[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

my postings to this list will resume on Dec. 31


Happy Holidays!!

**********




Dec. 17



PAKISTAN:

Pakistan Reinstates Death Penalty After Attack ---- The PM describes the school 
massacre as a "national tragedy unleashed by savages", as he lifts the ban on 
the death penalty.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has reinstated the death penalty in 
terrorism cases after Taliban gunmen killed 132 children and 9 teachers at a 
school in Peshawar.

3 days of mourning have begun after the country's deadliest terror attack which 
saw 7 gunmen storm the army-run school on Tuesday.

Government spokesman Mohiuddin Wan said Mr Sharif had approved the lifting of 
the ban on death penalties.

He said: "It was decided that this moratorium should be lifted. The prime 
minister approved. Black warrants [execution orders] will be issued within a 
day or 2."

The moratorium on civilian executions had been in place since 2008. 1 execution 
has taken place since then.

Despite the ban, hanging has remained a possible sentence in Pakistan and 
judges continued to pass death sentences.

Pakistan has more than 8,000 prisoners on death row, around 10% of whom have 
been convicted of offences labelled "terrorism", according to legal aid group 
Justice Project Pakistan.

Meanwhile, funerals for many of the victims of the massacre have been taking 
place.

Mr Sharif described the attack as a "national tragedy unleashed by savages".

"These were my children. This is my loss. This is the nation's loss," he said.

Tehreek-e-Taliban insurgents moved from room to room during the 8-hour attack.

Pupils were gunned down and some of the female teachers were reportedly burned 
alive.

Teenage survivor Shahrukh Khan, who ducked below his desk with classmates when 
4 gunmen burst into the room, described how he played dead after being shot in 
both legs.

He said he stuffed his tie into his mouth to stifle his screams.

"I saw a pair of big black boots coming towards me, this guy was probably 
hunting for students hiding beneath the benches," the 15-year-old said.

"The man with big boots kept on looking for students and pumping bullets into 
their bodies. I lay as still as I could and closed my eyes, waiting to get shot 
again.

"My body was shivering. I saw death so close and I will never forget the black 
boots approaching me - I felt as though it was death that was approaching me."

People in Peshawar have been posting memorials to friends and loved ones killed 
in the attack.

One written to Mubeen Shah on Facebook reads: "I don't know how to sleep today, 
I don't even know how to stop my tears."

Chief military spokesman General Asim Bajwa that 125 people had been wounded in 
the assault.

The militants said the attack was revenge for a major military offensive in the 
northwest, along the border with Afghanistan.

But even the Taliban militants in Afghanistan condemned the attack as 
"un-Islamic".

Meanwhile, a district government official confirmed a US drone strike in 
eastern Afghanistan killed 11 militants, including four Pakistan Taliban, on 
Tuesday.

(source: Sky News)

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

Pakistan to end death penalty moratorium in terror cases: PM's office



Pakistan is to end its moratorium on the death penalty in terror-related cases, 
the prime minister's office announced Dec. 17, a day after Taliban militants 
killed 141 people in an attack on a school.

The assault on the army-run school in the northwestern city of Peshawar, the 
deadliest terror attack in Pakistan's history, has triggered widespread 
revulsion.

Political and military leaders have vowed to wipe out the homegrown Islamist 
insurgency that has killed thousands of ordinary Pakistanis in recent years.

"The prime minister has approved abolishment of moratorium on the execution of 
death penalty in terrorism-related cases," an official from Sharif's office 
said.

Hanging remains on the Pakistani statute book and judges continue to pass the 
death sentence, but a de facto moratorium on civilian executions has been in 
place since 2008.

Only 1 person has been executed since then, a soldier convicted by a court 
martial and hanged in November 2012.

Rights campaign group Amnesty International estimates that Pakistan has more 
than 8,000 prisoners on death row, most of whom have exhausted the appeals 
process.

