[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 2




IRAN:

Amnesty: Iran regime carried out highest number of reported executions in 2014


The latest report on the death penalty by Amnesty International indicates that 
607 recorded executions have been carried out in 22 countries around the world 
in 2014, a reduction of almost 22 % compared to the previous year.

The reported executions were carried out in Iran more than any country in the 
world.

In Iran the authorities officially announced 289 executions, but hundreds more 
were carried out which were not officially acknowledged, Amnesty report said.

Execution methods employed around the world included beheading, hanging, lethal 
injection and shooting.

Iran is among the countries highlighted by Amnesty International as having used 
the death penalty "as a tool to suppress political dissent".

At least 2,466 people in 55 countries are known to have been sentenced to death 
in 2014, according to the latest Amnesty International report on the death 
penalty.

This represents an increase of 28% compared with 2013, when 1,925 death 
sentences were recorded in 57 countries.

At least 19,094 people were believed to be under sentence of death worldwide at 
the end of 2014.

Mr. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights 
in Iran, reported on March 25 that some 1000 executions had been carried out 
during the past 15 months in Iran. Prior to that, on March 16, he told a news 
briefing in Geneva: "There is a lot of concern amongst the Iranian society that 
the nuclear file may be casting a shadow over the human rights discussion."

The U.N.'s special investigator added that the human rights situation and 
repression in Iran has worsened since Hassan Rouhani became president.

(source: NCR-Iran)






GLOBAL:

The ultimate punishment: A beginner's guide to the death penalty


How widespread is the use of the death penalty?

55 countries are known to have sentenced at least 2,466 people to death in 2014 
- a 28% increase from 2013. This is mainly due to a spike in death sentences in 
Egypt and Nigeria.

Amnesty International also recorded 607 executions in 22 countries in 2014.

But the real number of people executed is much higher. There are no figures for 
China, for example,which is believed to execute more people than the rest of 
the world put together.

Likewise, many countries, including Belarus, carry out executions in secret, 
often without informing the detainees' relatives or lawyers.

In other countries such as Eritrea, Malaysia, North Korea and Syria, little or 
no information about the use of the death penalty is available due to 
restrictive state practice and/or political instability.

And how many people are still on death row?

We know that at the end of 2014 there were around 20,000 people on death row 
across the world.

So the picture is actually pretty bleak ...

Yes, but we have also seen some progress. The world is slowly turning away from 
using the death penalty.

The number of countries imposing death sentences has gone down from 57 in 2013 
to 55 in 2014.

Europe and the Americas are near execution-free-zones, with the exception of 
Belarus and the USA. And in the USA we have seen a decrease in both the number 
of sentences imposed and executions carried out, with the state of Washington 
joining 6 other US states that have abolished the death penalty for all crimes 
since 2007.

Only 3 countries are known to have carried out executions in sub-Saharan 
Africa; and in the Asia-Pacific region debates on abolition began in Fiji, 
South Korea and Thailand.

In the Middle East and North Africa, the number of executions recorded by 
Amnesty International has decreased by approximately 23% compared to 2013.

And in December, the National Assembly of Madagascar adopted a bill to abolish 
the death penalty.

Why are countries still resorting to the death penalty?

In 2014, we have found that many of the countries that still carry out 
executions justify their actions as a response to threats - real or perceived - 
to state security and public safety posed by terrorism, crime or internal 
instability.

In December 2014, in the wake of the Peshawar school terrorist attack that 
killed 149 people, mainly children, Pakistan lifted a moratorium on executions 
first imposed in September 2008. Dozens of people have been executed since 
then.

Executions for terrorism-related offences also continued to be recorded in 
China, Iran and Iraq.

Jordan started using the death penalty again and Indonesia moved close to 
carrying out executions, both justifying their actions as responses to crime.

Many other countries - including Iran, North Korea, the State of Palestine and 
Saudi Arabia - continued to use the death penalty as a tool to suppress 
political dissent.

Aren't executions carried out in a more humane way nowadays?

There's no "humane" way to execute someone.

Many countries still hang, behead or shoot people. In the USA, the use of 
lethal injection resulted in three "botched executions" in 2014 alone.

Isn't keeping people in prison for life simply too expensive?

