[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 25




PAPUA NEW GUINEA:

Death penalty debate finds new life



The debate on the implementation of the death penalty is timely and should be 
encouraged, outgoing Minister for Justice and Attorney-General Davis Steven 
says.

“The question is whether it’s available, whether it can be enforced,” he said 
after explaining that it was part of the country’s laws.

“The judges say it can be because they have imposed judgments with penalties 
reflecting the death penalty. The executive arm of the Government under the 
prime minister did what it could to help our authorities, mainly the 
commissioner for correctional institutions, to decide on the method that should 
be employed in executing death penalty orders.”

Steven said the delay became one of a mixture of political will and also the 
implementation and the resourcing constraints.

“One of the final National Executive Council submissions I’ve signed is to give 
the NEC an information paper, an update on where this issue is with a strong 
recommendation that we begin to enforce the death penalty.

“The current government has recognised the importance of this particular law or 
provision of law as a deterrent to the rising crime situation. That’s now 
before Cabinet again as one of my final submissions which I will not be there 
to deliberate on.

“In one of the amendments that we have made to the criminal code in the last 
term of parliament is to make death penalty applicable to thefts, of cases of 
stealing of public monies that exceed the amount of K10 million.”

Steven said this Government had tried to push some of the amendments as part of 
its commitment to fighting corruption.

He said the national coordination mechanism had the death penalty matter as an 
agenda in the next meeting. “I have requested for the report to the law and 
justice sector ministerial committee meeting because I find two years of 
inaction totally unacceptable at the bureaucratic level,” Steven said.

“Somebody has to tell me why we are delaying this, especially when the National 
Executive Council and this Government had spent money for some high-level 
official enquiry or visit throughout the world and they came up with reports.”

(source: The National)








NORTH KOREA:

North Korea ‘executed 4 officials’ after failed US summit, report claims



North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the execution by firing squad of 4 
foreign ministry officials after the failure of his Hanoi summit with Donald 
Trump, a report has claimed.

The officials were reportedly executed after the February talks between North 
Korea and the US came to an end without any deal being made.

Pyongyang had accused the 4 officials of selling information to Washington 
before the Hanoi summit, according to a Japanese news agency.

The executions, which included a diplomat from North Korea’s embassy in Hanoi, 
have not been verified.

Asia Press claimed its reporter spoke to a trade official who was told the 
rumour about the executions.

It is claimed that the executions were watched by members of the ruling 
Workers’ Party of Korea and Korean People’s Army.

The Hanoi summit had the aim of achieving denuclearisation on the Korean 
Peninusla and North Korea was hoping to have its sanctions lifted.

When the talks failed, Washington insisted that dialogue with North Korea would 
continue and that the collapse was not a major disappointment.

Following the summit, President Trump said: “Kim is a person I’ve gotten to 
know very well, and respect and hopefully, and I really believe over a period 
of time, a lot of tremendous things will happen.

“I think North Korea has a tremendous potential.”

Kim arrived in Russia on Wednesday, April 24 to discuss bilateral ties with 
President Vladimir Putin.

North Korea’s leader has said he was hoping for a “successful and useful” visit 
where he hopes to discuss the situation in the Korean Peninsula.

(source News)




BANGLADESH:

Death penalty for 2 war criminals----Tribunal convicts them of committing 
genocide in Netrakona in 1971



The International Crimes Tribunal-1 Tuesday handed down death penalty to 2 
Netrakona men after holding them guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity 
committed during the Liberation War.

They were members of local Razakar Bahini, an auxiliary force of Pakistan army, 
and directly took part in crimes like confinement, torture, killing and an act 
of genocide that left 7 Hindus dead.

“Both the accused are found to have collaborated with the Pakistan occupation 
army in conducting attacks with extreme aggression and antagonism that resulted 
in barbaric crimes like crimes against humanity and genocide,” the tribunal 
said.

The convicted criminals are -- Hedayet Ullah Anju, 80, and Sohrab Fakir, 88. Of 
them, Sohrab is now in jail while Hedayet is on the run.