(source: Agence France-Presse)

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

JUI-F criticises death penalty moratorium



JUI-F General Secretary Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri has said that a moratorium 
on death penalty is encouraging terrorists and has limited counter-terrorism 
actions in the country.

Speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday, Maulana Haidri, who is Minister 
of State for Postal Services, condemned the terrorist attack on a school in 
Peshawar and said the state had no right to suspend the death penalty.

"Only a victim's kin has the right to pardon the killer with or without taking 
compensation. This is an Islamic way of justice and being an ideological state 
Pakistan should have Islamic laws," he said.

The JUI-F leader said terrorists did not fear the writ of law only because the 
punishment for heinous crimes like murder and terrorism was practically 
negligible.

"What we need is to hang the culprits involved in terrorist activities," he 
said, adding: "What is the duty of security and intelligence agencies? Reaction 
to the Zarb-i-Azb military operation was expected. We are in a state of war and 
the preparation should also be up to that level."

He also lashed out at the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and said: "What 
else can we expect from (Chief Minister) Pervez Khattak and his cabinet members 
who are always found in Islamabad. The KP government is busy in sit-ins."

(source: Dawn)

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

Black warrants of convicted terrorists to be issued within 48 hours



Black warrants for terrorists awaiting implementation to their death sentence 
are expected to be issued within the next 48 hours.

The prime minister has approved abolishment of moratorium on the execution of 
death penalty in terrorism-related cases.

Thousands of terrorists have been detained at various jails across country. 
Death penalty would be executed after the black warrants would be issued.

It has been years since capital punishment was implemented in Pakistan.

As many as 141 people including 132 school children and 9 staff-members of the 
school were martyred in a terrorist attack on an army-run school in Peshawar on 
Tuesday.

The nation will observe 3-day mourning and Pakistani flag on all official 
buildings will be lowered.

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

Death penalty issued to 458 prisoners in Sindh jails



Supreme Court of Pakistan, Sindh High Court and President Mamnoon Hussain have 
the appeals for death penalty of more than 458 prisoners currently housed in 
the jails of Sindh.

458 prisoners have been issued death sentence. 378 appeals are filed in the 
Supreme Court. 26 appeals are still pending with President Mamnoon Hussain. 47 
appeals filed in the Supreme Court of Pakistan are unsettled whereas 6 
prisoners have been issued black warrants.

However, the criminal proceedings couldn't take place for last several years 
because of the ban on sentence to death.

Following the orders of PM to lift temporary ban on death penalties action 
would be taken against convicted terrorists.

(source for both: Dunya News)








IRAQ:

150 women executed after refusing to marry ISIL militants



At least 150 women who refused to marry militants of the Islamic State of Iraq 
and the Levant, or ISIL, were executed in the western Iraqi province of 
Al-Anbar, Iraq's Ministry of Human Rights said.

According to a ministry statement released Tuesday, ISIL militants carried out 
a number of attacks in Fallujah and buried the victims in mass graves in one of 
the city's neighborhoods.

"At least 150 females, including pregnant women, were executed in Fallujah by a 
militant named Abu Anas Al-Libi after they refused to accept jihad marriage," 
the statement said. "Many families were also forced to migrate from the 
province's northern town of Al-Wafa after hundreds of residents received death 
threats."

The ministry said many children died when their families were stranded in the 
desert after leaving their homes.

ISIL controls many areas in Al-Anbar and is attempting to take over Ramadi, the 
province's capital city.

The U.S. is leading an international coalition that has carried out a number of 
airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq and Syria since the militant group captured the 
northern province of Mosul back in June.

(source: Anadolu News Agency)



ITALY:

Nobel Peace Laureates stand for the UN Moratorium



On December 14 it was held in Rome a meeting with Nobel Peace Laureates, 
promoted by Hands Off Cain and the Radical Party, in support of the 5th UN 
Resolution for the universal moratorium on executions, on which the General 
Assembly is called to vote on the 18th of December.

