[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 9



SWAZILAND:

'KING SAVED MY LIFE'



"I don't deserve to live". These were words of Boyce Gama (46) of KaLanga in 
Steki, who is serving a life sentence at the Maximum Wing of the Matsapha 
Correctional facility. Gama has already served 24 years behind bars.

His initial sentence was the death penalty before he received the King's mercy 
in 2011, which converted his sentence to life imprisonment.

In 1991, he was sentenced to hang for murder by the High Court. He was first 
booked at the Sidwashini Correctional facility, where upon arrival, officials 
asked him to give them the name of 1 person he wished to talk to before he was 
executed.

"I gave them my mother's name because she was closer to me than anyone else," 
he said. Gama was then moved to the Matsapha Correctional facility, where he 
was placed in a death row cell.

He said he stayed at the condemned cell for almost 2 decades while waiting for 
his execution. He described the death row cell as very small with no openings 
except for a tiny burglar bar window where one sees nothing but small particles 
of incoming light. "Staying in a death row cell can be excruciating as you 
don't know when they are coming to take your life," he said.

Gama said what made things worse was that his case had sparked public debate 
such that some radio stations, especially foreign ones, hosted phone-in 
programmes soliciting public views about his impeding date with the hangman.

He said some callers were against his execution while others were for it. Gama 
was speaking during the Nazarene Church's Easter services, where they had 
invited inmates to be part of the service and share their personal testimonies 
with members of the church. In his close to 30 minutes testimony, Gama told the 
congregation that these developments were not easy to bear until he turned his 
life to God in 1997.

He thanked his mother for encouraging him to turn his life to God. "She was the 
1st to pay me a visit. However, later on, I was saddened to learn that she had 
died but I am grateful to all the things she did for me before her demise," he 
said.

Gama thanked the Nazarene Church for the opportunity to share his life 
experience.

He said the church had played an important role in transforming the lives of 
offenders and promised that they (offenders) would do their best to keep the 
word of God alive in their hearts.

(source: Times of Swaziland)








SAUDI ARABIA:

Saudi Arabia executes 54 people in first 3 months of 2015



At least 54 people were executed in Saudi Arabia during the 1st 3 months of the 
year in a dramatic increase, according to Amnesty International.

The international human rights organisation said the kingdom was well on track 
for a record year, following 90 executions last year.

Gruesome footage of a public execution released by an amateur videographer 
earlier this year showed a woman on the floor begging for her life beneath her 
executioner. A man dressed in white raised a sword above his head, according to 
Amnesty International researcher on Saudi Arabia Sevag Kechichian.

"The images shocked the world and provided a sobering reminder of the 
kingdom???s unwavering commitment to the death penalty," he wrote in a comment 
piece published on the organisation's website.

Saudi Arabia executed the 3rd highest number of people of any country last 
year, according to Amnesty International's annual report. Most are beheaded and 
done in public.

"This gruesome execution method has driven the media to draw parallels with 
beheadings carried out by the so-called "Islamic State" armed group in Syria 
and Iraq," Kechichian said.

The executions include 2 sets of brothers and a juvenile who each claimed their 
so-called confessions had been obtained under torture.

In March, the head of Saudi Arabia's Human Rights Commission defended the 
kingdom's use of the death penalty, claiming it was justice for victims.

Bandar Al Aiban told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva the kingdom would 
continue to apply the principles of Shariah law, the rules that govern Islam, 
in all areas of life, particularly in punishment for grave crimes, the official 
state news agency SPA said.

"As we renew our emphasis on respect of the right to life as one of the 
fundamental rights guaranteed by Islamic law, we should not forget the calls to 
cancel or suspend the implementation of capital punishment rule for the 
victims' rights which are violated by perpetrators," Al Aiban was quoted as 
saying.

"The implementation of capital punishment rule in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 
are taken in the most serious crimes threatening the security and safety of the 
community and the rights of individuals."

However, Amnesty International argues Shariah experts disagree that many of the 
death sentences are legal.

Kechichian said a statement dated February 17, 2015, by Saudi Arabia???s 
Supreme Court confirmed that sentences, including death sentences where the 
punishment is left to the judge's discretion, could be handed down even if it 
cannot be proved beyond reasonable doubt that the suspect committed a crime.

