[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 25



BANGLADESH:

4 muggers get death in Rangpur for murdering businessman


A court in Rangpur has sentenced 4 muggers to death for murdering a businessman 
in 2012.

Another convict was awarded 3 years in prison by District and Sessions Judge 
Abu Jafar Mohammad Kamruzzaman on Wednesday.

Businessman Chunnu Miah, a Pirgancha resident, was returning home from 
Mithapukur Sadar when he was attacked at Nilerkunthi area on Aug 23, 2012.

The attackers hacked him with sharp weapons before fleeing on his motorcycle. 
The 45-year-old died while he was being taken to a hospital.

The men who received the death penalty are Sirajul Islam, 33, 'Jewel', 26, 
Sujon Miah, 25, of Pirgancha Upazila, and Shahin Miah, 25, of Bogra, said 
prosecutor Faruk Mohammad Reazul Karim.

Alam Miah, 27, who got three years in prison, will have to spend 2 more years 
in prison if he fails to pay a fine of Tk 5,000.

(source: bdnews24.com)






PHILIPPINES:

Debates on death penalty begin next week


Proponents and opponents of the bill restoring the death penalty are poised to 
begin their showdown on the House plenary floor next week.

"We expect that the fireworks on this revival of capital punishment will 
commence on Tuesday or Wednesday next week," said Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, 
leader of the "Magnificent 7" independent minority bloc.

He said he was told by Majority Leader Rodolfo Farinas of the change in 
schedule. Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez earlier announced the plenary debates would 
begin this week.

At a press briefing, Lagman reiterated his call on the House leadership "not to 
insist on a party or a pressure vote."

No justification

"House members should be allowed to freely exercise their conscience and 
conviction in voting on the measure," he said.

Lagman said he wished to dispel the impression that the 1987 Constitution 
prescribed the death penalty. "On the contrary, it prohibits it," he said.

"As of now the proponents have failed to make any justification on the death 
penalty. They are citing that incidents of crime have risen in recent years. 
That is incorrect. PNP (Philippine National Police) data show there is a 
decreasing incidence, except for murder," he said.

Akbayan Rep. Tomasito Villarin also called for a stop to "misinformation," 
especially among rookie lawmakers.

"Some are saying that if you're a member of the justice committee, you can't 
interpellate. If you're a member of the rules, you can't interpellate. This 
kind of misinformation is a kind of pressure on members not to speak out 
against the death penalty," he said.

Party vote

Last week, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said he was "very confident" that the 
measure would pass because of the strength of the President Duterte-controlled 
supermajority in the House.

Alvarez, a bosom buddy of Mr. Duterte, assured his colleagues that there would 
be no consequences for not supporting the bill, although he did not give a 
clear answer when asked if he would call for a "party vote" and apply pressure 
on supermajority members to take a collective stand.

In December, the House justice committee approved by a 12-6-1 vote a substitute 
bill allowing the return of capital punishment for heinous crimes and sent the 
measure to the plenary for second and third reading.

Under the proposed "Death Penalty Law," the penalty of death by hanging, firing 
squad or lethal injection shall be imposed on 21 major offenses, including 
treason, qualified piracy, murder, rape, kidnapping and serious illegal 
detention, plunder and dangerous drug offenses.

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

French ambassador urges PH lawmakers not to restore death penalty


The Ambassador of France to the Philippines on Tuesday said he is hoping that 
the death penalty will not be restored in the country.

Ambassador Thierry Mathou told INQUIRER.net that he has spoken to some 
legislators about the proposed death penalty bill in Congress.

"France has been advocating the abolition (of death penalty) everywhere in the 
world ... even in the US," he explained at the sidelines of the PhilFrance 
launch, which marks the 70th year of Philippine-France diplomatic relations.

President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly expressed interest in restoring death 
penalty for heinous crimes.

A bill in Congress is set to be tackled in plenary next week.

"We try to express our view very freely with our partners in the Congress...in 
the administration," Mathou said. "We hope to be convincing."

"I am meeting the different members of Congress...of the Senate," he said, 
declining to give names.

However, Mathou said that "it will be up to democracy" to determine if the 
legislation will pass.

He said talking with the legislators was a "demonstration of a real democracy" 
as some expressed opposition while others showed support.

"I feel that we have a very tense debate at the Senate," he said.

Mathou said France believes that death penalty is "not efficient."

The United Nations wrote to Congress last year warning against the reimposition 
of death penalty. It said the Philippines will violate an international 
agreement by restoring the death penalty.

It also pointed out that research shows that there is "no reliable evidence 
that the death penalty is an effective deterrent to crime." It has also led to 
wrongful killing of innocent people, especially the poor, the UN said.