The event, sponsored by the Permanent Secretariat of the World Summit of Nobel 
Peace Laureates, was attended by Emma Bonino, Marco Pannella and Nobel Peace 
Laureates Shirin Ebadi and Mairead Corrigan Maguire.

Iranian Shirin Ebadi offered a merciless description of the Mullah regime: "It 
is impossible to reconcile with such regime, until remains the absolute power 
of the Supreme Leader, who lays down the law on political, institutional and 
social matters [...] his power is beyond the President in turn, whether him a 
reformer or a conservative."

"Under the presidency of the 'moderate' Hassan Rohani, executions have soared 
and have been at least 870 this year" Ebadi said, who has denounced that "among 
those executed are also women, children under 18 years, and political 
opponents." "Justice cannot degrade justice in revenge" Mairead Corrigan 
Maguire said, who added that "compassion and tolerance should be translated 
into political action and legal norms [...] The death penalty is not only in 
Iran, it is also in the United States, where they practice it not only in the 
'legal' form, but also with other lethal means, such as drones."

In conclusion, the Northern Irish Nobel appealed to "non-violence as a form of 
struggle for radical changes. We must not be afraid or suffer those regimes 
that deny our values: respect for life and human dignity, the right to truth 
and knowledge."

(source: radicalparty.org)








PHILIPPINES:

Pope Francis visit makes revival of death penalty unlikely - Santiago



With the imminent visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines, the proposal to 
revive the death penalty, at least for big-time drug traffickers, is unlikely 
to get off the ground, according to Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

Santiago said European countries are expected to also oppose the move.

The proposal for the return of capital punishment came from Sen. Vicente Sotto 
III, who said the longest jail sentence under the country's laws do not serve 
as a deterrent to most criminals, and this was underscored by the recent 
discovery of the luxurious lifestyles of moneyed convicts behind bars.

But Santiago said this proposal was sure to meet with resistance, especially 
since the head of the Catholic Church is coming to visit next month.

"It will not sit well with the coming visit of the Pope of the Catholic Church, 
which has always been anti-capital punishment," she told reporters.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, along with human rights 
groups, had opposed Sotto's proposal to revive the death penalty, even if it 
would be limited to high-level drug traffickers.

"The CBCP and the church for that matter is very consistent that we're not 
going to choose the kind of people we're going to kill," Fr. Jerome Secillano, 
executive secretary of the CBCP's permanent committee on public affairs, said 
in a Senate hearing the other day.

Santiago said European countries have been against the death penalty, and had 
strongly supported earlier moves to repeal the law.

"They tried to persuade us as much as they could," she said.

(source: Philippine Inquirer)

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

Church opposes proposal to impose death penalty on drug lords



The Church won't budge.

"Amid mounting calls to reimpose the death penalty against drug lords, the 
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is standing firm on its 
position to uphold the sanctity of life," reports ANC.

Fr. Francis Lucas, executive director of the CBCP Catholic Media Network, 
summed up the Church's stance on the matter. He said in Filipino, "Life is just 
borrowed. Nobody has the right to take it away, not even the State."

The CBCP doesn't believe that the death penalty deters people from committing 
crimes.

Lucas added, "There must be the hope of returning to the fold. If a person is 
killed, there is no chance for reform. It's the wrong solution to the wrong 
problem. When you sin, there is a social impact. If you kill someone, you 
cannot say that you only affect yourself. You also affect those around you, 
those who love you."

Meanwhile, the report noted that "Senator Vicente Sotto on Tuesday, December 
16, revived his calls for the reimposition of the death penalty after seeing 
the luxurious lifestyle of drug lords jailed at the national penitentiary."

Sotto said in Filipino: "How can you rehabilitate them? They're already in 
prison and yet they continue to operate."

(source: Coconuts Manila)

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

Bacolod celebrates Cities for Life



Bacolod City, being included as one of the Cities for Life all over the world, 
celebrated the 13th International Day of Cities.