"Suspicion, it seems, is enough for a judge to order putting an end to 
someone's life," he said.

He also argued some of the crimes for which the death penalty had been given 
were not considered to be among the most serious, for which international 
allows the death penalty.

Last year, 1/2 of the executions in the kingdom were for non-lethal offences, 
Kechichian said. Majority of those were related to drugs, including possession, 
while 1 person was executed for 'sorcery' and 'witchcraft', which his not 
considered a crime in international law.

Shariah law also does not include drug related offences among crimes punishable 
by the death penalty, Kechichian argued.

"Saudi Arabia claims that it maintains the highest judicial standards in the 
use of the death penalty, and depicts those calling for it to be abolished or 
restricted, including Amnesty International and other organisations, as posing 
a threat to Islam because they seek to persuade Saudi Arabians to renounce 
Shariah law," Kechichian said.

"Such rhetoric by the authorities is not only bluntly false, but also fuels 
dangerous misconceptions and antagonism among Saudi Arabians towards human 
rights, international law, and the West.

"Saudi Arabia's authorities must stop deceiving people about the death penalty. 
They should acknowledge once and for all that the death penalty is a cruel and 
inhuman punishment that violates the right to life, and should take steps 
towards abolishing it entirely."

(source: arabianbusiness.com)








IRAN:

Executions Useless in Preventing Drug Crimes says Prominent Iranian Lawyer



In an interview with ISNA (the Iranian Student News Agency), the prominent 
Iranian lawyer Nemat Ahmadi lambasted Iran's anti-drug law, calling it "lacking 
in preventive powers" despite its stipulation of the death penalty as 
punishment for drug traffickers.

"We have no other laws about drug trafficking, and because the anti-drug law 
was passed by Iran's Expediency Council, the Iranian Parliament is unable to 
make modifications to it," Ahmadi added.

Nemat Ahmadi told ISNA that intensified punishments and the death penalty for 
drug trafficking convictions have proven ineffective over the years, and have 
also brought criticism by human rights organizations of the high rate of 
executions in Iran.

"A review of the number of drug-related executions must be conducted. We 
observe that, unfortunately, the issue [of drug trafficking] continues in our 
country. Therefore, we must say that intensifying punishments is not 
preventive," he said to ISNA.

"More than 4,000 police forces and 12,000 citizens have lost their lives in the 
war against drugs," said Ahmadi. Referring to more than 270,000 drug 
trafficking convicts inside Iranian prisons, he added, "2/3 of our prisoners 
are drug-trafficking convicts. In fact, if drug trafficking suspects or 
convicts are released from prison, our prisons will have an occupancy [rate] 
below international standards."

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Ahmed 
Shaheed, has repeatedly objected to the executions of drug trafficking convicts 
in Iran. International law states that capital punishment must be reserved for 
the "most serious crimes," and drug-related offenses are not considered in that 
category. The vast majority of executions in Iran are carried out for 
drug-related convictions.

In Dr. Shaheed's latest report to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2015, he 
cited statistics that challenged Iranian officials' statements about the 
deterrent effects of capital punishment on drug trafficking.

During his presentation of the report to the Council, Dr. Shaheed said that 
more than 1,005 executions had been carried out over the past 14 months, 
numbers that are unprecedented over the past 12 years. At least 753 executions 
were carried out in 2014 and 252 were carried out in just the 10 weeks 
preceding the report.

Contrary to statements made by the head of the Iranian delegation, Dr. Shaheed 
said that most executions carried out in Iran do not meet international 
standards for the "most serious crimes." In addition to drug-related 
executions, he noted that issuing death penalty sentences for crimes such as 
adultery, alcohol consumption, vague national security charges, and charges 
such as "corruption on earth" are illegal according to international laws.

Dr. Shaheed also pointed out that in 2014, 13 executions of individuals under 
the age of 18, or individuals who were not 18 at the time they committed their 
crimes, were carried out, which is against international law as well.

Mohammad Javad Larijani, Head of the Iranian Judiciary's Human Rights Council, 
has steadfastly defended its high execution rate and its execution of 
drug-related convicts, asserting that "the world [should] be grateful for this 
great service to humanity."

