 
exercised by Indonesia. It involves a bigger question - that is, the legal 
process in Indonesia. Under Indonesian law, death row prisoners cannot be 
executed unless all legal avenues, including clemency appeals, have been fully 
exhausted. At the international level, Indonesia is a signatory of the UN 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in which it has clearly stated that 
every prisoner facing a death sentence has the right to fair trial and the 
right to go through consideration for clemency before the sentence can be 
enacted.

When the legal process is not fully respected and followed, this raises the 
question of the Jokowi government's commitment to the rule of law and human 
rights.

Furthermore, the death penalty in Indonesia is also highly dependent on 
political factors, public pressure, and religious beliefs. While there are many 
local and international non-governmental organizations that advocate for the 
abolition of the death penalty in Indonesia, there is also strong support for 
the death penalty from the local community, especially among anti-drug 
organizations and religious groups.

On the other hand, in the eyes of the Jokowi administration, with its 
inward-looking foreign policy, national interests are something that should not 
be compromised, no matter the cost. While international pressure might pose a 
cost on the use of the death penalty in Indonesia, executions continue to be a 
tool to uphold national interests.

During Indonesia's early democratization process, Jakarta was always seen as a 
champion in promoting human rights at the regional level in ASEAN. Indonesia 
together with a few other countries in the region, such as the Philippines, had 
been strong players in moving ASEAN forward in incorporating regional human 
rights mechanisms, with the emergence of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission 
on Human Rights (AICHR) and also the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD).

Now, in the face of pressure from the international community over Jakarta's 
stance on the death penalty, the executions send a complicated signal on which 
direction Indonesia is moving in when it comes to upholding the values of 
democracy and human rights. Will the strong stance of Jokowi on the death 
penalty affect Indonesia's growth as an emerging power in the region and in the 
world?

Predicting how far the Indonesian government under the Jokowi administration 
will insist on the death penalty requires an understanding of Indonesian 
concerns regarding sovereignty, intervention, and security in the long run. 
Whether Jokowi is willing to reconsider the death penalty or soften his 
approach will be a tough domestic decision. But viewed in the longer term, his 
position on the death penalty could pose as a test of Jokowi's commitment to 
Indonesia's democratic future.

(source: Dr. Khoo Ying Hooi is Senior Lecturer at the Department of 
International and Strategic Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, 
University of Malaya; Huong Yu Sin is a postgraduate student at the Department 
of International and Strategic Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, 
University of Malaya----The Dioplomat)

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

Jokowi urged to publicly announce clemency decisions


A justice reform watchdog has urged the government to publicly reveal 
information about stays of execution for death row convicts.

The Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) regretted the government's 
decision to execute four drug convicts on Nusakambangan prison island in the 
early hours of Friday. A firing squad killed Indonesian Freddy Budiman, Seck 
Osmane from Senegal and Nigerians Michael Titus and Humphrey Ejike, despite 
international and local pleas to halt the executions.

3 of the convicts - Freddy, Ejike and Osmane - had requested pardons from 
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, ICJR executive director Supriyadi W. Eddyono 
said on Friday, lambasting the executions. The 2010 Clemency Law stipulates 
that the death penalty cannot be carried out before a convict receives a 
presidential decree declining clemency.

The government used reasons of confidentiality to protect information on 
whether the President granted or declined the convicts' requests.

"We already filed a lawsuit against the State Secretariat with the Central 
Information Commission [KIP] on the openness of information. We won, but the 
State Secretariat appealed to the State Administrative Court," he told 
thejakartapost.com.

The Attorney General's Office announced on Friday that the executed convicts 
had judicial reviews of their cases rejected twice by the Supreme Court, which 
made their sentences final and binding.

It was a different situation for 10 other drug convicts who were initially 
listed for execution but still had ongoing legal processes. The 4 executed 
convicts were major drug traffickers, which lead to the decision to execute 
them by firing squad on the notorious high-security prison island.

(source: The Jakarta Post)

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

Indonesia's cruel death penalty


In the midst of torrential rain, just after midnight in the early hours of 
Friday, 4 men marched onto a sodden prison ground in Indonesia to be executed 
by firing squad. Indonesia's stubborn insistence on carrying out this cruel and 
unjust practice of capital punishment is to be condemned, but this latest 
episode amounted to an especially tortuous farce.

