[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 1



IRAN----execution

Juvenile offender hanged


A youth has been hanged in Iran after being held in prison since his arrest at 
the age of 14 for accidentally killing a friend, according to information 
received from Iran.

The execution of Rahim Nosrallahzadeh in prison in the city of Tabriz is the 
latest in a surge in hangings in the regime under so-called moderate Hassan 
Rouhani.

More than 1,000 prisoners, including at least 8 juveniles, have been put to 
death in the past year.

The age of criminal responsibility in Iran is known as 'maturity', meaning 9 
lunar years for girls and 15 lunar years for boys.

Mr Norallahzadeh is one of several juvenile offenders have to have been 
executed in Tabriz prison. Others have been named as Fardin Jafarian, Ahad 
Akbari, Behnam Hakimkhani, Mohsen Mogahdam.

The execution of people for crimes committed when they were under 18 is 
strictly prohibited under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights and Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 
both of which Iran has ratified.

Under Article 6(4) of the ICCPR, anyone sentenced to death has the right to 
seek pardon or commutation of the sentence.

(source: NCR-Iran)






BANGLADESH:

Bangladeshi Jamaat leader challenges death penalty in SC


Mir Quasem Ali, a top leader of fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami party and 
Bangladeshi media tycoon, today moved the Supreme Court to challenge the death 
penalty given to him for the atrocities he committed during the 1971 
independence war against Pakistan.

Ali, 62, founding president of Jamaat's student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, was 
sentenced to death by Bangladesh's 2nd war crimes tribunal on November 2.

The tribunal found Ali guilty of 10 out of 14 charges while under 2 charges he 
was sentenced to death for torturing to death two juvenile freedom fighters and 
throwing their bodies into a river at northeastern port city of Chittagong.

Ali's counsel Shishir Muhammad Monir confirmed that they had submitted the 
appeal documents to the court, bdnews24 reported.

Ali, a former leader of Jamaat's powerful student wing, was the 3rd in command 
of the infamous Gestapo like Al-Badr militia forces.

Known to be a top financier of Jamaat, Ali, heads Diganta Media Corporation 
which owns a pro-Jamaat daily and a television station.

He also has a number of other businesses including in real estate and shipping 
sectors.

Ali was accused of running a makeshift torture camp at a hotel in Chittagong 
where hundreds of people, believed to be freedom fighters, and their supporters 
were killed during the independence war.

(source: Niti Central)






INDIA:

Surinder Koli must not be hanged before conclusion of the trial in all Nithari 
cases


Asian Centre for Human Rights while releasing its report, "Death Reserved for 
the Poor" today stated that condemned prisoner, Surinder Koli, who was 
convicted and sentenced to death in the Rimpa Halder murder case must not be 
executed before conclusion of the trial in 11 other cases of the Nithari 
murders in which he is a co-accused and the only witness against the other 
accused, Maninder Singh Pandher. Koli's case must be reviewed again in the 
light of the judgements in all the pending Nithari cases.

The stay on Koli's execution by the Allahabad High Court expires on 1 December 
2014.

"If Koli is executed, the families of the victims of 11 pending cases in which 
Koli is an accused shall be denied justice, which means nothing less than final 
conclusion of the trials. Further, if Koli is executed, co-accused Pandher will 
get inadvertent favour. As Koli remains in jail he does not pose any threat to 
society whatsoever, and there is nothing urgent which warrants his execution 
before the conclusion of the trials of all the pending cases," stated Mr Suhas 
Chakma, Coordinator of the National Campaign for Abolition of Death Penalty in 
India.

The right to equal justice provided under Article 39A of the Constitution of 
India is highly flawed both in substance and procedure, and access to justice 
depends almost on a person's socio-economic status. The report concluded that 
it is the poor and uneducated who are disproportionately awarded death penalty 
as they are unable to defend themselves in the highly expensive legal system. 
On the other hand, the rich and well-connected criminals can sabotage the 
probe, intimidate, influence and induce witnesses, suppress evidence with money 
and muscle power, and abuse all the procedural rights.

The report highlighted a number of cases of miscarriage of justice including by 
the Supreme Court which had upheld death penalty to juveniles like Ram Deo 
Chauhan of Assam in 2000 and Ankush Maruti Shinde of Maharashtra in 2009 as the 
legal aid lawyers provided by the State did not raise the issue of juvenility 
before the Courts.

"If Ram Deo Chauhan and Ankush Maruti Shinde were from rich and educated 
families, such gross miscarriage of justice would not arisen," further stated 
Mr Chakma.

Asian Centre for Human Rights recommended to the Government of India to grant 
mercy to all those who are defended by legal aid because of poverty in all 
stages of the trial and appeal, and further ensure that the trial courts 
appoint advocate/amicus curiae who have trial practices on the offences that 
the accused is charged with.

(source: Asian Centre for Human Righs)