[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 4




TURKEY:

Formulas for Gulen's execution


During the cabinet meeting presided over by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan 
earlier this week, the reinstatement of capital punishment was among the key 
issues. He looked in the face of cabinet ministers and asked: "What will happen 
for my 241 martyrs [killed during the military coup attempt]? Will those who 
killed them not give an account of it?"

The legal arrangement that abolished the death penalty was overseen by the 
ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in 2004. Cabinet this week 
discussed the issue from the perspective of the EU acquis, Protocol Number 13 
in which Turkey totally abolished capital punishment, and Article 90 of the 
constitution. The drawbacks of taking the death penalty to a referendum were 
also discussed.

It was Erdogan himself who brought the subject of reinstating the death penalty 
to the agenda. "If parliament reintroduces the death penalty, I would endorse 
it," he said.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, meanwhile, has adopted a calmer stance on the 
issue. The prevailing belief had been that capital punishment would not be 
brought to parliament, so Erdogan will never in the end need to ratify it. 
However, with Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli's recent 
declaration that they should "finish this business together," it became 
impossible to ignore the parliamentary route.

Personally, I don't think President Erdogan has been bluffing. I believe he is 
sincere on the subject of the death penalty.

There are 2 particularly important aspects to reintroducing the death penalty. 
The first is whether it would be retroactive; the 2nd is about what it would 
cover.

My opinion is not as clear-cut as fellow Hurriyet columnist Ahmet Hakan, who 
wrote that there is no way the death penalty could include Fethullah Gulen or 
Abdullah Ocalan.

The reintroduced death penalty would cover war crimes, threats of war, 
terrorism, coup d'etats, attempted coup d'etats and the sexual abuse of 
children.

On Oct. 3, 2001, with an arrangement carried out by Constitution Committee head 
Ahmet Iyimaya, a clause was introduced stating that "the death penalty is 
inapplicable apart from war, imminent threat of war, and terror crimes." This 
clause was abolished from our legal system in 2004 by the AK Party.

Now, coup d'etats, attempted coup d'etats and sexual abuse of children will be 
added to the exceptional cases in that original 2001 clause. However, an 
internal debate has still not been held within the AK Party and no work has yet 
been launched.

Article 15 of the constitution states that "offences and penalties cannot be 
made retroactive." There is no objection to this clause but President Erdogan 
wants the death penalty to be reintroduced, especially for the July 15 coup 
attempt. In this case, will the death sentence be valid for Fethullah Gulen? 
Legal experts point to the concepts of "process crimes, continual crimes, chain 
crimes and uninterrupted crimes," and similar formulas are being looked into.

The investigation into the July 15 coup attempt is still ongoing. New 
information and documents are being found every day. Just yesterday another 
name, Kemal Batmaz, appeared alongside the number one civilian name in the 
coup, the incognito Adil Oksuz, who is accused of carrying out the coup plan 
for Gulen. Further into the process, it is possible that new evidence and 
witnesses will emerge proving that Gulen was the leader of the coup.

When President Erdogan asks about bringing the deaths of 241 people to account, 
he is not only referring to those who dropped bombs and opened fire on the 
people. He is also targeting those who took part in the coup and committed 
these murders, as well as the planners and rulers of the coup, together with 
the leader of the coup.

In short, a formula is being worked on to ensure that the death penalty covers 
the July 15 coup attempt and Gulen himself.

So, will the coup plotters be sentenced to death but the outlawed Kurdistan 
Workers' Party (PKK) and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorists 
who kill soldiers be left out of the scope of capital punishment? Will the MHP 
agree to a formula that does not cover the PKK?

Because of jailed PKK leader Abdullah "calan's life sentence verdict, he cannot 
be sentenced to death for the same crimes. However, if proof of a connection to 
a new act is found and he is sentenced to death in a new trial, it is 
different.

Clearly, there are endless formulas in justice.

(source: Hurriyet Daily News)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Saudi Arabia to behead disabled man for protesting----Munir al-Adam says he 
signed a confession only after being beaten so badly he lost hearing in one ear


Saudi Arabia is set to behead a disabled man for taking part in anti-government 
protests.

A specialised criminal court in Riyadh, the Arab kingdom's capital, sentenced 
Munir al-Adam, to death for "attacks on police" and other offences they said 
took place during protests in the Shia-dominated east in late 2011.

The 23-year-old is partially blind and was already partially deaf at the time 
of arrest; he alleges he is now completely deaf in one ear as a result of being 
severely beaten by police.

His family issued a statement rejecting the verdict and claiming that Mr Adam 
was tortured into confessing, The Times reported.

The steel cable worker said he had only signed a document admitting the 
offences after being repeatedly beaten. He said he had been accused of "sending 
texts" when he was too poor to own a mobile phone.

47 protesters and alleged supporters of al-Qaeda were executed in a single day 
in January. In July, the number of beheadings in Saudi Arabia reached 108 this 
year, putting the country, which has a population of nearly 29 million people, 
on track to exceed its 2015 execution total.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world's most prolific executioners. Research last 
year by human rights organisation Reprieve found that, of those identified as 
facing execution in Saudi Arabia, some 72 per cent were sentenced to death for 
non-violent alleged crimes, while torture and forced confessions were common.

"Munir Adam's appalling case illustrates how the Saudi authorities are all too 
happy to subject the most vulnerable people to the swordsman's blade," said 
Maya Foa, of Reprieve. "Saudi Arabia's close allies, including the UK, must 
urge the kingdom to release Munir, along with juveniles and others who were 
sentenced to death for protesting."

The traditionally close relationship between Saudi Arabia and Britain has 
become strained in the past year as people in the West have protested against 
the use of the death penalty, including against minors. Protests also erupted 
across the Middle East in January.

