[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 4



QATAR:

Qatar court sentences Nepali man to death for murdering Qatari national



Jun 4, 2018-A court in Qatar has sentenced death penalty to a Nepali man by a 
firing squad for murdering a Qatari national Umair Mohammed Umair Al Ramzani 
Al-Nauimi.

A joint bench of Primary Court (Criminal) presided by Judge Mustafa Al Bedahewi 
sentenced the capital punishment to Anil Chaudhary of Aurahi-1, Mahottari. 
Chaudhary was arrested on the first week of April, 2017 for his alleged 
involvement in the murder of a Qatari national.

Meanwhile, the Nepali Embassy in Qatar has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court 
of Qatar seeking to save the life of the convicted.

Prior to the incident, Chaudhary was working at a car ash company as a general 
labour. He is now being kept at the Central Jail.

Likewise, the Nepali Embassy in Qatar has sought 30,000 Riyal (around Rs 
600,000) from the Nepal government as fees to defend Chaudhary at the Supreme 
Court. The Foreign Ministry has forwarded the request to Labour Ministry which 
has forward it to Foreign Employment Promotion Board where the matter is being 
discussed.

This is the 1st instance of a Nepali killing a local in Qatar. However, 10 
Nepali migrant workers convicted of killing fellow Nepalis are serving their 
respective jail sentences at various prisons.

(source: Kathmandu Post)








EUROPEAN UNION/SUDAN:

EU Parliament calls on Sudan to overturn Noura's death sentence



The European Parliament called on the Sudanese government to commute the death 
sentence on Noura Hussein and requested the EU Commission to observe human 
rights when it engages cooperation projects in Sudan.

Last May, a Sudanese court sentenced Noura Hussein, 19 years, to death for 
killing her husband who raped her following a forced marriage. Her husband's 
family refused to accept financial compensation.

The case raised international solidarity with the teenager female who had been 
forced into marriage at the age of 16. Also, it shed again the light on the 
difficult woman situation particularly Sudan remain among few countries that 
refuse to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of 
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) adopted in 1979 by the UN General 
Assembly.

The European Parliament "Deplores and condemns the sentencing to death of Noura 
Hussein Hammad; calls on the Sudanese authorities to commute the death sentence 
and fully take into account the fact that Ms Hussein was acting in self-defence 
against the attempt by a man and his accomplices to rape her," says a 
resolution adopted on Thursday 31 May.

It was reported the young girl had been held down by the brother of her 
husband, a relative and a 3rd person to assist her husband to rape her. The 
next day he tried again to rape her but she stabbed him to death.

During an emergency debate on Noura Hussein situation on Thursday 31 May, the 
EU lawmakers pointed that the imposition of the death penalty against clear 
evidence of self-defence constitutes "arbitrary killing" in line with the 
international standards.

While Hussein's lawyers have formally appealed the ruling, an international 
campaign to get the sentence overturned received over million signatures in 
addition to the support of high-profile figures including actors Mira Sorvino, 
Emma Watson and Rose McGowan, model Naomi Campbell and former Prime Minister 
Julia Gillard.

The EU Parliament recalled that the government of Sudan has the obligation to 
guarantee a fair trial and to take the necessary measures to ensure Hussein's 
protection.

The resolution called on the Sudanese government to ratify the Convention 
against Torture (CAT) and CEDAW.

Furthermore it "strongly requests that the EU and its Member States ensure that 
the implementation of projects with the Sudanese authorities observe the 'do no 
harm' principle, which would rule out cooperation with actors responsible for 
human rights violations".

The EU is currently funding EUR 275 million - projects in Sudan, through the 
European Development Fund (EDF), the European Instrument for Democracy and 
Human Rights (EIDHR) and the Instrument contributing to Security and Peace.

Khartoum also hopes that the EU resumes its development and economic support to 
Sudan which has been stopped after the coup d'etat that brought general Omer 
al-Bashir to power in June 1989.

CONTINUING WORRY

Speaking at the EU Parliament urgency debate, European commissioner for 
humanitarian aid and crisis management Christos Stylianides, expressed concern 
over the case, adding that the human rights situation in Sudan "constitutes a 
continuing worry" for the European Union.

The case of young lady "brings to the forefront many of the country's complex 
and interrelated human rights problems ranging from sexual violence, child and 
forced marriage to the continuing use of capital punishment," he stressed.

Stylianides who was in Khartoum in October 2017 pledged to continue to closely 
follow the case of Noura and raise it with the Sudanese authorities.

"The EU will continue to make use of the different means at our disposal to 
promote and protect girls' and women's human rights in Sudan," he further said.

He welcomed a statement by the Sudanese Minister of Justice last week to ratify 
the CEDAW.

(source: Sudan Tribune)