[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Aug. 4




PAKISTAN----juvenile execution

Pakistan hangs 'teen' killer Shafqat Hussain


Pakistan executed a convicted child killer Tuesday, brushing aside a storm of 
protests from rights groups that his confession had been extracted by torture 
and he was a minor at the time of the crime.

Shafqat Hussain was hanged shortly before dawn at a prison in Karachi for 
killing a 7-year-old boy in the city in 2004, his brother and a prison official 
said.

The case prompted grave international concern, drawing protests from the United 
Nations, as his lawyers and family said he was only 15 at the time of the 
killing and was tortured into making a false confession.

In Muzaffarabad, the main town of the Pakistani administered part of Kashmir, 
his family was distraught.

Why did they hang my innocent brother, only because we were poor?" said his 
sister Sumaira Bibi, beating her chest and weeping.

His mother Makhni Begum, was glassy-eyed, stunned by the news of the execution 
after seeing her son receive a stay of execution 4 times since January.

"My son was innocent, only Allah will prove his innocence in his court," she 
said. "We can't do anything but they [executioners] will face Allah on the day 
of judgement."

UN rights experts have said Hussain's trial "fell short of international 
standards" and urged Pakistan not to hang him without investigating claims he 
confessed under torture, as well as his age.

Adding to the concerns, after receiving his body, Hussain's brothers claimed 
the hanging had not been carried out properly.

"There is a cut mark on his neck and half of his neck is separated from his 
body," Abdul Majeed, his brother, said.

The Kashmir government urged President Mamnoon Hussain late on Monday to 
postpone the execution to allow further inquiries, but the hanging went ahead 
as planned.

"Shafqat Hussain was hanged 10 to 12 minutes before dawn prayers today," a 
prison official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He was originally to be executed in January but won 4 stays of execution as his 
lawyers fought to prove he was under 18 at the time of the offence and could 
therefore not be executed under Pakistani law.

A government-ordered investigation to determine Hussain's age, carried out by 
the Federal Investigation Agency, ruled he was an adult at the time of his 
conviction - though the results have not been published officially.

The British anti-death penalty campaign group Reprieve said Hussain's hanging 
represented "all that is wrong with Pakistan's race to the gallows".

Pakistan has hanged around 180 criminals since restarting executions in 
December after Taliban militants massacred more than 150 people at a school.

(source: The National)

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

Shafqat Hussain Is Hanged in Pakistan Despite International Outcry----Pakistan 
Carries Out Controversial Hanging of 'Tortured' Murderer


Pakistan executed a young man whose case touched off an international outcry 
amid claims he was tortured into a murder confession and convicted as a 
juvenile.

Shafqat Hussain was hanged on Tuesday morning in Karachi Central Jail. He 
previously had been prepared for execution at least 4 times only to receive 
last-minute stays.

Amnesty International's South Asia research director David Griffiths said it 
was a "deeply sad day" for Pakistan.

"The government has shown a callous indifference to not just human life, but 
also to international law and standards," Griffiths said in a statement.

Hussain was arrested in 2004 at the age of 14, and convicted by a Pakistani 
anti-terrorism court of kidnapping and killing a child. The charges were later 
reduced to involuntary manslaughter.

The young man's lawyers at the Justice Project Pakistan said Hussain's 
"confession" came after 9 days of torture - which included electrocutions, and 
beatings. They also took issue with Hussain's trial in an anti-terrorism court 
though the young man had no known links to terror groups.

Hussain's inclusion on a list of "terrorists" is why his name came up last year 
when Pakistan lifted its unofficial 6-year moratorium on the death penalty in 
response to the deadly Taliban attack in Peshawar that killed more than 140 
children in December. Amnesty International said it has recorded at least 200 
executions since Pakistan then.

Maya Foa, from the British human-rights group Reprieve, said Hussain's 
execution spoke to "all that is wrong" with Pakistan's justice system.