Asked what will happen to the 2 countries' relations if the Philippines 
reinstates the death penalty, Mathou said that diplomats do not respond to 
hypothetical situations.

"At the moment we are involved in advocacy and we will see," he said, adding 
that he is confident that the relations between Europe and the Philippines will 
remain "very strong."

Summary killings

Mathou was more careful when asked about the summary killings linked to the 
Philippine government???s anti-illegal drug campaign. More than 6,000 people 
have been reportedly killed in police shootouts and by so-called vigilante 
groups. Many are drug suspects while some are innocent bystanders.

"Of course we are concerned and we have expressed our concern," the ambassador 
said.

He said it is not their intention to interfere. Instead, he said France is 
expressing its concern because as friends, the 2 nations "can talk of 
anything."

Mathou did not give details but he said they have already discussed the issue 
with different agencies and stakeholders.

"It's an ongoing discussion. This is not only at the bilateral level. It is 
also in the EU (European Union) level," he said.

(source for both: newsinfo.inquirer.net)






KUWAIT----executions

Kuwait hangs 7 people including royal----Kuwait on Wednesday hanged 7 people 
including a member of the ruling family and a woman who burned dozens of people 
to death during a wedding party, state media said.


Kuwait on Wednesday hanged 7 people including a member of the ruling family and 
a woman who burned dozens of people to death during a wedding party, state 
media said. They are the 1st executions in the oil-rich Gulf state since 
mid-2013. Those executed included 2 Kuwaitis, 2 Egyptians and 1 each from 
Bangladesh, the Philippines and Ethiopia, the KUNA state news agency.

Sheikh Faisal Abdullah Al-Sabah, the 1st royal to be executed in the emirate, 
was convicted of killing another member of the ruling family in 2010 over a 
dispute.

Nusra al-Enezi, the other Kuwaiti, was convicted of setting fire to a tent in 
2009 during a wedding party for her husband, killing around 57 people, many of 
them women and children.

It was an apparent act of revenge against her husband for taking a 2nd wife.

She threw petrol on the tent, where dozens of women and children were 
celebrating inside, and burned it down in one of the most devastating crimes in 
the history of Kuwait.

The Filipina and Ethiopian women were domestic helpers convicted of murdering 
members of their employers' families in 2 unrelated crimes.

The 2 Egyptians were also convicted of premeditated murders while the 
Bangladeshi was convicted of abduction and rape.

(source: al-monitor.com)

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

Kuwait carries out seven executions in deeply alarming setback for human rights


In response to the news that the Kuwaiti authorities have carried out seven 
executions by hanging this morning for the first time since 2013, Samah Hadid 
Deputy Director for Campaigns at Amnesty International's regional office in 
Beirut said:

"Today's execution of 7 people - including 5 foreign nationals - is a shocking 
and deeply regrettable step backwards for Kuwait.

"By choosing to resume executions now the Kuwaiti authorities have displayed a 
wanton disregard for the right to life and signalled a willingness to weaken 
human rights standards.

"By choosing to resume executions now the Kuwaiti authorities have displayed a 
wanton disregard for the right to life and signalled a willingness to weaken 
human rights standards"----Samah Hadid, Deputy Director for Campaigns at the 
Beirut Regional office

"The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman, degrading punishment. Its 
use cannot be justified under any circumstances. Instead of resuming executions 
the Kuwaiti authorities should immediately work to review laws relating to the 
death penalty and establish a moratorium on executions with a view to 
ultimately abolishing the death penalty completely."

Kuwait is state party to 8 international human rights covenants. This is the 
2nd group of people to have been executed in the country since 2007, the other 
occasion being in 2013 when Kuwait carried out the execution of 5 non-Kuwaiti 
nationals.

The 7 people executed today were:

1- Mohammad Shahed Mohammad Sanwar Hussain, Bangladeshi national

2- Jakatia Midon Pawa, Filipina national

3- Amakeel OoKo Mikunin, Ethiopian national

4- Nasra Youssef Mohammad al-Anzi, Kuwaiti national

5- Sayed Radhi Jumaa, Egyptian national

6- Sameer Taha Abdulmajed Abduljaleel, Egyptian national

7- Faysal Abdullah Jaber Al Sabah, Kuwaiti national

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception 
regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or 
other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to 
carry out the execution.

(source: Amnesty International)

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

Death by hanging: How capital punishment is carried out in Kuwait


Filipino household worker Jakatia Pawa was 1 of around 20 people on death row 
in Kuwait, according to the Cornell University Law School's Center on Death 
Penalty Worldwide.

In 2013, five men were executed while police, judicial officials and 
journalists watched.

Kuwait carried out the 2013 executions by hanging.

