[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 12



BANGLADESH----execution

Bangladesh Islamist politician Kamaruzzaman hanged



An Islamist politician convicted of war crimes during Bangladesh's 1971 war of 
independence from Pakistan has been hanged at a prison in Dhaka.

Mohammad Kamaruzzaman of the Jamaat-e-Islami party was found guilty of genocide 
by a domestic war crimes tribunal in May 2013.

Kamaruzzaman, 62, was convicted of crimes including the killing of at least 120 
unarmed farmers.

He had refused to seek clemency from Bangladesh's president.

Kamaruzzaman was the 3rd most senior figure in Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist 
opposition party.

He is the 2nd war crimes suspect in Bangladesh to be executed.

In December 2013 Abdul Kader Mullah, assistant secretary general of 
Jamaat-e-Islami since 2010 and a former editor of an Islamist newspaper, was 
hanged after being found guilty on 5 of 6 counts of crimes against humanity and 
war crimes.

Of the others who have been convicted:

--Former Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ghulam Azam died in custody in 2014

--Former Bangladesh Nationalist Party MP and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Motiur 
Rahman Nizami is awaiting the death sentence after being convicted in October 
2014

--Former Jamaat-e-Islami MP Delwar Hossain Sayeedi has been sentenced to life 
in jail

--Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary-General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid was condemned to 
death in July 2013

--Former Bangladesh Nationalist Party minister, Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury was 
sentenced to death in October 2013

21 members of the condemned man's family, including his wife and son, visited 
him in prison on Saturday afternoon.

There was tight security outside the jail ahead of the condemned man's 
execution, with large demonstrations and counter-demonstrations expected in 
support of and against the hanging.

Bloodiest episode

Kamaruzzaman was the assistant secretary-general of the Islamist 
Jamaat-e-Islami party. He was found guilty in May 2013 of masterminding what 
the prosecution described as one of the bloodiest single episodes in the 
independence war.

The war crimes tribunal heard that he played a prominent role alongside 
Pakistani troops in the "slaughter" of at least 120 unarmed farmers in the 
remote northern village of Sohagpur which subsequently became known as the 
"village of widows".

3 women widowed as a result of the killings testified against Kamaruzzaman 
during his trial. They described how he led Pakistani troops to the village and 
helped the soldiers line up and execute the farmers.

Kamaruzzaman was found guilty on 5 out of 7 charges of crimes against humanity, 
including the murder and torture of unarmed civilians. His lawyers insisted 
that he had not received a fair trial.

Timeline:

Bangladesh independence war, 1971

Civil war erupts in Pakistan, pitting the West Pakistan army against East 
Pakistanis demanding autonomy and later independence

Fighting forces an estimated 10 million East Pakistani civilians to flee to 
India

In December, India invades East Pakistan in support of the East Pakistani 
people

Pakistani army surrenders at Dhaka and its army of more than 90,000 become 
Indian prisoners of war

East Pakistan becomes the independent country of Bangladesh on 16 December 1971

Exact number of people killed is unclear - Bangladesh says it is 3 million but 
independent researchers say there were up to 500,000 fatalities

(source: BBC news)

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

Bangladesh Executes Islamist Politician Convicted of War Crimes----Charges 
against Muhammad Kamaruzzaman included massacre of civilians in 1971 war



Bangladesh executed a senior Islamist politician who was convicted of 
committing crimes against humanity during the country's war of independence 
more than 40 years ago.

Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, 62 years old, was hanged Saturday night, just days after 
the country's supreme court rejected a plea by his lawyers for a review of his 
conviction for war crimes.

The execution took place at 10:01 p.m. local time.

(source: Wall Street Journal)

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

Kamaruzzaman buried



Executed war criminal Muhammad Kamaruzzaman has been buried at his ancestral 
home in Sherpur.

The Jamaat leader was hanged at 10:30pm Saturday for committing crimes against 
humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.

He was buried around 5am Sunday after a namaz-e-janaza in front of Bajitkhila 
Orphanage.

After Kamaruzzaman's execution, 2 ambulances - 1 carrying the body, 2 vans with 
26 police members, and another with RAB personnel left the jail at 11:40pm for 
Sherpur.

