[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 1



UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

Man gets death penalty after failed proposal leads to murder in UAE



He was drunk at the time of the incident.

A man accused of killing another man who asked for his sister's hand in 
marriage has been sentenced to death in Abu Dhabi.

The Asian victim had allegedly refused the suspect who proposed to marry his 
sister, as per Al Bayan report.

The 2 men got into an argument on the matter and the victim brandished a knife.

The suspect struck him, which led to the man dying as a result of his injuries.

The suspect claimed he was forced to strike in self-defence with no criminal 
intent.

Medical reports showed the victim had been drunk at the time of his murder.

(source: Khaleej Times)








SOUTH SUDAN:

Former SA army colonel escapes South Sudan death penalty



Following an amnesty from South Sudan President Salva Kiir, former South 
African army colonel William Endley has escaped being hanged after he was 
sentenced to death by a Juba court in February.

He will be released from prison on Thursday and then deported back to South 
Africa.

On Wednesday South Sudan President Salva Kiir declared the release of 2 
political detainees, including Endley, who was sentenced on charges of treason, 
the East African reported. Also released was James Gatdet, a former spokesman 
of rebel leader Dr Riek Machar.

Gatdet was arrested in 2017 after his deportation from Nairobi for allegedly 
subversive activities against the Juba administration.

In addition to the charges of conspiracy and attempts to overthrow South 
Sudan's government, the supply of weapons the South African national was also 
accused of espionage, waging an insurgency, sabotage, terrorism and illegal 
entry into South Sudan.

(source: iol.co.za)








NIGERIA:

NGOs want death sentence for armed robbery abolished



2 non-governmental organisations, Access to Justice and Avocats Sans Fronteires 
France, have commenced a lawsuit seeking the abolishment of death sentence for 
armed robbery.

In their suit before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, 
the NGOs are urging the court to declare that Section 1(2) of the Robbery and 
Firearms (Special Provisions Act) Act is unconstitutional, null and void.

According to them, the provisions of the Act are in conflict with Section 34(1) 
of the 1999 Constitution and Articles 4 and 5 of the African Charter, which 
guarantee the right to human dignity and equality before the law.

The NGOs contended further that the provisions of the Act are also in conflict 
with sections 6(6)(a), 42 and 45 of the 1999 Constitution.

They described Section 1(2) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions 
Act) Act "and similar statutory provisions that mandate death penalty" as 
unreasonable, unjustifiable, and unconstitutional.

The NGOs are urging the court to order the defendants in the suit to 
immediately review the cases of all convicts who had been sentenced to death 
pursuant to Section 1(2) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions Act) 
Act.

Joined as defendants in the suit are the Attorney General of the Federation; 
the Controller General of the Nigerian Prisons Service; and the National Human 
Rights Commission.

The plaintiffs want the court to order the Controller General of the Nigerian 
Prisons Service "to immediately remove convicts who have been sentenced under 
the aforesaid provision from the death row and reassign them to appropriate 
prison facilities, pending the review of their sentences."

They want the court to direct the NHRC to review the cases of affected death 
row inmates within six months of the final judgment in the case.

(source: punchng.com)








KENYA:

DPP Seeks Death Penalty in Endarasha Boys' High School Dormitory Fire Case



The Director of Public Prosecutions on Wednesday prescribed the death penalty 
for 14 people over a dormitory fire that occurred at Endarasha Boys' High 
School 8 years ago.

Presenting in court, State Counsel Njagi Njue stated that circumstantial 
evidence showed that the fire that killed 2 students was caused by human beings 
using petroleum products.

"Circumstantially, the prosecution has been able to show the bodies were of a 
human being and belonged to the two students. The pathologist indicated that 
scientifically, the victims were burnt to death and ruled out the possibility 
of them being dead before the fire started. He explained that through what he 
called mechanism of death," he told Justice Jairus Ngaah.

The prosecutor told the court that the two killed in the fire were Kennedy 
Karogo and Joseph Mwangi arguing the reason a jerican was found in the 
dormitory.