Cities for Life is a worldwide coalition of cities against death penalty, which 
to date, already have 1,850 cities listed since it started in 2002 with 80 
city-participants.

Bacolod City Mayor Monico Puentevella with other city officials led the 
unveiling of the marker and candle lighting ceremony December 16 at the Bacolod 
People's House lobby to mark the 2nd year inclusion of Bacolod in the Cities 
for Life - Cities Against Death Penalty, a release from the City Information 
Office said.

Different government agencies, civic organizations, life advocates, religious 
sectors and students from private and public schools in the city attended the 
celebration.

Parole and Probation Administration Regional Director Charito Zamora read the 
short background of Cities for Life while Councilor El Cid Familiaran read the 
resolution authored by Councilor Sonya Verdeflor.

Puentevella and other city officials with civic group leaders signed a pledge 
of commitment against the imposition of death penalty.

Cities for Life are group of cities and municipalities in the country who have 
signified against the imposition of death penalty led by Community of Sant' 
Egidio, an international organization based in Rome, Italy.

(source: news.pia.gov.ph)




IRAN:

UN: Freeze Funding of Iran Counter-Narcotics Efforts ---- Surge in Executions 
for Drug Trafficking



The United Nations agency charged with combating illicit drug trafficking 
should withdraw its support for counter-narcotics police operations in Iran 
until the death penalty for drug offenses is abolished, 6 rights groups said in 
a letter published today. The groups made the plea after Iran's judiciary 
hanged 18 alleged drug traffickers within 24 hours on December 3, 2014, 
bringing the number of drug offenders executed in the country during 2014 to at 
least 318.

Reprieve, Human Rights Watch, Iran Human Rights, the World Coalition Against 
the Death Penalty, Harm Reduction International and the Abdorrahman Boroumand 
Foundation said the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) should 
follow its own human rights guidance and impose "a temporary freeze or 
withdrawal of support" if "following requests for guarantees and high-level 
political intervention, executions for drug related offenses continue." The 6 
organizations warned the UNODC of "the widening gulf between Iran's rhetoric 
and the realities of its justice system," and described the agency's decision 
to continue funding supply-side counter-narcotics efforts in the country as 
"ineffective if not counterproductive."

"As Iran executes alleged drug offenders in ever-greater numbers, it beggars 
belief that the UN sees fit to continue funding Iranian anti-drug operations," 
said Reprieve director Maya Foa. "How many more hangings will it take for the 
UN to open its eyes to the lethal consequences of its current approach, and 
make its counter-narcotics support conditional on an end to the death penalty 
for drug offenses?"

The UN agency's records show it has given more than $15 million to "supply 
control" operations by Iran's Anti-Narcotics Police, funding specialist 
training, intelligence, trucks, body scanners, night vision goggles, drug 
detection dogs, bases, and border patrol offices, the groups said. UNODC 
projects in Iran have come with performance indicators including "an increase 
in drug seizures and an improved capability of intercepting smugglers," and an 
"increase of drug-related sentences."

The United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark have all chosen to withdraw their 
support from Iranian counter-narcotics operations administered by the UNODC 
because of concerns that this funding was enabling the execution of alleged 
drug traffickers. When announcing its decision to do so, Denmark publically 
acknowledged that the donations are leading to executions.

The groups had previously written a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon 
in May 2014 on the issue of UNODC counter-narcotics funding in Iran and 
Vietnam. In their letter, the groups expressed concern that UNODC continuing 
support of Iran's counter-narcotics operations was "lending legitimacy" to 
executions of drug offenders. In an August 2014 response, UNODC Executive 
Director Yury Fedotov responded that his agency sought progress through 
"engagement and dialogue," and that he was "gratified" by "potentially 
favourable developments regarding the application of the death penalty in 
relation to drug offenders in Iran."