The 3rd accused -- Enayet Ullah Manju, 70, a brother of Anju, died of old age 
complications in custody on January 25, 2017 and was abated from the case.

“It has been found proved that the accused persons knowingly participated and 
aided the criminal mission with intent to intimidate, harm and wipe out the 
pro-liberation and Hindu civilians,” the tribunal added.

Hedayet was the organising secretary of Jamaat in the then Netrakona 
sub-division in 1971. He contested the Pakistan Nation Election in 1970 with 
Jamaat ticket but was defeated. During the war, he first joined Peace 
Committee, another anti-liberation force, and later Razakar Bahini, according 
to the prosecution.

Sohrab was a Jamaat activist in 1971 and later become a “notorious” member of 
Razakar Bahini, they said. Both were prosecuted under the Collaborator Order, 
1972 after the war but their trials were not completed, according to the 
investigators.

Tribunal’s Chairman Justice Md Shahinur Islam and members Justice Amir Hossain 
and Justice Md Abu Ahmed Jamadar read out the summary of the 218-page verdict 
in presence of Sohrab, prosecution team, investigators, defence and 
journalists.

It asked the home secretary and inspector general of police to take necessary 
measures to ensure Hedayet’s arrest.

Prosecutor Mukhlesur Rahman Badal expressed satisfaction as they have been able 
to prove all 6 charges.

State-appointed defence counsel Abdus Shukur Khan, however, said his clients 
did not get justice and will suggest them to file an appeal with the higher 
court.

With the latest verdict, the war crimes tribunals have so far delivered 37 
judgements against 87 people. Of them, 61 have been sentenced to death.

According to the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973, a war crimes 
convict can file an appeal with the Supreme Court within 30 days from the date 
when the verdict is pronounced.

CHARGES AND CONVICTION

Hedayet and Sohrab were found guilty of plundering and setting fire to 20 to 30 
houses in Hindu-dominated Shahapara in Atpara and forcing many Hindus to leave 
the country. They were given 10 years’ jail for the offences.

Hedayet was given death penalty for confinement, arson, torture and killing of 
2 people in Atpara’s Mobarakpur Purbopara village.

Hedayet and Sohrab got death penalty for confinement, arson, torture and 
killing of Helim Talukder, brother of two freedom fighters, at Modon Dakkhin 
Para village under Madan upazila.

They were given death penalty for their role in an act of genocide at Sukhari 
in Atpara that left seven Hindu men dead, and forcing many to leave the 
country.

Sohrab was given 10 years’ jail for abduction, confinement and torture of one 
Hamid Hossain of Madan Majhpara.

Both the convicts were given 10 years’ jail for burning down 150-200 houses at 
Modon Dakkhin Para. The jail term would naturally be merged into the death 
sentence, the tribunal said.

'NEVER AGAIN'

The tribunal said the global community should recognise the genocide in 
Bangladesh during the war so that such crimes do not recur.

Global community is now expected to stand up and recognise the genocide that 
took place in Bangladesh in 1971 and also to raise voice by saying “never 
again”, the tribunal said.

The parliament on March 11, 2017 unanimously adopted a resolution to observe 
March 25 as Genocide Day. The international community is yet to recognise the 
genocide.

(source: The Daily Star)




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

War crimes tribunal to deliver verdict on RP Saha killing anytime

The war crimes tribunal has set a case over the killing of Tangail 
philanthropist Ranada Prasad Saha, his son and 5 others for verdict.

A 3-member bench of the International Crimes Tribunal led by Justice Md 
Shahinur Islam kept the verdict pending on Wednesday after the completion of 
arguments.

The 70-year-old suspect, Mahbubur Rahman, is accused of committing mass 
killing, murder, abduction and torture during the Liberation War in 1971.

The charges against Mahbubur include genocide, abduction, and torture.

He was the son of Abdul Wadud, the president of Mirzapur Peace Committee, a 
unit formed to collaborate with the Pakistani forces during the war.

Mahbubur and his brother Abdul Mannan were members of the Razakar force, 
according to the prosecution.

Prosecutors Rana Das Gupta represented the state while Gazi MH Tamim stood for 
the accused.