"He faced a catalog of injustice, sentenced to death while still a child after 
being tortured by the police until he produced a so-called confession," Foa 
said. "The government's decision to push ahead with the execution despite calls 
to halt it from across Pakistan and around the world seems to have been more a 
show of political power than anything to do with justice."

Hussain grew up in Pakistan's rural Azad Kashmir region as the son of a poor 
farmer. His learning disability made school a struggle, according to JPP, which 
said that he decided to drop out and help support his parents and 6 siblings.

He moved to Karachi where he found work as a security guard, growing close to 
one family which moved into the building where he was employed - playing with 
their children and even helping to babysit.

When one of the kids went missing, Hussain helped the family to search and file 
a police report. Around a month later, he was arrested and charged with 
kidnapping and murder.

Although Hussain confessed to the murder, he later told a court he had only 
done so under torture. His lawyers told NBC News that the young man's genitals 
were electrocuted and his body bore burn marks from where cigarette stubs were 
put out on him.

Pakistan has ratified both the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child - both of which prohibit 
capital punishment of anyone who was under 18 at the time of an alleged 
offense.

(source: NBC news)

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

Outcry as Pakistan hangs 'teen killer' who said he was tortured into a 
confession


Human rights groups and the UN have condemned Pakistan for executing a man who 
claimed he was tortured into confessing to the murder of a child when he was 
14.

Shafqat Hussain was convicted in 2004 of killing a 7-year-old boy and was 
hanged for the crime this morning at a jail in Karachi, his brother and a 
prison official told AFP.

Hussain's family say he was only 14 at the time of the crime and was tortured 
into confessing.

"Pakistan authorities have never undertaken a proper, judicial investigation 
into either issue," said the rights group Justice Project Pakistan.

"Instead seizing and refusing to release key evidence such as Shafqat's school 
record, which could have provided proof that he was under 18 when he was 
sentenced to death."

The execution has attracted widespread condemnation from United Nations rights 
experts, who said his trial "fell short of international standards."

Pakistan has been urged to investigate claims he confessed under torture, which 
are said to have included 9 days of electrocutions and beatings, as well as his 
age.

Hussain's brothers allege the execution was not carried out properly.

"There is a cut mark on his neck and half of his neck is separated from his 
body," brother Abdul Majeed told AFP.

"My son was innocent, only Allah will prove his innocence in his court," said 
his mother Makhni Begum, who could only afford one trip to see her son in all 
the time he was in jail.

"We can't do anything but they (executioners) will face Allah on the day of 
judgement," she said.

Amnesty International's South Asia research director David Griffiths said it 
was a "deeply sad day" for Pakistan.

"The government has shown a callous indifference to not just human life, but 
also to international law and standards," Griffiths said in a statement.

Hussain was originally due to be executed in January but won four stays of 
execution as his lawyers fought to prove he was under 18 at the time of his 
offence and could therefore not be executed under Pakistani law.

Pakistan has hanged around 180 convicts since restarting executions in December 
after Taliban militants massacred more than 150 people at a school, most of 
them children.

A moratorium on the death penalty had been in force since 2008 and its end 
angered rights activists.

(source: itv.com)

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

LHC suspends black warrants of death row prisoner


A Lahore High Court division bench on Monday suspended black warrants of a 
death row prisoner who was scheduled to hang at Multan District Jail on August 
4. The division bench comprising Justice Mazhar Iqbal Sidhu and Justice Erum 
Sajad Gull passed the orders on a petition filed by Maqbool Hussain alias 
Jamala Dogar, a death row prisoner.

During the hearing, the petitioner's counsel AK Dogar arguing before the bench 
submitted that his client was awarded death penalty in 2000 by an anti- 
terrorism court for killing 6 persons in Sarai Sidhu, district Khanewal, in 
1996. He further submitted that the court had issued black warrants of the 
convict for August 4 after dismissal of his appeals by the Supreme Court and 
president.

