[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 19



IRAN:

UN resolution says Iran using death penalty at alarming frequency


The UN General Assembly human rights committee approved a resolution Tuesday 
expressing deep concern about rights violations in Iran, including the 
"alarmingly high frequency" of the use of the death penalty.

Support came from 78 member countries, with 35 voting no and 69 abstaining. 
Several countries have objected to the targeting of a specific nation.

The Canada-drafted resolution was approved less than a week before a 24 
November deadline for Iran and 6 world powers to reach a deal on its nuclear 
program, but the word "nuclear" isn't mentioned in the text.

Instead, the resolution builds on a recent report by a UN special investigator 
on human rights and points out that Iran has not allowed an investigator to 
visit since 2005.

Iran's representative protested that the resolution doesn't acknowledge 
"positive developments" since President Hassan Rouhani took office in 2013.

"At the time when many parts of our region are burning in the fires of 
extremism," the resolution is counterproductive, the diplomat said.

The U.N. special investigator, Ahmed Shaheed, last month spoke out against 
Iran's 2nd-highest rate of executions in the world. Iran has executed 8 
juveniles over the past year, he said.

He bases his reports on conversations with dozens of people both inside and 
outside the country, and it can be dangerous for some who speak with him, he 
said. Punishments include flogging and, in the worst cases, charges of 
spreading propaganda against the state.

The resolution calls on Iran to stop a range of abuses including torture, 
gender discrimination and the targeting of activists and journalists. It now 
goes to the General Assembly.

In a statement, Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi said the resolution 
"leaves no doubt that the appalling human rights record of the clerical regime 
must be referred to the Security Council for the adoption of binding and 
punitive measures," and she warned that the nuclear talks should not be used as 
an excuse to ignore Iran's human rights issues.

In a separate statement, the U.S.-based group Impact Iran said, "More must be 
done to hold Iran accountable for its human rights abuses."

(source: First Post)

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

UN Committee Calls On Iran To Stop Executions


A UN committee has approved a resolution expressing deep concern about rights 
violations in Iran, noting the "alarmingly high frequency" of the use of the 
death penalty.

The UN General Assembly human rights committee passed the resolution on 
November 18 with 78 yes votes from member countries, with 35 voting no and 69 
abstaining.

The Canada-drafted resolution calls on Iran to stop abuses, including torture.

The resolution follows on a report by a UN special investigator on human rights 
and points out that Iran has never allowed him to visit.

Iran's representative protested that the resolution doesn't acknowledge 
"positive developments" since President Hassan Rohani took office.

"At the time when many parts of our region are burning in the fires of 
extremism," the resolution is counterproductive, the diplomat said.

It now goes to the General Assembly.

source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)






INDONESIA:

Couple could face death for smuggling firearms


A married couple face the possibility of being sentenced to death under the 
Firearms Act 1971 after they were caught smuggling 5 air rifles and tens of 
thousands of pellets from across the border on Monday.

They were intercepted shortly after crossing the border back here around noon, 
after a team from the district police headquarters received a tip-off that a 
shipment of illegal weapons was being smuggled into the state.

District police chief DSP Mohd Sabri Zainol said a thorough search was 
conducted on the couple's old Toyota Corolla car during which 5 air rifles and 
a cache of over 48,000 pellets were found inside the rear seat, which had been 
modified to conceal the weapons.

"At the time of the arrest, the 50-something husband from Krokong and his 
40-something Indonesian wife were travelling with their 9-year-old daughter, 
whom we have since handed over to a relative.

"The couple, however, are being investigated under Section 7 of the Firearms 
Act (Enhanced Penalties) 1971, which carries the mandatory death penalty or 
life imprisonment and not fewer than 6 strokes of the cane if convicted," Mohd 
Sabri told a press conference yesterday.

The OCPD further warned locals not to become arms smugglers by bringing in such 
weapons from across the border, as the police viewed the matter seriously and 
would come down hard on anyone found breaking the law.

"I implore the public not to view this issue lightly as these guns can easily 
fall into the hands of criminals and could lead to cases of shooting deaths," 
he said, adding that 2 other air rifles and an air pistol were seized in Bau 
prior to Monday's bust.

He also revealed that initial investigation indicated the suspect and his wife 
have previously smuggled similar weapons across the border, but that neither of 
them possessed any prior arrest record.

The guns, he said, were bought for less than RM200 apiece and were meant to be 
resold for profit to willing buyers here and in other districts.

