[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 23




BANGLADESH:

4 get death penalty for Kamrangirchar murder



Speedy Trial tribunal-1 today awarded death penalty to 4 people for killing one 
Monir Hossain and cutting the dead body into 7 pieces in 2013.

The convicts are -- Md Anwer Hossain Mollah , Md Sharif Matbor, Monir's ex-wife 
Shorna Akhter Kakoli and Ibrahim Khalil.

Judge Abu Jafar Md Kamruzzaman of the tribunal passed the order in presence of 
Anwer and Shorna who are in jail now.

2 other convicts Sharif and Ibrahim are absconding.

The victim was a resident of Munshihati village under Kamrangirchar thana of 
Dhaka. On April 17, 2013, he was abducted and later killed by the convicts. To 
hide their crime, the convicts cut the victim's body into 7 pieces and dumped 
the pieces in different areas.

Later on April 28, police recovered the pieces of the victim's body from 
different places.

(source: thedailystar.net)








INDIA:

MP Convicts 26 Rapists To Death; Activists Question Due Process



After Madhya Pradesh passed a law to allow the death penalty to those convicted 
of raping minors, the state’s special court set up under the Protection of 
Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has served capital punishment in 26 
cases, The Wire reported. Of these, 21 cases of the death penalty were served 
in 2018 and the remaining five in the months of 2019. The court also ordered 
life imprisonment in 168 cases.

One of these judgments has been reportedly pronounced in no more than 5 days. 
“This is the swiftest capital punishment given to anybody in the history of 
jurisprudence. This case has found mention in the India Book of Records,” said 
the director general of prosecution Rajendra Kumar to The Wire.

The accused in most cases are persons who claimed to belong to economically 
marginalised groups who didn’t have the money to hire a lawyer. Although the MP 
States Legal Services Authority provides lawyers to those accused who don’t 
have the means to afford it but since the trials conducted by the special court 
is so swift that a lawyer in one case alleged that “he did not even have the 
time to speak to the accused”. However, Kumar has denied such allegations and 
said, “Lawyers have been made available to all the accused. It is not correct 
to say that they did not have lawyers.”

One of the shortest trials was that of Motilal Ahirwar, who was accused of 
raping a seven-year-old girl on May 29, 2018. He was sentenced to life 
imprisonment on August 8, The Wire reported.

In 2016 when the latest National Crime Record Bureau report was released, it 
ranked MP on top among all the states for having the highest crime rate against 
women.

Is Death Penalty the ultimate answer to reduce rapes?

People supporting the women’s movement have for long stood against death 
penalty as a response to rapes. Women’s Rights Activist Dipta Bhog in a 
conversation with SheThePeople.TV said, “Death penalty in case of rapes is not 
something women’s movement stands for at all. There are 2 arguments in support 
of that of which one is that rape is not the ultimate crime against a woman or 
a girl. This eulogizing of rape as the ultimate crime robs us of the fact that 
we need to recognise it as a crime but it is not the worst crime. It then 
furthers the narrative that a woman cannot live her life beyond this crime 
therefore it is the most heinous crime which needs to change. Yes, it is a 
crime against women that needs to be investigated and people need to be 
punished.

The other thing is that as a crime becomes more and more criminalised, it 
becomes identified as something that only requires death penalty and the 
chances of conviction gets lower. Such cases need to go through a due process.”

Supreme Court lawyer Shomona Khanna also denied death penalty as being the 
ultimate solution for rapes in the country. She said, “I am completely opposed 
to the idea and one of the reasons for it is that death is completely final. If 
there is an error in judgment which convicts a person wrongly because new 
evidence has emerged then nothing can be done about it. Another reason for 
death penalty for sexual assault crimes is not acceptable is that in India the 
conviction rate for rape and sexual assault crimes is among the worst in the 
world out of the very few cases that get reported.

Of the cases which come for trial the conviction rate is only 20% and what the 
women’s movement wants is the certainty in conviction.”

Fast-tracking cases and pronouncing death penalty an “aberration”

As far as fast-tracking of these cases is concerned, Bhog said that it is 
important to talk about these high rates of conviction and punishment where the 
criminal may have a possibility of reform as much as girls have the right to 
continue their lives without the stigma. “This approach to order capital punish 
in rape cases is a very protective approach of the lawmakers, where they are 
saying that they will kill the person who commits sexual crimes against young 
girls. In trying to protect their daughter’s honour by handing out such a 
punishment is like taking revenge which sparks riots,” Bhog added.

Khanna also raised concern around such fast-tracking of rape cases against 
minors and said that it is an “aberration” in terms of how due process is being 
attempted. “The normal reaction of a judge or a judicial officer in such a case 
would be that they will be even more hesitant to convict. They will actually 
hold the conviction because in any case in a criminal matter the standard of 
proof is without reasonable doubt which is very high.”

“In case of capital punishment then the judicial officer will go even beyond 
that and will have to consider unassailable proof that the person is guilty. 
These 26 cases are an aberration which is happening in 1 corner of the 
country.”

