[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 17



IRAN----executions

Execution of 2 Ill Prisoners in Tabriz and Intensified Deterioration of Prison 
Conditions


The mullahs 'anti-human regime on April 12 hanged 27-year-old Rahman 
Hosseinpour while suffering from mental illness in Tabriz prison. He was taking 
daily 30 tranquilizer pills and was imprisoned in the psychotherapy ward. On 
April 4 another ill prisoner detained in Tabriz prison was executed after 4 
years in prison. On April 11 in the same prison 2 ill brothers were attacked 
after going to the prison clinic and were later transferred to solitary 
confinement.

Execution of sick prisoners or their mistreatment is in violation of several 
international treaties to which Iran is a signatory member.

These crimes are a portion of the deteriorating situation of Tabriz prison and 
a growing pressure on prison inmates. 7,000 prisoners piled up in the prison, 
because of the lack of the most basic medical facilities, do not get medical 
visits even once a year. It has been more than 2 months that with the excuse of 
repairing the kitchen, prisoners get only rice and soup. Given that many 
prisoners ca not afford to buy food, they are suffering from malnutrition. 
There are not enough blankets or beds in terms of the number of prisoners there 
and half of the prisoners have to rest on bare ground without minimum 
facilities. Any objection by the prisoners is answered by repression and 
beating.

Gohardasht prison inmates also suffer poor food quality, lack of medical 
facilities and lack of heating system. Prisoners have to pay for all the 
facilities, from the cost of treatment to the food and residency at their own 
expense. Inmates of Section 10 of this prison do not have access to hot water 
for more than a year due to the breakdown of the heating system.

(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran)






PHILIPPINES:

PH barred from reintroducing death penalty, UN reminds Senate


The Philippines is prohibited from reimposing capital punishment because of 
international treaties signed by the government, a United Nations (UN) body 
reminded the Senate.

In a letter dated March 27, UN Human Rights Committee chair Yuji Iwasawa 
expressed "grave concern" over the passage of the death penalty bill at the 
House of Representatives and urged the Senate to "refrain from taking 
retrogressive measures."

Iwasawa reminded Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III that the 
Philippines is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights (ICCPR) and the 2 Optional Protocols.

Article 6 (2) of the ICCPR bars States from reintroducing death penalty once it 
is already abolished, whether through amending domestic law or acceding to the 
Second Optional Protocol. The same article provides that, "in those States 
which have not abolished the death penalty, the sentence of death can only be 
applied for the most serious crimes."

"The Committee is currently in session in Geneva. It expresses its grave 
concern at information it has received about the passage of a bill through the 
Houses of Congress to reintroduce the death penalty, for drug related offenses, 
in the Philippines. It understands that the Senate will consider this bill 
soon," Iwasawa wrote.

"The Committee reminds the State party about denunciations of the Second 
Optional Protocol, as set out in its General Comment No. 26 on Continuity of 
Obligations. The Second Optional Protocol excludes the possibility of 
denunciation by omitting a denunciation clause to guarantee the permanent non 
-reintroduction of the death penalty by States that have ratified it," he said.

The UN official added: "On behalf of the Committee, I call on the State Party 
to take its obligations under the ICCPR and the Second Optional Protocol 
seriously and refrain from taking measures, which would only undermine human 
rights progress to date."

In December last year, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al 
Hussein also wrote to Pimentel and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, both allies 
of President Rodrigo Duterte. He warned that the Philippines would "violate its 
obligations under international human rights law if it reintroduced the death 
penalty."

"International law does not permit a State that has ratified or acceded to the 
Second Optional Protocol to denounce it or withdraw from it," Hussein then 
said.

Senators are divided on the fate of the death penalty bill in the upper 
chamber, where it is not a priority measure.

(source: globalnation.inquirer.net)






TURKEY:

Claiming victory, Turkey's Erdogan says may take death penalty to referendum

President Tayyip Erdogan told crowds of flag-waving supporters on Sunday that 
Turkey could hold another referendum on reinstating the death penalty, as he 
claimed victory in a vote that will hand him sweeping new powers.

Addressing crowds in Istanbul, Erdogan said he would "immediately" discuss the 
issue of bringing back the death penalty with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim 
and the leader of the nationalist opposition. Such a move would spell the end 
of Turkey's accession talks with the European Union.

Erdogan also said votes in favour of constitutional changes to replace Turkey's 
parliamentary system with an executive presidency stood at 51.5 %. He said 
everyone should respect the nation's decision, and added Turkey would "shift 
gears" in the coming period.

(source: Reuters)

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

France Calls on Turkey to Adhere to Anti-Death Penalty Human Rights 
Convention----French Foreign Ministry said that Turkey should adhere to the 
European Convention on Human Rights which abolishes the death penalty.


Turkey should adhere to the European Convention on Human Rights which abolishes 
the death penalty, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday.

"[France] also calls on the Turkish authorities to comply with the European 
Convention on Human Rights, which Turkey has signed and which prohibits the use 
of the death penalty," the ministry said.