Kamaruzzaman, 62, is the 2nd war criminal to walk the gallows. His colleague 
and counterpart, another assistant secretary general of Jamaat, Abdul Quader 
Molla, was executed on December 12, 2013 following the legal process. Molla had 
not sought clemency.

The Appellate Division had commuted the death penalty of another Jamaat leader, 
Delawar Hossain Sayedee, to life-term imprisonment. It is now holding hearings 
in 2 other appeals cases, filed by Jamaat leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed 
and BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.

Since Wednesday, war criminal Kamaruzzaman had taken 3 days to decide whether 
to seek presidential clemency. On that day, an Appellate Division order 
rejecting his review petition was communicated to him.

Kamaruzzaman trial timeline

At noon yesterday, the Home Ministry issued an order to execute the death row 
convict as he finally refused to seek mercy.

Family members of the Jamaat leader met him at the jail around 4:30pm 
yesterday, for the last time. They earlier visited the convict on April 6, when 
the Appellate Division scrapped his review petition.

Kamaruzzaman was arrested on July 29, 2010 on the charge of hurting religious 
sentiment. He was shown arrested in the war crimes case on October 2 the same 
year, and the trial began on July 2, 2012.

(source: Dhaka Tribune)

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

Statement on the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Death Sentence 
of Kamaruzzaman



Press Statement

Marie Harf

Acting Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

The United States supports bringing to justice those who committed atrocities 
in the 1971 Bangladesh war of independence. In doing so, the International 
Crimes Tribunal (ICT) trials must be fair and transparent, and in accordance 
with international obligations that Bangladesh has agreed to uphold through its 
ratification of international agreements, including the International Covenant 
on Civil and Political Rights. Countries that impose a death penalty must do so 
with great care, in accordance with a very high standard of due process and 
respect for fair trial guarantees. We greatly respect the decisions of the 
International Crimes Tribunal and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court 
of Bangladesh in Chief Prosecutor vs. Mohammed Kamaruzzaman, and note in 
particular the judicial rigor applied to this ruling. We believe that broad and 
enduring support for this process both nationally and internationally can be 
best achieved by exercising great care and caution before imposing and 
implementing a sentence of death.

We have seen progress, but still believe that further improvements to the ICT 
process could ensure these proceedings meet domestic and international 
obligations. Until these obligations can be consistently met, it is best not to 
proceed with executions given the irreversibility of a sentence of death.

(source: US Department of State)

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

War crimes convicts Salauddin Quader, Mujaheed await Appellate Division hearing



2 more war crimes convicts fret about their fate after Bangladesh executed war 
criminal Mohammad Kamaruzzaman on Saturday.

The cases of Jamaat-e-Islami's Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed and BNP's Salauddin 
Quader Chowdhury are leading the Appellate Division's cause list.

They were expected to be heard last Tuesday, but the day's hearing ended before 
they could be brought up.

9 war crimes cases await the top court's verdict.

Altogether 14 such cases made their way to the appeals court and final verdicts 
have been issued in 3 of them.

Death sentences of Jamaat's assistant secretaries general Abdul Quader Molla 
Kamaruzzaman have been carried out.

Jamaat's Executive Council Member Delwar Hossain Sayedee???s death penalty was 
commuted to a life imprisonment.

But an appeal for a review has not been resolved since the full verdict is yet 
to be published.

Jamaat's Liberation War-time chief Ghulam Azam and BNP's former minister Abdul 
Alim died during the trial.

The Supreme Court declared their appeal proceedings defunct.

Bangladesh put suspected war criminals on trial after the government set up a 
special tribunal in 2010. A 2nd one was formed 2 years later to expedite the 
trials.

An estimated 3 million people were killed and over 200,000 women raped during 
the Liberation War in 1971. About 10 million people were forced to seek refuge 
in India.

The Jamaat, which came out strongly in support of a united, non-secular and 
Bengali-hating Pakistan, is accused of perpetrating war crimes.

So far, the tribunals have delivered 17 verdicts and most of the convicts are 
from Jamaat, a party whose registration was scrapped by the High Court in 2013.

The party alleges the tribunals fall short of international standards and 
accuses the government of carrying out political vendetta -- a charge the 
government rejects.

