[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 28




IRAN----execution

1 Prisoner Hanged In Northwestern Iran



A prisoner was executed at Urmia Central Prison (Darya) northwestern Iran. 
According to a close source, on the morning of Tuesday September 26, the 
execution sentence of a prisoner who was charged with murder was carried out at 
Urmia Central Prison. The prisoner was identified as Javad Khayyeri from ward 
15. Javad Khayyeri was transferred to solitary confinement along with three 
other prisoners yesterday. The t3 prisoners returned to their cells after 
either wining the consent of the plaintiff or asking for time.

Javad Khayyeri was charged with drug trafficking and murdering a police officer 
and was sentenced to death twice. But the death sentence for his drug related 
charges was reduced to life imprisonment a while ago.

This execution has not been announced by the state-run media so far.

According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 142 of the 
530 executions in 2016 were due to murder charges. There is a lack of a 
classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in issuing death 
sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intent.

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

Man Executed For Drug Charges In Ardebil



1 prisoner was reportedly executed at Ardebil Central Prison (Northwestern 
Iran).

According to a close source, on the morning of Wednesday September 20, a 
prisoner was executed at Ardebil Central Prison on drug related charges.

The prisoner was identified as Tofigh Yousefi. On the morning of Sunday 
September 17, Tofigh Yousefi and another prisoner, named Shahin Parsajou, were 
transferred to solitary confinement. Iran Human Rights (IHR) had reported the 
execution of Shahin Parsajou which was carried out on Monday September 18. 
However, Tofigh's execution was delayed until Wednesday for unknown reasons.

The execution of Tofigh Yousefi and Shahin Parsajou has not been announced by 
the state-run media so far.

The execution of prisoners with drug related charges continues to be carried 
out in Iran despite the fact that the bill for the amendment to the drug law in 
Iran has been approved by Iranian Parliament. However, the Guardian Council 
must still approve the bill.

(source for both: Iran Human Rights)








GAZA:

'It's cruel and inhuman': EU condemns death sentences issued in Gaza



The EU Missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah condemned on Wednesday recent death 
sentences issued in the besieged Gaza Strip, calling the practice "cruel and 
inhuman."

On Tuesday, a Gaza court issued death sentences against 3 Palestinian residents 
of Khan Younis, charged with killing a resident of Deir al-Balah during a 
robbery on his home, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The EU responded to the reports by reiterating their "firm opposition under all 
circumstances to the use of capital punishment," adding that the EU supports 
the complete abolition of the death penalty in order to protect "human dignity 
and the progressive development of human rights."

The EU "considers capital punishment to be cruel and inhuman, that it fails to 
provide deterrence to criminal behaviour, and represents an unacceptable denial 
of human dignity and integrity," the statement added.

The statement then urged authorities in Gaza to cease carrying out executions 
and to comply with the moratorium on executions imposed by the Ramallah-based 
Palestinian Authority (PA).

Under Palestinian law, willful, premeditated murder and treason as well as 
collaboration with the enemy -- usually Israel -- are punishable by death. 
However, all death sentences must be ratified by the Palestinian president 
before they can be carried out.

Despite this, the Hamas de facto administration in Gaza has carried out 
executions periodically without receiving approval from PA President Mahmoud 
Abbas since 2010.

According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, at least 22 death 
sentences have been carried out in the besieged Gaza Strip since the Hamas 
movement rose to power there in 2007.

However, Hamas has recently agreed to allow the national reconciliation 
government to operate in the besieged Gaza Strip, possibly putting an end to a 
national split in the Palestinian government since a bloody conflict broke out 
between the Fatah-ruled PA and Hamas more than a decade ago.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said on Tuesday that by next Monday, 
when the PA holds its next weekly cabinet meeting in the Gaza Strip, all of 
Gaza's affairs will be handed over to the PA.

(source: maannews.com)








SRI LANKA:

Death Penalty for seven accused of Jaffna school girl's rape and murder



A Sri Lankan court today sentenced 7 accused to death for the abduction, rape 
and murder of a school girl in Jaffna in 2015.

The 18-year-old school girl, Sivaloganathan Vidya was kidnapped, gang raped and 
murdered on Pungudutivu island of Jaffna in Northern Province on 13 May 2015.

