[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 3




SAUDI ARABIA:

Set to execute 14 dissenters, Saudi Arabia defends its judicial 
system----Rights group says convictions handed down by a 'secretive' 
counterterrorism court using 'confessions extracted through torture'



Saudi Arabia's government, facing mounting criticism for the planned execution 
of 14 Shiite Muslims, has issued a rare statement defending its judicial 
system.

Ministry of Justice spokesman Mansour al-Qafari says all defendants facing 
trial in Saudi Arabia receive due process.

In a statement published Friday in the Saudi Press Agency, al-Qafari says 
terrorism-related cases and death penalty verdicts are reviewed by an appeals 
court and the supreme court, with a total of 13 judges reviewing the case 
before an execution is carried out.

The 14 men face execution for protests and violence against security forces. 
Rights group Reprieve says the initial judgment came from a "secretive" 
counterterrorism court that "used confessions extracted through torture as the 
basis of convictions."

1 of the convicts, Munir al-Adam, was only 18 at the time of his arrest in 
2012, allegedly for confronting police. His mother told The Washington Post 
that he was tortured during the first 3 months of his detention.

"He has been ordered to stand for long intervals of time," the mother, Zahraa 
Abdullah, said. "He was beaten with sticks and cables. He was electrocuted and 
prevented from eating or going to the bathroom."

Ultraconservative Sunni clerics in Saudi Arabia have in the past referred to 
Shiites as apostates, and Shiite protesters have been accused of being allied 
with the kingdom's rival, Iran.

(source: The Times of Israel)








IRAN----execution

Prisoner Executed on Murder Charges



A prisoner was reportedly hanged at Khorammabad's Parsilon Prison on murder 
charges.

According to the human rights news aqency, HRANA, the execution of the 
prisoner, who has been identified as Mohammad Mirzaie, was carried out on 
Wednesday August 30.

Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the state-run media, have 
not announced this execution.

(source: Iran Human Rights)








IRAQ:

Inside the Iraqi Courts Sentencing IS Suspects to Death



A young man wearing a shabby, brown prisoner's outfit stands before three 
black-robed judges in a tiny, provincial courtroom, shaking nervously.

After sipping some water, he confirms his name: Abdullah Hussein. He is accused 
of fighting for so-called Islamic State (IS).

"The decision of the court has been taken according to articles 2 and 3 of the 
2005 Counterterrorism Law," states the judge. "Death by hanging."

And then Hussein - who, like many suspects here, was picked up on the Mosul 
frontline - breaks down crying.

As IS is defeated on the battlefields of northern Iraq, some 3,000 suspected 
group members or collaborators are waiting to be prosecuted in Iraqi courts. 
Usually there are at least 50 hearings a day.

For security reasons, most are sent to 2 courthouses in this mainly Christian 
town, 30km (19 miles) south-east of Mosul, retaken by US-backed Iraqi forces in 
October.

Some human rights campaigners have criticised the system but top Iraqi judges 
insist it is playing a vital role in restoring law and order.

I was allowed to sit in on some of their trials.

Court confession

The next defendant, Khalil Hamada, is 21 and more talkative. He comes from a 
town held by IS for 2 years, and recalls seeking out its local recruiter.

"I went by myself, nobody forced me. A lot of us joined," he says.

"How did you join? What oath did you take?" the judge asks.

"I can't remember the sentences exactly," Mr Hamada replies. "But I swore 
loyalty to [IS chief] Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the caliphate."

He goes on to recount how he did training with IS - in Sharia law, bodybuilding 
and using weapons.

But he tells the court he became "just a cook" - before admitting he was also 1 
of 6 guards, "armed with Kalashnikovs" at an IS base.

He was paid about $150 dollars (120 pounds) a month.

When the judge summarises his story, Mr Hamada nods, "Yes, it's true". A woman 
prosecutor then speaks and - albeit briefly - a state-appointed defence lawyer.

Like Abdullah Hussein, Khalil Hamada gets the death penalty.

He is told he can appeal and that a higher court in Baghdad makes final 
rulings.

However, his look of resignation suggests he knows this is little more than a 
formality. 'Sending a message'

During fighting in Mosul, Human Rights Watch (HRW) found evidence that some 
Iraqi soldiers were executing suspected IS members instead of sending them to 
trial.

It said men and boys fleeing the city were ill-treated, tortured and killed. 
Iraq's prime minister has since admitted there were "clear violations".

Now HRW says it has "serious concerns" about the quality of defence in cases 
being heard at the Nineveh Criminal Court in Qaraqosh.

But Chief Judge Salam Nouri insists his court acts professionally and does an 
essential job.

"It sends a message to the people that the courts are the highest power and 
that the Iraqi government is back in control," he says.

"The judge remains neutral," says Justice Younis Jameeli, head of the 
Investigations Court, which has been temporarily set up in a large, family 
house.

He points out that IS targeted the judiciary in Mosul and says 15 of his 
colleagues were killed.

"Each of us lost family members and had homes destroyed but when a suspect 
appears before us, we treat him according to the law," he goes on.

When I ask Judge Jameeli about evidence, he has a glint in his eye. "You know 
IS are helping us convict them," he declares, reaching for a file in the stack 
on his desk.

Inside there is further proof that IS are not some disorderly militia; they 
meant to function as a state. It is a spreadsheet, printed off from a computer 
and recovered by Iraqi intelligence.

Each of the 196 rows neatly identifies an IS member - his full name and 
address, job and a photograph.

Culpability questions

With real fears that jihadists will try to blend back into the Iraqi 
population, the hope is that prosecutions can stop IS re-emerging as an 
insurgent group and prevent reprisals.

Outside the court, I meet Muwafaq who has come from Mosul to make an inquiry. 
He tells me his neighbour, who joined IS, burnt down his home. "I hope he gets 
to court before I see him," he says.

But others allege their loved ones were wrongly arrested.

One woman claims her husband, detained 2 months ago, has mental health 
problems.

A father says his son was "a regular guy selling vegetables from a cart" - not 
part of IS.

Talking to them, it is clear that judging exactly who was a collaborator is a 
tricky business; it is hard to tell whether some locals did what they had to 
just to survive or whether they bought into extremist IS ideology.

As court proceedings end for the day, armed guards march a column of prisoners 
out the gates, their heads down.

The streets of Qaraqosh, all around, are virtually deserted.

Three years ago tens of thousands of residents fled this mostly Christian town 
as IS advanced and very few have moved back.

Now Qaraqosh - with its desecrated churches - bears testimony to the barbarity 
of IS and just how hard it will be for ordinary Iraqis to rebuild their lives.

(source: aina.org)