He contended that the trial court awarded sentence in violation of Article 
10(1) of the constitution as the convict was not provided an opportunity of 
defence during the trial. He pleaded the court to set aside the sentence as 
mandatory provisions of law were not observed during the trial. He also pleaded 
to suspend death warrants of the convict. At this, the bench suspending black 
warrants for August 11 issued a notice to the complainant and adjourned the 
matter.

(source: Pakistan Observer)

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

Death penalty: Execution of disabled convict stayed


Lahore High Court on Monday suspended the death warrants of a disabled murder 
convict accused of killing 5 people.

Maqbool Hussain, 67, was scheduled to be hanged at Multan Central Jail on 
Tuesday (today).

He had filed a writ petition saying he had been sentenced to 4 life terms, a 
death sentence and Rs50,000 fine by anti-terrorism court in Multan in the year 
2,000. He said the LHC's Multan Bench had upheld the death sentence on June 13, 
2006. The Supreme Court had dismissed his appeal on July 30, 2015 and he was 
scheduled to be executed on August 4.

Hussain said his trial was flawed and he had not been given the right to engage 
counsel. He said a lawyer had appeared on his behalf but he had not been 
allowed to hire counsel to defend him.

He said according to Article 10(1) of the Constitution, every citizen had the 
right to engage counsel after arrest.

He said that he was accused of killing 5 people, Muhammad Hussain, Abdul 
Ghaffar, Muhammad Azhar and 2 others, in Multan in 1996.

He said his rivals had shot him in the leg leaving him disabled. He asked the 
court to stay his execution as the legal requirements for his trial had not 
been fulfilled.

The court stayed his execution and sought comments from the federal law 
secretary and jail authorities on August 11 - the next date of hearing.

(source: The Express Tribune)






IRAN----execution

4 Prisoners Hanged in the Prison of Isfahan


4 prisoners were hanged in the prison of Isfahan and there are 6 others waiting 
for execution in Bandar Abbas and Zahedan prison.

According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), 
four of those convicted of drug-related crimes were hanged in Dastgerd prison, 
in Isfahan on Wednesday 29th July. 2 of them were from Afghanistan and 2 were 
Iranians but there is no information about the identity of these prisoners 
available.

Also, 3 prisoners, convicted of drug crimes, were transferred to solitary 
confinement in Bandar Abbas prison that their names are as follows:

1. Yousef Shahnavazi Shahdadi from Kahnuj, 25 years old, 5 years imprisonment

2. Kamran Zaree from Orumieh, 47 years old, three and a half years imprisonment

3. Jamal Kasebkar darandeh, from Orumieh, 45 years old, 4 years of 
imprisonment.

The families of these 3 prisoners went to Bandar Abbas prison for the last 
visit with them and the death sentences would be executed the day after.

Also, according to HRANA's sources' other reports, 3 convicted of drug crimes 
in Zahedan prison have been transferred to solitary confinements. There has not 
been any information available about their identities yet.

(source: Human Rights Activists News Agency)

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

Public Hanging for Drug Related Charges


1 man was hanged publicly in the town of Eqlid (Fars province, Southern Iran) 
early Sunday morning August 2. According to the official Iranian media the 
prisoner who was identified as "Gh. A." was convicted of carrying 49 kilos and 
200 grams of opium.

Fars province has had the highest number of public executions in the recent 
years.

(source: Iran Huyman Rights)

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

France 'concerned' about death row Iranian juvenile offender


France said Monday it was concerned about the fate of an Iranian juvenile 
offender who is on death row, just days after Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius 
visited Tehran to revive ties between the 2 countries.

According to Amnesty International, Salar Shadizadi, who is now 24, was 
convicted of murdering a friend in 2007 when he was 15 years old. His execution 
planned for August 1 has reportedly been delayed.

"France is concerned by information about the imminent execution of the young 
Salar Shadizadi, who was a minor at the time of the facts alleged against him," 
the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"France reaffirms its constant opposition to the death penalty, anywhere and in 
any circumstance."

Amnesty said in a recent statement that the planned execution of Shadizadi 
"flies in the face of international law," and called on Iran to commute his 
death sentence.