3 Endarasha Boys' High School students leave Nyeri Law Courts after they denied 
arson charges on July 17, 2017.

"[Why was that jerican in] the dormitory? It was not a garage. The container 
was used to carry petrol. Those who went to the scene said the fire was fierce 
and that they could not extinguish it. The fuel accelerated the fire," Njue 
explained.

He added that the arsonists were identified after students were asked to write 
anonymous notes.

The former students were identified as Oby Tylene Oyugi, Derrick Wambugu, Davin 
Ndung'u, Andrew Kandia, Edward Karugu, Stephen Ndirangu, Wilson Wahome, Peter 
Njoroge, Arnold Mwaura, Ayub Kung'u, Kevin Muya and Gerishon Mwangi.

Also facing charges are petrol station businessmen Fredrick Githinji Wangai and 
Stephen Mwaniki Mutahi who were implicated in selling the petrol to the 
students.

In his argument, Njue stated that the 2 traders should have had the 
intelligence to know the students were up to no good when they bought the fuel.

There was a common intention among all the suspects. They had malice 
aforethought," Njue argued.

(source: kenyans.co.ke)








SUDAN:

Sudanese Priest Charged With Apostasy - 8 Other Christians Forced to Return to 
Islam



A Sudanese priest has been charged with apostasy - and offence that carries the 
death penalty in the Islamic country. 8 other Christians have been forced to 
renounce their faith and return to Islam after alleged torture in custody.

As previously reported by Radio Dabanga, agents of Sudan's National 
Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) held 13 Christians from a home they 
share in Nyala on October 13.

The reason for the detention of the Christians in the South Darfur capital is 
unclear, World Watch Monitor (WWM) reported. A local source told the Christian 
watchdog that 3 of the detainees were later released, without an explanation.

In a statement yesterday, the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies 
(ACJPS) calls upon the Sudanese government to urgently investigate the reported 
torture and ill-treatment of 9 Christian citizens who were detained by the 
National Intelligence and Security Services on allegations of apostasy. The 
ACJPS further called on Sudan to: drop the pending apostasy charges against the 
Darfuri priest; ensure the respect for religious rights and guarantee 
individual's freedom of religious creed and worship as provided for under the 
Interim National Constitution, 2005 and international human rights treaties to 
which Sudan is a state party to.

(source: allafrica.com)




BANGLADESH:

HC upholds death penalty of convicts involved in journo murder----After hearing 
the appeals from the convicts and the death references on Wednesday, the bench 
of Justices Bhabani Prasad Singha and Mustafa Zaman Islam upheld the verdict



The High Court has upheld the death sentences of the three convicts, in the 
2010 murder case of ATN Bangla's senior cameraman Shafiqul Islam Mithu.

After hearing the appeals from the convicts and the death references on 
Wednesday, the bench of Justices Bhabani Prasad Singha and Mustafa Zaman Islam 
upheld the verdict.

Shafiqul, 40, was kidnapped while he was going to the Kawran Bazar office from 
his Kawla residence on May 8, 2010. Later, on the following day, his body was 
found in an area under the Turag police station.

In October of the same year, police pressed charges against Mohammad Ratan, 
Mohammad Sujan, Mohammad Rahat and Mohammad Raju.

Rahat was killed in a "gunfight" with police and theothers gave confessional 
statements.

In 2012, the court indicted the 3 suspects and in February 2013, Additional 
Metropolitan Sessions Court Judge Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman awarded them a death 
sentence.

(source: Dhaka Tribune)








IRAN:

Iranian Journalist Could Face Death Penalty For Allegedly "Insulting" Shia 
Prophet



Iranian journalist Pouyan Khoshhal has been arrested in Tehran and charged with 
a crime that could carry the death penalty for using the word "demise" instead 
of "martyrdom" while referring to a revered figure of Shia Islam.

He was also fired from the reformist Ebtekar newspaper, which issued an apology 
instead of defending the journalist.

Khoshhal was taken into custody on October 25, 2018, while waiting to board an 
international flight at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport and 
charged with "insulting the divinity of Imam Hossein and other members of the 
prophet's blessed household," the Iranian judiciary's official news agency 
Mizan reported.