“The verdict was expected to come anytime soon,” Gupta told bdnews24.com.

The prosecution brought three charges against Mahbubur.

As many as 13 witnesses testified in the case.

The prosecution has sought maximum punishment, which is death penalty, of the 
accused.

"The trial has taken place 48 years after the murder of Ranada Prasad Saha, 
which is very unfortunate and frustrating. But it is more unfortunate that 
there was no general diary in any police station anywhere after his murder," 
the defence lawyer Tamim told bdnews24.com.

“Everyone who testified in the case said RP Saha went missing. No witness has 
said he was killed. There was only one witness of the prosecution. He also said 
he had seen RP Saha being picked up. The witness did not even know RP Saha,” he 
said.

“So it is proved that justice is being done through false testimony. I think 
the prosecution could not prove the charges against my client. I seek acquittal 
of my client," he added.

Behind the bars since the beginning of November, 2016, Mahbubur was indicted on 
Mar 28 last year.

Mahbubur, a Jamaat-e-Islami adherent, attacked the house of Saha with the help 
of local Razakars in Narayanganj on May 7, 1971, with 20-25 members of the 
Pakistani occupation force, according to the ICT’s investigation agency.

“They picked up 7 people including Ranada Prasad Saha, his son Bhabani Prasad 
Saha, close aide Goura Gopal Saha, Rakhal Matlab and a guard, killed them and 
dumped their bodies in the Shitalakhya River. The bodies were never found.”

British government recognised Ranada with Rai Bahadur title for his 
philanthropic activities. Bangladesh government honoured him with posthumous 
Swadhinata Padak, the highest state award, in 1978.

Ranada, a native of Tangail’s Mirzapur, established a number of educational and 
charitable organisations.

Mahbubur carried out crimes near Bharateswari Homes, Kumudini Welfare Trust in 
Narayanganj and Tangail Circuit House during the Liberation War, ICT 
investigation agency's senior coordinator Mohammad Sanaul Haque had said.

(source: bdnews24.com)








EGYPT:

Egypt confirms death penalty for monks over bishop killing



An Egyptian court on Wednesday confirmed death sentences for 2 monks over the 
2018 murder of a bishop, after the country's Mufti issued an opinion approving 
the punishment, a court official said.

In a case that shocked the Middle East's largest Christian community, Coptic 
Bishop Epiphanius was found dead with a head wound in July at the Saint 
Macarius monastery in the plains of Wadi al-Natrun, northwest of Cairo.

Prosecutors said one of the monks, Isaiah, confessed to striking the cleric 
with a metal bar as the 2nd monk, Philotheos, kept watch.

The authorities blamed the killing on unspecified "differences" between the 
bishop and the 2 monks, 1 of whom was later defrocked.

The sentence, passed down in February, was referred to Egypt's Grand Mufti.

The country's top theological authority is required by law to give his legally 
non-binding opinion in cases of capital punishment.

The defendants can still appeal.

In its ruling, the court said that the defendants had carried out "one of the 
greatest crimes", according to a court official.

"(Their) status as monks did not stop them from carrying out this crime, the 
place of the crime did not deter them, and they did not care about the advanced 
age of the victim or his religious status," it said.

In the wake of the bishop's killing, Egypt's Coptic Church placed a one-year 
moratorium on accepting new monks.

It also banned monks from social media, tightened financial controls and 
refocused attention on spiritual life.

Coptic Christians make up about 10 % of Egypt's predominantly Sunni Muslim 
population of 100 million.

The country's vast desert is home to some of Christianity's most ancient 
monasteries.

(source: Agence France-Presse)

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

Egypt confirms death penalty for monks over bishop killing



An Egyptian court on Wednesday confirmed death sentences for 2 monks over the 
2018 murder of a bishop, after the country’s Mufti issued an opinion approving 
the punishment, a court official said.

In a case that shocked the Middle East’s largest Christian community, Coptic 
Bishop Epiphanius was found dead with a head wound in July at the Saint 
Macarius monastery in the plains of Wadi al-Natrun, northwest of Cairo.