Another 10 prisoners had expected to meet the same fate at the same time. They 
had each said a final goodbye to distraught loved ones, been segregated and 
locked into special isolation cells, and told their bodies would be delivered 
to their families soon after the fatal shots were fired.

State-sanctioned execution requires the kind of perfect evidence and 
unimpeachable judicial process no system can ever ...State-sanctioned execution 
requires the kind of perfect evidence and unimpeachable judicial process no 
system can ever guarantee, and plainly not in Indonesia.

But at the last possible moment, Indonesia's authorities granted the 10 
prisoners a temporary reprieve. No proper explanation was offered publicly, 
although the reason is painfully clear. The Indonesian system for administering 
the death penalty is woeful and arbitrary.

Capital punishment can never be justified. State-sanctioned execution requires 
the kind of perfect evidence and unimpeachable judicial process no system can 
ever guarantee, and plainly not in Indonesia. President Joko Widodo has 
permitted these executions, each convicted of drug offences, claiming it will 
send a message of deterrence. The only message is regrettably of Indonesia's 
inhumanity.

This round of executions has not generated the same level of international 
outrage as those carried out last year, which included the killing of 
Australia's Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran and others from the Netherlands 
and Brazil. Those killings were the first to break a longstanding national 
moratorium against carrying out death sentences. But it would be wrong for 
Indonesia to interpret the more muted international reaction as acquiescence to 
the country's continued practice of capital punishment.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop also stressed Australia's opposition to the death 
penalty last week during a regional summit meeting in Laos with her Indonesian 
counterpart Retno Marsudi. The government has pledged to campaign to abolish 
capital punishment around the world. Yet Australia should be more vocal in 
condemning Indonesia's actions, and make clear a diplomatic cost. It would 
indicate the strength of principled opposition to the death penalty in all 
cases, not only those involving Australian nationals or from other wealthy 
nations.

The planned execution of the 14 condemned prisoners was to be largest mass 
killing of convicted drug offenders in Indonesia - 8 Nigerians, 4 Indonesians, 
1 Indian and 1 Pakistani. 3 of the Nigerian men and 1 Indonesian were put to 
death on Friday, while the others find themselves again in the brutal limbo of 
death row. As a Catholic priest who acted as a spiritual adviser for the 
condemned remarked, "they have died half a death already." Especially worrying 
is the case of Pakistani national Zulfiqar Ali, found by an Indonesian internal 
investigation to be the victim of a conspiracy.

Despite the bizarre circumstances of the last-minute reprieve, it does not 
appear to be the pleas for clemency from the governments of each of the foreign 
prisoners that won support. Those calls were undermined by the imposition of 
the death penalty in their home countries, which demonstrates the need for 
universal opposition to capital punishment.

The mother of Myuran Sukumaran wrote an impassioned letter to Mr Joko begging 
for mercy for those facing execution. "Please don't let those families go 
through what we have gone through," Raji Sukumaran wrote. "You are the only 
person who has the power to stop another execution." If only he would listen.

(source: Editorial, The Age)

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

Indonesia cancels Gurdip's execution----However, it was unclear why he was not 
executed while 4 other convicts were put to death by a firing squad.


Indonesia on Friday cancelled execution of an Indian drug convict, after senior 
Indian diplomats intervened hours before the execution was to take place.

Gurdip Singh, 48, of Jalandhar was to face the firing squad in the island of 
Cilacap, on Friday morning as part of the planned execution of 14 drug convicts 
who had received the death sentence in Indonesia.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj acknowledged the development and said 
"Indian Ambassador in Indonesia has informed me that Gurdip Singh whose 
execution was fixed for last night, has not been executed."

Mr. Singh's wife Kulwinder Kaur told the media in Jalandhar that he has been 
sent back to jail and that he spoke to her over phone on Friday morning. 
Appealing the Indonesian government for mercy to Gurdip Singh, Kulwinder Kaur 
said he has spent years in jail which was enough penance for his crime if he 
was guilty and he should be sent back to his country.

"A priest was invited and a van had also arrived to carry his body but the 
execution was halted at the last minute. He was then sent back to the prison," 
she said. Mr. Singh was 1 of the 10 convicts who were allowed to return to the 
jail while the Indonesian authorities executed four other prisoners.