During the press conference, the OCPD also chided several local dailies for 
literally 'jumping the gun' in reporting the seizure of the weapons.

"I'm not happy because no reporter contacted me to verify the information. If 
you publish the wrong information, it could jeopardise our investigation.

"There is no need to be so hasty. Wait for us to gather all the information and 
we will call for a press conference," he added.

On the recent nationwide crackdown on cyber gambling outlets, Mohd Sabri 
announced that such outlets in Bau have ceased to operate following relentless 
raids conducted by his men throughout the year.

???We have been cracking down on these types of outlets all year, with over 60 
raids conducted and countless computers seized. "I also urge the public not to 
patronise such outlets because when there is no longer any demand, operators 
will not be bothered to open as there are no profits to be made."

Among those present at the press conference were district CID chief ASP 
Benedict Faris Jimoy and investigating officers Inspector Lonie Butek and 
Inspector Hamizan Ibrahim.

(source: Borneo Post)






BANGLADESH:

'Of course, we killed him ... he had to go'----A little more than a quarter 
century ago I met a man who calmly told me how he had organized the massacre of 
a family. There was no sense of remorse in his confession. He was bragging 
about it, even grinning as he spoke to me


A little more than a quarter century ago I met a man who calmly told me how he 
had organized the massacre of a family. There was no sense of remorse in his 
confession. He was bragging about it, even grinning as he spoke to me.

I was a young reporter at that time, on assignment in Dhaka, trying to figure 
out what had gone wrong with Bangladesh. 15 years earlier, as a schoolboy in 
India, I had followed its blood-splattered struggle for independence. I 
remembered the images of 10 million people who had crossed the border seeking 
refuge in India; I had collected funds for the refugees by staging a play in 
Bombay, as the city I grew up in was known at that time; we shouted 'Joy 
Bangla', the Bangladeshi cry for independence, for no apparent reason 
(10-year-old kids do such things); and we eagerly listened to the radio and 
read newspapers over 2 weeks in December, as India defeated the Pakistani army, 
assisting Bangladeshi Mukti Bahini forces to gain independence. During those 
days, I remember going with my family to the railway station with home-cooked 
food for Indian soldiers going to the front.

The man I was interviewing that day in Dhaka lived in a well-appointed home in 
Banani, a tony part of Bangladesh's capital. Soldiers protected his house, 
checking the bags and identification of all visitors. A week earlier he had 
been a presidential candidate, losing by a huge margin to the eventual winner, 
President Hussain Muhammad Ershad.

The man I met wore a Pathani outfit that looked out of place in a country where 
civilian politicians tended to wear white kurtas with black waistcoats if they 
belonged to the Awami League, and safari suits if they were part of the 
Bangladesh Nationalist Party, while working class men on the streets went about 
in lungis. The Pathani outfit was more in tune with what men from Pakistan 
wore, and as I was to learn later, many Bangladeshis who had lost their loved 
ones during the war hated that outfit, just as they hated the slogan 
'Bangladesh Zindabad'. They preferred 'Joy Bangla'.

The man I had come to interview had a thin moustache and wore gold-rimmed 
glasses. He stared at me eagerly as we spoke, curious about the notes I was 
taking, trying to read what I was writing in my notepad. He sat straight on the 
sofa, his chest thrust forward, as if he was still in uniform. He looked 
self-assured and confident; not like someone who had overwhelmingly lost the 
presidential poll. He was part of a high stakes game, and he looked as if he 
was certain he would win, as if he was assured that someone important held all 
the cards.

His name was Farooq Rahman, and he had been a major, and later, lieutenant 
colonel in the Bangladeshi army. He had returned to Bangladesh only recently, 
after several years in exile in Libya. What he had done in the past was not in 
dispute.

Before dawn on 15 August 1975, he had led the Bengal Lancers, the army's tank 
unit under his command, to disarm the Rokkhi Bahini, a paramilitary force loyal 
to Sheikh Mujib. As Farooq left the Dhaka Cantonment, he had instructed other 
officers and soldiers to go to the upscale residential area of Dhanmondi, where 
Mujib lived. Soon after 5 a.m., the officers had killed Mujib and most of his 
family.

I had been rehearsing how to ask Farooq about his role in the assassination. I 
had no idea how he would react or respond. After a few desultory questions 
about the country's political situation, I tentatively began, 'It has been 
widely reported in Bangladesh that you were somehow connected with the plot to 
remove Mujibur Rahman from power in 1975. Would you...'