This is not true. And even if it was, it would not be a justification for 
killing people. In the USA, the rigorous trial procedures and lengthy appeals 
process in capital cases mean that the death penalty costs more than 
imprisoning someone for life. Different US studies have found that capital 
punishment is between 1.5 and 3 times as expensive as life imprisonment.

But to justify judicial killing based on the notion that it will save money is 
not only morally objectionable - cut-price human rights violations are still 
human rights violations - it ignores the fact that it has other costs. For 
example, it risks brutalizing those involved in its application and it deprives 
the family members of the condemned prisoner of a loved one.

The death penalty also diverts energy and resources that could be used for more 
constructive solutions to crime, such as improving police investigations or 
care for crime victims' families.

But surely the death penalty is a fair punishment for serious crimes such as 
murder or rape?

The right to life is a human right inherent to all human beings. Crime must be 
prevented and punished, but in full respect of human rights and dignity. 
Execution is an irreversible punishment. Last year, 112 people were exonerated 
in nine countries after the death penalty had been imposed: innocent people who 
would have been put to death.

In the majority of countries where people were sentenced to death or executed, 
the death penalty was imposed after proceedings that did not meet international 
fair trial standards.

In several countries - including Afghanistan, Bahrain, China, Iran, Iraq, North 
Korea, Saudi Arabia - death sentences were based on "confessions" that were 
extracted through torture or other ill-treatment.

In addition, people around the world continue to be sentenced to death and 
executed for non-lethal crimes, including drug related offences, corruption, 
committing "adultery" while married, "insulting the prophet of Islam", 
"witchcraft" and "sorcery".

(source: Amnesty International)

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

Amnesty International Report Into Death Penalties And Executions Around The 
World Is Grim Reading


A new report from Amnesty International lays bare the stark reality of capital 
punishment around the world.

A particularly shocking case is that of a mentally-ill British grandfather who 
is among more than 19,000 people on death row globally.

Mohammad Asghar, from Edinburgh, who was sentenced to death in Pakistan last 
year after being convicted of blasphemy, features in the human rights 
campaigners' annual review of the death penalty worldwide.

There have been intense fears for Asghar's safety and repeated calls for him to 
be freed since he was shot and wounded by a guard at the Rawalpindi prison 
where he was being held in September last year.

The Amnesty report concluded that the grandfather, who is in his 70s, was one 
of at least 19,094 people who were under a death sentence by the end of 2014.

Overall, there was a 28% increase in the number of death sentences last year 
compared to the previous year, the campaign body concluded.

In 2014 at least 2,466 death sentences were handed down in 55 countries around 
the world, compared to 1,925 the year before - an increase Amnesty said was 
largely driven by developments in Nigeria and Egypt.

Nigerian courts issued at least 659 death sentences, a jump of more than 500 
compared to 2013, while Egyptian courts handed out at least 509 death 
sentences, 400 more than the year before, Amnesty said.

The figures, contained in the 76-page report, also show that least 607 
executions were known to have been carried out in 2014. This is compared to 778 
in 2013, a drop of 22%.

The other countries making up the world's top 5 executioners in 2014 were Iran, 
Saudi Arabia and the US, according to the report. China is excluded from the 
figures as the number of executions remains a state secret.

Amnesty International's secretary general, Salil Shetty, said: "In a year when 
abhorrent summary executions by armed groups were branded on the global 
consciousness like never before, it is appalling that governments are 
themselves resorting to more executions in a knee-jerk reaction to combat 
terrorism and crime.

"It is shameful that so many states around the world are essentially playing 
with people's lives - putting people to death for 'terrorism' or to quell 
internal instability on the ill-conceived premise of deterrence."

Asghar, a British national of Pakistani origin, was diagnosed with paranoid 
schizophrenia in the UK in 2010, before he moved to Pakistan.

He was convicted of blasphemy in 2014 and sentenced to death. Despite his 
diagnosis in the UK, the Pakistan Court ruled he was sane.

His appeal was pending before the Lahore High Court at the end of the year and 
he remained in hospital at that stage.

Asghar's lawyer believes his client is at risk of being killed if returned to 
prison because of the blasphemy charge.

Another Briton on death row is Cheltenham grandmother Lindsay Sandiford, who is 
under a death sentence in Indonesia following a 2013 drug trafficking 
conviction over cocaine found in the lining of her suitcase.

Amnesty said her death sentence has been upheld on appeal and she is at risk of 
execution this year.

