[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

September 19



BARBADOS:

"Introduce lethal injection', physician MP urges



A Government backbencher, a medical doctor, is urging her fellow lawmakers to 
introduce lethal injection as a method of execution and abolish hanging.

St Philip North MP Dr Sonia Browne told the House of Assembly this afternoon 
that hanging is antiquated and could also result in the condemned person's 
suffering.

The measure was one of a series of suggestions on the fate of prison convicts 
that the 1st-time MP made in debate on the Offences Against the Person 
(Amendment) Bill 2018, which the House later passed to abolish the mandatory 
death sentence.

Dr Browne echoed the position of other legislators in the debate who insist 
that the death penalty itself must remain on the statute books for heinous 
murders.

"The death penalty evokes emotions, anger, sadness, everything. Religion comes 
into it, upbringing comes into it . . . . The argument is not about the death 
penalty. But what I would say, is that we need to come out of the hanging 
thing. Hanging is antiquated and I see something there about suffering," said 
Dr Browne, who is Chairman of Committees, adding that she once had a problem 
with the death penalty until she got to realize the nature of some of the 
homicides being committed.

It was at this point that she suggested an alternative system of inflicting 
capital punishment.

"There has to be a way . . . I believe something more progressive like the 
lethal injection where there is not one man to pull a lever and have to live 
with killing somebody for the rest of their lives, where there are a lot of 
automatic things. "I think that needs to come here. And it needs to come here 
and not get cobwebs. Too many people killing people and know . . . willfully . 
. . that they will sit in prison and enjoy the rest of their days," said the MP 
for St Philip North.

She also made the case for the introduction of parole, expressing concern that 
about two years ago a number of people were in prison for murder but "got let 
out and went and killed again. This is where the parole comes in, this is where 
the punishment that fits the crime comes in".

Without elaborating on the parole proposal, Dr Browne also spoke briefly on the 
issue of bail.

"Apart from murder offences, we have to look at letting out people on bail who 
have committed these issues, these offences. I don't think that people should 
be given bail and hence the process needs to be fast. Because in the cases of 
innocence you don???t want to keep somebody there for 7 years before a case 
comes up," she added.

The conduct of the law courts and prisons did not escape her attention.

Dr Browne told Parliament neither of these institutions must appear to be 
prejudicial.

"The rich, the poor, White, Black, Indian, everybody should suffer the same 
fate if they do a crime they do the time or whatever punishment is meted out," 
the bankbencher declared.

She continued: "I think the Barbadians are being disappointed and disillusioned 
and think that only the poor Black people can suffer prison terms and be 
punished in this way." She suggested that the rich and white appear to be 
getting off.

She also argued that prison should be a place where going back should never 
enter a person's mind.

"Now that is not the case. I have met people that told me straight . . . ready 
to go to a fight . . . 'Doc, I don't mind, prison not made for animals. Doc, I 
don't mind, I got friends in there.' It has to be a place where when you go in, 
the punishment meted out to you, you have no idea or thought or even dream 
about going back to prison, and right now I cannot say for a fact that is the 
case," the St Philip North MP told the Lower Chamber.

She contended that inmates at Her Majesty's Prison Dodds were now playing cards 
and dominoes rather than being put to work on the lands around the prison to 
grow food.

"They have an expansive land area around Dodds Prison. In my mind the prison 
should be self-sufficient at least in food. There is too much land around Dodds 
that the prisoners cannot do agriculture. They used to it along the highway 
years ago. We have the debushing programme that the Government is trying its 
best to find money for . . . and there are prisoners up there playing cards and 
dominoes. Use them," Dr Browne said, adding that this should be part of their 
punishment.

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

AG: Convicted killers to be resentenced



All 11 convicted killers on death row at Her Majesty's Prison at Dodds, St 
Philip will have to be resentenced the Attorney General Dale Marshall has told 
Parliament.

But Marshall also disclosed "the frightening prospect" that scores of other 
Barbadians, now facing trial for murder may never be sentenced to die once 
convicted.

