[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 18


SAUDI ARABIA----execution

Syrian drug smuggler beheaded in Saudi Arabia


Saudi Arabia today beheaded a Syrian convicted of drug trafficking, official 
media said, bringing to 68 the number of people executed this year despite 
international concern.

"Talal Ali Qassem was captured smuggling a large quantity of methamphetamine. 
Investigations led to his confession," the official Saudi Press Agency 
reported, citing the interior ministry.

Qassem was executed in the northern region of Jawf.

The ministry says the government is battling narcotics "because of their great 
harm to individuals and society."

In September, an independent expert working on behalf of the United Nations 
called for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.

Christof Heyns said that among his concerns was the obtaining of confessions 
under torture.

Rape, murder, apostasy and armed robbery are also punishable by death under the 
kingdom's strict version of Islamic sharia law.

(source: Agence France-Presse)

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

3 get death in Saudi for plots to 'wreak havoc'


3 people were sentenced to death and several others jailed in Saudi Arabia on 
Monday for Al-Qaeda linked crimes including the deadly bombing of a foreigners' 
housing compound, official media said.

The attack on the Al-Mahya compound 11 years ago killed 17 people, mostly from 
Arab countries.

A special court in the capital Riyadh convicted a total of eight accused, the 
official Saudi Press Agency said.

In addition to those who received the death penalty, 5 others in the same 
"cell" were jailed for between 25 and 30 years for crimes including weapons 
possession and money laundering, SPA said.

It described as "heinous" the acts of those sentenced to death but did not 
detail their exact roles.

The group was convicted of offences that included "pledging allegiance to 
Al-Qaeda", and planning to storm companies and a residential compound in the 
Gulf coast community of Khobar, SPA said.

There they planned to kill "a large number of people from different 
nationalities as well as security men," it added.

The accused also prepared car bombs in a plan to "wreak havoc" inside the 
kingdom, SPA said.

Authorities in 2011 established specialised tribunals to try Saudis and 
foreigners accused of belonging to Al-Qaeda or of involvement in deadly attacks 
in the country from 2003-2006.

The latest convictions come with Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours taking 
part in US-led air strikes against Islamic State group extremists in Syria, 
which has raised concerns about possible retaliation in the kingdom.

(source: Asia One)

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

Death sentences


The man who gunned down an Irish cameraman working for the BBC in Saudi Arabia 
10 years ago has been sentenced to death, a diplomatic source told AFP on 
Tuesday.

Simon Cumbers, 36, was filming near the home of a wanted militant in the Saudi 
capital when he was killed in the 2004 attack, in which the current BBC 
security correspondent Frank Gardner was also left paralyzed.

The man, reportedly a Saudi, "was sentenced for the murder of Simon Cumbers," 
said the source, who was present at Monday's court hearing.

"As I understand it, there was a whole series of charges," which also related 
to the wounding of Gardner, said the source.

Cumber's killer was among 3 men the official Saudi Press Agency reported were 
sentenced to death on Monday for al-Qaeda linked crimes.

5 others were jailed for between 25 and 30 years for similar offenses.

Moreover, Saudi judges have this year passed death sentences for 5 
pro-democracy advocates, including prominent activist and cleric Nimr al-Nimr, 
for their part in protests.

Human rights organizations and activists have called on Saudi Arabia to 
overturn the death sentences handed down to pro-democracy activists, accusing 
the Saudi regime of curbing freedom of speech and opinion.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch urged the Saudi authorities to abolish The 
Specialized Criminal Court, the body that sentenced the 5 activists and many 
others to death, saying that analysis revealed "serious due process concerns" 
such as "broadly framed charges," "denial of access to lawyers," and "quick 
dismissal of allegations of torture without investigation."

(source: al-akhbar.com)






IRAN----executions

2 Sunni Baloch prisoners executed in Iran


2 Sunni prisoners of conscience from Iran's Baloch minority were executed on 
Thursday morning in Zahedan Central prison, Sistan-Baluchestan province of 
Iran.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), 22-year 
old Vahid Shah Bakhsh and 23-year old Mahmoud Shah Bakhsh were taken to the 
gallows and hanged on 13 November 2014 on charges of 'Moharabeh [enmity against 
God] and acting against national security'.