Iran's anti-narcotics law imposes a mandatory death sentence for manufacturing, 
trafficking, possession, or trade of five or more kilograms of opium and other 
specified drugs, and 30 or more grams of heroin, morphine, or specified 
synthetic and non-medical psychotropic drugs, such as methamphetamines. 
International law requires countries like Iran that retain the death penalty to 
impose it for only the "most serious crimes," which does not include drug 
crimes.

Although international law says that all death sentences should be subject to 
appeal, Iran has apparently limited appeals in drug-related cases. Figures 
suggest Iran is executing those charged with drug offenses in increasing 
numbers, despite recent calls for reform by the chair of the country's Human 
Rights Council, Mohammad Javad Larijani, who said there were legislative 
efforts under way to end the death penalty for drug-related offenses.

The rights groups are not aware of any pending legislation in parliament that 
would end, or even reduce, the number of executions related to drug offenses. 
On December 16, the Iranian Students' News Agency reported that a high ranking 
official with the country's counter-narcotics agency opposed the elimination of 
the death penalty for drug traffickers, noting that any changes in the law 
would have to be made by the Expediency Council, an advisory body to the 
supreme leader, and not Iran's parliament.

Harm Reduction International and Human Rights Watch previously urged UNODC to 
freeze funding of drug enforcement programs to Iran, and said Iranian 
authorities should move quickly to end the death penalty for drug-related 
offenses. The 2 groups first met UNODC officials in Vienna in 2007 to discuss 
concerns regarding the execution of drug offenders in Iran.

(source: Human Rights Watch)

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

Iran's Execution Surge; silence should not be an option

Note: This column is an English translation of an article published in Le Temps 
on December 16, 2014.



On 18 November, the United Nations General Assembly passed its annual 
resolution raising concern for human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 
including the country's surge in executions. Today Iran is the world's leading 
executioner per capita. Its death penalty practice particularly callous and 
lawless often marked by execution of juvenile offenders, public hangings, and 
gross due process violations.

Not surprisingly, the UN resolution received strong support in amongst 
Francophone nations, where 62 about of 77 states have abolished the death 
penalty by law or in practice. The Central African Republic, Haiti, Cameroon, 
France and others voted in favor the resolution.

Yet, several countries failed to join the international consensus, including 
the Senegal, Rawanda, Lao, Tunisia and Gabon, who actually abstained from 
voting. This silence is disappointing. And, sadly, Comoros voted against the 
resolution despite voting for it last year.

Behind closed doors some diplomats explain that the election of Hassan Rouhani 
to President of the Islamic Republic and improved political relations with Iran 
makes them less inclined to vote on such resolutions. Yet all reports indicate 
that the human rights situation, especially with regards to the use of the 
death penalty, has deteriorated.

Last month's execution of Reyhaneh Jabbari should have alerted everyone to this 
deterioration. Despite repeated and clear international calls for a stay of 
execution, authorities executed Jabbari, a young woman who was convicted of 
murdering a man attempting to sexually assault her. The UN Office of the High 
Commissioner on Human Rights quickly condemned this execution, raising due 
process deficiencies. Her conviction was allegedly based on confessions made 
under duress. The court also apparently failed to consider any evidence of the 
attempted sexual assault.

Unfortunately, Jabbari's case is not unique. Since June 2013, when Mr. Rouhani 
assumed office, on average 2 people have been executed every day in Iran. That 
is more than 870 executions in Mr. Rouhani's 1st year in office, the highest 
annual figure in 20 years in Iran. Moreover, these death sentences commonly 
steam from on tortured confessions and trials conducted without the presences 
of a lawyer for the accused.

Though Iran has pledged to respect at least the minimum standards regarding the 
death penalty, the majority of executions are for offenses that fall outside 
the category of "most serious" crimes, needed to justify the sentence. 
According to the UN about 63% of the executions in Iran documented since 2011, 
were for drug-related crimes, which do not meet this international criterion. 
Over the last year, in a few cases it even appears individuals have even been 
executed for peaceful political activism.