The rights group says Iran was s2nd only to China in the number of executions 
it carried out in 2014, with 289 people put to death according to official 
records, although that number is thought to be much higher.

(source: Agence France-Presse)

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

see: http://www.amnestyusa.org/get-involved/take-action-now/
iran-halt-the-execution-of-salar-shadizadi-ua-16515)

(source: Amnesty International)






SAUDI ARABIA----execution

Saudi executions jump from 87 in 2014 to 110 in the first 7 months of 
2015----Amnesty International describes the kingdom as one of the most prolific 
executioners


Saudi Arabia on Monday beheaded one of its citizens convicted of murder, adding 
to a sharp increase in executions this year.

Mugrib al-Thanyan was executed in Eastern Province after being found guilty of 
shooting dead another Saudi after a dispute, the ministry of interior said in a 
statement.

His case brings to 110 the number of beheadings this year in the kingdom, which 
rights group Amnesty International says is one of the world's most prolific 
executioners.

The number of Saudis and foreigners put to death this year is up 126 % from at 
least 87 during the whole of 2014, according to AFP tallies.

Under the conservative kingdom's strict Islamic sharia legal code, drug 
trafficking, rape, murder, armed robbery and apostasy are all punishable by 
death.

The interior ministry has cited deterrence as a reason for carrying out the 
punishments.

Rights experts have raised concerns about the fairness of trials in the 
kingdom.

(source: Agence France-Presse)






IRAQ----executions

ISIS executes 7 Kirkuk police trying to flee Hawija


ISIS has executed 7 former Kirkuk police officers and a civilian who were 
recaptured in a failed bid to escape the extremist-held city of Hawija, a 
police official told Rudaw on Monday.

"After they attempted to flee Hawija, ISIS captured 7 security personnel on 
Monday, executing all of them," said Brigadier Sarhed Qadir, the Kirkuk 
province police chief, adding that a civilian was also executed.

Qadir said another 5 members of the Al-Jabour tribe were assassinated in areas 
of Abbasiyah, in southern Kirkuk province, but the identities of the gunmen was 
yet to be determined by Kurdish authorities.

The Al-Jabouri tribe is the largest Arab tribe in Iraq and is scattered 
throughout central and northern parts of the country. A portion of of the tribe 
settled in Hawija and Kirkuk in the 18th century.

Hawija city is the capital of the Hawija district of Kirkuk province, 48 km 
south of the city of Kirkuk.

In early April, according to a Rudaw report, Peshmerga leaders informed the 
Iraqi government that any offensive on Hawija would need to be led by the Iraqi 
Army and the Shiite militias knonw collectively as the Hashd al-Shaabi.

A propaganda video released last month by ISIS, showing at least 18 caged 
Peshmerga on public display in Hawija, sparked outrage from the families of the 
victims and the Kurdish street.

(source: rudaw.net)



KUWAIT:

Death penalty urged in bombing case----Much-anticipated trial of 29 defendants 
opens in Kuwait


Kuwaiti lawmakers have called for the capital punishment of the defendants in 
Al Sadiq Mosque bombing case as the much-anticipated trial is set to begin on 
Tuesday.

The terror blast on June 26 in which 26 worshippers were killed and 227 were 
injured, shook the nation to the core, prompting calls for a display of 
national unity and social cohesion that included joined prayers between Sunnis 
and Shiites to prevent sliding towards sectarianism.

The attack was claimed by terror group Daesh, just like the 2 previous attacks 
on May 22 and May 29 on Shiite mosques in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province.

"I call for the most severe punishment against anyone who attempts to undermine 
the security of the nation and frighten innocent people," MP Sultan Al 
Lughaisim said. "The perpetrators of the attack on Al Sadiq Mosque must be 
executed for killing innocent people who were praying inside a mosque during 
the holy month of Ramadan," he said, quoted by Kuwaiti daily Al Rai on Tuesday.