Both men had been subjected to severe torture whilst being held at the Ministry 
of Intelligence Detention Center in Zahedan, and the details surrounding their 
cases are still unclear at this stage.

Vahid Shah Bakhsh (also known as Abdol Rahman, the son of Ghous Uddin) and 
Mahmoud Shah Bakhsh (also known as Junaid, the son of Dur Mohammad) were 
arrested in Zahedan in April 2012.

Vahid Shah Bakhsh had been active in criticizing the Iranian government and 
speaking out against the oppression faced by the Sunni Baloch minority in Iran.

He had been on school study-leave and was at home when the security forces 
raided his house without warning and opened fire. He was shot and severely 
wounded, but was taken to the Ministry of Intelligence Detention Center without 
receiving adequate medical treatment.

Both he and Mahmoud Shah Bakhsh were subjected to severe torture whilst in the 
detention of the Ministry of Intelligence.

On 8 January 2014, the men were sentenced to death by Branch 1 of the 
Revolutionary Court in Zahedan for 'Moharabeh (enmity against God) and acting 
against national security'.

Mahmoud Shah Bakhsh was again transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence 
detention center in Zahedan in early January 2014, where he was held for 3 days 
and physically and psychologically tortured by interrogators who tried to force 
him to make a filmed false 'confession'.

He refused to make a filmed 'confession' and was transferred back to Ward 1 of 
Zahedan prison (also known as 'the Youth Ward').

On 12 February 2014, Mahmoud Shah Bakhsh was once again transferred to the 
Ministry of Intelligence detention center. This time, after extensive torture, 
he was forced to make a filmed 'confession'.

Iranian state-run media often broadcasts 'confessions' of prisoners, which are 
usually obtained through torture, in an attempt to sway public opinion and 
justify the executions.

(source: Human Rights Activists News Agency)



DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC of CONGO:

Ndala's killers sentenced to death


A Congolese army officer and 4 Ugandan rebels were sentenced to death on Monday 
for the killing of a colonel credited with making great strides in restoring 
peace to the east of the DRC.

The military tribunal in North Kivu province concluded that soldiers plotted to 
kill Mamadou Ndala and that Ugandan rebels carried out the killing, its chief 
judge Colonel Joseph Maya Mokako told AFP.

Ndala commanded wide respect for leading operations against the M23 rebel 
movement, which was finally defeated in November last year.

Ndala, who embodied hopes for a disciplined, effective and republican army in 
the DRC, was killed in an ambush in January.

At the time the army was preparing a major operation against another group, the 
Allied Democratic Forces, which had operated in the east since fleeing Uganda 
in 1995 and were blamed for massacring some 120 civilians in October and 
November 2013.

Aged just 35, Ndala had won over the local population in North Kivu, 
reconciling them with an army generally known for its ineffectiveness and 
indiscipline, as well as abuses against civilians.

He was promoted to general after his death.

The DR Congo is observing a moratorium on the death penalty, so the sentences 
will be commuted to life imprisonment.

Lieutenant-Colonel Birotso Nzanzu was sentenced to death and expelled from the 
army, Colonel Maya Mokako told AFP by telephone from the North Kivu capital 
Goma.

4 ADF members including their leader Jamil Mukulu got the death sentence in 
absentia.

Another officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Joker Kamuleta, was sentenced to 20 years 
behind bars and a civilian got 15 years.

The court also meted out sentences of between one and five years to a dozen 
other defendants while acquitting 5 including Lieutenant-Colonel Tito Bizuru 
and his deputy Captain Moise Moussa Banza, a former aide to Ndala accused of 
stealing property belonging to him.

Multiple armed groups still operate in the mineral-rich region, which has been 
in turmoil for the best part of the past 2 decades.