The sentenced men were asked about their last requests--whether they'd like to 
meet a loved one or smoke one final cigarette. Then they were led to a platform 
while blindfolded and chained.

Once the order was given, the trap door beneath the convicts swung open and 
they were left dangling a few feet above the ground.

A medic was on standby to verify if the sentenced men were dead.

Most of those executed in 2013 were found guilty of murder, while another was 
convicted of rape.

Amnesty International said the executions were "a deplorable setback for human 
rights in the country."

All of those who were sentenced to die in 2013 were foreigners residing in 
Kuwait.

More than 1/2 of Kuwait's population of 4.1 million are migrant workers and 
expatriates.

More than 100,000 Filipinos live and work in Kuwait with some reports pegging 
the number of OFWs there at around 180,000.

(source: abs-cbn.com)






IRAN----executions

Northwestern Iran: 4 Prisoners Hanged


2 prisoners were reportedly hanged at Urmia's central prison on the morning of 
Monday January 23. According to close sources, the prisoners were sentenced to 
death on murder charges. Close sources have identified these prisoners as Osman 
Ghavitasi and Hamed Hamdollah.

The human rights news agencies HRANA and the Kurdistan Human Rights Network 
have reported on the execution of 2 prisoners at Urmia's central prison on 
Saturday January 21. According to these reports, the prisoners were sentenced 
to death on drug related charges, and 1 of the men had disabilities and was 
unable to move without a wheelchair. The 2 prisoners were reportedly 
transferred to solitary confinement on Friday January 20 in preparation for 
their executions. Information about them:

Ghabl Ali Bapeir

Sentenced to death on the charge of possession and trafficking 300 grams of 
heroin. Was detained in the prison's clinic due to his disabilities and 
illnesses.

Sina Hosseinpour----22 years old

Was detained in the juvenile offenders ward----Sentenced to death for 
possession and trafficking drugs.

Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have not 
announced these 4 executions.

(source: Iran Human Rights)






IRAQ----executions

Execution of 31 piles injustice on top of bloodshed


The mass execution of 31 men in Iraq, which was announced yesterday, for their 
alleged role in mass killings in 2014 is further proof of the Iraqi authority's 
blatant disregard for human rights and misguided use of the death penalty in 
the name of security, said Amnesty International.

Local authorities confirmed to Amnesty International that they yesterday 
received the 31 bodies in Samarrah, Salah al-Din governorate, which were then 
transferred to the city's hospital for purposes of being collected by their 
families, who have commenced to do so. The executions took place on Friday.

The men, whose "confessions" were extracted under serious allegations of 
torture, were convicted following deeply flawed and speedy trials, over the 
killing of 1,700 military cadets at Speicher military camp near Tikrit in June 
2014. The armed group calling itself Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility 
for those killings.

"This is the 2nd time in less than 6 months that the Iraqi authorities have 
carried out mass executions after unfair trials" said James Lynch, Head of the 
Death Penalty team at Amnesty International.

"The death penalty - the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment - is 
being used to create an illusion of security but it will only perpetuate the 
cycle of violence that is ravaging Iraq."

"Amnesty International has consistently condemned IS atrocities in the 
strongest of terms, including the heinous Speicher massacre. Victims of IS 
crimes have the right to justice and truth. However, unfair trials, torture and 
mass executions can never be considered justice."

"The Iraqi authorities must immediately establish an official moratorium on 
executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty."

(source: Amnesty International)

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

Dual Israeli-Canadian citizen facing death penalty in Arab country


A dual Israeli and Canadian citizen who joined a militia in an unnamed Arab 
country to fight the Islamic State is being held in prison there and could face 
the death penalty.

The Jewish man, Ben Hassin, 21, is the son of an Israeli father and a mother 
who has lived in Canada for 30 years. He has been under arrest since June 2015 
in the Arab country for the murder of a taxi driver, who he shot after the 
cabbie threatened to kill him for being Jewish and Israeli, according to 
reports citing Hassin's father, Ilan, of Tel Aviv.

Ilan Hassin told the local media that his son went to visit his grandparents in 
the Arab country and while there decided to enlist in the fight against ISIS 
with a local militia.

Israel's deputy minister for regional cooperation, Ayoub Kara of the Likud 
party, told the daily Haaretz that Hassin was to be executed for the murder 
after he had been in jail for a year and a half. Kara, who first learned of the 
situation in November, said he was able to have the execution canceled, as long 
as the family pays a $120,000 ransom.

Kara said he asked Israel's military censor to allow Hassin's story to go 
public, so the family can raise money for the ransom. The ransom must be paid 
by Sunday, according to Ilan Hassin.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry also is involved in efforts to get Hassin 
released.

Ben Hassin reportedly has been tortured in prison, his father told Israeli 
media.

(source: JTA)