MP Mansoor Al Dhufairi said he was confident justice would be served.

"We do trust the Kuwaiti justice and we trust the court verdict will be the 
death sentence for all those who had a role in the terror blast," he said. "The 
capital punishment is the just ruling against those who kill innocent people 
and try to sow divisions among the members of the same society. We tell such 
criminals that they cannot succeed in carrying out your dark schemes and in 
dividing the nation. Kuwaitis are true patriots and they are well aware of your 
plots. They will, through their unity, defeat anyone who attempts to undermine 
the nation's stability and security," he said.

MP Abdullah Al Maayoof said he was looking forward to the death sentence 
against anyone who had a hand in the blast or supported it morally, 
intellectually or financially.

"The Deash terror group does not recognize any religion or sect or gender," he 
said. "Whoever supports them in any way, including promoting their views, knows 
very well that they are killers and criminals who want to blow up people in 
Kuwait. Supporting the group means condoning its acts of terror and its killing 
of innocent people. Therefore, those who assist Daesh should be given the death 
sentence," he said.

Kuwait's public prosecution last month referred 29 people, including 7 women, 
to the criminal court on charges of attacking Imam Al Sadiq Mosque in the 
capital Kuwait City.

The prosecution said it had finished the investigations into the attack, and 
that 7 Kuwaitis, 5 Saudis, 3 Pakistanis, 13 illegal residents and a fugitive 
whose nationality has not been known yet were accused of targeting the mosque. 
The women are relatives of some of the suspects.

2 of the defendants are facing charges of the premeditated murder of 26 people, 
the attempted murder of the injured and possession of explosives inside the 
mosque, the statement said. 2 other defendants are charged with training on 
using explosives for illegal purposes, it added.

7 defendants are accused of incitement to commit the crime, while others are 
charged with joining a banned group that adopts extremist ideologies which runs 
counter to the state institutions.

The prosecution said that 24 suspects were detained in Kuwait while the other 
5, including 2 brothers held in Saudi Arabia, were out of the country. The 
Saudi brothers reportedly carried the explosives across the border into Kuwait.

The bomber, Fahad Sulaiman Abdul Mohsen Al Gabbaa, arrived on a flight to 
Kuwait airport at dawn on June 26 and blew himself up hours later inside the 
mosque during the prayers.

(source: Gulf News)






INDONESIA:

Indonesian citizen spared death penalty in Saudi Arabia


An Indonesian national previously sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for 
allegedly practising witchcraft is due to fly home.

Migrant worker Rika Mustikawati of Sukaresmi, Bogor, West Java, was sentenced 
to death on May 15, 2012, by the district court of Bisha, Saudi Arabia, for 
practicing witchcraft on her employer's wife, identified as Salma.

In November 2012, efforts by the legal team from the Indonesian 
Consulate-General in Jeddah succeeded, the Saudi Appeals Court deciding to 
annul the district court's death sentence and demanding Rika's case be retried 
with a new judge.

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry explained that the new trial resulted in Rika's 
sentence being reduced from death to a three-year prison sentence. Indonesia 
continued to appeal in an attempt to have Rika declared innocent, but the 
Appeals Court upheld the sentence in September 2014.

According to the coordinator of the Jeddah consulate general, Dicky Yunus, it 
was after the appeals that the consulate legal team began to secure her 
release.

However, Rika's departure was reportedly halted by Saudi immigration 
authorities over administrative issues.

"Rika was due to fly home on July 28, 2015. However, she is still currently 
being held by Saudi immigration officials. The consulate will do all it can to 
make sure she is sent home," Dicky said in a statement on Monday.

No exact date of departure for Rika has been decided as yet.

Rika's release follows appeals including a letter from the Indonesian 
Ambassador to Saudi Arabia to the Saudi king.

Dicky added that momentum gained from Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi's talks 
with the Saudi foreign minister and king in May could contribute to swiftly 
settling all legal cases involving Indonesian nationals in Saudi Arabia.