(source: IOL news)






BOTSWANA:

SA can't save 'killer' from execution


The South African government has conceded it has no control over the fate of 
Botswana national Edwin Samotse, who might be sentenced to death if convicted 
of murder.

South Africa was once in a firm position to negotiate with the Gaborone 
government not to impose the death penalty were Samotse to be found guilty of 
murder. But South Africa lost that advantage when Home Affairs officials 
deported Samotse to Botswana without ensuring whether he would be spared the 
death penalty were he to be found guilty. Samotse had been on the run from the 
law following the alleged murder of a woman in that country in 2010.

He was arrested in Botswana in March 2010 on a charge of murder, and fled to 
South Africa in March 2011. He was detained at the Polokwane police station 
while awaiting extradition proceedings but was deported on August 13.

On September 23, Judge Eberhard Bertelsman ruled in the Pretoria High Court 
that Samotse's deportation was unlawful and unconstitutional.

The judge ordered the department to investigate the circumstances surrounding 
his handing over to Botswana authorities.

But Botswana had no obligation to accede to South Africa's pleas and 
protestations, said spokesman for the Department of Home Affairs Mayihlome 
Tshwete.

Tshwete said the department had complied with the court's instruction to 
investigate Samotse's deportation and report back to it. "There are people 
appearing for disciplinary hearings as we speak," he said.

(source: The Times)


INDONESIA:

House urges swift decision on death-row inmates


House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs has asked 
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to quickly decide whether to give clemency or 
execute the death-sentenced inmates to ease burdens in penitentiaries across 
the country.

"The government must decide fast. If not, execute them soon so prisons won't be 
burdened," The commission's chairman, Aziz Syamsudin said during a visit along 
with 5 other legislators, to the Kerobokan penitentiary in Denpasar on 
Saturday.

Aziz, of the Golkar Party, said the death-row inmates contributed to the 
problem of overcapacity at the penitentiary and were burdens on the state 
budget.

"Every year, it costs the government Rp 5 trillion [US$400 million] to provide 
food for the inmates in all prison across Indonesia. If we let prisons remain 
at overcapacity, we will continue to waste our state budget," Aziz added.

Aziz said that he had received a letter from Amnesty International related to 
several international agreements on the death penalty that have been signed by 
Indonesia. Amnesty International, he said, had asked Indonesia to not implement 
the death penalty.

"However, according to our national law, for extraordinary crimes, convicts can 
be handed down the death sentence," Aziz said.

Amnesty International's suggestion regarding the death penalty, he said, would 
be followed up by revisions to several laws that stipulate the death penalty. 
"The government needs to revise laws so that they are in line with 
international agreements that have been signed," he said.

Aziz said that Commission III had proposed revisions to, among others, the 
Criminal Code, Narcotics Law, and Human Rights Law, which would be further 
discussed next year. The commission plans to revise 14 laws until 2019.

Meanwhile, Kerobokan prison warden Sudjonggo said that overcapacity at the 
prison made it difficult to manage as there were currently 60 foreign inmates 
from 22 countries serving sentences in the prison.

Kerobokan Penitentiary, the biggest prison on the resort island, is home to 877 
prisoners, including three death-row inmates and 15 inmates serving life 
sentences. The prison recorded an overcapacity of 544 inmates as it should only 
be housing 323.

Among the death-row inmates are 2 members of the Bali 9, Australians Myuran 
Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, and 1 Indonesian sentenced in a murder case. Both 
convicted Australian drug smugglers made pleas for clemency several years ago, 
but have yet to receive an answer from the President.

Meanwhile, 13 of 15 inmates serving life sentences are foreigners. Bali 9 
members are also among those serving life sentences and have yet to receive 
answers regarding proposed sentence reductions.

According to National Narcotics Agency (BNN) data, there are currently 77 
convicts on death row.

Myuran Sukumaran said he was hopeful that President Jokowi would let him live. 
"Please give me a 2nd chance at life," Sukumaran said.

Sukumaran, who is currently actively setting up workshops in the prison, said 
that he was trying to turn his life around. "I am trying to be a better 
person," Sukumaran said.

(source: Jakarta Post)