Mr. Singh was arrested in Soekarno Hatta airport in 2004 for smuggling 300 gm 
heroin. Subsequently he received a death sentence at lower courts which was 
upheld by the Supreme Court of Indonesia. Several of the death row convicts had 
applied for pardon but Singh chose not to apply. Human rights organisations had 
demanded that Singh should have been pardoned in view of the long prison term 
that he has already served.

The Hindu reported on July 28 that the government of President Widodo had 
notified families of the fourteen drug convicts that it would carry out the 
death sentence as delivered by the Indonesian court.

The notification did not mention the time of carrying out the capital 
punishment but it was understood that the executions would take place within 72 
hours of the notification as required under Indonesian law.

Responding to the reports of the planned execution, on Thursday, Vikas Swarup, 
Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that Indian 
officials had met Gurdip Singh [in Indonesia] and were camping in the island of 
Cilacap.

(source: The Hindu)






IRAN:

All Executed Prisoners in Rajai Shahr Prison Identified by HRANA


On July 13, 6 prisoners were executed on charge of murder in Rajai Shahr 
prison. The prisoners along with 5 other prisoners had been transferred to 
solitary confinements of the prison on July 10. 5 of the prisoners were 
transferred to their wards and their sentences were not carried out by the 
consent of the plaintiffs. HRANA has been able to obtain the identities of the 
6 executed prisoners:

1. Hassan Mehdilo from ward 2 known as Darolghoran

2. Saeed Akbari from ward 1

3. Hassan Javadi from ward 1

4. Saeed Hossein Khani from ward 4

5. Saeed Ahmed from ward 6

6. Kazem Khadem Rezaeian

(source: Human Rights News Agency)






KUWAIT:

Commute Hassan Abdulhadi Ali al-Hajiya and Abdulredha Haydar Dahqani's Death 
Sentences (UA 199/15)


A Kuwaiti appeal court issued its verdict on 21 July in the "Abdali Cell" case. 
It upheld a life sentence, a 5-year prison sentence and a death sentence 
against individuals convicted of charges including "spying for Iran and 
Hizbullah". 9 defendants were acquitted and other sentences were reduced to 
shorter prison terms and fines.

Please write immediately in Arabic, English or your own language:

-- Calling on the Kuwaiti authorities to commute the death sentences imposed 
on Hassan Abdulhadi Ali al-Hajiya and Abdulredha Haydar Dahqani immediately;

-- Expressing concern that the trial was unfair as "confessions" or other 
statements obtained by torture and other ill-treatment or coercion were used as 
evidence in court and calling for those convicted and imprisoned to be retried 
in line with internationally recognized standards for fair trials, in 
proceedings that exclude torture-tainted evidence and without recourse to the 
death penalty;

-- Calling on the authorities to order an impartial and independent 
investigation, including forensic medical examinations that are in line with 
international standards, into all the allegations of torture in this case, and 
bring those responsible to justice.

see: 
http://www.amnestyusa.org/get-involved/take-action-now/kuwait-commute-hassan-abdulhadi-ali-al-hajiya-and-abdulredha-haydar-dahqani-s-death-sentences-ua-19

(source: Amnesty International)






KENYA:

Kenyan separatists sentenced to death for police killings


2 suspected members of a Kenyan separatist movement were sentenced to death on 
Friday for the murder of four police officers in Kenya's 2nd city of Mombasa 
during the 2013 election campaign.

High Court Judge Martin Muya said it had been proven "beyond doubt" that Jabri 
Ali Dzuya and Bwana Mkuu Alwan Jabu were guilty of killing the officers who had 
responded to an alert in Mombasa's Miritini suburb on March 3, 2013.

However, despite their sentences the death penalty has not been carried out in 
Kenya for several decades.

2 other suspects were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

The killers were accused of belonging to the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), 
a group seeking the secession of Kenya's Muslim-majority Indian Ocean coast, 
which is popular with tourists.

The police murders marred otherwise peaceful elections viewed at the time as a 
crucial test for Kenya, following bloody 2007-8 post-poll violence in which 
over 1,100 people were killed.

The banned MRC insists it is a political movement and has repeatedly denied any 
involvement in a string of attacks in the coastal region.

The authorities have accused the group of being involved in poaching as a 
source of financing.

(source: Agence France-Presse)