Mujaheed and SQ Chowdhury

Bangladesh's 2nd war crimes tribunal sentenced "atrocious" Al-Badr commander 
Mujaheed to death on July 17, 2013 for killing of intellectuals and murder and 
torture of Hindus.

He challenged the verdict on Aug 11 the same year.

Although the prosecution did not move the court, it said it would take part in 
the hearing and argue for the upholding of the sentence.

The 1st war crimes tribunal on Oct 1, 2013 sentenced Chittagong's wartime 
terror Salauddin Quader Chowdhury to death for crimes "that tremble the 
collective conscience of mankind".

He was found guilty of murdering Kundeshwari Oushadhalaya owner Nutan Chandra 
Singha, genocide of Hindus at Sultanpur and Unsattar Parha, and abduction and 
murder of a Hathazari Awami League leader and his son Sheikh Alamgir.

Chowdhury was the 1st sitting MP to be convicted of war crimes.

The BNP Standing Committee member challenged the verdict in court on Oct 29 the 
same year.

(source: bdnews24.com)








AFGHANISTAN----executions

Taliban publicly execute 3 men in Afghan province----Taliban had also detained 
16-year-old Fazl Ahmad whose fate was yet to be known



Taliban publicly executed 3 persons in western Farah province on charges of 
robbery and murder, a militant said.

The group has said the executions had taken place on Friday in Juma Bazaar 
locality of Bakwa district.

The 3 individuals Nabi Jan, Sayed Habib and Dawood had been arrested by the 
group some 20 days ago, a source within the militants added.

The slain individuals had confessed to kidnapping and killing 21 people and 
stealing more than 50 motorbikes and vehicles on Herat-Kandahar and 
Farah-Farahrod highways.

Dadullah Qane, Farah provincial council member, told Pajhwok Afghan News 
Taliban had also detained 16-year-old Fazl Ahmad whose fate was yet to be 
known.

(source: RAWA News)








TURKEY/EGYPT:

Foreign Ministry condemns death sentences ordered for members of Muslim 
Brotherhood



The Foreign Ministry has strongly denounced Egypt for the death sentences 
served against senior members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood (MB).

"We condemn the capital punishment imposed on 14 people and the sentencing of 
37 people to life sentences, which is the latest instance in a series of 
sentencing rulings made by politically motivated courts since 2013 in Egypt," 
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement last Sunday.

"These rulings, like the previous ones, were issued after judicial processes 
that fell short of meeting international standards and will not provide lasting 
peace and stability in Egypt," the statement continued.

An Egyptian court has sentenced Mohamed Badie, the MB's leader, and 13 other 
senior members of the group to death for inciting chaos and violence, and gave 
a life sentence to US-Egyptian citizen Mohamed Soltan for his ties to the MB.

The men were among thousands of people detained after President Mohammed Morsi 
was toppled in 2013 by the military under Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is now 
president.

The death penalties imposed on MB members is to the dismay of Turkey, a country 
which along with Qatar has been the staunchest supporter of the group. Other 
regional countries see the MB as a threat, especially after its role in the 
Arab Spring -- the revolutionary wave of demonstrations in 2010 against 
authoritarian leaders in the Middle East. Egypt's current leader designated the 
MB a terrorist organization last year.

In the days before the military coup toppled the freely elected Islamist Morsi, 
reports circulated in Turkish and Egyptian media that Turkey had advised Morsi 
and the MB to "stand up" to the mass demonstrations and violence that targeted 
the Morsi regime.

The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Chief Hakan Fidan was quoted by 
the press at the time as saying, "Stand firm, they [anti-Morsi protesters] can 
do nothing."

Mustafa Kamalak, the leader of the Felicity Party (SP), the representative of 
the National View (Milli Gorus) from which the Justice and Development Party 
(AK Party) also grew, has criticized the ruling party for having called on the 
MB to stand against the anti-Morsi campaigners' calls to resign.

"If [Necmettin] Erbakan -- the founder of the National View -- was alive, he 
would not advise [the MB] to "resist". When looking at Egypt, what did 
resistance bring to MB? 7000 MB members were killed, with thousands of them 
receiving the death penalty," Kamalak said in interview with the Hurriyet daily 
last week.

In September 2014, Turkey accepted the senior members of the MB who were asked 
by Qatar to leave the country where they had sought asylum.