Sara Hashah, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa spokesperson, 
said Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran were responsible for 90 % of all recorded 
executions globally and were out of step with the rest of the world.

"In Saudi Arabia, where people are routinely sentenced to death after grossly 
unfair trials, we have seen a dramatic surge in the number of executions in the 
past 2 years which has shown no sign of abating in 2016," she told The 
Independent in July.

"This clearly demonstrates that Saudi Arabia's authorities are increasingly out 
of step with a global trend of states moving away from the death penalty.

"Saudi Arabia's authorities must end their reliance on this cruel, inhuman and 
degrading form of punishment immediately."

Mr Adam was reportedly detained in February 2012 for taking part in protests in 
his home town of Qatif the previous year, when he was 18 years old.

The Qatif region of Saudi Arabia is majority Shia. There are regular protests 
in the area against the Saudi government.

Mr Adam's family said he was a kind, simple young man who loves fishing. They 
said he was involved in an accident when he was six in which his skull was 
fractured, leaving his sight and hearing impaired. He was told by his doctor 
that trauma could worsen the injuries, but police allegedly ignored medical 
evidence and beat him anyway.

He is currently appealing his sentence.

Reprieve said: "Munir's bogus 'confession' was the sole piece of evidence 
presented against him at his trial. He has never been allowed to speak to a 
lawyer."

The organisation added that concerns for Mr Adam's fate come shortly after the 
re-election of Saudi Arabia to the UN Human Rights Council.

(source: Belfast Telegraph)






ZIMBABWE:

Joy for 10 Death Row Inmates


Zimbabwe last week pardoned 10 inmates who were on death row after they 
requested for Presidential clemency while the remaining 80 will also survive 
the gallows if Government resolves to completely abolish capital punishment for 
all crimes, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said. He said this during 
Zimbabwe's presentation of its Human Rights National Report under the auspices 
of the Universal Periodic Review on Wednesday at the United Nations Centre in 
Geneva, Switzerland.

VP Mnangagwa who is in charge of the Ministry of Justice, Legal and 
Parliamentary Affairs was responding to several calls from various countries 
who implored Zimbabwe to completely abolish the death penalty.

But VP Mnangagwa said while the country accepted the recommendation to abolish 
the death penalty at the last UPR in 2012, the majority of Zimbabweans who 
participated during the Constitution-making process said they wanted it 
retained.

He said Government was, however, undertaking nationwide public awareness 
campaigns to conscientise Zimbabweans on the effects of the death penalty.

VP Mnangagwa also dismissed claims by some countries that Zimbabwe had 
political prisoners and detainees.

"On the issue of the death penalty, may I share with you that for over a decade 
now, we have had no executions in Zimbabwe," said VP Mnangagwa.

"Currently, we have 90 inmates under death penalty and last week in our 
Cabinet, we received 10 petitions for clemency from the President and all the 
10 were granted.

"We then decided that I, as Vice President responsible for the administration 
of justice, should put a paper on the question of the abolition of the death 
penalty, which we have to debate."

The Vice President said the new Constitution only imposed the death penalty on 
males aged between 21 and 70 years who are convicted of aggravated murder 
compared to the previous one that had a wider range of offences under, which 
one could be sentenced to death regardless of gender.

But representatives from several countries said it was critical that the 
country completely abolish capital punishment.

"We recommend that Zimbabwe completely abolishes the death penalty for all 
crimes and establish a moratorium on executions and to commute expeditiously 
death penalties by prison sentences," said a representative of Uruguay.

Portugal's representative said: "Portugal recommends Zimbabwe to establish a 
moratorium on the death penalty with a view to fully abolish it both in 
practice and in law in all cases and under all circumstances."

Representatives of Belgium and Slovenia said notwithstanding the Government of 
Zimbabwe's campaigns to conscientise citizens about the effects of the death 
penalty, it was important that capital punishment is immediately suspended.

Switzerland said it was concerned with the overcrowding and poor conditions in 
prisons and asked how Government intended to address the issue.

VP Mnangagwa said whenever the prison population exceeded holding capacity, 
Government came up with various interventions including the transfer of inmates 
from closed prisons to spacious farm prisons while others were released through 
Presidential clemency.

(source: allafrica.com)






EQUATORIAL GUINEA:

Portugal wants end to death penalty in Equatorial Guinea or expulsion from CPLP


Portugal's foreign minister has said that Equatorial Guinea must abolish the 
death penalty immediately or its membership of the Community of 
Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) will be illegitimate.

"From Portugal's point of view, [the abolition of the death penalty] has to be 
immediate", Augusto Santos Silva said on Tuesday on the sidelines of the 11th 
CPLP head of states' conference that ended in Brasilia on Tuesday.

For Portugal, there are 3 essential conditions that Equatorial Guinea has to 
meet to be a member of the CPLP???: the ratification of the organisation's 
articles, the abolition of the death penalty and the generalisation of teaching 
Portuguese in the country. Hardly anybody speaks Portuguese in this 
'Portuguese-speaking country'.

"We understand that the third demand may take longer, but the other 2 just 
depend on the authorities", Santos Silva said.

In the final declaration signed at the Brasilia summit, Equatorial Guinea 
dragged its heels again by asking for 'technical support' to abolish the death 
penalty, which the other countries responded to "with satisfaction".

Equatorial Guinea became a full member of the CPLP at the Dili summit in July 
2014 at the insistence of Angola, on the condition that it abolish the death 
penalty and start teaching Portuguese in the former Spanish colony that no 
other reputable organisations want as a member.

(source: theportugalnews.com)