According to Iran's Islamic Penal Code, those convicted of insulting Imam 
Hossein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, could be issued the death penalty.

Article 262 states, "Anyone who swears at or commits qazf against the Great 
Prophet [of Islam] (peace be upon him) or any of the Great Prophets, shall be 
considered as Sab ul-nabi [a person who swears at the prophet], and shall be 
sentenced to the death penalty."

On October 21, Ebtekar had published a report by Khoshhal, "Disease Awaits 
Careless Pilgrims," about the medical issues faced by the millions of Iranians 
who take a pilgrimage to Iman Hossein's shrine in Karbala, Iraq annually. Last 
year, 2,320,000 Iranians made the trip, according to state media reports.

"Every year, pilgrims travel to the city of Karbala to mark the 40th day of the 
anniversary of Imam Hossein's demise," wrote Khoshhal.

The next day, the word "demise" was changed to "martyrdom" and Ebtekar's Chief 
Editor Reza Dehaki issued an apology. Khoshhal was also fired from his job.

"In our report, instead of the word 'martyrdom,' another word was used by 
mistake and for this we apologize to Imam Zaman, Imam Hossein and all 
Shi'ites," Dehaki wrote.

Hardline officials responded to the apology by demanding Khoshhal's arrest.

Without mentioning Khoshhal's name, Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi 
announced on October 24 that an arrest warrant had been issued for the 
journalist "who published numerous articles that insulted Imam Hossein."

Khoshhal was also attacked by social media users who called for his execution.

"According to the fatwas of all Shia religious leaders, [Khoshhal] is guilty 
and should be executed as soon as possible," tweeted user "Ammar," who in his 
Twitter profile describes himself as a willing martyr for Iranian Supreme 
Leader Ali Khamenei.

"Khomeini95," who considers himself "a simple cleric," also tweeted that 
Khoshhal should be "skewered" for being a "threat to society."

On the other hand, some journalists in Iran defended Khoshhal while criticizing 
the newspaper for firing him.

"What Pouyan Khoshhal wrote could really have been an error. Ebtekar's 
publisher and editors showed how dishonorable they are by firing Khoshhal and 
the twitter wave against him is absolutely disgraceful," tweeted journalist 
Mahsa Jazini.

The conservative Kayhan newspaper, which claims to have a direct line to the 
supreme leader, meanwhile criticized the Ebtekar newspaper for allowing a 
reporter to use an allegedly inappropriate noun to describe Imam Hossein's 
death.

"What's worth noting is that Ebtekar's publisher is Mohammad Ali Vakili, a 
member of Parliament's leadership [committee], and unfortunately a member of 
the Press Supervisory Tribunal as well and yet he has no clue what is going on 
in his own newspaper," said an unsigned editorial in Kayhan on October 23.

The Ebtekar newspaper has been repeatedly banned and reopened in Iran, 
including during the 1st term of current President Hassan Rouhani.

On October 29, the tribunal issued a warning to the newspaper, according to the 
Fars News Agency.

(source: Iran Human Rights)

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

Iran Regime May Execute Four Environmentalists



Iranian regime's prosecutors have charged 4 conservationists with "sowing 
corruption on Earth", a crime that carries the death sentence in the Islamic 
Republic, for simply carrying out scientific monitoring of endangered species.

The Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation workers were arrested in January for 
espionage, after the Revolutionary Guards Corps accused them of using their 
camera traps, which were intended to monitor the rare Asiatic cheetahs and 
other wildlife, to spy on the country's ballistic missile program.

This charge is false, of course, and even the Iranian government admitted 
earlier this year that they had no evidence to support the spying charges. 
Thus, the Revolutionary Guards Corps was forced to change its tactics and 
charge the environmentalists with a national security charge instead.

Tara Sepehri Far, a researcher with Human Rights Watch in New York City, said 
that this was "a very bizarre charge to bring against environmental activists" 
and "totally unprecedented".

However, given the Iranian Regime's crackdown on environmentalists, especially 
those with ties to the West, earlier this year, it is not surprising that the 
mullahs would go this far.