Prosecutors said one of the monks, Isaiah, confessed to striking the cleric 
with a metal bar as the 2nd monk, Philotheos, kept watch.

The authorities blamed the killing on unspecified “differences” between the 
bishop and the 2 monks, 1 of whom was later defrocked.

The sentence passed down in February, was referred to Egypt’s Grand Mufti.

The country’s top theological authority is required by law to give his legally 
non-binding opinion in cases of capital punishment.

The defendants can still appeal.

In its ruling, the court said that the defendants had carried out “one of the 
greatest crimes,” according to a court official.

“(Their) status as monks did not stop them from carrying out this crime, the 
place of the crime did not deter them, and they did not care about the advanced 
age of the victim or his religious status,” it said.

In the wake of the bishop’s killing, Egypt’s Coptic Church placed a 1-year 
moratorium on accepting new monks.

It also banned monks from social media, tightened financial controls and 
refocused attention on spiritual life.

Coptic Christians make up about 10 % of Egypt’s predominantly Sunni Muslim 
population of 100 million.

The country’s vast desert is home to some of Christianity’s most ancient 
monasteries.

(source: alarabiya.net)








IRAQ:

Iraq hands down death penalty for IS terrorist over deadly car bomb blast



An Iraqi court has sentenced an Islamic State militant to death over his 
involvement in a deadly car bomb attack in the province of Diyala.

“The Diyala Criminal Court handed down a death penalty for a terrorist after he 
admitted booby trapping a vehicle to target a funeral ceremony in Abu Sayda 
district in Diyala, an explosion which left scores of civilians dead and 
wounded,” Alghad Press website quoted the Supreme Judicial Council media center 
as saying in a press statement on Wednesday.

“The court ruling was issued pursuant to article ¼ of the anti-terrorism law,” 
added the statement.

The law empowers courts to convict people who are believed to have helped 
jihadists even if they are not accused of carrying out attacks.

Iraqi courts have sentenced many of Islamic State members, including a big 
number of female members, to death over joining the militant group.

The exact number of detained Islamic State militants is still unknown, however, 
it’s estimated to be at thousands. It’s also unclear how many members are 
likely to face death sentences.

Human rights groups have always criticized collective death sentences issued by 
Iraqi courts, claiming that some detainees are tortured and threatened.

(source: iraqinews.com)








IRAN----executions

Man Hanged at Kermanshah Prison



A man who was sentenced to death for murder charges, hanged at Kermanshah 
Central Prison last Thursday.

According to IHR sources, a man was hanged at Kermanshah Central Prison (known 
as Dizel Abad) on Thursday, April 18. He was sentenced to death for murder 
charges.

Kurdpa website identified the man’s name as Jafar Hosseini. He was reportedly 
from the Iranian city of Harsin. Jafar had spent 5 years in jail before the 
execution.

According to the Iran Human Rights statistic department, the majority of 
executions in 2017 and 2018 in Iran was for murder charges. At least 188 
prisoners were executed for murder charges in 2018. Only 33% of executions were 
announced by Iranian authorities in 2018.

There is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results 
in issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and 
intent.

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

Man Hanged at Ardabil Prison----According to the Iran Human Rights statistic 
department, at least 273 people were executed in Iran in 2018. At least 23 of 
them were sentenced to death for rape charges.



A man who was sentenced to death for rape charges, hanged at Ardabil Central 
prison last Thursday.

According to IHR sources, on the morning of Thursday, April 18, a prisoner was 
hanged at the Iranian northwestern city of Ardabil’s Central Prison. He was 
sentenced to death for rape charges.

HRANA website identified the man as Vali Zandian, 45.

According to the Iran Human Rights statistic department, at least 273 people 
were executed in Iran in 2018. At least 23 of them were sentenced to death for 
rape charges.

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

4 Men Executed in Babol, Mashhad, Ardebil and Kermanshah prisons



In recent days, Iranian authorities executed four prisoners in Babol, Mashhad, 
Ardebil and Kermanshah prisons.

The regime executed a 26-year-old man on Wednesday, April 24, at Babol Prison, 
north of Iran, the state-run ROKNA news agency reported. He was identified only 
as A.Gh.