Khanna raised concern around such fast-tracking of rape cases against minors 
and said that it is an “aberration” in terms of how due process is being 
attempted. “The normal reaction of a judge or a judicial officer in such a case 
would be that they will be even more hesitant to convict. They will actually 
hold the conviction because in any case in a criminal matter the standard of 
proof is without reasonable doubt which is very high standard of proof.”

Strengthen Criminal Justice System

There should be a criminal justice system which convicts people with certainty 
for committing sexual crimes against women and minors and that will prove to be 
a deterrent which will hopefully bring down the number of cases, said Khanna on 
one of the solutions to deal with the rising crime rate against women and 
minors. She added, “Right now the system is such that the probability that a 
person will be caught and after the person is caught, the probability that they 
will be convicted or conviction will be upheld in a court of law is very low. 
This is why we have a culture of impunity.”

(source: shethepeople.tv)








PHILIPPINES:

Mid-terms clear way for Duterte to reinstate death penalty----Allies of 
strongman president score victories in elections, leaving the Senate at his 
mercy



Rodrigo Duterte has won a sweeping victory in mid-term elections in the 
Philippines, further consolidating his power and popularity and paving the way 
for the introduction of controversial reforms.

The president was elected on a populist wave in 2016 and the results 
demonstrate how little his popularity has dipped over the past three years, 
despite him achieving international notoriety over a war on drugs that has 
resulted in thousands of deaths, and his misogynist and anti-religious public 
remarks.

Up for grabs in the mid-terms were 12 Senate seats, nearly 300 seats in the 
House of Representatives and thousands of local posts, including mayor and 
governor positions. Pro-Duterte candidates scored victories in significant 
numbers.

Most significantly, nine pro-Duterte candidates won Senate seats, meaning the 
24-seat upper house is now firmly under his grip. The liberal opposition did 
not win a single contested Senate seat.

Since his election in 2016, the Senate, which traditionally acts more 
independently and had a tiny majority who were resistant to Duterte, has been a 
bulwark against some of the president’s most controversial proposals, including 
the reintroduction of the death penalty.

But with 3/4 of the contested Senate seats now occupied by Duterte allies, his 
pathway is clear to introduce legislation bringing back capital punishment, as 
well as other contentious laws such as the lifting of presidential term limits 
and lowering the age of criminal liability to 12.

There are now just 4 anti-Duterte senators left and 1, Leila de Lima, cannot 
vote because she is in jail on drugs charges she alleges were fabricated to 
silence her.

Among the more controversial new senators is Ronald dela Rosa, a former police 
chief who oversaw the implementation of Duterte’s war on drugs. The campaign 
has officially caused 5,000 deaths, though campaigners say the real figure is 
more than double that. The international criminal court is currently carrying 
out a preliminary investigation into whether the extrajudicial killings 
constitute crimes against humanity.

Aligning with Duterte’s position, Dela Rosa said his “No 1 priority” would be 
to bring back the death penalty. The Philippines outlawed capital punishment in 
1987, reinstated it 6 years later and then abolished it again in 2006. Human 
Rights campaigners voiced fears that his election would also mean he would have 
impunity for any crimes committed as part of the war on drugs.

Also elected to the Senate was Imee Marcos, the daughter of the deposed former 
dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

On the day the polls opened last week, Duterte said he would take the result as 
a “referendum” on his administration so far. “It could be taken as a 
referendum, so that if you agree with me, then you can vote for my candidates 
or the people I am supporting this election,” he said.

Despite the overwhelming victory, the president was noticeable by his absence 
on Wednesday night, fuelling further speculation that his health may be in 
deterioration. Duterte, who is known to have health problems, has not been seen 
in public for more than a week.

In an attempt to ease the rumours, photos of Duterte at home in the 
presidential palace were released on Sunday. On Monday, the president’s 
spokesman dismissed reports that he was hiding anything about the state of his 
health. It is the fifth time Duterte has disappeared from the public eye 
without explanation since he became president.

(source: The Guardian)

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

House opposition leader urges Senate to reject PSA amendment, federalism, death 
penalty revival



The leader of the Magnificent 7 on Tuesday urged senators on Monday to reject 
the proposed the amendments to the Public Service Act, federalism and revival 
of the death penalty, which were prioritized for consideration in the last few 
session days of the 17th Congress.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said the Senate must reject the amendments to the 
Public Service Act, which allows aliens and foreign corporations to own and 
operate public utilities previously reserved for Filipino citizens or 
corporations.

He said a constitutional amendment is needed before allowing foreign 
corporations to own and operate public utilities in the country.

Lagman said House Bill 5828 provides for a statutory definition of a 
public-utility, which, he said, “is actually a subterfuge to allow foreigners 
to own public-utility enterprises without complying with the citizenship 
requirement imposed by the Constitution.”

According to Lagman, the bill has deleted the requisite Filipino ownership 
requirement of public utilities under the Public Service Act, which is 
identical with Section 11 of Article XII of the Constitution.

“In its definition of a public utility, HB 5828 deliberately deleted the 
concept of ownership and limited the definition to the operation, management 
and control of public utilities even as there can be no operation, management 
or control without a qualified owner,” he added.