Even Iran's deputy vice president for the environment was arrested and held for 
a few days, before he was released but still under pressure from the Iranian 
Regime. Kaveh Madani, a former water management expert at Imperial College 
London, escaped in April when on a foreign trip and is now in an undisclosed 
location.

He said: "The scientific community can do a lot by challenging the narrative 
that is being sold by [the Revolutionary Guards]. People trust the scientific 
community, and once they come with their counternarrative, the hardliners 
cannot sell their BS easily."

The accused

The names of the accused are believed to be Taher Ghadirian, Houman Jowkar, 
Morad Tahbaz, and Niloufar Bayani. They were arrested alongside five other 
environmentalists on similar charges, but the co-founder of the Persian 
Wildlife Heritage Foundation Professor Kavous Seyed-Emami, an Iranian-Candian 
citizen, died under suspicious circumstances in jail in February. Authorities 
claim he committed suicide, but many believe that he died under torture.

Ghadirian and Jowkar serve on International Union for Conservation of Nature 
(IUCN) panels, which decide whether certain species are classified as 
threatened. Both serve on the cat panel, while Ghadirian is also a member of 
the bear specialist group.

IUCN Species Survival Commission Chair Jon Paul Rodríguez, a conservation 
biologist at the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research in Caracas, said: 
"IUCN is deeply alarmed by the charges. Camera traps are indispensable for 
tracking the status and biology of threatened species. As far as I am aware, 
practically the only information we have on the Asiatic cheetah comes from 
camera traps."

No trial dates have been set for the environmentalists.

(source: ncr-iran.org)








PAKISTAN:

Pakistan's Islamist party says judges who acquitted Christian woman 'deserve 
death'



A hard-line Islamist party in Pakistan has called for the death of the 
country's Supreme Court judges responsible for overturning the death sentence 
of a Christian woman accused of blasphemy, Reuters reports.

"The patron in chief of TLP, Muhammad Afzal Qadri, has issued the edict that 
says the chief justice and all those who ordered the release of Asia deserve 
death," party spokesman Ejaz Ashraf said, as cited by the news agency.

The Tehreek-e-Labaik (TLP) party called for the death of the chief justice and 
2 other judges in Pakistan's highest court after they spared the life of Asia 
Bibi, 47, who was convicted of blasphemy in 2010.

The party also demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan's government be ousted 
following the court's order.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled in favor of the release of Bibi, who was 8 
years ago accused and sentenced for "insulting Islam." As long as she faces no 
other charges, the woman should be released, the court ordered.

TLP 2 weeks ago organized a mass anti-blasphemy rally calling on Bibi to be 
executed as the court waited to release its verdict on her final appeal. The 
protests took part mainly in the city of Lahore, but demonstrations took place 
in other areas too, including Karachi and Rawalpindi.

Bibi's case started when, according to her autobiography, she sought to get 
some drinking water out of a well on a hot fruit-picking day.

She was then told off by a Muslim neighbor, who turned to other Muslim women in 
the area to tell them the Christian devotee had dirtied the water by drinking 
from their cup. Several women called Bibi a "filthy Christian" and told her to 
convert to Islam.

Bibi refused, saying: "I believe in my religion and in Jesus Christ, who died 
on the cross for the sins of mankind. What did your Prophet Mohammad ever do to 
save mankind? And why should it be me that converts instead of you?"

She was then shoved and spat at, the autobiography claims. Days later, Bibi was 
accused of blasphemy. She has denied the charge.

Bibi's case, the 1st in which a woman has been sentenced to death by hanging 
for blasphemy in Pakistan, has drawn widespread condemnation. Pope Benedict XVI 
was among those who calling for her to be freed in 2010.

(source: rt.com)

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

Pakistan's Aasia Bibi Finally Gets Justice----Pakistan Government Should 
Protect Vulnerable Citizens and Repeal Blasphemy Law



Pakistan’s Supreme Court has finally put an end to the horrific ordeal of 
47-year-old Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman from a village in Punjab province who 
has spent the past 8 years of her life on death row.

