[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 21



QATAR:

American Christian couple facing death sentence in Qatar


An American Christian couple could be handed the death penalty for allegedly 
starving their daughter to death last year.

Matthew and Grace Huang's 8-year-old adopted daughter Gloria died in their home 
in January 2013. The Qatari government have accused the parents, who are 
ethnically Asian, of killing Grace to harvest her organs.

Campaigners believe they have been wrongly accused due to suspicion regarding 
their bi-racial family, which is unusual in Qatar.

Gloria and her 2 brothers were originally adopted from Africa. The family moved 
to Qatar from LA for Matthew's work as an engineer in 2012, and insist that 
Gloria suffered from an eating disorder which is attributed to her being born 
into extreme poverty in Ghana.

According to a website campaigning for the Huangs' release, "From time to time 
she [Gloria] would exhibit an eating disorder - common among children with 
backgrounds similar to hers - where she would refuse food for days at a time 
and then eat more than an adult. Other times she would eat food from the 
garbage even when she had healthy food available. Yet most of the time she was 
vibrant and seemingly healthy. She then died suddenly in the midst of one of 
her cycles of refusing to eat."

Following her death, the Huangs were charged with murder and sentenced to 3 
years in jail. They served 11 months in an Islamic prison before being granted 
bail last November. Now under house arrest and are not permitted to leave 
Qatar, a hearing is due to take place on November 30 during which they could be 
given the death penalty.

There is no physical evidence that Gloria suffered any starvation, and 
independent witnesses testifying in court that they had seen her eating several 
days before her death.

The medical examiner who conducted the autopsy also told the court that he had 
never mentioned the word "starvation" in his reports, but instead "emaciation".

Campaigners insist the Huangs are innocent, and that their continued detention 
is a gross violation of international human rights.

"The Qatari police were fully justified in investigating Gloria's death. But 
facts refute the charge that the Huangs starved their daughter or that they had 
adopted her for illegitimate reasons. The continued detention of American 
citizens Matthew and Grace Huang should end and they should be allowed to 
travel home to the United States immediately," a statement on the website 
reads.

Prayer vigils are being held by the Huangs' home church, Lake Avenue Church in 
Pasadena, California, ahead of their next hearing.

In a letter to the church around Easter 2013, Matthew wrote: "The power of 
Jesus' work on the cross gives us new life. I am reminded that Easter is a time 
for rebirth, renewal, and restoration.

"My family needs to be restored together. My emotions are tired and weary. 
Jesus brings restoration, and we are reminded of that this Easter."

A statement from the US State Department in October calls on the Qatari 
government to allow the Huangs to travel back to the US, where their 2 sons are 
currently living, pending the completion of their trial.

(source: Christian Today)






VANUATU

Vanuatu MP wants death penalty for witchcraft


A Vanuatu politician is calling for witchcraft to be a crime punishable by 
death.

The comment from former finance minister Willie Jimmy follows an incident last 
week on an island near Malekula in which a community, allegedly including 
chiefs and church pastors, hanged 2 men for suspected sorcery.

Police are treating the men's deaths as homicide.

But opposition MP Willie Jimmy says that Melanesian people regard black magic 
as very real, and people who practice it should get the death penalty.

(source: Radio Australia)






BANGLADESH:

50 Bangladeshi expatriates awaiting death penalties in prisons abroad ---- All 
of the death row inmates were convicted for committing murders


Around 50 Bangladeshi expatriates who had flown to the foreign lands in search 
of employments, are currently waiting for execution of their death penalties 
while serving in prisons across the globe.

Among them, the verdict for 29 death row inmates have been put to a halt 
through negotiations held in between the Bangladeshi embassies and the 
governments of the respective countries. Such negotiations mainly focuses on 
compensating the victim's families.

The numbers were revealed through a written statement issued by Expatriates' 
Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Engineer Khandker Mosharraf Hossain 
issued to the parliament yesterday.