(source: Iran Human Rights)








INDONESIA:

Death row grandmother readies for appeal ---- Lawyers including a New Zealand 
barrister are rallying for British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford's final appeal 
to have her death sentence commuted



A New Zealand barrister has joined the fight to get a British grandmother off 
death row, calling it "possibly the most important criminal appeal on the 
planet".

Lindsay Sandiford, 58, was sentenced to death in 2013 for importing 4.8kg of 
cocaine into Bali.

It was a shock result as prosecutors hadn't sought the death penalty and the 
court didn't recognise her co-operation with police to arrest those the drugs 
were destined for - three British nationals who received far lighter 
punishment.

A team of lawyers including New Zealand's Craig Tuck will apply for a supreme 
court judicial review, known as a PK, likely Sandiford's last chance to have 
her death sentence commuted.

Indonesia's President Joko Widodo intends to refuse clemency to all death row 
drug offenders.

Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are among nine foreigners and one 
Indonesian next in line for execution.

6 drug offenders have already been sent to the firing squad in Indonesia this 
year.

The lawyers will also challenge the British government, which has refused to 
fund Sandiford's legal battle.

In February, Britain's Foreign Office confirmed its senior diplomat in Bali had 
been suspended, after a report of an affair with the drug dealer at the centre 
of the case.

The dealer, Julian Ponder, was one of those who got a lesser sentence, which 
he's serving in Kerobokan jail along with Sandiford.

Mr Tuck says the case was one where anything that could go wrong, did go wrong.

"It is an appalling prospect to think there is a firing squad waiting if this 
last appeal does not succeed," he said in a statement.

The mother of 2, who had no previous criminal offences and a background as a 
legal clerk in England, is distressed at her predicament but hopeful for a fair 
appeal.

In a statement from her jail she said: "This is a very difficult time and all I 
ask is that my case be fully and properly presented in the Supreme Court of 
Indonesia.

"I just ask for a fair go nothing more."

Her supporters have launched a website to fundraise for her defence.

(source: nzcity.co.nz)

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

Bali 9 prisoner Myuran Sukumaran's paintings to be exhibited in London



A cousin of death row prisoner Myuran Sukumaran is hoping an exhibition of the 
Australian's art in London will increase pressure on Indonesian's president to 
grant the 33-year-old clemency.

Sukumaran is being held on Central Java's Nusakambangan island along with 
Andrew Chan ahead of their planned execution by firing squad.

But some 12,000 kilometres away in the English capital his cousin, Niranjela 
Karunatilake, is preparing to open an exhibition of Sukumaran's paintings on 
Monday.

"I hope people will come to see the exhibition next week and think of Myu and 
let Indonesia know that there are people all over the world calling for mercy," 
Ms Karunatilake said in a statement.

"Myu is a talented artist and I have seen his skill develop over the past 4 
years. You can see him finding himself in his paintings. It is clear painting 
has been a vital comfort for him on death row."

Ms Karunatilake said supporters weren't asking for Sukumaran, who was born in 
London, to be freed. But he'd proven himself to be kind and compassionate and 
deserved that in return, she said.

"Myu will be 34 on Friday (April 17) and it's just too sad to think that could 
be his last birthday. The death penalty is never the answer and I don't believe 
it deters crime. But in Myu's case, when he has done so much to repent and 
improve prison conditions, it would be a real tragedy if his life was cut 
short."

The week-long exhibition will be held at Amnesty International???s London 
headquarters in Shoreditch. It follows a similar show in Amsterdam in 
mid-March. Convicted drug traffickers Sukumaran and Chan on Monday lost a bid 
to challenge their clemency rejections in the state administrative court.

But lawyers for the Bali 9 pair on Thursday sought a constitutional court 
review to make clear Indonesian President Joko Widodo's obligations on 
considering clemency. It could take several months.

Ms Karunatilake, who works as a producer for a creative agency in London, last 
visited Sukumaran in February.

The works being exhibited next week were all made during his 10 years on death 
row.

The oil paintings include one depicting a single bullet and a self-portrait in 
which Sukumaran's face gradually smears away until it is unrecognisable.

(source: news.com.au)