Bibi was convicted under Pakistan's blasphemy law after a June 2009 altercation 
with fellow farm workers who refused to drink water she had touched, contending 
it was "unclean" because she was Christian. After years of controversy about 
her case, her conviction was finally quashed on October 31. Groups supporting 
the blasphemy law immediately took to the streets to protest the decision, and 
have threatened judges of the supreme court, government officials, and military 
leadership with violent reprisals.

Bibi was the first woman in Pakistan's history to be sentenced to death for 
blasphemy, though others have been convicted and given lesser sentences.

At least 17 people remain on death row after being convicted under Pakistan's 
blasphemy law, and hundreds more await trial. Since 1990, dozens of people 
accused of blasphemy have been murdered.

Often the most vulnerable members of religious minorities have become victims. 
In August 2009, a Christian hamlet was set on fire in Gojra, Punjab. In 
September 2017, Nadeem James, a 35-year-old Christian, was sentenced to death 
for forwarding a poem to a friend that was deemed insulting to Islam. James 
denied sending the message. In April 2014, a Christian couple was sentenced to 
death for sending a blasphemous text message to a local cleric, a charge they 
denied.

Those who condemned Aasia Bibi's conviction or criticized Pakistan's blasphemy 
law have also been killed. In January 2011, Salmaan Taseer, the governor of 
Punjab province, was killed by his own security guard. And in March 2011, 
Shahbaz Bhatti, the federal minister for minorities affairs, was assassinated.

Aasia Bibi's acquittal is a moment for reflection. There is a real fear that 
violent protests could erupt, and there have already been threats against the 
judges that ruled in Bibi's case. Prime Minister Imran Khan's new government 
should use this opportunity to amend and ultimately repeal a blasphemy law that 
has, too often, been used against Pakistan's most marginalized and most 
vulnerable.

(source: Human Rights Watch)

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

UN welcomes SC's ruling to overturn Asia Bibi's death sentence



The United Nations on Wednesday welcomed Pakistan's Supreme Court decision to 
acquit Asia Bibi after accepting an appeal against her sentence.

Asia Bibi was convicted and sentenced to hang in 2010 after being accused of 
blasphemy. On Wednesday, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar overturned her conviction, 
ordering her to be freed if she was not accused of any other crime.

Responding to a question at the regular noon briefing in New York, UN Deputy 
Spokesman Farhan Haq said the world body has a "standard policy" against 
imposition of death penalty.

"In line with that policy, we welcome the decision of Pakistan's Supreme 
Court," he added. Beyond that, Farhan Haq said he had no comments.

Meanwhile, leading rights groups also welcomed the Supreme Court's verdict to 
acquit Asia Bibi.

On the other hand, some religious parties have launched countrywide protests, 
against the acquittal of Asia Bibi, swarming the streets in all major cities, 
including Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi where key roads were closed down.

(source: thenews.com.pk)








INDIA:

MP man gets death penalty in rape-murder case----According to the post mortem 
report, the victim had several injuries on her body, including private parts, 
and had been strangled.



A 24-year-old man has been awarded capital punishment for raping and killing a 
3-year-old girl in Gauharganj in Raisen district on August 13, taking to 16 the 
number of death sentences handed down by different courts in Madhya Pradesh 
since February 28 this year.

"The way the accused has crossed limits of inhumanity while committing the 
crime proves that he is a danger to the entire society. He is an ulcer for 
society and his rehabilitation is not possible," observed additional district 
judge Surekha Mishra while handing down the death penalty to Jitendra Uikey of 
Nayapura Sodarpur village.

The victim had gone to her grandmother's house from where the accused lured her 
with the promise of offering a toffee. Her body was found the next day in a 
jungle. According to the post mortem report, the victim had several injuries on 
her body, including private parts, and had been strangled. Though there was no 
eyewitness, the prosecution argued there was enough circumstantial evidence and 
a positive DNA report to convict the accused.

(source: indianexpress.com)








SINGAPORE:

Singapore launches survey on death penalty----Last week's hanging in Singapore 
of convicted Malaysian drug trafficker Prabu N Pathmanathan sparked fresh calls 
to scrap the death penalty, a legacy of British colonial rule.