'Of course, we killed him,' he interrupted me. 'He had to go,' he added, before 
I could complete my hesitant, long-winded question.

Farooq Rahman thought he was a patriot. He believed he had saved the nation. 
The governments that followed Mujib reinforced this self-belief and perception, 
rewarding him and the other assassins with respectability by giving them 
political space, and to some, plum diplomatic assignments. Farooq himself stood 
in presidential elections, which he lost badly.

The Oxford-trained lawyer, Kamal Hossain, who was Mujib's law minister and 
later foreign minister, told me, 'The impunity with which Farooq operated was 
extraordinary. President Ershad encouraged Farooq to return because he wanted a 
candidate to stand against him in the rigged elections, so that the process 
would seem fair. In the face of the refusal of the opposition parties to 
participate in the elections which would legitimize his rule, Ershad encouraged 
Farooq to contest in the elections to give Ershad credibility.'

Farooq was able to operate with impunity for many years because the governments 
that followed Mujib were not keen to prosecute the killers and in the late 
1970s, during the rule of Gen. Zia, the 5th Amendment to the constitution was 
passed, granting them immunity.

The political landscape in Bangladesh after Mujib's murder was unstable. In its 
42-year history, there have been several coups, and the form of government has 
switched from parliamentary to presidential to parliamentary again. The country 
has had eleven prime ministers and over a dozen heads of state, and there have 
been times when it has been ruled by generals, or by a caretaker government 
comprising unelected officials.

Mujibur Rahman's daughter Sheikh Hasina Wajed had first come to power in 1996 
but her majority was precarious at that time - her party, the Awami League, had 
won 146 of 300 seats, and relied on the support of other parties to rule. But 
when she came to power with an absolute majority in 2009, Hasina was determined 
to redeem her father's reputation and seek justice. Her quest has larger 
implications for Bangladesh's citizenry.

Hundreds of thousands - and by Bangladesh government estimates perhaps 3 
million - people were killed during the 1971 war. Tens of thousands of 
Bangladeshis now wait for justice - to see those who harmed them and their 
loved ones brought to account. But the culture of impunity hasn't disappeared.

Even for Sheikh Hasina, it took more than 3 decades before she received some 
measure of vindication, and one reason she was elected in 2008 was because she 
promised to set up tribunals to prosecute individuals accused of having 
committed international crimes, such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, 
and genocide.

Sometime in the afternoon of 27 January 2010, Mahfuz Anam received a call from 
a government official, saying that the end was imminent. Anam was in the 
newsroom of Bangladesh's leading English newspaper, The Daily Star, where he is 
the editor.

He knew what the message meant: perhaps within hours, 5 men - Lt. Col. Farooq, 
Lt. Col. Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Lt. Col. Mohiuddin Ahmed, Maj. Bazlul 
Huda, and army lancer A.K.M. Mohiuddin - would be hanged by the neck until they 
died at the city's central jail. Anam told his reporters to be prepared, and 
sent several reporters and photographers to cover the executions.

'We had hints that the end was near, particularly when the relatives of the 5 
men were asked to come and meet them, and given hardly any notice,' Anam told 
me during a long telephone conversation a week after the executions.

'The authorities had told the immediate families that there were no limits on 
the number of relatives who could come, and they were allowed to remain with 
them until well after visiting hours. We knew that the final hours had come,' 
he said.

Once the families left, the 5 men were sent to their cells. They were told to 
take a bath and offer their night prayers. Then the guards asked them if they 
wanted to eat anything special. An imam came, offering to read from the Quran.

Around 10:30 p.m., a reporter called Anam to say that the city's civil surgeon, 
Mushfiqur Rahman, and district magistrate Zillur Rahman had arrived at the 
jail. Police vans arrived 50 minutes later, carrying 5 empty coffins. The 
paramilitary force known as the Rapid Action Battalion, took positions at 
various nodal points in the city that were prone to strikes and stoppages at 
the slightest political pretext, providing support to the regular police force 
to prevent demonstrations.

Other leading officials came within minutes: the home secretary, the inspector 
general of prisons, and the police commissioner. Rashida Ahmad, who was at that 
time news editor at the online news agency, bdnews24.com, recalled: 'Many media 
houses practically decamped en masse to the jail to "experience a historic 
moment" firsthand.' Anam told me, 'By 11:35 p.m., we knew it would happen that 
night. We held back our 1st edition. The 2nd edition had the detailed story.'