Jaffna High Court today convicted 7 of the 9 suspects in the brutal crime and 
acquitted and released the 1st and 7th suspects of all charges.

1st suspect Poobalasingham Indrakumar alias Sinnappa and 7th suspect Palani 
Rubasingham Kuganathan alias Nishanthan were released.

The other suspects Poobalasingham Jeyakumar alias Ravi, Poobalasingham 
Navakumar alias Sendil, Mahalingam Shashidaren alias Shashi, Pillainandan 
Chandrakasan alias Chandra, Shivaderan Kushange alias Periyathamby, Jeyadaran 
Kokilan alias Kanna, and Mahalingam Shashikumar alias Swiss Kumar were 
sentenced to death.

The suspects were charged with a total of 47 counts. Hearing in the case began 
on June 28 and concluded on September 13.

The special 3-judge panel hearing the case comprising Vavuniya High Court judge 
Balendran Shashi Mahendran, Trincomalee High Court judge Annalingam 
Premachandra and Jaffna High Court Judge Manickavasagar Illancheliyan made a 
unanimous decision to impose the death penalties.

The mother of the girl, Shivayoganathan Saraswathi, was also present in court 
on a notice issued by the court to appear before the court today (27).

The security of the Jaffna Court Complex and Jaffna town was tightened today.

The brutal gang rape and the killing shook the island nation sparking violent 
protests in Jaffna seeking justice for the young victim.

(source: colombopage.com)








INDIA:

Uttar Pradesh govt promulgates excise ordinance to include death penalty to 
punish illicit hooch makers



Those who cause hooch deaths in Uttar Pradesh can now be sentenced death, the 
state government on Wednesday said, promulgating an ordinance for amending the 
UP Excise Act.

Under the new act, people dealing with illicit or spurious liquor can be 
sentenced to life or hanged to death.

"Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik has promulgated the Uttar Pradesh Excise 
(Amendment) Ordinance 2017. The ordinance is related to the poisonous nature of 
illicit liquor and the loss of life caused by its consumption," an official 
statement released by the Raj Bhavan said.

Since the state legislature is not in session and seeing the immediate nature 
of the issue, the governor approved the proposal passed by the Uttar Pradesh 
Cabinet after legal examinations, it said.

The measure is seen as an effort to stamp out the state's illicit liquor mafia, 
an excise department official said.

The decision to add the death penalty provision was taken last week at a 
meeting of the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The measure would act as a deterrent, Uttar Pradesh excise minister Jai Pratap 
Singh had told PTI.

After Delhi and Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh has become the third state where 
bootleggers may be sent to the gallows if consumption of spurious liquor leads 
to a loss of life.

Singh explained that to curb the manufacture of spurious liquor, provisions of 
life imprisonment and the death penalty have been incorporated in the existing 
law through the ordinance.

The death penalty provision will be applied depending upon the intensity of the 
case, he said.

Under the proposal mooted in the Cabinet (on 19 September), the government 
amended various sections of the UP Excise Act and added a new section 60(A) for 
the purpose. The amendment will also make the offence non-bailable.

The new section seeks to provide that the guilty may be punished with life 
imprisonment, or Rs 10 lakh penalty, or both. Those whose spurious liquor have 
caused death or permanent disability can be sentenced to death.

The other sections to be amended seek to enhance financial penalties in other 
illicit liquor-related offences.

Hooch tragedies take a heavy toll every year in Uttar Pradesh.

In July, 17 people died in Azamgarh after they consumed spurious liquor. In 
2015, 28 people were killed in a similar incident in the Malihabad area of 
Lucknow.

(source: firstpost.com)








IRAQ:

UN human rights chief "appalled" at Iraq mass execution



The mass hanging of 42 prisoners on Sunday 24 September at Al Hoot prison in 
the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah raises "massive concerns" over the 
country's use of the death penalty, the UN human rights chief said Wednesday.

"I am appalled to learn of the execution of 42 prisoners in a single day," UN 
High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said. "Under 
international law, the death penalty may only be imposed after a strict set of 
substantive and procedural requirements have been met."

Zeid said it was "extremely doubtful" that these strict due process and fair 
trial guarantees - including the men's rights to effective legal assistance and 
a full appeals process, and to seek pardon or commutation of their sentence - 
had been met in every one of these 42 individual cases.

