[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 18



TRINIDAD:

The crucifixion and resurrection of Trinidad


Trinidad and Tobago is in a state of crisis due to the increased intensity of 
crime with little hope of a solution by those in authority who have been 
appointed to protect us. In the face of rising crime they tend to shift the 
blame on our attitude - a response that if not incorrect is insensitive to the 
victims of crime as well as their friends and family, co-workers and 
neighbours. The loss of law and order continues to erode our faith in the 
government as they continue to fail to convince us that they understand our 
fears and frustrations.

We as a nation are appealing for a positive programme for the restoration of a 
society of decency and order. The Government must assume a major role in the 
fight against violence and senseless killings. The Prime Minister must exert 
moral leadership, reinforcing the importance of respect for law and contempt 
towards those who continue to violate it by practising murder and other violent 
and heinous crimes. Harsher penalties must be imposed on convicted murderers 
and rapists.

The primary duty of any government is the safety and security of its citizenry 
and loss of law and order due to gang warfare is the most visible sign that the 
Government has failed. Those in authority and even citizens continue to make 
statements about the crime situation that make them appear to be siding with 
the supposed villains rather than their victims.

Who or what do we turn to in the face of this crisis? During this Easter season 
the resurrection of Christ provides a semblance of hope.

We are now called to be a resurrection nation; we will rise above kidnappings 
and murders. The tomb is empty and this directly means that our nation should 
also be emptied of all the murderers and criminals that create a barrier 
between us and peace. This will be achieved by enforcing the death penalty on 
convicted murderers and rapists and that will send a strong message to the 
nation that these crimes will not go unpunished.

The negative influences may never be completely destroyed because of the 
attitude of those in authority, but we as individuals can continue to dream and 
do all in our power to rise above all obstacles and live a life of success. 
Having recently been the victim of an arson attack against my home in Chaguanas 
I have decided to rise above the violence, pettiness, immaturity, senselessness 
and cowardice of my enemies and have decided to travel the world sharing the 
message to millions with speaking engagements and my very own motivational CD 
that we can positively impact the world by daring to dream and rising above the 
evil influences that are designed to destroy us and prevent us from living our 
dreams.

Simon Wright Chaguanas

(source: letter to the Editor Trinidad Express)






IRAN:

Halt imminent execution of 2 men arrested as teenagers


The Iranian authorities must urgently stop the imminent execution of two 
long-time death row prisoners who were children at the time of their arrest, 
Amnesty International said today.

One of the men, Mehdi Bahlouli, is due to be executed tomorrow morning in 
Karaj's Raja'i Shahr Prison, after more than 15 years on death row. He was 
sentenced to death by a criminal court in Tehran in November 2001 for fatally 
stabbing a man during a fight. He was 17 at the time of the crime.

The execution of the second man, Peyman Barandah, is scheduled to take place 
just three weeks later, on 10 May, in Shiraz Central Prison, Fars Province. He 
was arrested at the age of 16 and spent nearly 5 years on death row, after 
being convicted in August 2012, also for stabbing a teenager to death during a 
fight.

"Carrying out the executions of these 2 young men would be an outrageous breach 
of international human rights law that would cement Iran's position as one of 
the world's top executors of juvenile offenders," said Philip Luther, Amnesty 
International's Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North 
Africa.

"Mehdi Bahlouli has spent his entire young adult life on death row. His 
shocking ordeal epitomizes the cruelty of Iran's juvenile justice system which 
regularly sentences juvenile offenders to death in violation of international 
human rights law and then subjects them to prolonged periods on death row. The 
anguish and torment of living their lives in the shadow of the gallows also 
amounts to cruel and inhuman treatment."

Mehdi Bahlouli's family told Amnesty International that they received a call 
from the prison on Saturday informing them to attend for their last visit. He 
was transferred to solitary confinement on Sunday in preparation for his 
execution.

Iran's recently amended 2013 Islamic Penal Code gives judges the option to 
replace the death penalty with an alternative punishment if they determine that 
the juvenile offender did not understand the nature of the crime or its 
consequences, or his or her "mental growth and maturity" were in doubt.

In January 2017, Mehdi Bahlouli's request for retrial was denied. This decision 
blatantly contradicts the Iranian authorities' statement to the UN Committee on 
the Rights of the Child in January 2016 that "all adolescents who were under 18 
at the time of committing the crime are granted retrials [under Iran's 2013 new 
Islamic Penal Code] and their previous verdicts are annulled by the Supreme 
Court."

"The Iranian authorities have touted the 2013 Islamic Penal Code as evidence 
that the country is moving away from the use of the death penalty for juvenile 
offenders. However, these 2 scheduled executions show these claims are empty 
rhetoric," said Philip Luther.

"Instead of intensifying the mental anguish and suffering of juvenile offenders 
by letting them languish on death row for long periods, Iran must urgently 
amend its penal code to completely abolish the use of the death penalty for 
crimes committed while under 18, commute the death sentences of all juvenile 
offenders and establish an official moratorium on executions."