He had been on death row since October 2014, on the charge of killing a man 
during a fight, according to the state media.

The same media reported the execution on murder charges of a 30-year-old man on 
Monday, April 22.

The state media did not give the names of the victim, or any details about his 
cases, but the execution appears to has been carried out in the central prison 
of Mashhad.

In another developement on April 18, a prisoner identified as 45-year-old Vali 
Zandian, was hanged at the Central Prison of Ardebil.

The same day another prisoner identified as Jafar Hosseini was executed in 
Dizelabad Prison in Kermanshah, western Iran. Both were found guilty of murder.

Iran has remained among the world’s top 5 executioners, according to a new 
report by Amnesty International.

The Iranian regime has a dismal report card of at least 286 executions in 2018, 
including the execution of 10 political prisoners, four women and seven 
individuals who were sentenced to death for crimes they allegedly committed as 
children.

The real numbers were likely to be much higher as use of capital punishment in 
Iran is often shrouded in secrecy.

(source: Iran Human Rights)








SAUDI ARABIA:

Mass Execution of 37 Men----Most from Shia Community, Convicted in Unfair 
Trials

Saudi Arabia’s government announced the mass execution of 37 men on April 23, 
2019 in various parts of the country, Human Rights Watch said today. At least 
33 of the 37 were from the country’s minority Shia community and had been 
convicted following unfair trials for various alleged crimes, including 
protest-related offenses, espionage, and terrorism. The mass execution was the 
largest since January 2016, when Saudi Arabia executed 47 men for terrorism 
offenses.

The Specialized Criminal Court convicted 25 of the 37 men in 2 mass trials, 
known as the “Qatif 24 case” and the “Iran spy case,” both of which included 
allegations that authorities extracted confessions through torture. One of the 
executed Sunni men received the harshest punishment under Islamic law, which 
includes beheading and public display of the beheaded corpse (salb). With this 
mass execution, Saudi Arabia carried out over 100 executions so far in 2019, 
including 40 for drug offenses, a much higher rate than previous years.

“Saudi authorities will inevitably characterize those executed as terrorists 
and dangerous criminals, but the reality is that Saudi courts are largely 
devoid of any due process and many of those executed were condemned based 
solely on confessions they credibly say were coerced,” said Michael Page, 
deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The death penalty is never 
the answer to crimes and executing prisoners en masse shows that the current 
Saudi leadership has little interest in improving the country’s dismal human 
rights record.”

The official Saudi Press Agency stated that authorities executed the 37 “for 
their adoption of terrorist and extremist thinking, forming terrorism cells to 
sow corruption and disrupt security, spread chaos, incite sectarian discord, 
harm peace and social security, and attack police centers using explosive 
bombs.” The statement said the executions took place in various regions, 
including Riyadh, Mecca, Medina, Al-Qassim, Asir, and Eastern Province.

Fourteen of the men who were among the defendants in the Qatif 24 case were 
from that Shia-majority area. The Specialized Criminal Court convicted them on 
protest-related crimes, and some faced charges of violence including targeting 
police patrols or police stations with guns and Molotov cocktails. Saudi media 
have described the 24 men as members of a “terrorism cell” that carried out 
over 50 armed attacks targeting security forces that killed an unspecified 
number of them and injured dozens.

The court convicted nearly all defendants based on confessions they later 
repudiated in court, saying the authorities had tortured them. The court 
sentenced 14 of the defendants to death in June 2016, and an appeals court 
upheld the verdict in May 2017. The court sentenced 9 others to prison terms of 
between 3 and 15 years and exonerated 1 defendant.

Qatif 24 defendants executed on April 23 include Mujtaba al-Sweikat, whom 
authorities arrested on August 12, 2012, as he was trying to board a plane 
bound for the United States to attend Western Michigan University, and Munir 
al-Adam, who Saudi activists say lost hearing in one ear following beatings by 
interrogators.