Singapore will gauge public attitudes towards the death penalty in a survey, 
the interior ministry said Wednesday, as human rights groups renewed calls for 
its abolition. The city-state - which staunchly maintains that capital 
punishment is a crime deterrent - executed 8 convicts last year, the highest 
number in a decade, according to official data. They had all committed drug 
offences.

The Straits Times said it was the 1st time that the MHA, which is in charge of 
the prisons department, is conducting a survey on the subject.

Last week’s hanging in Singapore of convicted Malaysian drug trafficker Prabu N 
Pathmanathan sparked fresh calls to scrap the death penalty, a legacy of 
British colonial rule.

Neighbouring Malaysia, where the cabinet had decided to abolish the death 
penalty, had asked Singapore to spare the 31-year-old convict on humanitarian 
grounds.

"The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is conducting the survey to give us a 
better understanding of Singapore residents' attitudes towards the death 
penalty," MHA said in a statement to AFP. It said the survey is part of the 
government's "regular research on our criminal justice system" and involves 
citizens and permanent residents.

"Participants were randomly selected based on age, race and gender, for a 
representative sample of the Singapore resident population," it added.

Some 2,000 respondents will be questioned between October and December by 
market research consultancy Blackbox Research, which the MHA has commissioned 
for the project, the newspaper said.

Human rights groups said the survey is unlikely to be a prelude to Singapore 
softening its position on capital punishment.

"There's been no indication whatsoever that Singapore's position on use of the 
death penalty is softening," said Phil Robertson, deputy director for Asia at 
Human Rights Watch.

"One wonders whether the MHA is counting on a survey of public opinion to back 
their views and provide justification for their continued defiance of the 
international trend towards abolishing the death penalty," he told AFP.

Previously, the death penalty in Singapore was mandatory for crimes like drug 
trafficking and murder.

Following a review, legislation was passed in 2012 removing the mandatory 
provision for drug trafficking and murder under certain circumstances.

(source: Agence France-Presse)








SAUDI ARABIA:

Hearing of woman rights defender Israa Al-Ghomgham, who faces execution, 
postponed

According to reports received by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), human 
rights defender Israa Al-Ghomgham was not brought to court for the 2nd hearing 
of her case in front of the Specialised Criminal Court (SCC) on 28 October 
2018. She remains in the General Intelligence Prison in Al-Dammam where she has 
been kept since her arrest on 6 December 2015. The judge adjourned the hearing 
to 21 November 2018.

The case has generated a lot of interest internationally because Al-Ghomgham is 
facing execution, which is uncommon for women. As well, many women's rights 
defenders are in prison for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, 
and an international uproar continues over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal 
Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018.

On 6 December 2015, the security forced raided the house of Al-Ghomgham, now 29 
years old, and arrested her with her husband, activist Mousa Al-Hashim. The 2 
participated in peaceful protests in Al-Qatif that took place as demonstrations 
spread across the Middle East during the so-called Arab Spring beginning in 
2011.

On 6 August 2018, after 32 months, the first hearing of Al-Ghomgham's trial 
started before the SCC, which was created in 2008 to deal with terrorism cases 
but instead has been misused to target human rights defenders and other 
activists. She attended the hearing without a lawyer.

During the first session of her trial, the Public Prosecution presented a list 
of eight main charges against Al-Ghomgham, including allegedly: "joining a 
terrorist entity aimed at creating chaos and unrest within the Kingdom," 
"participating in marches and gatherings in the province of Al-Qatif and 
encouraging young people to go to those marches and gatherings in addition to 
photographing, documenting and publishing these gatherings through social 
networks sites," "participating in the funeral of victims of security clashes 
with protesters," "preparing, sending and storing material that would harm the 
public order and punishable under Article 6 of the Cybercrime Act of 2008," 
"creating an account on social networking sites and using it to encourage 
rallies to riot and incite young people against the state and security forces 
in addition to publishing pictures and video clips of these rallies and marches 
about a number of victims of security clashes," and "creating a channel on 
YouTube for the publication of video clips of victims of security clashes."