Bazlul Huda was the first to be taken to the gallows. He was handcuffed, and a 
black hood covered his face. Eyewitnesses have said Huda struggled to free 
himself and screamed loudly as guards led him to the brightly lit room. An 
official waved and dropped a red handkerchief to the ground, the signal for the 
executioner to proceed. It was just after midnight when Huda died. Mohiuddin 
Ahmed was next, followed by Farooq, Shahriar, and A.K.M. Mohiuddin. It was all 
over soon after 1 a.m.

Earlier that day, the Bangladesh Supreme Court had rejected the final appeal of 
four of the 5 convicts. Shahriar was the only one not to seek presidential 
pardon. His daughter Shehnaz, who spent 2 hours with her father that evening, 
later said: 'My father was a freedom fighter; and a man who fights for the 
independence of his country never begs for his life.'

Sheikh Hasina was at her prime ministerial home that night. She was informed 
when the executions began, she reportedly asked to be left alone and later 
offered namaz-e-shukran, a prayer of gratitude. Many people, most of them 
supporters of the Awami League, had gathered outside her house that night, but 
she did not come out to meet anybody. A few days later, she told a party 
convention that it was a moment of joy for all of them, because due process had 
been served.

Many governments oppose the death penalty on principle and consider it violates 
human rights, and the European Union had appealed to the Bangladeshi government 
to commute the sentence of Mujib's assassins. The human rights group Amnesty 
International had also sought clemency, while agreeing that the men should face 
justice. These appeals met with no response.

The mood in Dhaka was sober and subdued, although Dhaka residents spoke of 
celebrations in certain localities. Ahmad, who was at her news desk until late 
at bdnews24.com, described the mood in the newsroom as sombre. Many in the city 
could understand Hasina thanking God, and other politicians welcoming the 
closing of a dark chapter, but some felt it a bit much that parliament itself 
thanked God and adjourned for the day, she told me.

It had taken 34 years for this saga to end. The 1st politician to grant these 
men immunity was Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, who took over as Bangladesh???s 
president after Mujib's assassination. He had even praised the assassins, 
calling them 'shurjo shontan' or 'sons of the sun'.

Gen. Ziaur Rahman, who later became president, confirmed their immunity and 
later amended the constitution to entrench this. In the years that followed, 
their political rehabilitation had begun. Lt. Col. Shariful Haq Dalim, a 
decorated liberation war veteran who had played a major role in the conspiracy, 
held diplomatic positions in Beijing, Hong Kong, and became high commissioner 
to Kenya, even though he was implicated in a coup attempt in 1980.

Lt. Col. Aziz Pasha served in Rome, Nairobi, and Harare, where he sought asylum 
when Hasina first came to power in 1996. She removed him from his diplomatic 
post but he stayed on in Harare, and died there. (A month after the executions, 
Awami League activists ransacked and set afire the home of his brother in 
Dhaka.) Maj. Huda was briefly a member of parliament, and also served as 
diplomat in Islamabad and Jeddah.

Other conspirators at various times served Bangladeshi missions in Beijing, 
Buenos Aires, Algiers, Islamabad, Teheran, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Lagos, 
Dakar, Ankara, Jakarta, Tokyo, Muscat, Cairo, Kuala Lumpur, Ottawa, and Manila.

The government said it would now try to bring the surviving officers back to 
Bangladesh from the countries where some of the conspirators reportedly 
continued to live. These were often identified as the United States, Canada, 
Pakistan, South Africa, Thailand, and Kenya. They have been tried in absentia 
and some face execution.

Bringing all of them back is not going to be easy for Bangladesh, because some 
countries where they reportedly live, like Canada and South Africa, have 
abolished the death penalty, and Kenya has placed a temporary moratorium on the 
death penalty. They are unlikely to extradite them, unless Bangladesh 
guarantees that they will not be executed. Bangladesh is unlikely to offer such 
guarantee.

Bangladesh is among 58 countries (including India) that retain the death 
penalty. In 2008, 5 people were executed in Bangladesh. Bangladeshi human 
rights lawyers have found it hard to challenge the death penalty on a matter of 
principle because there is public support for the death penalty in Bangladesh.