Eleven of the executed men were part of the Iran spy case, which involved 32 
defendants. They were accused of offenses constituting “high treason,” 
including meeting with Iranian “intelligence agents” and passing them 
confidential military information and background information on Shia 
communities in Mecca, Medina, and Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. Authorities 
detained 17 people on March 16, 2013, 14 others later in 2013, and one in 2014, 
but did not bring them to trial until early 2016.

In addition to espionage, prosecutors in the Iran spy case also brought charges 
that do not represent recognizable crimes, including “supporting 
demonstrations,” “distorting the reputation of the kingdom,” and attempting to 
“spread the Shia confession” in Saudi Arabia. Mohammad Abd al-Ghani Attiyah, 
who was among the 37 men executed, faced these charges as well as “planning 
with an Iranian intelligence element… to establish a company to spread Shia 
activities in [Eastern Province].”

Taha al-Haji, a Saudi lawyer who represented a group of the “Iran spy case” 
defendants until March 2016, told Human Rights Watch that authorities held the 
men incommunicado for three months before allowing phone calls and visits with 
family members. The trial resulted in death sentences against 15 of the 
defendants. Saudi activists familiar with the cases told Human Rights Watch 
that families of the executed men were not told of the executions in advance.

Human Rights Watch analyzed 10 trial judgments that the Specialized Criminal 
Court handed down between 2013 and 2016 against men and children accused of 
protest-related crimes following popular demonstrations by members of the Shia 
minority in 2011 and 2012 in Eastern Province towns. In nearly all these 
judgments, defendants had retracted their confessions, saying they were coerced 
in circumstances that in some cases amounted to torture, including beatings and 
prolonged solitary confinement.

The court rejected all torture allegations without investigating the claims. It 
ignored defendants’ requests for video footage from the prison that they said 
would show them being tortured, and to summon interrogators as witnesses to 
describe how the confessions were obtained.

International standards, including the Arab Charter on Human Rights, ratified 
by Saudi Arabia, require countries that retain the death penalty to use it only 
for the “most serious crimes,” and in exceptional circumstances, following a 
judgment by a competent court. Saudi Arabia has one of the highest execution 
rates in the world and applies the death penalty to a range of offenses that do 
not constitute “most serious crimes,” including drug offenses.

Human Rights Watch opposes capital punishment in all countries and under all 
circumstances. Capital punishment is unique in its cruelty and finality, and it 
is inevitably and universally plagued with arbitrariness, prejudice, and error.

Most recently in 2018, the United Nations General Assembly called on countries 
to establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, progressively 
restrict the practice, and reduce the offenses for which it might be imposed, 
all with the view toward its eventual abolition. Then-UN Secretary-General Ban 
Ki-moon called on all countries in 2013 to abolish the death penalty.

“Mass executions are not the mark of a ‘reformist’ government, but rather one 
marked by capricious, autocratic rule,” Page said.

(source: Human Rights Watch)

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

UN rights chief condemns ‘shocking’ Saudi executions



The UN rights chief on Wednesday condemned the mass executions carried out by 
Saudi Arabia this week, stressing that those convicted were likely not afforded 
credible criminal trials.

The men were executed on Tuesday after being convicted of terrorism, according 
to the official Saudi Press Agency.

“I strongly condemn these shocking mass executions across 6 cities in Saudi 
Arabia yesterday in spite of grave concerns raised about these cases,” the 
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said in a 
statement.

The rights office restated its concern over the “lack of due process and fair 
trial guarantees (and) allegations that confessions were obtained through 
torture.”

“It is particularly abhorrent that at least 3 of those killed were minors at 
the time of their sentencing,” Bachelet added.

At least 100 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia since the start of the 
year, according to data released by SPA.

Bachelet urged the oil-rich kingdom “to immediately launch a review of its 
counter-terrorism legislation and amend the law to expressly prohibit the 
imposition of the death penalty against minors.” (source: punchng.com)

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

Congress calls out Saudis for executions, including student headed to US 
college



Members of Congress are expressing outrage at the execution of over 3 dozen 
prisoners in Saudi Arabia, including a prospective U.S. college student, but 
the State Department is declining to specifically condemn the executions.

