[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 21



CHINA:

2 sentenced to death for drug trafficking in NW China



2 people were sentenced to death in the northwest province of Shaanxi on Monday 
for trafficking and selling narcotics, while 3 others received the death 
sentence with reprieve, said local authorities.

The Intermediate People's Court in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi, heard that Song 
Nanyan hired Chen Jin to transport 7.96 kilograms of methamphetamine from the 
southern province of Guangdong to Xi'an. They also found 1.17 kilograms of 
Ketamine in Song's hotel room.

The court sentenced Song to death, while it ruled Chen should be sentenced to 
death with a 2-year reprieve.

In a separate case, Wang Hui was found guilty of trafficking and selling 1.44 
kilograms of methamphetamine and received the death penalty. 2 accessory 
offenders, Zhang Le and Zhang Zheng, were sentenced to death with reprieve.

(source: Xinhua News Agency)








PAKISTAN:

Pakistan's execution surge carries hard-line message for foreign leaders



At least 17 prisoners were executed in Pakistan on Tuesday in an apparent 
effort to show visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping that the country is 
serious about improving public safety.

The prisoners were hanged in jails across Pakistan as Xi was in Islamabad to 
announce a $46 billion aid and development package for the energy-starved and 
cash-poor country.

In December, the government lifted a 6-year-old moratorium on capital 
punishment after the Pakistani Taliban slaughtered about 150 teachers and 
students at an army-run school in the northwestern city of Peshawar. But while 
the threat of terrorism was initially cited as the reason for lifting the 
moratorium, Pakistan is now executing prisoners for a host of other violent 
crimes.

Several of the prisoners executed Tuesday had been convicted of rape, while 
others had committed murders that do not appear to be linked to Islamist 
militant groups.

Pakistan is now executing prisoners at such a pace that public safety officials 
said Tuesday that they had lost track of how many had been killed since late 
December. As of late March, however, the Interior Ministry estimated that 61 
executions have been carried out since the moratorium was lifted.

And death row appears to be more active when a foreign dignitary is visiting 
the capital.

In January, when Secretary State of John F. Kerry made a two-day visit here, 
Pakistan hanged 7 prisoners in 1 day. Last month, as Pakistan was preparing to 
welcome the emir of Qatar, Sheik Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani, it executed 12 
people in 1 day.

The 17 executions on Tuesday occurred shortly before Xi addressed a joint 
session of Parliament.

Xi said his visit showed that "no one can destroy" the historical ties between 
the 2 countries.

On Monday, Xi and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif finalized a deal for 
massive new Chinese investment in highways, energy projects and maritime 
research in Pakistan.

But the full implementation of that deal, including a highway that will link 
China to the Arabian Sea, could depend on whether Pakistan can dislodge 
terrorist groups from their havens here.

For years, Chinese leaders have been urging Pakistan to crack down on militants 
who they suspect have ties to Muslim separatists in northwestern China. There 
also have been concerns about Pakistan's ability to ensure the safety of 
Chinese engineers and project managers working in the country.

After meeting with Xi, Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain said the army will 
assign 10,000 soldiers to oversee security for Chinese workers in the country.

In his speech to Parliament, however, Xi praised the Pakistani military for its 
ongoing operation against Islamist extremists in the country's northwestern 
tribal areas.

"It has made tremendous efforts and endured enormous sacrifices," Xi said. 
"Pakistan is the front-line state which is battling terrorism."

But human rights activists and some Pakistani legal scholars are increasingly 
alarmed by Pakistan's push to execute those on death row.

Last week, the Supreme Court blocked the planned executions of 6 prisoners 
convicted in newly created military courts. The plaintiffs had argued that the 
sentences had been handed down out of public view and without an opportunity 
for an appeal.

Late last month, Pakistan's Interior Ministry issued a 30-day reprieve for a 
prisoner whose scheduled execution generated international outrage. Shafqat 
Hussain had been convicting of kidnapping a 7-year-old boy in 2004. His family 
and attorneys say Hussain was only 14 at the time and had been tortured into 
making a confession, which he has since retracted.

According to Reprieve, a London-based organization that is against the death 
penalty, 8,261 people are on death row in Pakistan, including more than 800 
juveniles.

Pakistan's Express Tribune newspaper reported Tuesday that an additional 10 
executions are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

At its current pace, Pakistan is likely to emerge as one of the global leaders 
in state-sanctioned executions this year.

Based on a recent report by Amnesty International, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, 
Iraq and the United States carried out the most executions in 2014. There were 
289 reported executions in Iran, 90 in Saudi Arabia, 61 in Iraq and 35 in the 
United States.

China considers executions to be a state secret, but Amnesty International said 
that country carried out "thousands" last year.

(source: Washington Post)

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

UN rights experts welcome Pakistan Supreme Court decision to suspend death 
penalty



A group of United Nations independent experts today welcomed a recent decision 
made by the Supreme Court of Pakistan to suspend death sentences imposed by 
military courts.