"Every party has contributed to the successes, be it the Indonesian government, 
Baitul Muslimin (BMI) activists and even the Saudi authorities," he said. Rika 
had reportedly been working legally in Saudi Arabia since 2009.

More than 200 Indonesia migrant workers overseas still face the possibility of 
execution, for the most part in Saudi Arabia.

Excluding Rika, a total of 34 condemned Indonesian nationals have been 
reprieved so far: 10 in Saudi Arabia, 12 in Malaysia, 10 in China and 1 each in 
Brunei and Thailand.

This year has also seen the executions of Indonesian nationals by Saudi Arabia, 
including migrant workers Siti Zainab and Karni Medi Tarsim in April.

Migrant Care, an NGO advocating for the rights of Indonesian workers abroad, 
has called on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to take immediate action to rescue 
Indonesian migrant workers on death row abroad following the executions of Siti 
and Karni. "It is painful, agonizing for us, the Indonesia people. It is 
desperately brutal of the Saudi government to execute 2 Indonesian migrant 
workers, 1 after the other," said Migrant Care executive director Anis Hidayah.

Jokowi has indicated that he plans to place on ban on workers seeking 
employment abroad, but the government has struggled to act against the rampant 
illegal agencies that recruit workers to send abroad.

"The problem often starts at the very beginning, namely in worker-recruitment 
processes that do not follow required procedures. These include document 
examinations, competency tests, health checks and training before departure," 
said the deputy head of the Agency for the Placement and Protection of 
Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI), Agustin Subiantoro.

(source: Jakarta Post)






PHILIPPINES:

GMA joins worldwide call vs death penalty


Former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria M. Arroyo has joined the worldwide 
call for an end to death penalty that has remained in the penal system of 
several countries.

Although barred by the Sandiganbayan to make statements in the media, Arroyo 
made known her strong stand against the death sentence by signing a manifesto 
of the International Commission against Death Penalty calling on all states to 
take action to end the capital punishment worldwide.

"Enough is enough," stated the ICDP in the manifesto signed by many heads of 
states where executions of criminals and political dissenters have been 
outlawed.

In a joint statement, the ICDP said that despite the abolition of the death 
penalty in 160 countries, hundreds of executions were carried out in 2014.

The ICDP said at least 2,460 were sentenced to death and over 19,000 persons 
are under imminent threat of being executed.

During her term as President, Arroyo, a member of the ICDP Commission, did not 
sign any execution order and commuted all death sentences into life 
imprisonment.

The penalty was abolished in 2006, during her incumbency.

In the House of Representatives, 2 bills seeking the re-imposition of the 
capital punishment on drug cases have been filed.

(source: tempo.com)






SINGAPORE:

Father appeals death sentence for son who poisoned roommate


The father of a former medical student convicted of fatally poisoning his Fudan 
University roommate has made a personal appeal to the nation's highest court 
urging it to reject the death penalty imposed in the case. Lin Zunyao submitted 
an 18,000-word petition to the criminal division of the Supreme People's Court 
on Friday.

Several lawyers helped him list dozens of points he believed cast doubt on the 
appropriateness of the original verdict, Beijing Times reported.

China Daily tried to contact Lin for comment, but phone calls went unanswered 
on Monday.

Lin Senhao, 29, was sentenced to death in his 1st trial last year for the 
murder of his roommate, Huang Yang, who died of liver, kidney and lung failure 
more than 2 weeks after falling ill in 2013. Lin was accused of adding a deadly 
poison to Huang's water dispenser.

A 2nd trial upheld the death sentence, and the high court began a review of the 
sentence 3 months ago.

Si Weijiang, an attorney at the 2nd trial, said on Monday that the arguments in 
the petition were already included in their defence pleadings.

"The petition seems to be the father's last battle to secure any chance that 
his son will be reprieved from the death penalty," he said.

The case sparked national interest because of Lin's status as a medical student 
at the high-profile Shanghai university.