37 people were executed on Tuesday, accused of alleged terrorism-related crimes 
or other national security offenses, according to the official Saudi Press 
Agency. But Amnesty International said the convictions were obtained under 
"sham trials that violated international fair trial standards which relied on 
confessions extracted through torture."

Among those executed were at least 2 men who were arrested when they were 
younger than 18 years old -- a violation of international law, according to 
human rights groups.

When asked about the executions, a State Department spokesperson told ABC News, 
"We have seen these reports. We urge the government of Saudi Arabia, and all 
governments, to ensure fair trial guarantees, freedom from arbitrary and 
extrajudicial detention, transparency, rule of law, and freedom of religion and 
belief."

Despite the outrage among human rights groups, the State Department did not 
specifically condemn the executions.

"We have spoken out publicly about many of our concerns, including in the Human 
Rights and International Religious Freedom reports" that the department 
produces each year, "and continue to do so in our private diplomatic 
engagements as well," the spokesperson added. "For anything further, I would 
refer you to the government of Saudi Arabia."

The Trump administration has been criticized of looking the other way on Saudi 
human rights abuses, including the detention of U.S. citizens and women's 
rights activists and the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. 
Instead, Trump and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have defended the Saudi 
government, especially Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, sometimes known by his 
initials "MBS."

That has drawn the ire of both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, who say 
"MBS" played a role in Khashoggi's killing and is behind the crackdown on 
dissent in the kingdom -- and the U.S. needs to send him a message.

"Saudi Arabia ruler MBS tortures & executes children. Already this year, he has 
killed 100 people. At least 3 today were arrested as teenagers & tortured into 
false confessions. He killed them for attending protests!" tweeted Rep. Rashida 
Tlaib, D-Mich., Tuesday night.

Tlaib was responding to a news story about the execution of one of those men 
who was arrested as a minor: Mujtaba al-Sweikat was slated to attend Western 
Michigan University, but was arrested for taking part in pro-democracy rallies, 
according to the human rights charity Reprieve, which handled al-Sweikat’s case 
while he was awaiting execution.

Al-Sweikat was arrested in 2012 at King Fahd International Airport where he was 
due to take a flight to begin studying at the University of Michigan. He was 
tortured after his arrest, denied access to a viable complaints mechanism and 
was “forced to sign a confession document,” according to his Reprieve case 
file, seen by ABC News.

“This is yet another egregious display of brutality by Crown Prince Mohamed Bin 
Salman,” Reprieve Director Maya Foa said in a statement. “That the Saudi regime 
believes it has impunity to carry out such patently illegal executions, without 
notice, should shock its international partners into action. The U.S. and the 
U.K., in particular, must ensure there are consequences, and that no-one else 
is unlawfully executed for exercising their right to freedom of expression.”

Because al-Sweikat was a minor at the time of his arrest, his execution by 
Saudi authorities constitutes a “violation of international law,” according to 
Reprieve.

Saudi Arabia has executed 104 people this year, according to Amnesty 
International, and is on pace to quickly surpass last year's total of 149.

Most of those killed Tuesday were Shiite men, according to Amnesty 
International. The majority of Muslims in Saudi Arabia are Sunnis, and Shias 
have been repressed for years.

"Today’s mass execution is a chilling demonstration of the Saudi Arabian 
authorities callous disregard for human life," Lynn Maalouf, Middle East 
research director at Amnesty International, said in a statement. "It is also 
yet another gruesome indication of how the death penalty is being used as a 
political tool to crush dissent from within the country’s Shi’a minority."

Tlaib, one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress last November, 
along with Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, has been a vocal critic of Trump's, 
calling for his impeachment since her election.

Omar echoed Tlaib's comments, describing the executions as “appalling,” adding 
that “We have to stop selling the Saudis weapons and supporting this 
brutality.”

Tlaib and Omar have been the target of criticism due to their relationship with 
the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). CAIR grew out of the Islamic 
Association for Palestine, which was created by Hamas, a terrorist group as 
designated by the U.S. government, according to the nonprofit Influence Watch. 
Both women have spoken at CAIR events.

Omar has said she's gotten regular death threats since Trump criticized her for 
referring to the Sept. 11 attacks as "some people did something."