The revelation came during debate on the Offences Against the Person 
(Amendment) Bill 2018, which the House of Assembly passed to abolish the 
mandatory death sentence, as ordered by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The CCJ had ruled that the mandatory death sentenced currently on the statute 
books of this country was unconstitutional.

"Now the 11 who are currently in Dodds, by ruling that their sentence is 
unconstitutional, they will all have to be resentenced," said Marshall.

Each death row prisoner will now have to return to court where a judge "will 
take into account such matters as he needs to take into account and then make a 
decision," he told fellow lawmakers.

But the resentencing under the amended law would not prevent a judge from 
re-imposing a death sentence as capital murder is still on the law books.

The Inter-American Court on Human Rights had already ordered resentencing in 
respect of 2 convicts, Marshall added.

But the Attorney General then revealed the scores of individuals now facing 
murder charges who may never be sentenced to death if convicted.

"Mr Speaker, as at today, there are 62 Barbadian men and women who are awaiting 
trial for murder. There are 6 awaiting trial for manslaughter. There are 11 
people on death row. So 62 and 6 is 68 and 11 is 79. So sir, as we speak today 
we have 79 people whom this statute could possibly affect," Marshall said.

"But it must be a frightening prospect for us sir, that we have 62 people who 
are charged with murder but on the law as it stands, we would likely not be 
able to inflict capital punishment on them," he said.

The Attorney General explained that if Government did not come to Parliament to 
change the law on the mandatory death sentence in light of the CCJ ruling, 
judges would be facing a serious dilemma.

"If an individual is convicted of murder tomorrow, the judge will immediately 
go to the Offences Against the Person Act, which says that he must sentence 
that individual to death. But the problem is that he is also bound by the 
decision of the Caribbean Court of Justice which says that you cannot sentence 
the individual to death," he pointed out.

Marshall also said that even though he told the Director of Public Prosecutions 
(DPP) Donna Babb to fast-track all the murder cases and get them before the 
courts, he at the same time had to tell her to put them on hold.

"Because, if a person is convicted tomorrow, that judge can't go left and he 
can't go right. He can???t sentence them to death, but he can't not sentence 
them to death. Now how can a responsible Government put a judge in that 
position?" he asked, adding that the amendment had to be made to the law.

(source for both Barbados Today)








IRAN:

Juvenile Offender Sentenced to Death



The verdict of Mehrdad, who was sentenced to imprisonment and paying blood 
money (Diya in Islam) on the charge of murder at the age of 17, was rejected by 
the Supreme Court and this time he was sentenced to death.

According to Javanonline website, the Criminal Court of Tehran has issued a 
verdict for Mehrdad for the 3rd time and this time he is sentenced to death. 
The defendant was sentenced twice at the Criminal Court of Tehran for a murder 
that was committed on April 22, 2014, and, based on Article 91, he was 
sentenced to imprisonment and paying blood money because he was a minor.

Mehrdad had earlier explained the cause of murder, "3 years ago I was invited 
to a birthday party where I passed out after drinking alcohol and was sexually 
harassed by a guy named Soheil. That was why I decided to kill him."

He continued, "I met Soheil in a park and stabbed him. Later that night I went 
to the location to hide the body but I was arrested".

The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Iran has signed, clearly bans 
execution and life imprisonment of juveniles.

In 2017, at least five juvenile offenders were executed in Iran. Furthermore, 
at least three juvenile offenders were executed in January 2018 in Iran.

Iran is one of the few countries that execute juvenile offenders, although, 
based on Article 91 of the new Islamic Penal Code, approved in 2013, judges can 
potentially deny issuing a death sentence for juveniles who do not understand 
the nature of their crime.

(source: Iran Human Rights)








MYANMAR:

Shan State court sentences 2 men to death for murder, rape of teenage girl



Aik Pe, 29, and Soe Lwin, 40, were sentenced to death by hanging this week for 
the murder and rape of an 18-year-old high school student in Dec. 2017.