The prosecution asked the court to sentence her to death by beheading and the 
SCC postponed the hearing to 28 October 2018.

GCHR calls on the authorities in Saudi Arabia to:

Immediately and unconditionally release Israa Al-Ghomgham and Mousa Al-Hashim 
and ensure that the death sentence is not implemented in her case, nor in the 
cases of any other peaceful protestors; and

Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia, 
including women's rights defenders, are able to carry out their legitimate 
human rights activities without fear of reprisal.

GCHR respectfully reminds you that the United Nations Declaration on the Right 
and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and 
Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted 
by consensus by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1998, recognises the 
legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders, their right to freedom 
of association and to carry out their activities without fear of reprisals. We 
would particularly draw your attention to Article 6 (b and c): "Everyone has 
the right, individually and in association with others: (b) As provided for in 
human rights and other applicable international instruments, freely to publish, 
impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human 
rights and fundamental freedoms; (c) To study, discuss, form and hold opinions 
on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and 
fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw 
public attention to those matters" and to Article 12 (2): "The State shall take 
all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of 
everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, 
threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or 
any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise 
of the rights referred to in the present Declaration."

(source: ifex.org)

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

Israa Al-Ghomgham, a Saudi woman facing the death penalty for peaceful protest



Human rights advocate Israa Al-Ghomgham is facing the death penalty in Saudi 
Arabia, for her non-violent human rights related activities.

Al-Ghomgham was arrested in 2015 along with her husband, activist Mousa 
Al-Hashim, over their roles in anti-government protests in Al-Qatif back in 
2011, when pro-democracy protests spread across the Middle East and North 
Africa.

A #FreeIsraa campaign photo, circulated on Twitter.

Al-Qatif is located in the Eastern Province, where most of the country's Shiite 
minority - who make up 10 to 15 % of the population live. Shiite Muslims in the 
Sunni-dominated kingdom face "pervasive discrimination", including unfair 
treatment under the justice system, government interference with their 
religious practices, exclusion from public sector jobs, in addition to stigma 
and sectarian speech, according to Human Rights Watch.

Alongside many other Saudi Shiites, Al-Ghomgham and her husband were protesting 
these injustices and demanding that the Saudi government uphold their human 
rights.

Al-Ghomgham faces 8 charges including "preparing, sending and storing material 
that would harm the public order" under Article 6 of the Cybercrime Act of 
2007. She also stands accused of "inciting rallies and young people against the 
state and security forces on social networking sites", and posting photos and 
video of these protests online. State prosecutors for her case are seeking the 
death penalty.

She was put on trial in early August 2018 before the counter-terrorism court, 
the Specialised Criminal Court (SCC). A 2nd hearing took place on October 28, 
but neither her nor the other defendants in the case were brought to court, the 
Gulf Center for Human Rights reported. The next hearing is scheduled for 
November 21.

In addition to Al-Ghomgham, 5 more individuals are standing trial before the 
SCC this week for charges related to exercising their peaceful rights to 
freedom of expression, association and assembly, according to Amnesty 
International. The human rights organisation documented 8 cases where activists 
are facing the death penalty:

The Public Prosecution's recurring calls to resort to the death penalty in the 
past 3 months for at least 8 individuals raises the alarm about the fate of 
dozens of activists who are currently detained without charge or trial and for 
those currently on trial before the SCC.

Among those who stood trial this week was religious cleric Salman al-Awda. 
State security officials arrested him in September 2017 and charged him with a 
litany of offenses, including calling for reforms and regime change in the Arab 
region. He also faces the death penalty.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's attorney general Saud al-Mujib arrived in Turkey on 
Monday to join an investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi 
in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Al-Mujib has often been sent after 
political rivals of the monarchy, and those who challenge the kingdom's de 
facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Leaders around the world have 
pointed at Bin Salman, accusing him of playing a role in the journalist's 
murder.

Many are wondering how Bin Salman can endeavor to bring justice to Jamal while 
at the same time seeking the death penalty against those practicing their 
rights to freedom of expression.

(source: globalvoices.org)