(source: ABC News)

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

Mass beheadings in Saudi Arabia part of a prolonged and bloody political 
crackdown



Abdulkareem al-Hawaj was just 16 when he was arrested for taking part in 
anti-government protests in Saudi Arabia.

Five years later and his head has been chopped off in public — along with 36 
others in one day — by a swordsman on the payroll of the same government he 
dared to criticise all those years ago.

Perhaps the only consolation for his grieving family is that his headless body 
was not publicly pinned to a pole for several hours as a warning to others — a 
fate that befell one of the executed prisoners, Khaled bin Abdel Karim 
al-Tuwaijri.

The conservative Islamic kingdom say all of those executed had adopted 
extremist ideologies and formed terrorist cells with the aim of spreading chaos 
and provoking sectarian strife.

Now human rights groups have hit out at the brutal wave of punishment — saying 
the majority of those executed were convicted after sham trials that violated 
international standards and relied on confessions extracted through torture.

Furthermore, they say the grisly and public punishments are being used as tools 
to crush pro-democracy campaigners, human rights activists, intellectuals and 
the Sunni Muslim kingdom’s Shi’a minority — to which at least 33 of those 
executed belonged to.

“Today’s mass execution is a chilling demonstration of the Saudi Arabian 
authorities’ callous disregard for human life. It is also yet another gruesome 
indication of how the death penalty is being used as a political tool to crush 
dissent from within the country’s Shia minority,” said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty 
International’s Middle East research director.

In a statement, she said 11 of the men were convicted of spying for Iran and 
sentenced to death after a “grossly unfair trial”.

They had been locked up for more than 2 years before their trial began, and 
some of their lawyers boycotted the case after they were denied access to their 
clients and the case files.

At least 14 others executed were convicted of violent offences related to their 
participation in anti-government demonstrations in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern 
Province between 2011 and 2012, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Their trial began in 2015, but HRW says some of the men were convicted based on 
confessions they later withdrew in court because they had been tortured.

“As a matter of principle, none of these people had lawyers during 
investigation, so all of these cases are unfair,” Adam Coogle, who monitors 
Saudi Arabia for HRH, told the New York Times.

However, in a statement, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said the prisoners 
were found guilty of attacking security installations with explosives, killing 
a number of security officers and co-operating with enemy organisations against 
the interests of the country.

The Islamic kingdom has one of the highest execution rates in the world, and 
yesterday’s mass beheadings bring the number of such punishments this year to 
106.

At least 44 of those are foreign nationals, many of whom were convicted of 
drug-related crimes, however the majority are understood to be political 
prisoners who have been convicted as part of a brutal crackdown.

The crackdown began with the arrival of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 
2015 — which led to the torture of activists, businessmen, princes and women’s 
rights defenders.

Shortly after the young prince rose to power, 43 people were beheaded and 
another four people were killed by firing squad in January 2016.

One of those was popular Shi’a cleric Nimr al-Nimr — whose execution inflamed 
tensions across the Middle East.

Iran’s Shi’a population retaliated by setting fire to the Saudi Arabia embassy 
in Tehran. In response, the Saudi ruling family cut off diplomatic ties with 
the country as relations between the two Middle Eastern powers hit a fresh low.

Since then, the crackdown on dissent has continued to intensify despite wave 
after wave of international condemnation — with the kingdom executing 149 
people in 2018.

The Saudi Government does not release official statistics on the number of 
executions it carries out, however the death toll is being monitored by human 
rights organisations.

After this week’s mass beheadings, human rights organisations are trying to 
save Shi’a prisoners on death row who are at imminent risk of execution — some 
of whom were below the age of 18 when they were arrested.

“The use of the death penalty is always appalling, but it is even more shocking 
when it is applied after unfair trials or against people who were under 18 at 
the time of the crime in flagrant violation of international law,” said Ms 
Maalouf.

“Instead of stepping up executions at an alarming rate in the name of 
countering terrorism, Saudi Arabia’s must halt this bloody execution spree 
immediately and establish an official moratorium on executions as a first step 
towards abolishing the death penalty completely.”

(source: The Advertiser)