All of the death row inmates were convicted for committing murders.

Among the death sentence awardees, 12 Bangladeshi migrants are in Saudi Arabia, 
23 in Dubai, 12 in Kuwait, 1 in Bahrain, 1 in Singapore and one in Abu Dhabi.

The Wage Earners' Welfare Board under the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and 
Overseas Employment, was active enough in order to free the convicts from the 
trial in the respective countries, said the minister.

In the statement, he informed that an "understanding" has been reached through 
negotiations with the concerned countries to cancel the death penalty for 29 
Bangladeshi expatriate workers.

Letters seeking mercy have already been sent to the Bangladeshi Missions in 
those countries, according to the statement by the Expatriates' Welfare 
Minister.

Except for the countries mentioned above, 35 more are facing trials in 
different countries on murder charges ??? 15 in Dubai, 10 in Saudi Arabia, 3 in 
Oman, 3 in Qatar, 1 each in Kuwait, Egypt and Bahrain.

Khandker also highlighted that 2,759,541 people from Bangladesh received 
employment in different countries across the world in between January 2009 and 
September 2014.

"The number was 137,088 during the BNP-Jamaat regime from 2001 to 2006," he 
said.

The ministry had undertaken construction work of nearly 400 centres for 
providing technical trainings at the upazila levels, said the minister.

(source: Dhaka Tribune)



UGANDA:

Death penalty for terrorism convicts okayed


The Cabinet has approved the principles for amending the 2002 Anti-Terrorism 
Act, including a clause highlighting a mandatory death penalty for persons 
convicted of terrorism.

The information minister Rose Namayanja has said the new amendments would 
enable the country pre-empt and respond better to the changing trends in 
terrorism.

The clause, stipulating a mandatory death penalty for persons convicted of 
terrorism, will make the sentence the only option in the law that the judge can 
sentence the convicted person once the Act is passed by Parliament and assented 
to by the President.

Uganda is one of the few countries with the death penalty.

For capital offences like murder, rape, defilement, armed robbery and treason, 
depending on the judges' discretion, the offender can be sentenced to death.

"Under the new Anti-Terrorism Law, once convicted, the only sentence a convict 
can get is death. It is going to be the punishment written in the law. The 
judge has no option, but to sentence the convict to death," Moses Watasa, the 
commissioner for information, explained.

However, the law will not go without criticism. A mandatory death penalty is 
already a contentious topic in Uganda.

In 2005, the Constitutional Court, in a petition by Susan Kigula and 416 others 
against the Attorney General, declared the death sentence unconstitutional.

Part of their argument was that the mandatory death sentence did not provide 
the court with the opportunity to take into account any individual mitigating 
circumstances that might make the death penalty an inappropriately severe 
punishment.

"We are including these amendments in the Act because we want to mitigate the 
threat of terrorism. If courts challenge the decision, it is constitutional. 
But, we can always appeal." Namayanja said.

"If someone is involved in terrorism acts where people are killed, then they 
deserve the death penalty," she added.

Uganda has had its share of the impacts of terrorism.

On July 11, 2010, 2 suicide bombings at the Kyadondo Rugby Club and the 
Ethiopian Village in Kabalagala, Kampala left over 74 soccer fans dead and 
close to 100 others injured.

Other amendments in the Act include definition of the term "fund", which the 
Cabinet wants to be harmonised with the International Convention on the 
Containing Financing for Terrorism, 1999, as assets of every kind, whether 
tangible or intangible, movable or immovable.

This component also encompasses the mode of acquisition/transfer of such 
assets, for instance legal documents'/instruments, whether in electronic or 
digital.

The documentation may include but not be limited to bank credits, travellers' 
cheques, money orders, shares, securities, bonds, drafts and letters of credit.

Cabinet also wants the definition of the words "terrorism" and "Acts of 
Terrorism" to be adjusted to include the international aspects envisaged by the 
UN Convention Against Terrorism.