Iran has also not yet eliminated the death penalty for juvenile offenders, and 
has so far executed at least 13 juveniles in 2014. In April, Iran executed 4 
juvenile offenders in four days, one of which was Ebrahim Hajati, hanged for a 
murder he committed when he was 16 years old.

It is a paradox that relations between Iran and the international community are 
improving while the rate of executions in Iran is spiraling out of control. If 
this is the case, should Iranian authorities not be expected to be more 
accountable towards international concerns, not less? Instead, when the UN 
Secretary-General recently expressed dismay at the country's execution policies 
the head of Iran's Judiciary Sadegh Larijani, responded, "Who is Mr. 
Secretary-General to tell us we should stop executions?"

Today, it is more important than ever to focus on human rights and put the 
death penalty at top of the agenda in any dialogue with Iran. The UN must be 
the driving voice for reforms that lead to a decrease and finally an abolition 
of the death penalty.

International human rights demands enjoy strong support among the Iranian 
people. Mr. Rouhani was elected on a platform of human rights pledges. Public 
sentiment in Iran is increasingly turning against the use of the death penalty, 
especially executions in public, drug-related sentences, and juvenile 
executions. This shift isn't limited to the human rights defenders and the 
civil society either. Several religious clerics have raised voice against 
certain aspects of the death penalty. It is time, which have ceased executing 
their own citizens should ask, 'do Iranians deserve less rights?'

In late December the UNGA will reconvene for another vote that formally adopts 
the resolution on human rights in Iran. Francophone nations will have another 
chance to remind ordinary Iranians and their government that the right to life 
is an international concern by voting "yes."

(source: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, Executive Director of Iran Human Right (IHR) 
and member of the Steering Committee of the World Coalition against the Death 
Penalty

Raphael Chenuil-Hazan, Executive Director of Ensemble contre la peine de mort 
(ECPM) and Vice-President of the World Coalition of the Death Penalty

Iran Human Right (IHR) and Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM) are members 
of the international network Impact Iran (impactiran.org)----Iran Human Rights)

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

Iran Criticized for Executing Drug Offenders



6 international human rights groups have petitioned the United Nations to 
freeze its counternarcotics aid to Iran until that country abolishes the death 
penalty for drug offenses.

In a jointly signed Dec. 12 letter released Wednesday by the groups, they argue 
that the freeze is justified because of "the widening gulf between Iran's 
rhetoric and the realities of the justice system."

Iran executes more prisoners than any other country except China, with 500 to 
625 executed last year, according to United Nations estimates. At least 1/2 of 
the condemned were convicted of drug trafficking.

Yury Fedotov, chief executive of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 
a Vienna-based agency that has provided millions of dollars to Iran's 
counternarcotics efforts, has been in discussions with Iranian officials about 
the executions, which are at odds with the agency's human rights guidelines.

Under international law, Iran and other countries with the death penalty are 
required to impose it only for the "most serious crimes," which do not include 
drug offenses.

Even though some senior Iranian officials have spoken out against capital 
punishment for drug crimes, there have been signs that the pace of executions 
has accelerated this year.

Iran, a conduit for opium trafficking from neighboring Afghanistan, has one of 
the world's harshest drug laws. It imposes mandatory death sentences for 
making, trafficking and possessing specified quantities of opium, opiates and 
other drugs, like methamphetamines.

On Dec. 4, Mohammad Javad Larijani, the secretary of Iran's Human Rights 
Council, said in an interview with the France 24 news channel that "nobody is 
happy" about the number of executions and that he would like to see Iran's drug 
punishment softened. "We are crusading to change this law," he said.

Rights groups say in their letter, which is addressed to Mr. Fedotov, that a 
few days before Mr. Larijani's interview, 18 convicted offenders had been 
hanged in Iran, and that this year at least 318 had been put to death, a pace 
that would surpass the 331 drug convicts executed in 2013.