In a statement released today by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for 
Human Rights (OHCHR), the experts said they had previously expressed concern at 
an earlier decision by Pakistan to rescind its unofficial 6-year moratorium on 
the death penalty for non-military personnel in terrorism-related cases.

"Terrorism attacks should not prevent States from complying with the stringent 
requirements of international law for the imposition of the death penalty," the 
independent experts noted.

International law requires that the death penalty may be imposed only in the 
context of a stringent functioning of the law and order system, so as to ensure 
the highest respect of due process and fair trial guarantees for the 
defendants.

"Only full respect of these guarantees distinguishes capital punishment as 
possibly permitted under international law from an arbitrary execution," the 
experts stressed. "The administration of justice through military tribunals 
raises serious questions, particularly in terms of access to justice, 
independence and impartiality of the court, and respect for the fair trial 
rights of the accused."

The experts, known as Special Rapporteurs are part of the 'Special Procedures' 
of the Human Rights Council, which is the general name of the Council's 
independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific 
country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world.

Among the experts, who work on an individual, voluntary, unpaid basis and are 
not UN staff, were the Special Rapporteurs on the promotion and protection of 
human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; on 
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; and on the independence of 
judges and lawyers. The Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on arbitrary 
detention and the Chair of the Working Group on enforced or involuntary 
disappearance were also part of the team.

They said that using military tribunals to try civilians in the name of 
national security, a state of emergency or counter-terrorism, runs against all 
relevant international and regional human rights standards and established case 
law.

"Military tribunals should have jurisdiction only over military personnel who 
commit military offences or breaches of military discipline," they said. "And 
then only when those offences or breaches do not amount to serious human rights 
violations, and they should never have the power to impose the death penalty."

They stressed that they had repeatedly called on States to assess whether the 
use of the death penalty is compatible with the right to life, as well as the 
inherent dignity of the human person, and to consider if the severe mental and 
physical pain or suffering it causes could constitute a violation of the 
absolute prohibition of torture.

"We hope that the decision of the Supreme Court will provide an opportunity for 
all relevant actors in Pakistan to pursue a critically important dialogue 
aiming to address the questions relating to the legality of military tribunals, 
and the use of the death penalty, in line with Pakistan's international human 
rights obligations," the experts said, stressing that ensuring a safe 
environment for judges, prosecutors, lawyers and other members of the justice 
system is of fundamental importance.

(source: UN News Centre)








MALAYSIA:

2 Turkish Cypriots sentenced to death in Malaysia



2 Turkish Cypriots, reportedly from Limassol, have been sentenced to the death 
penalty in Malaysia after a large quantity of drugs was found in their luggage.

Interpol notified Cypriot authorities on Monday, who in turn informed the 
Ministry of justice.

Muhammet Osman and Mehmet Ucaner Oktay, said to be aged 67 and 57, were 
arrested in November 2011 at Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia after a flight 
from Dubai where the illegal substances were found. They have been in prison 
since.

The ministry of foreign affairs said they had since taken action helping them 
pay their legal expenses and having discussions with the Prime Minister and 
minister of foreign affairs in Malaysia through diplomatic officials.

A United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from New Delhi visited the 
country 6 times to meet with local officials over the case and gave financial 
assistance to Osman and Oktay for any of their needs.

Officials said Osman and Oktay thanked the Cyprus government in March for the 
help and support they received.

The court decision, taken on April 15, ruled they will be hanged for possession 
and drug trafficking. The death sentence is mandatory in Malaysia for those 
found guilty of drugs trafficking.

(source: cyprus-mail.com)








INDIA:

HC commutes death sentence of rape-murder convict into life



The Punjab and Haryana High Court today converted the death sentence of a rape 
and murder convict into life imprisonment. M

Dharampal, resident of Sonepat district, was to be executed on April 15, 2014 
inside Ambala jail but his hanging was stayed on April 10 by the High Court 
after hearing a petition moved by him.

The convict had taken the plea that he has earned a right to get the sentence 
converted into life imprisonment, due to delay in execution of death penalty.

He had also taken the plea of the Supreme Court verdict, passed in January 2014 
by a full bench, headed by then Chief Justice P Sathasivam, in which the apex 
court had held that death sentence of a condemned prisoner can be commuted to 
life imprisonment on the ground of delay on the part of the government in 
deciding the mercy pleas.

In 1991,Dharampal was sentenced to 10-year imprisonment for raping a girl in 
Sonepat.

After his release on parole in 1993, Dharampal had murdered the 5 family 
members of the girl, when they were sleeping at their house.

He was sentenced to death by Session's court in May 1997, which was retained by 
the Punjab and Haryana High Court on September 29,1998.

His death sentence was also upheld by the apex court in 1999.

His mercy petition was rejected by the union home minister in 2000. Later, 
Dharampal filed a mercy plea to the President in 2005 which was rejected after 
about 8 years, in 2013.

He is presently lodged in central jail Ambala.

(source: Business Stnadard)