Background

Since the beginning of the year, Amnesty International has received reports 
indicating that 2 young men, Arman Bahrasemani and Hassan Hassanzadeh, were 
executed for crimes that took place when they were under 18 years of age. The 
organization fears the true number could be much higher.

The organization has identified the names of at least 90 juvenile offenders 
currently on death row across Iran. Many have spent prolonged periods on death 
row - in some cases more than a decade. Some have had their executions 
scheduled then postponed or stayed at the last minute on multiple occasions, 
adding to their torment.

In January 2017, the Iranian authorities scheduled the executions of 2 other 
men arrested as children - Sajad Sanjari and Hamid Ahmadi. Both were halted at 
the last minute, following an international outcry.

According to Amnesty International's report on death sentences and executions 
in 2016, Iran carried out at least 567 executions last year, including at least 
2 executions of people who were under 18 at the time of the crime. The 
organization received information indicating that 5 other juvenile offenders 
may have been among those executed.

(source: Amnesty International)

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

Investigate Iranian Presidential Hopeful Ebrahim Raisi for 1988 Mass Executions


Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer and former political prisoner Nasrin 
Sotoudeh has strongly criticized the candidacy of Ebrahim Raisi in Iran's May 
19, 2017 presidential election.

"The competency of this candidate should not be approved for any reason until 
the events of 1988 are investigated and it is proven that he was not an 
accomplice," she told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). "In the 
meantime, we do have an audio file... that shows he did have a hand in those 
events."

In 1988, Raisi was part of a 4-man commission, later known as the "death 
committee," that implemented the extrajudicial executions of thousands of 
political prisoners.

The victims, who had already been tried and were serving prison sentences, did 
not know they were facing death when they then faced the inquisition-like 
proceedings.

At that time, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who was the heir apparent 
to the Islamic Republic???s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, condemned the 
killings, telling members of the committee: "I believe this is the greatest 
crime committed in the Islamic Republic since the [1979] revolution and history 
will condemn us for it.... History will write you down as criminals."

Montazeri's son, Ahmad, released the taped recording of that conversation in an 
audio file posted online in August 2016, bringing the massacre to the forefront 
of public memory.

That month he was sentenced to 6 years in prison by the Special Court for the 
Clergy for releasing the audio file.

While he did not personally prosecute Ahmad Montazeri, Raisi was the chief 
prosecutor of the court at the time of Montazeri's conviction.

"When you add it all up, [Raisi's] resume looks very bad... If the veracity of 
existing evidence is not discredited and his innocence is not proven, we cannot 
pretend nothing happened and allow this man to be a candidate for president," 
Sotoudeh told CHRI.

Raisi and the Special Court for the Clergy

Iran's Special Court for the Clergy has proven to be "much tougher" in 
politically motivated cases compared to the Revolutionary Court, and blatantly 
violates human rights' standards, Sotoudeh, who has defended countless 
political activists, told CHRI.

"Naturally, the work of this court is on Mr. Raisi's resume -

the kind of work that he has been able to do, hidden in the dark, away from the 
public eye," she said.

"No lawyer has ever come forward to criticize and review the rulings by this 
court because essentially no independent lawyer has ever been present at its 
proceedings," she added.

Sotoudeh was a leading member of the Defenders of Human Rights Center when she 
was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2011 for her peaceful defense of human 
rights in Iran.

"The Special Court for the Clergy is much worse than the Revolutionary Court in 
violating legal tenants," she told CHRI. "Deliberations in the Special Court 
for the Clergy are often behind closed doors."

"At least in the Revolutionary Courts, thanks to 40 years of constant efforts 
by human rights activists, families can attend trial sessions and follow up on 
the cases against their loved ones," she said. "But you can't do any of that in 
the Special Court for the Clergy."

"The families face a lot of severe restrictions when they have to deal with 
this court and they often don't have any access to what???s going on," she 
added.

After spending almost 3 years in prison, Sotoudeh was released on September 18, 
2013.

"Only certain types of lawyers are accepted by the Special Court for the 
Clergy," said Sotoudeh. "They have to be a member of the [Muslim Shia] clergy 
and are hand-picked by the court itself."

"The rulings made by the court have been issued behind closed-doors and 
defendants are usually handed stiff sentences, such as those against Hassan 
Yousefi Eshkevari, Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi, and most recently Ahmad 
Montazeri," she added.

Sotoudeh continued: "This is Mr. Raisi's resume. Now there is also the issue of 
what he did in the 1980s, which he has never wanted to address. But after the 
release of Mr. Montazeri's recording, Mr. Raisi came out and defended his 
actions and didn't deny his role in any way."

In an April 2017 interview with CHRI, Ahmad Montazeri also strongly criticized 
Raisi's presidential bid.

"(Raisi's) direct and undeniable participation in the massacres in the summer 
of 1988 is very important," he said. "If any of the candidates had attacked a 
person with a knife, he would have had a criminal record and would not get 
clearance from the authorities, never mind Mr. Raisi, whose record is very 
clear."

Ahmad Montazeri also told CHRI he is waiting to release more recordings.