The French ministry said it acquainted itself with Sunday's referendum on 
government-approved constitutional amendments switching Turkey from a 
parliamentarian to a presidential system. Preliminary results indicate over 
half of the voters supported expanding presidential powers in the referendum.

"These constitutional amendments are making significant changes in Turkey's 
governance system," the ministry said.

(source: sputniknews.com)






AUSTRALIA:

Australia's death row drug traffickers facing potential execution by hanging or 
firing squad


After Amnesty International released its report last week that 1032 prisoners 
were executed last year - with China as the world's top executioner - how many 
Australians are on death row in foreign countries?

At least 5 Australians have been under threat of death by firing squad in 
China, all for drug trafficking.

An Australian man and woman are facing execution by lethal injection in Vietnam 
and an Australian woman faces the death penalty in Malaysia, where drug 
smugglers are hanged.

During 2016, Amnesty calculates, 23 countries carried out executions of 
prisoners.

Amnesty International has refused to publish the actual number of people China 
executed because it was "clear that the figures it was able to publish on China 
were significantly lower than the reality, because of the restrictions on 
access to information".

It says that after China the majority of executions are carried out by Iran, 
Iraq, Pakistan and in Saudi Arabia where there were 40 beheadings.

The reality of Australians being executed overseas hit home when Indonesia 
carried out the death penalty on Bali 9 ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran 
Sukumaran in 2015.

In chilling scenes, funeral parlour workers in the Javanese port of Cilicap 
happily showed off the coffins which were to hold the bodies of the men after 
their death by firing squad.

Footage of the filled coffins in the back of ambulances arriving back at 
Cilicap after their execution on Nusakambangan Island made world news.

But the sobering loss of 2 young Australian men paying the ultimate price for 
drug smuggling has not got through to other young people.

Last year Vietnam imposed 63 new death sentences. Of these, at least 54 were 
imposed for drug-related offences and four involved foreign nationals.

1 of these is an Australian woman, yet to be named, who was allegedly found 
with 4.8kg of heroin in her luggage in June last year.

The 37-year-old, who is of Vietnamese origin, was detained at Tan Son Nhut 
Airport in the southern hub of Ho Chi Minh City.

Officials claim they found nearly 5kg of heroin hidden in picture frames in her 
bags.

The woman allegedly told officers she was paid $33,500 to transport the heroin 
to Australia.

She has yet to face trial, but Vietnam has some of the world???s toughest drug 
laws and trafficking even small amounts of heroin is punishable by death.

Vietnam applies the death penalty is cases of trafficking of 100 grams of 
heroin or 300g of other illegal narcotics, replacing firing squads with lethal 
injection 3 years ago.

If convicted, the woman will join Australian Pham Trun Dung, on Vietnam's death 
row.

Like other Australians imprisoned in foreign jails, he awaits the grimmest of 
fates.

VIETNAM

Execution method: Lethal injection

Death row Australian: Pham Trung Dung, 38

Arrested in May, 2013, Dung was stopped from boarding a flight from Ho Chi Minh 
City to Sydney when customs officials found 3.6kg of heroin in his luggage.

At his 2014 trial, Dung told the court he had been hired by an unidentified man 
to traffic the heroin in exchange for $40,000.

He had been living in Australia with his partner and their 2 sons and found the 
lure of the money irresistible.

His job was to transport the drugs back to Australia and deliver them to an 
acquaintance.

Sentenced to execution, Dung appealed but the Ho Chi Minh City People's court 
last August confirmed his death sentence.

MALAYSIA

Execution method: Hanging

Death Row Australian: Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, 54

In December 2014, Australian grandmother Maria Exposto was flying en route from 
Shanghai, China to Melbourne via Kuala Lumpur on a Malaysian Airlines flight.

She was in transit when Malaysian customs officer Mohd Noor Nashariq scanned 
her bag and allegedly found 1.1kg of methamphetamine hidden in a hand-stitched 
compartment.

Exposto told police she had flown to Shanghai to meet up with a US serviceman 
following an online romance between the 2, but the man was a scam artist. 
Australian Maria Exposto has yet to learn her fate in Malaysia where she was 
caught with 1.1kg of methamphetamine.

She said another man, a stranger, duped her into carrying a backpack which he 
told her was full of clothes, but which contained the secreted drugs.

Exposto emigrated to Australia from East Timor and has been an Australian 
citizen since 1985.

Soon after her arrest, lawyers for Exposto said she had voluntarily offered her 
bags to customs as she attempted to enter Malaysia, having gone through 
immigration mistakenly.

They were then hopeful of an acquittal, but Exposto has remained in custody.

In 1986, Malaysia hanged Australians Kevin Barlow, 28, and Brian Chambers, 29, 
at Pudu Prison for trafficking 141.9g of heroin.

THAILAND

Execution method: Lethal injection

Death row Australian: Antonio Bagnato, 28

In February this year a Thai court sentenced Australian Antonio Bagnato to 
death for the kidnap and murder of a Hells Angels bikie and alleged drug 
smuggler, Wayne Schneider.