"This increase in the execution rate belies Mr. Larijani's reassuring rhetoric 
and U.N.O.D.C.'s lauding of 'potentially favorable developments' on this 
issue," reads the letter by the groups.

The letter was signed by Human Rights Watch, Reprieve, Iran Human Rights, the 
World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Harm Reduction International and the 
Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation, named after an Iranian lawyer who was 
assassinated in Paris in 1991.

There was no immediate comment from Mr. Fedotov's office about the letter. 
Phone and email messages left with the agency's spokeswoman, Preeta Bannerjee, 
were not immediately returned.

Iran has given mixed messages on capital punishment. When the United Nations 
secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, criticized Iran in March for what he called its 
failure to improve human rights - including the use of capital punishment - Mr. 
Larijani's brother, Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, the chief of the Iranian 
judiciary, chastised him for the remarks.

(source: New York Times)








INDONESIA----impending executions

AGO Says Executions Are Set for This Week----Capital Controversy: The attorney 
general and president's tough stance on the death penalty has been heavily 
criticized



The execution of 5 death-row inmates is likely to be conducted this week, an 
official revealed on Monday, as activists and academics continue to condemn the 
plan.

The Attorney General's Office, which is tasked with carrying out the execution, 
has yet to reveal the identity of the inmates, saying only that they are now 
incarcerated in different prisons across Indonesia.

But AGO spokesman Tony Spontana said "it is almost certain" that there will 
only be 1 venue for the execution of the 5, Nusa Kambangan, an island prison 
located less than a kilometer off the port town of Cilacap on the southern 
coast of Java.

The execution will be carried out by a 10-member firing squad from the Central 
Java Police???s Mobile Brigade Unit (Brimob) and the inmates could be executed 
within this week, Tony said.

On Monday, "the Attorney General [HM Prasetyo] is scheduled to receive reports 
from provincial prosecutors' office chiefs ... whose offices host inmates on 
death row," the spokesman said.

"The reports will include one from the Central Java Prosecutors' Office chief. 
This prosecutors' office actually don't have any inmates scheduled for 
execution [this week] but [will submit a report] because the executions will be 
conducted in Cilacap," Tony added.

He said the attorney general is planning to conduct a visit to Nusa Kambangan 
to inspect preparations for the execution over the next few days.

It is unclear when the 5 inmates are scheduled to arrive at the maximum 
security island prison.

The law says inmates must be informed of their execution 72 hours before it is 
carried out.

Plans for the execution was revealed earlier this month after President Joko 
Widodo denied their petitions for clemency.

Joko, according to the AGO, has pledged to refuse clemencies to drug offenders 
on death row, saying that the government will act tough on drug-related 
offenses.

According to the AGO, there are 136 inmates currently on death row, with 64 of 
them sentenced for drug trafficking, 2 for terrorism and the rest for murder 
and robberies with aggravated assault.

Starting next year, the AGO said it will execute at least 10 death-row 
prisoners in a bid to reduce the backlog.

Capital punishment is a sentencing option for Indonesian judges on several 
convictions, including drug trafficking, murder, sedition and terrorism.

Indonesia resumed executing prisoners last year, under the administration of 
former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Joko's decision to continue the legacy has sparked wide condemnations from 
local and international nongovernmental organizations, which have long pushed 
the country to end capital punishment.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said on 
Sunday that it will report the Indonesian government to the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Human Rights over the plan.

He added that the executions violated the International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights, which Indonesia ratified in 2005.

The agreement limits the sentence of death for "only for the most serious 
crimes, in accordance with the law in effect at the time of the commission of 
the crime."

Senior lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis noted that by resuming the execution of 
prisoners, Indonesia will undermine its own attempts to save the hundreds of 
Indonesian migrant workers on death row abroad, saying that it was likely to 
"create a contradiction."

3 of the 5 inmates that will be executed this month were involved in drug 
cases, while the remaining 2 will be killed because they committed 1st-degree 
murder.