Lagman said the bill also deletes from the enumeration of public utilities 
traditional public utilities like common carriers and telecommunications 
companies, which are presently operating with controlling Filipino ownership.

The bill amending the Public Service Act has already been transmitted to the 
Senate in September 2017.

Con-ass

Lagman said opposition to a constituent assembly (Con-ass) and federalism must 
relentlessly continue and must carry over to the incoming 18th Congress. “A 
strong argument, if not the strongest, against constituting the House of 
Representatives and the Senate into a constituent assembly is that the 
supermajority solons will convert the constituent assembly into a virtual 
rubber stamp of President Rodrigo Duterte,” he added.

“The subservience to the administration, which is now happening in the House, 
will certainly happen in the projected constituent assembly composed of the 
supermajority blindly allied with the President,” Lagman said.

The lawmaker said it must be underscored that the undue haste in shifting from 
the unitary to the federal system of government will further deteriorate the 
economy.

Citing the previous position aired by National Economic and Development 
Authority Director-General Ernesto Pernia, Lagman noted the country’s lack of 
preparedness for a shift to federalism because: The majority of our regions are 
fiscally ill-prepared and implementing it before we are ready will be 
detrimental to economic growth; and it may shred the country’s balance sheet 
and could have negative implications for public finances.

The resolution convening the Congress into constitutional assembly has been 
adopted by the chamber in January 2018.

Death penalty

Lagman also called on the Senate to reject the revival of the death penalty, 
which was already approved by the House in 2017.

He said data show that the death penalty is not a deterrent to the commission 
of crimes even as the crime rate has gone down.

“Punitive justice is not the avenue to achieve justice, because vengeance is 
never justice, and the imposition of capital punishment is not a precursor to 
judicial reforms,” he added.

Lagman also urged the Senate to reject the House-approved measure lowering of 
the age of criminal responsibility.

“Neuroscientific research documents that the brains of children do not fully 
develop until their early 20s, meaning children between the ages of 12 to 15 
may still have reduced discernment to justify the imposition of criminal 
culpability on them,” Lagman said.

He said the present Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 must be fully 
implemented with the assurance of adequate funding for non-penal institutions 
and programs for children in conflict with the law.

(source: Business Mirror)

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

CHR set to halt restoration of death penalty



With the restoration of the death penalty having high hopes due to election of 
several bets of President Duterte in the upper and lower chambers, the 
Commission in Human Rights (CHR) noted that it is set to engage in a conversion 
aimed at educating the lawmakers.

CHR commissioner Karen Gomez-Dumpit, in a statement, said they are ready to 
“engage the House of Representatives in a frank and factual conversation about 
the death penalty.”

“We are ready to present the ineffectiveness of the death penalty and offer 
viable programs that result in crime prevention and lowering crime incidence. 
These include police visibility or increasing police to population ratios and 
community vigilance. We fully support these initiatives that do not diminish 
our principles to uphold the right to life,” she said.

As an agency mandated to protect human rights, Gomez-Dumpit said CHR must 
ensure that their legal obligations as a state party to the International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Second Optional Protocol aiming 
at the Abolition of the Death Penalty are respected and fulfilled.

“As a state party to these human rights treaties, we have perpetually committed 
not to impose nor reintroduce capital punishment,” she explained.

Gomez-Dumpit, meanwhile, clarified that they are not against persecuting 
convicted criminals and lawless elements but apprehension must still abide with 
the rights of every human being.

“The Commission does not want crime to go unpunished. However, the 
apprehension, prosecution, conviction and punishment of those who have 
committed wrong doings must be in accordance with human rights standards and 
principles,” she said.

(source: sunstar.com.ph)








IRAN:

2 US-Saudi ‘spies’ sentenced in Iran



2 spies with alleged ties to US and Saudi intelligence services have been 
sentenced in Iran.

The Iranian judiciary spokesman, Gholam Hossein Esmaili, told reporters of the 
sentencing during a press conference, according to the Iranian Students’ News 
Agency (ISNA).

Esmaili declined to provide further information about the names of the 
defendants or their sentences.

The imprisonment of the alleged US and Saudi spies comes at a time of strained 
relationships between Tehran and Washington.

US President Donald Trump has flirted with the idea of military conflict with 
Iran, accusing Tehran of attacking US interests through its proxy militias in 
Yemen and Iraq. Earlier this month, the USS Abraham Lincoln strike force was 
deployed to the Arabian Gulf as a deterent.

Last week, an Iranian woman was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for 
allegedly spying for British intelligence services.

“An Iranian who was in charge of [the] Iran desk in the British Council and was 
cooperating with Britain’s intelligence agency… was sentenced to ten years in 
prison after clear confessions,” Esmaili was quoted as saying by Fars news 
agency.

Earlier this year, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif offered a prisoner swap 
between British-Iranian dual citizen, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, and Iranians 
awaiting extradition to the United States. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to 3 
to 5 years imprisonment for allegedly plotting the overthrow of the Iranian 
establishment.

Spying is a serious crime in Iran with a maximum penalty of death. Those 
sentenced could also receive hefty custodial sentences with or without 
additional lashes.

(source: Middle East Monitor)