(source: Huffington Post)






AFRICA:

Infographics: The death penalty in Africa (2007 to 2014)


Terrorism has fuelled a sharp increase in the number of death sentences imposed 
on the continent in 2014, reports Amnesty International.

The number of people sentenced to death in Africa more than doubled between 
2013 and 2014, according to Amnesty International's Death Sentences and 
Executions 2014 report released on April 1.

At least 1 444 death sentences were imposed in 2014 in Africa, up from 605 in 
2013.

Globally, at least 2 466 people received death sentences, which means Africa 
accounted for 60% of the world total - if China is excluded.

China carries out more executions than the rest of the world put together and 
thousands are thought to be sentenced to death there every year, said Amnesty 
International in its 2014 report. But the numbers are kept a state secret.

In Africa, 2 countries are responsible for the spike in the number of death 
sentences in 2014: Nigeria and Egypt.

Both registered increases of more than 350% in the number handed down from 2013 
to 2014. In Nigeria the numbers rose from at least 141 to 659 in Egypt from at 
least 109 to 509.

Amnesty International attributes the "alarming rise" to governments attempting 
to combat crime and terrorism.

The Nigerian government, in particular, has been waging an on-going battle with 
Islamast group Boko Haram.

Military courts there handed down mass death sentences against about 70 
soldiers who were convicted of mutiny in 2014, said the human rights 
organisation.

Egyptian courts also handed down mass death sentences in mass trials during 
2014.

"The dark trend of governments using the death penalty in a futile attempt to 
tackle real or imaginary threats to state security and public safety was stark 
last year," said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International???s secretary general, in 
a press release.

"It is shameful that so many states around the world are essentially playing 
with people's lives - putting people to death for 'terrorism' or to quell 
internal instability on the ill-conceived premise of deterrence.

"Governments using the death penalty to tackle crime are deluding themselves. 
There is no evidence that shows the threat of execution is more of a deterrent 
to crime than any other punishment," said Shetty.

On a more positive note, the number of people executed in Africa dropped 
slightly: from at least 64 in 2013 to at least 61 in 2014. Only 4 countries 
carried out executions in that year.

The drop in the number of executions in Africa mirrors a global reduction in 
the number of executions, from at least 778 in 2013 to at least 607 in 2014.

Several countries also took steps towards abolishing the death penalty, Amnesty 
International reported.

16 African countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes as of 
December 2014:

Angola

Burundi

Cabo Verde

Cote d'Ivoire

Djibouti

Gabon

Guinea Bissau

Mauritius

Mozambique

Namibia

Rwanda

Sao Tome and Principe

Senegal

Seychelles

South Africa

Togo

(source: Mail & Guardian)






ZIMBABWE:

Zim Death Row Prisoners Rise To 95


A total of 10 prisoners were sentenced to death in 2014 pushing the number of 
inmates on death sentence to 95.

Amnesty International Zimbabwe (AIZ) on Wednesday disclosed the rise in the 
number of prisoners on death row as it launched worldwide report on death 
sentences and executions carried in 2014.

AIZ executive director Cousin Zilala told journalists at a media briefing held 
in Harare that 10 prisoners were sentenced to death in 2014 as Zimbabwean 
authorities resorted to capital punishment to combat crime.

The 10 prisoners include a Mozambican national identified Isaac Mlambo.

Zilala said figures obtained by Amnesty from the government showed that a total 
of 95 prisoners were under sentence as at the end of December last year.

4 prisoners who were under sentence for death had their sentences commuted to 
life imprisonment while no prisoner under sentence for death were pardoned in 
2014.

In 2014, only 1 prisoner was exonerated from death sentence, Zilala said.

Zilala, whose organisation has been advocating for the abolishment of the death 
sentence and for a moratorium on executions said the death penalty is "cruel, 
inhuman and degrading."

Globally, Amnesty International opposes the death penalty at all times - 
regardless of who is accused, the crime, guilt or innocence or method of 
execution.

Amnesty International has been working to end executions since 1977, when only 
9 countries had abolished the death penalty. Today, the number has risen to 
140.

(source: radiovop.com)






NIGERIA:

Narrow escape from Nigeria's gallows: "I still wonder if it is a dream"


For 19 years, ThankGod Ebhos barely had a full night's sleep.