Lawyers do appeal individual cases, but there is no concerted major human 
rights campaign against the death penalty. There are also political 
compulsions. One human rights activist told me, 'We are against [the] death 
penalty but the dilemma is that we are in a country where life imprisonment 
really means imprisonment guaranteed only until your party comes to power. The 
death penalty is almost seen as the only way to guarantee justice for such a 
grisly crime.'

(source: Salil Tripathi, Dhaka tribune)

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

SC upholds death for 2 in JSD leader Aref killing case


The Supreme Court today upheld the death penalty of 2 persons in a case filed 
for killing Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) president Kazi Aref Ahmed and 4 
others in 1999.

The apex court passed the order after rejecting 2 review petitions filed by the 
condemn convicts -- Rashedul Islam alias Jhantu and Anwar Hossain alias Anwar 
-- challenging its verdict that had sentenced them to death in the case.

An armed gang killed Kazi Aref, Kushtia district JSD president Lokman Hossain, 
general secretary Yakub Ali, local JSD leader Shamsher Ali and Israil Hossain 
at a rally in Kalidaspur village of Daulatpur upazila in Kushtia on February 
16, 1999.

After today's verdict, Additional Attorney General Mumtaz Uddin Fakir told 
reporters that the convicts can now seek presidential mercy to save their 
necks.

"If they don't, the jail authorities can execute them any day," Fakir said.

M Masud Rana, a counsel for the convicts, told The Daily Star that his clients 
will take decision about the presidential mercy after getting the full judgment 
of the SC.

On August 30, 2004, the then additional district and sessions judge Fazlur 
Rahman pronounced verdict sentencing 10 people to death and 12 others to 
life-term imprisonment for the killings.

On August 5 in 2008, a High Court bench acquitted one of the death sentence 
awardees and upheld punishment of others.

The duo filed the review petition after the Supreme Court upheld the HC verdict 
on August 7, 2011.

(source: The Daily Star)



INDIA:

Godhra train burning convict on death row jumps parole


Salim Zarda, who was awarded death penalty in the Godhra train burning case, 
jumped parole leading the Vadodara Central jail to sound an alert. Zarda, who 
was among the 11 sentenced to death in the February 27, 2002 Sabarmati express 
carnage case in which 59 persons were burnt to death, had got parole from the 
Gujarat High Court on the ground that he needed to be present at home in Godhra 
to build the collapsed roof of his house. The 15-day parole ended Tuesday.

Another convict Bilal Abdulla Badam who is serving a life term in the same 
case, was attacked when on parole to attend the funeral rites of his mother. 
His parole ends November 21.

Vadodara central jail authorities said that Zarda was required to turn up by 
Tuesday after his parole term ended but did not show up and hence they have 
alerted Godhra police as well as railway police to arrest him and bring him 
back.

He was supposed to be back by Tuesday. Now, he has jumped his parole so we have 
written to Godhra SP and railway police to look out for him and bring him back 
to the jail," a jail official said.

The lawyer who had moved his parole request before the high court, Deepak 
Sindhi, said that Zarda was granted parole after a government official stood as 
his guarantor. He had also deposited a security money of Rs 1 lakh before the 
court.

"Zarda had sought parole on the ground that he was required to be present 
during the construction of his ancestral house where his family lives. I am not 
aware if he has moved request for extension of his parole. If the court grants 
him extension, the jail authorities may come to know about it only after a few 
days," Sindhi said.

Badam had sought a 15-day parole after his mother passed away and was required 
to surrender before the jail on November 21. He had sought another week-long 
extension of his parole from the high court. According to the FIR, Badam was on 
Tuesday night attacked by 3 persons, one identified as Mohsin Mamji, who tried 
to loot his motorcycle.

The incident took place at around 11:30 in the night when Badam was at the 
house of his in-laws at Bhukri Palot locality. 3 persons barged into their 
house and started asking for the keys of his motorcycle. When he refused, they 
attacked him with sharp weapon and injured his hand. He is currently undergoing 
treatment at Godhra civil hospital.

A special court had awarded death sentence to eleven convicts in March 2011 and 
awarded life imprisonment to 21 others while 63 accused were released. A 
convict, Shaukat Patadia died in 2012 while serving life imprisonment, while 4 
other accused were granted permanent bail in 2013.

Remaining convicts are lodged in Vadodara central jail.

(source: Indian Express)

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

Man gets death penalty for murder of 2 nephews


Almost 2 years after 30-year-old Mahipal kidnapped and murdered his nephews, 
aged 6 and 7, in Dataganj tehsil, the court of additional district judge in 
Badaun sentenced him to death, terming it as a "rarest of rare crimes".