"In such circumstances, there is a clear risk of a gross miscarriage of 
justice," he added.

He also stressed that the death penalty, if it is used at all, can only be 
imposed for the "most serious crimes," a category UN human rights mechanisms 
have consistently interpreted as restricted to murder and other forms of 
intentional killing.

"We can all agree that members of terrorist groups who are proven to have 
committed serious crimes should be held fully accountable for them," Zeid said. 
"However, Iraq's use of anti-terrorism legislation to impose the death penalty 
for a wide range of acts does not appear to meet the strict threshold of 'most 
serious crimes.'"

Iraqi government officials have stated that the executed prisoners were Iraqis 
affiliated to ISIL or al-Qaeda, who had been charged under anti-terrorism laws 
with offences including kidnapping, killing members of the security forces, 
carrying out armed robberies, and detonating Improvised Explosive Devices. 
However no information has been released about their names, places of 
residence, exact crimes, trials, date of sentencing, or the appeals processes 
which Iraqi officials say they have exhausted.

"The lack of precise information about the cases is an additional cause for 
concern," Zeid added. UN human rights staff in Iraq have been regularly 
requesting information on the use of the death penalty for the past 2 years - 
including as recently as last week - but have received no responses from either 
the Government or the judiciary.

The UN human rights office, noting that Iraqi officials have stated that around 
1,200 of the estimated 6,000 prisoners held in Nasiriyah have been sentenced to 
death, has repeatedly warned that the Iraqi justice system as a whole is too 
flawed to allow for any executions.

"We are extremely concerned at reports that Iraq may be planning to expedite 
the process of executing prisoners already sentenced to death, and that this 
could result in more large-scale executions in the coming weeks," Zeid said. 
"This raises the prospect of further violations, as the imposition of a death 
sentence upon the conclusion of a trial in which fair trial provisions have not 
been respected constitutes a violation of the right to life."

He noted general concern at Iraq's lack of compliance with its international 
human rights obligations in relation to the imposition of the death penalty, in 
particular under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to 
which Iraq has been a State Party for more than 40 years.

"I urge Iraq to step back from its policy of accelerated or mass executions," 
Zeid said. He also called on the Government to establish a special judicial 
oversight body to make recommendations on legal reforms that would ensure 
respect for due process and fair trial standards, as well as to monitor any 
future trials related to capital punishment.

"I also urge the authorities to halt all imminent executions and to establish 
an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty," he added.

(source: reliefweb.int)








MOROCCO:

Nador Court Sentences Man to Capital Punishment, Amid Calls to Eliminate Death 
Penalty in Morocco



The penal court in Nador in northern Morocco has sentenced a man to death, the 
Moroccan daily Al Massae reported on Wednesday. The sentence comes at a time 
where Morocco where human rights NGOs still urge for the suspension of the 
death penalty in Morocco.

The person in question was found guilty of murdering a couple in the 
neighboring rural municipality of Bni Sidel Louta in February 2016.

The man committed his crime when broke into the couple's house for robbery, 
according to Al Massae. When discovered by the family, he murdered the husband 
and his wife and severely injured their daughter and the father's sister.

After a 1-year deliberation, the court found the accused guilty of voluntary 
homicide, robbery with violence, taking victims as hostages, and committing 
torture and death threats against them.

In Morocco, the death penalty is still issued by courts but is rarely carried 
out. The last execution in the country happened in 1993 after the country's 
biggest sexual violence case, when Mustapha Tabit, a police officer was found 
to have abused and video-taped hundreds of victims, was killed by firing squad.

The Moroccan Coalition Against the Death Penalty (CMCPM), which is made up of 
several human rights group, said in December 2016 that 93 prisoners in Morocco 
are currently on death row.

The coalition advocates for the "right to life" and urges Morocco to abolish 
the death penalty.

Advocates of eliminating capital punishment from local penal laws had on 
several occasions staged demonstrations and held conferences to push for a 
change in Moroccan legislation.

Anti-death penalty activists say that sentencing people to capital punishment 
is a "vengeful" attitude from the state and that the latter has no right to 
take people's lives.

However, advocates for death penalty in Morocco see it as a "fair" sentence 
especially against criminals found guilty of multiple cases of muder.

(source: Morocco World News)