"Since the current Anti-Terrorism Act was enacted in 2002, the methods of 
planning, financing and execution of terrorist activities have become more 
sophisticated." Namayanja said.

For instance, terrorists are increasingly taking advantage of advances in ICT 
to plan and communicate and execute heinous crimes.

(source: New Vision)






TAIWAN:

TDPO to seek death penalty in case of stalker stabbing murder


The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office (TDPO) yesterday said it was seeking 
the death penalty for stabbing suspect Chang Yen-wen, who allegedly stabbed his 
ex-girlfriend to death after failing to convince her to remain in their 
relationship on Sept. 22; prosecutors said that despite the cruel nature of the 
killing, Chang has not shown any regret for his actions.

According to prosecutors, Chang, who worked as an auditor for a local 
accounting firm, was going through a rough time with his ex-girlfriend, Lin 
Pen-jen. In early September, they visited Japan together in an attempt to save 
their relationship.

Prosecutors said the plan went badly, as they reportedly quarreled during the 
trip, with Chang even taking several indecent photos of Lin as he sexually 
assaulted her.

Lin was said to have tried to break up with Chang after they came back to 
Taiwan, yet Chang was opposed and threatened to release the photos of Lin if 
she broke off the relationship.

In the early morning of Sept. 22, Chang went to Lin's apartment to plead his 
case. He took a knife with him and threatened that he would commit suicide if 
she rejected his request. As Chang took out the knife, Lin pushed him away out 
of fear. Chang lost control and stabbed her 47 times in the head, neck, arms 
and legs.

Chang's act was witnessed by passers-by, who called the police. The suspect was 
arrested at the scene.

Although Chang claimed that he was insane with rage and that his original plan 
was to commit suicide, prosecutors deemed his actions to be premeditated murder 
as he bought the knife in advance and hid around Lin's apartment for 2 hours 
before she left for work. In addition, prosecutors also said that Chang changed 
his testimony several times during questioning, illustrating that he does not 
truly regret the crime.

Prosecutors said Chang had committed several crimes as he tried to maintain his 
relationship with Lin, including threats, rape and offenses against privacy. 
Therefore, prosecutors deemed that he should face the most severe penalty.

Responses from Lin's Family

Regarding the charges levied yesterday, the victims' family said that the death 
penalty is what the suspect deserves and this is the only way to deliver 
justice to Lin.

In addition, they said that Chang is an adult and should take responsibility 
for what he has done and accept the punishment that the judge hands down.

(source: The China Post)






IRAN----execution

Man hanged in public a day after UN condemns regime's "high frequency of 
executions"


A day after the United Nations General Assembly's 3rd committee adopted the 
UN's 61st resolution condemning human rights abuses in Iran and urged the 
regime to stop the executions, a man was hanged in public in a northern city.

The prisoner identified as H. Mirjani, 32, was hanged in Velayat Square in the 
city of Qaemshahr.

The execution that comes after the adoption of the resolution that expressed 
its "deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations" in 
Iran, notably the "alarming high frequency of executions and increase of the 
carrying-out of the death penalty in the absence of internationally recognized 
safeguards, including public executions," demonstrates the Iranian regime's 
disregard for international concerns.

Since the start of Hassan Rouhani's presidency a year ago, the executions in 
Iran have taken on an unprecedented scale with over 1000 executions.

(source: NCR-Iran)

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

Public executions continue in Iran. Another man was publicly hanged in Northern 
Iran today.


1 man was hanged in public in the city of Ghaemshahr (Northern Iran) today, 
reported the official Iranian news agency IRNA. The prisoner was identified as 
"R. M." (32 year old) and sentenced to death convicted of rape, said the 
report.

Today's public execution was the 6th so far in November 2014. A video footage 
from a public execution carried out 15. November in Southern Iran shows that 
the prisoners are slowly pulled up with a crane. It takes normally several 
minutes till the prisoner dies by this method.

(source: Iran Human Rights)