All 5 are male.

"We agree that [illicit] drugs must be eradicated and that traffickers are 
severely punished. But it doesn't have to be with the death penalty. Life in 
prison or life without parole are also severe punishments," Todung said on 
Monday.

(source: Jakarta Globe)



SANTA LUCIA:

Saint Lucia Rejects UK Request to Scrap Death Penalty



The Island's Prime Minister has dismissed the request as 'improper,' with the 
National Security Minister saying the government is not ready to consider 
abolishing capital punishment

Government officials in Saint Lucia have rejected a request by the United 
Kingdom to waive its death penalty, in exchange for assistance in solving 
crime.

Saint Lucia is part of the Commonwealth of Nations which encompasses some 53 
countries, most of which were former British colonies.

Saint Lucia's Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony has described the UK Foreign 
Office request "improper," while the Island's Foreign Affairs Minister Victor 
La Corbiniere says that as a sovereign state, Saint Lucia will decide its 
position on capital punishment for itself. La Corbiniere added that he will not 
be swayed by the UK or the European Union on this matter.

The death penalty is rarely used in Saint Lucia, with the last hanging on the 
island taking place in 1995.

"We will determine whether or not we abolish the death penalty and my 
government is on record as indicating that we are not at this moment going to 
consider the abolition of the death penalty. So that is definitely out," he 
said.

The island's leading human rights advocate, Attorney-at-Law Mary Francis says 
the time has come to reconsider the national position on the death penalty as a 
human rights issue.

"In Saint Lucia we have a constitution that guarantees fundamental human rights 
and freedoms, but that's only on paper to the extent that we have a court 
system which is not functional, we don't have properly funded government legal 
aid," he said.

When it comes to the death penalty, Saint Lucians are divided. Many young 
women, like Sharon Joseph say the death penalty should remain on the books.

"The reason is that if you do your crime why now ask for mercy?" she asks.

Some older Saint Lucians believe each case should be weighed separately to 
determine the extent of punishment.

The British High Commission in Saint Lucia has said the death penalty has no 
place in the modern world.

Government officials say they are aware that the issue of capital punishment is 
a contentious one and they are in no rush to make a decision on the removal of 
the death penalty from the island's constitution.

(source: telesurtv.net)








INDIA:

Nirbhaya case: Convicts hopeful of lesser punishment



More than a year after they were sentenced to death in the Nirbhaya case, 
Mukesh, Akshay, Pawan and Vinay are hopeful that their sentence will be reduced 
to life term. Only Mukesh Singh, who was driving the bus in which Nirbhaya was 
gang-raped and brutalized on the night of December 16, 2012, repents that he 
should not have agreed to the plan. "He keeps telling us about his role now and 
then," said a Tihar Jail official.

Mukesh not only shares a cell with Akshay Thakur in jail 5 but has also helped 
him prepare for his Class X examination. Akshay reads newspapers and 
motivational books to pass time while Mukesh prefers to watch television.

The 2 others, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma, have been lodged in jail 7, 
originally meant for adolescent convicts. According to a Tihar official, Pawan 
and Vinay, love playing volleyball and ludo. "Both are good volleyball players 
and enjoy the game," said the official.

All of them, put under suicide watch since their sentencing, are kept in 
high-security cells of jails 5 and 7 and are not allowed to engage in any 
regular jail work other than cleaning their wards for security reasons. 
Initially, there were safety issues as other inmates were angry about these 
convicts' conduct.

The convicts have been assured by their lawyers that their death penalty would 
be reduced to life imprisonment, said sources. They have been told that the 
death sentence was the result of the public outcry, the sources added.

All of them plan to avail of parole if their punishment is reduced to life 
imprisonment and lead a normal life, said another source. While Pawan, Vinay 
and Akshay wish to study further, Mukesh just wants to get out of jail, said an 
official.

(source: The Times of India)