The Kentung District court in eastern Shan State has sentenced two men to be 
hanged over the rape and murder of an 18-year-old high school student.

"In this case, a girl was raped, burned to death, and thrown away. An 
investigation of a ring found on the corpse led to the arrest of the 2 
suspects...The district court sentenced them to death by hanging until they 
definitely die," a Shan State police official said on Sept. 17.

The case began last December, when an unidentified woman's charred body was 
found near a hydropower station in Kengtung Township. Using a ring found on the 
body, police identified the woman as one who had been missing for 5 days.

Suspect Soe Lwin, 40, was arrested by police in the town of Kengtung 3 days 
after the body was found and pleaded guilty to rape and murder the following 
day.

Suspect Aik Pe, also known as Sai Shen, 29, was arrested in the town of Thazi, 
where he was on trial for his alleged role in a car accident.

"This is the heaviest sentence ever passed by the district court," a police 
officer told Eleven.

Murder carries the death penalty in Myanmar, but it has not been carried out in 
decades. Rape carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence, but as the number of 
rapes have been rising in Myanmar over the last few years, activists have 
called for harsher punishments for rapists, including the death penalty.

"Until the death penalty is carried out, this will keep happening," one 
activists told Coconuts in March. "We need to make an example of at least 10 of 
these rapists. If we make an example of them, like they do in other countries, 
this problem will be greatly lessened."

(source: coconuts.co)








PAKISTAN:

Apex court suspends death penalty of three convicted by military courts



The Supreme Court on Wednesday suspended the death sentences of three people 
who were convicted by military courts.

Suspending the death sentences, a 2-member bench headed by Justice Azmat Saeed, 
issued a notice to the Interior Ministry in this regard.

The 3 convicts - Tahir Ali, Habibul Rehman and Saifullah - were accused of 
killing 2 army officials in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2009.

The convicts' appeals were earlier rejected by the Peshawar High Court (PHC).

The hearing of the case was adjourned for an indefinite period of time

(source: Pakistan Today)

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

'No Time To Sleep' to depict last day of death penalty inmate



In a first, a play titled No Time To Sleep will be a ground-breaking 24-hour 
long performance that will be streamed live around the world.

The play charts the final days of Prisoner Z, played by acclaimed actor Sarmad 
Khoosat. No Time To Sleep promises to be an intense, unedited media scrutiny 
for 24 hours. There will be no breaks. The camera will never look away, stated 
a press release.

Set inside a replica of an actual death cell, Prisoner Z's journey will begin 
on 26 September, 2018 at 12:00 PM (PST), when his mercy petition is rejected.

A social media prologue will depict rolling coverage of the execution warrant 
and the wheels that are set in motion to carry out his execution. Petitions are 
filed in court, the media is alerted, the family is notified and scrambles to 
make the harrowing trip to visit him for the last time.

Zulfiqar spent 17 years on death row. In that time, his execution was scheduled 
and stayed more than 20 times. During his incarceration, prisoner Z educated 
hundreds of prisoners, securing 33 diplomas himself.

The live stream will commence with Z sitting in his cell in solitary 
confinement, occasionally being silent, occasionally conversing with the guard 
who is watching him. But mostly, he will wait. This piece is primarily about 
the tyranny of time that is both long and short - running slow and running out 
- while the ropes are tested.

This performance will accurately portray what happens to prisoners prior to 
execution, based on accounts of guards, former prisoners and their families.

No Time to Sleep will begin streaming live at exactly 12:00 am, October 10, 
2018. The concept of the play is given by Ryan van Winkle, whereas it will be 
directed by Kanwal Khoosat and is produced by Iram Sana.

Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) is a human rights organisation that provides pro 
bono legal representation to the most vulnerable Pakistani prisoners facing the 
harshest punishments. JPP was established in December 2009 and is based in 
Lahore, Pakistan.

(source: The Express Tribune)