"After examining the evidences and testimony of witnesses, the court of ADJ 
termed it as 'rarest of rare crime' in its 51-page order saying that for the 
greed of land, Mahipal executed the plan and killed 2 innocent children in a 
brutal manner. The court awarded death sentence to Mahipal for murdering his 
nephews and also slapped a fine of Rs 35,000 on him," said Jagat Singh, 
additional district government council.

Mahipal had kidnapped his 2 nephews on the morning of January 9, 2013 and later 
strangled them to death the same day as he was upset that their grandmother, 
Sushila Devi, had transferred 5 bigha land in their name. He buried their 
bodies under the cattle shed at his home in Larori village. The police found 
the bodies at Mahipal's home, which led to his arrest.

A case against Mahipal began in the court of the 7th additional district judge. 
During the course of trial, 8 public witnesses were produced and additional 
session judge, Bhudev Gautam, heard the arguments of the defence and 
prosecution.

Giving details, police said, on January 9, 2013, Vikesh (6) and Jitendra (7), 
sons of brothers Vidyaram and Brijesh respectively, went missing. The family 
members tried to locate the children in the village and adjoining areas but 
when they failed to trace them, they lodged a complaint with the local police.

Meanwhile, the family received calls from the kidnapper who demanded Rs 2 lakh 
ransom for each kid. He also threatened to kill the children if they took the 
matter to the police.

During investigation, the police discovered that Vidyaram and Brijesh's cousin, 
Mahipal, had kidnapped their sons. They traced him on the basis of the threat 
calls he had made. The cops arrested him after the kids' bodies were found 
buried under the cowshed at his home.

(source: Times of India)






SAUDI ARABIA----execution

Saudi beheads killer who donned women's clothes


Saudi Arabia executed on Wednesday a man who donned women's clothing in a bid 
to escape after shooting dead a soldier and police officer, state media said.

Salih bin Yateem bin Salih al-Qarni was beheaded in the southwestern city of 
Abha, the official Saudi Press Agency said.

Qarni was intially arrested on other charges and was transported in an official 
vehicle by the soldier and a member of the Muttawa religious police.

"He shot them with a gun that he was carrying," the SPA said, without 
explaining how he obtained the weapon.

After stealing the keys from the security officer driving the vehicle, Qarni 
chewed some narcotic qat "and disguised himself in women's clothing" in an 
attempt to flee, but was recaptured, it said.

Saudi women are required to cover from head to toe, often with only their eyes 
exposed.

The report did not say when the escape bid occurred.

Qarni is the latest of 69 Saudis and foreigners executed in the kingdom this 
year, despite international concern.

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

(source: Agence France-Presse)






GHANA:

Akua Donkor wants death penalty


Founder and leader of Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), Akua Donkor, has proposed 
death penalty for any man who would be arrested for raping a minor.

In her opinion, there is nothing sexually attractive on young girls so men who 
forcibly have carnal knowledge with such girls should be executed.

"Men who defile small girls should be killed since they are not fit to be in 
the society," she told King Edward of Hello FM in a chat on Monday.

Akua Donkor, however, lambasted young girls of today for always dressing 
half-naked, an act, which according to her, demeans womanhood.

She observed with pain and sorrow how some young ladies dress in a manner that 
exposes their breast and other sensitive parts.

The GFP leader said some rapists committed the weird offence because they 
cannot resist the temptation of half-naked ladies.

Women dressing almost nude, she said, "Are not part of Ghana's culture", adding 
that the influx of foreign culture was badly influencing the young ladies to 
dress nude.

Akua Donkor noted that when she was a young girl, it was almost a taboo for any 
lady to expose her vital parts in public.

She, therefore, admonished young ladies to dress decently at all times so as to 
stop tempting the young men into raping them.

Akua Donkor said her presidential ambition is intact, stressing that she would 
ban the wearing of short skirts by ladies when she becomes president.

According to her, as Ghana's president, she would quickly order for the police 
to apprehend ladies who dress nudely in public.

The GFP founder stressed on the need for decency in the way people, especially 
women dress in society

Akua Donkor stated that her administration would put in place measures to make 
sure that Ghanaian women dress properly by covering their entire bodies as 
pertaining in many Islamic societies.

This, she was of the opinion, would help reduce the upsurge in rape cases in 
the country as the women would stop tempting the men with their nude dressings.

(source: Ghana Web)