Night after night, as he lay on a blanket in a small cell in Benin Prison in 
southern Nigeria, he had a disturbing recurring nightmare: A prison guard would 
knock on his door and walk him, barely awake, to the gallows, place a rope 
around his neck and hang him.

In June 2013, it all came too close to reality.

ThankGod Ebhos woke up to the terrifying noise of the execution room door 
opening and the frightening smell of the oil used to lubricate the gallows. He 
knew his life was coming to a sudden end and thought of his children.

Prison staff came to his cell and, without uttering a word, forced him and 
another four men into the execution room where the gallows had been set up.

He describes what happened next:

"We knew we were going to die, they did not have to tell us. When we got to the 
gallows they locked the door behind us. The room was ready. The noose prepared 
and the bag of sand down. The Sheriff, hangman and other prison staff stood on 
the side; and a priest prayed to God to forgive us for our sins. After the 
prayer, our execution warrants were read to us."

Then, ThankGod was asked what he wanted the prison to do with his belongings. 
He told them they should give everything to his son, Solomon.

Moments later, like a perverse choreography, the executions began. ThankGod 
watched as, one by one, the 4 men had ropes placed around their necks, were 
suspended and gasped for air before their lives were taken away.

"The 1st person was hanged, his face was covered with a black sack. I could not 
think of anything else other than how I would die. Then there was the 2nd, 3rd 
and 4th execution until it got to my turn."

But as ThankGod stood in that "room of death", the noose around his neck, and 
his heart racing uncontrollably, the unimaginable happened.

In a surprising turn of events, the Sheriff, re-reading ThankGod's execution 
warrant, said he had been sentenced to death by firing squad, not hanging. A 
technicality that would render the execution by hanging illegal.

A discussion followed, as the noose remained around ThankGod's neck.

Staff at the prison made a quick call to the headquarters in Nigeria's capital, 
Abuja. They wanted confirmation that the execution could be carried out 
regardless of what the warrant said.

Some of the prison staff eagerly argued that no one taken to the gallows for 
execution should come out alive.

Eventually, the Sheriff insisted that the execution should not be carried out 
by hanging. He ordered the door to be opened and ThankGod was taken back to his 
cell.

"When I got back to my cell, I immediately picked up my phone and called Kola 
Ogunbiyi of Avocats Sans Frontieres France in Nigeria. He was surprised to hear 
my voice and wondered why I had not been executed. He told me he was going to 
call Amnesty International and draw the world's attention to my case," ThankGod 
said.

Avocats Sans Frontieres France in Nigeria later filed a case at the Economic 
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice in Abuja.

In January 2014, the ECOWAS Court of Justice granted an injunction restraining 
the government from executing ThankGod Ebhos. On 10 June 2014 the Court 
delivered a final judgment ordering that ThankGod's name be removed from the 
death row list.

ThankGod was released on 28 October 2014, after the Governor of Kaduna State, 
Mukhtar Yaro, ordered his release using his power of "Prerogative of Mercy".

"I was given 3 minutes to pack my belongings and leave the prison. I thought it 
was a dream and told God not to let me wake up. Up till now I still wonder if 
it is a dream because I never thought I could be alive."

"Constant state of horror"

ThankGod Ebhos was sentenced to death in 1995 for an armed robbery that took 
place in 1988. He has been in prison since he was arrested that year.

He admitted responsibility for the crime and he spent 19 years on death row, 
constantly wondering if each day would be his last.

He describes life in prison as being in a "constant state of horror".

"I never had peace of mind. Whenever I heard a knock on my door I thought they 
had come to take me for execution. I always had the feeling that any moment I 
was going to die," he said.

However, he never lost hope. While in prison he learned how to read and write 
and play the guitar and the piano.

ThankGod is one of the lucky ones.

Today Amnesty International is publishing its latest report on the use of the 
death penalty across the world.

At least 1,588 people are currently languishing on death row in Nigeria - 659 
of whom were sentenced to death last year.

"The cruel and irreversible nature of the death penalty makes it a punishment 
completely unfit for the 21st century. The punishment is a violation of the 
right to life, Nigeria should follow the global trend against this inhuman 
practice by abolishing the death penalty completely," said Oluwatosin Popoola, 
Death Penalty Adviser at Amnesty International.

(source: Amnesty International)