According to a report by Al Jazeera Turk, the former deputy head of the 
Egyptian Religious Affairs Directorate Gamal Abdel-Sattar moved to Turkey along 
with 2 other people, namely the foreign relations officer of the MB, Amr 
Darrag, and the Egyptian cleric Wajdi Ghoneem.

The MB leaders came to Turkey following Erdogan's statements welcoming their 
entry into the country.

"If there are no reasons preventing them from coming to Turkey, we can 
facilitate their requests [to come to Turkey]. They can come to Turkey as any 
foreign guest comes," Erdogan was quoted as saying.

Last week Erdogan once again ruled out any current prospects of mending ties 
with Egypt and called on Cairo to release Morsi. Turkey and Egypt had both 
summoned back their ambassadors after al-Sisi came to power.

The MB defends itself by saying that their members did not take part in the 
Islamist militant violence in Egypt during the mass demonstrations to show 
solidarity with Morsi.

Al-Sisi sees the MB as a major security threat while the mass trials of the 
group's members has drawn international backlash over the disregard for human 
rights in the country.

US Department called for release of US-Egyptian citizen

The US State Department issued a statement last Saturday condemning Soltan's 
sentence and called for the Egyptian government to overturn the verdict.

"The State Department takes its assistance to US citizens abroad very 
seriously. Embassy officials remain in contact with Mr. Soltan and will 
continue to provide all possible consular assistance," read the statement.

Sara Mohamed, a relative of the Soltan family, said they would appeal the 
verdict. "It was a farce trial of the first class. ... None of the defendants 
attended the session," she told Reuters by phone.

A website calling for Soltan's release says he was not a member of the MB, 
describing him as a US-educated peace activist who was involved in youth events 
and charities. The website shows pictures of him lying emaciated on a stretcher 
while in detention.

The US also froze military aid to Cairo since al-Sisi took power in the summer 
of 2013.

On April 1, the US also announced that it had lifted its hold on the supply of 
military equipment to Egypt to support the country in its fight against the 
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which has been active in Sinai 
Peninsula.

The US provides Egypt with $1.5 billion a year in aid, $1.3 billion of which is 
military assistance. The rest is economic assistance. Some of it goes to the 
government and some to other groups. Only the money that goes to the government 
was suspended.

(source: Sunday's Zaman)

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

Report: A-Sisi Declares Death Penalty to Tunnel-Diggers----Sunday proved to be 
another bloody day in Egypt, as at least 5 people were killed and some 30 
injured in bomb blasts in El Arish.



Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared Sunday that anyone convicted 
of digging tunnels into Gaza from Sinai or of assisting in such activity would 
face a death sentence, according to a report on Israel's Channel 1 TV.

Sunday proved to be another bloody day in Egypt, as at least 5 people were 
killed and some 30 injured in bomb blasts outside a police station in the Sinai 
town of El Arish, news agencies said. Authorities blamed Islamist terror groups 
who have essentially take control of Sinai for the attack.

In yet a 2nd major attack Sunday on security forces in Sinai, seven soldiers 
were killed when a bomb hit an armored vehicle near Sheikh Zuweid, a town in 
northern Sinai near the Gaza border. Islamists from the Sinai Province group, 
said to be affiliated with the Islamic State, took responsibility for that 
attack.

Sunday's casualties join hundreds that have been killed in bombings by groups 
in Sinai and other areas of Egypt, seeking control of the country, or at least 
the Sinai area. Last Wednesday, eleven civilians - mostly women and children - 
and 2 policemen were killed in attacks launched in the northern Sinai Peninsula 
when mortar rounds hit 2 houses in villages just outside of El Arish. In a 
separate incident Wednesday, an explosive set at a passing military vehicle, 
killing 2 policemen.

In March, the Egyptian terrorist group Ajnad Misr (Egypt's Soldiers) has 
claimed responsibility for yesterday's (Saturday) bombing at Cairo University 
that injured 8, including 4 police officers. Posting on an Islamic State 
website, the extremist group, which regularly targets Egyptian security forces 
in its attacks, stated that it had planted the bomb, meant to kill police 
officers and private security guards who were posted at the university's 
entrance.

(source: Israel National News)