"When the conditions are right and the people in charge of the country are more 
tolerant, the rest of the audio files will be published," he said. "Already a 
lot of transparency has been achieved (with the release of the 1st file)."

Ahmad Montazeri was detained on February 21, 2017 to begin serving his 6-year 
prison sentence, but was granted furlough (temporary leave) and released the 
next day.

(source: iranhumanrights.org)






TURKEY:

President Erdogan's death penalty remarks start debate with Europe


President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's remarks over reinstating capital punishment 
following the approval of constitutional amendments in the April 16 referendum 
has triggered a fresh debate, collecting warnings from European allies.

Erdogan said during his arrival to Ankara from Istanbul on April 17 that he 
would approve the return of the death penalty if the parliament passes such a 
law to pay respect "to our martyrs."

"If [a bill] comes before me, I will approve it. But if there isn't support 
[from opposition MPs], then we could have another referendum for that," Erdogan 
said late on April 16 to a crowd in Istanbul, which chanted for its 
reintroduction.

A referendum on restoring the death penalty in Turkey would constitute a break 
from European values, the French president's office warned on April 17.

France said the organization of a referendum on the death penalty would 
"obviously be a break with values and engagements" that was accepted by Turkey 
when it first joined Europe's top rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, the 
presidency said.

The French presidency said it "took note" of the figures and the "disputes" 
surrounding them, saying they showed "that Turkish society is divided over the 
proposed deep reforms."

In a separate statement, France's foreign ministry called on the Turkish 
government to respect the European Convention on Human Rights and its ban on 
the death penalty.

Although the death penalty had not been in effect since 1984, Turkey abolished 
the capital punishment in 2004 as a part of reforms to ease Turkey's accession 
into the European Union.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said in March that any return of 
the death penalty in Turkey would be a "red line" in the country's stalled EU 
membership bid.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, meanwhile, 
said on April 17 that Turkish authorities needed to address concerns about the 
content and procedure of the referendum raised by a panel of European legal 
experts.

"The German government respects the right of Turkish citizens to decide on 
their own constitutional order," they said in a statement.

"The tight referendum result shows how deeply divided the Turkish society is 
and that means a big responsibility for the Turkish leadership and for 
President Erdogan personally," the statement said.

The European Commission said Turkey should seek a broad national consensus on 
constitutional amendments. In March, the Venice Commission, a panel of legal 
experts at the Council of Europe, said the proposed changes to the constitution 
on which Turks voted, namely boosting Erdogan's power, represented a "dangerous 
step backwards" for democracy.

Austria, which has repeatedly called for halting membership talks, once more 
called for them to stop.

"We can't just go back to the daily routine after the Turkey referendum. We 
finally need some honesty in the relationship between the EU and Turkey," said 
Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, adding the bloc should instead work on a 
"partnership agreement."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on April 17 that the results of 
the Turkish referendum should be respected. He said the vote was a domestic 
Turkish matter.

Rached Ghannouch, the leader of Tunisia's Ennahdha Party, said he called 
Erdogan to congratulate him over the win.

Both Hamas and the Palestinian Liberation Army congratulated Erdogan, according 
to state-run Anadolu Agency.

(source: Hurriyet Daily News)

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

Soldiers parade outside the Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, 
founder of the Republic of Turkey----Turkey's EU Membership Off Table Amid 
Likely Death Penalty Reinstatement - Rome


Turkey's EU membership is no longer on the bloc's immediate agenda after the 
the outcome of the country's constitutional referendum had laid down the 
framework for the possible reinstatement of capital punishment, Italian Foreign 
Minister Angelino Alfano said Tuesday.

On Sunday, Turkey held a referendum on the transition from a parliamentary to 
presidential system of governance. Preliminary results of the vote indicate a 
victory for supporters of the governance shift. Once the results are confirmed, 
the nation's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with his newly bestowed powers, 
will be able to reinstate the death penalty, which was outlawed in 2004 amid 
Turkey's attempts to have closer ties with the European Union. In late 
February, Erdogan said Ankara may seek to reintroduce capital punishment in the 
light of last year's failed coup attempt.

"The issue of Turkey's accession to the European Union is 'not on table.' In 
any case the possible solutions, related to the death penalty reintroduction 
may delay it even further," Alfano told Il Corriere della Sera newspaper.

On Monday, a number of senior EU officials, including German Foreign Minister 
Sigmar Gabriel, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Belgium's Deputy 
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, expressed the opinion that 
the reinstatement of the death penalty would diminish Turkey's prospects of 
joining the bloc.

Turkey signed an association agreement with the then-European Community in 
1963, and submitted a membership application in 1987. Talks about Ankara's 
membership of the European Union began in 2005, but have been repeatedly 
suspended due to the Cyprus dispute and Turkey's record of denying press 
freedom, among other obstacles.

In March 2016, Brussels and Ankara agreed on a deal, under which Turkey pledged 
to take back all undocumented migrants that had arrived to the European Union 
through the state's territory. In return, the bloc pledged to accelerate the 
Turkish EU accession bid and introduce a visa-free regime, as well as provide 
financial aid to Turkey to cover the costs of migrant reception.

(source: sputniknews.com)