Bagnato, 28, and 4 other men abducted Schneider from his luxury villa in the 
beachside suburb of Pattaya in December 2015.

Schneider's body was later found buried. His neck was broken and he had facial 
injuries.

Bagnato, who had fled to Cambodia, was extradited back to Thailand.

Wayne Rodney Schneider's body was found with his neck broken, injuries to the 
face and buried in a grave.

A Muay Thai fighter, Bagnato was also wanted in Australia in relation to the 
2014 murder of Bradley Dillion.

Bagnato was found guilty of murder, deprivation of liberty and disposing of a 
body.

There is some debate as to whether Bagnato will be executed.

The last person to be sent to their death by lethal injection in Thailand was 
in 2009.

Bagnato has been transferred to Bang Kwang Central Prison in Nonthaburi 
Province, north of Bangkok, the only prison with a death row and an execution 
chamber.

Up to 25 inmates share each 4m by 7.5m cell in the notoriously squalid prison.

CHINA

Execution method: Firing squad

Death row Australians: Henry Chhin

Shanghai police intercepted 270g of ice concealed in computer equipment which 
they alleged Chhin tried to send from China to Australia in 2005.

Chhin was sentenced to death and his sentence was suspended for 2 years.

But Shenzen police uncovered a further 700g of meth in cabinets at Chhin's 
residence, and his fate is currently unclear.

Queensland man Ibrahim Jalloh is reportedly awaiting trial in China on drug 
charges.

Chinese officials arrested the 2 young men from Queensland at Guangzhou airport 
in June 2014 in possession of methamphetamine.

Sherrif has received a "suspended" death sentence, but the outcome is 
uncertain.

Jalloh, who has an intellectual disability, has received a suspended death 
sentence, which may be commuted to life in prison.

Peter Gardner faces a potential death penalty for allegedly trying to smuggle 
30kg of methamphetamine when he visited China with then girlfriend Kalynda 
Davis in 2014.

Charge: Attempt to smuggle 30kg methamphetamine in suitcases on Sydney flight 
at Guangzhou airport in November 2014

Dual Australian and New Zealand citizen, Peter Gardner was arrested with his 
then girlfriend, Sydney promotions representative Kalynda Davis, at Guangzhou 
Airport in November 2014.

Gardner allegedly tried to board a Sydney flight with Davis and 2 suitcases 
full of 3kg of ice worth $20 million in bags.

Guangzhou authorities say the suitcases, which were superglued shut, contained 
the biggest haul of methamphetamine recorded at the airport.

His then girlfriend Kalynda Davis was released without charge.

Gardner said it was 'the biggest mistake of my life'.

Davis' policeman father made a mercy dash to China and his daughter was 
released without charge and sent home in December.

But Gardner has been held in a Guangzhou prison since.

Gardner told a Guangzhou court early last year that he thought the suitcases 
contained the performance enhancing sport drugs, peptides, and that this was 
"the biggest mistake of my life".

He faces another hearing this year, at which he may learn whether he will be 
convicted and sentenced to death.

(source: news.com.au)






THAILAND:

Thailand Death Sentences Increase, China Tops List, Report Says


China topped the world list in 2016 for the highest number of state executions 
carried out, with the figures standing at more than 1,000 according to the 
latest report by Amnesty International.

The report, released Tuesday, said at least 1,032 were executed in 23 countries 
around the world in 2016 excluding China.

"In many countries where people were sentenced to death or executive, the 
proceedings did not meet international fair trial standards. In some cases this 
included the extraction of 'confessions' through torture or other 
ill-treatment, including in Bahrain, China, Iran, Iraq, North Korea and Saudi 
Arabia," the report read.

It also noticed a big decrease in the number of executions in the United 
States, which for the 1st time since 2006, did not rank among the world's big 5 
executioners.

The report noted that since China treated the use of the death penalty as a 
state secret, the number could be much higher and into the thousands.

The 5 other countries carrying out the highest number of executions were Iran 
at 567, Saudi Arabia at 154, Iraq at more than 88 followed closely by Pakistan 
with more than 87.

Thailand has been in a state of de facto moratorium for 1/2 a decade although 
Amnesty noted in its report an increase in the number of prisoners sentenced to 
death in the kingdom rose to 216 last year. The report noted that Thai 
authorities provided Amnesty with full figures, unlike countries such as 
Vietnam and Malaysia which along with China keep their use of the death penalty 
state secret.

Pressured by parliament, the report noted that Malaysia revealed it has 
executed 9 people in 2016. As for Vietnam, a report by its Ministry of Public 
Security made public in February this year revealed that 429 prisoners were 
executed between August 2013 and June 2016, thus placing it behind only China 
and Iran for the period.

The United States' figures continued to fall for the 8th consecutive year 
although it carried out 20 executions in 2016, putting it at number 7 in the 
world.

"The number of death sentences in the USA also decreased from 52 in 2015 to 32 
in 2016 (38% decrease). This is the lowest number recorded since 1973," the 
report stated.

(source: khaosodenglish.com)