Lawyer Xie Tongxiang, who specializes in death penalty cases, accompanied Lin 
to submit the petition. The father turned to Xie after the high court started 
to review the death penalty, but the lawyer left the case upon Lin Senhao's 
request. Xie also was unavailable for comment on Monday.

A main point in the new petition revolved around the analysis of the toxin in 
Huang's body.

Xie has previously said the court's verdict was based on contradictory test 
results from 2 testing institutions. The judicial expertise centre under the 
Shanghai Public Security Bureau found the toxic chemical in the victim's urine, 
but the Ministry of Justice's Institute of Forensic Science did not.

He also said the chemical was not found in Huang's blood, according to a test 
report presented by the evidence identification centre under the Shanghai 
bureau.

Some legal experts argued Lin's crime does not make him eligible for a death 
sentence under the current capital punishment policies. However, they say his 
father's frequent media appearances might not work in his son's favour.

(source: asiaone.com)






ZAMBIA:

UN Hails the Commuting of Death Sentences in Zambia


In a press release last week, the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on summary 
executions, Christof Heyns, and on torture, Juan E. Mendez, welcomed Zambian 
President Edgar Lungui's decision to commute death sentences of 332 prisoners 
to life imprisonment.

The use of the President's discretionary powers to commute the death sentences 
was hailed as a landmark 1st step, but the UN experts challenged the country to 
further work to abolish the death penalty and remove "all reference to the 
death penalty in the country's laws."

President Lungui made a historic visit to the Mukobeko Maximum Security Prison 
earlier this week and saw first hand the status of inmates in Zambia. Mukobeko 
Maximum Security Prison was designed with a capacity of 51, but was housing 
hundreds. It was the 1st time a sitting president had visited a jail in 40 
years.

Many crimes are punishable by death in Zambia, such as murder and treason. 
However, the country has not carried out an execution since 1997.

President Lungui's actions are part of a greater and growing trend in Africa, 
as Special Rapporteur Heyns explained.

"This decision is in line with the trend in Africa - as in the rest of the 
world - to move away from the death penalty. As the Secretary General of the UN 
has said, there is no room for this form of punishment in the 21st Century."

But recent instability due to Islamism and civil strife in the region has 
started to reverse this progression in Africa. North Africa in particular has 
struggled with the death penalty, as terrorism and insurgency have tested the 
fragile balance of governance.

In the wake of the 2013 Egyptian coup d'etat, Egyptian judges have drawn 
international outcry over a series of mass trials and sentencing for alleged 
Muslim Brotherhood supporters. Hundreds were sentenced to death, and "even 
though the execution rate is lower, these trials clearly do not meet 
international standards," explained the UN experts.

Another concerning situation in Africa is the Gambia, which ended a 
long-standing moratorium by hanging 9 people on death row in 2012. Gambian 
President Yahya Jammeh explained that the executions were a part of a measure 
to fight the rising crime rates in the country, and recently proposed that the 
number of offenses punishable by death be expanded.

Many nations that have had long held moratoriums on the death penalty are 
quietly slipping back into old habits, in the face of increasingly complex 
transnational conflicts. In the aftermath of the 2014 Peshawar school massacre, 
Pakistan has executed 179 death row prisoners and continues to act on many 
controversial death penalty sentences. Asia Bibi, a Christian woman convicted 
of blasphemy, is still on death row and continues to be in a state of legal 
limbo.

However, even relatively peaceful nations struggle to handle this controversial 
issue. Earlier this month, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set the 
execution dates of 3 inmates who had previously challenged the use of the drug 
midazolam, a sedative that will be used in their lethal injections. In June the 
US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Glossip v. Gross that Oklahoma's use of midazolam 
as part of its lethal injection protocol does not violate the 8th Amendment ban 
on cruel and unusual punishment Also in June, the State Administrative Court of 
Jakarta denied the clemency appeal of a French citizen sentenced to death on a 
drug trafficking charge. The appeal was an effort to reverse the original 
clemency denial made by President Joko Widodo last year.

But despite these difficult and complex situations, the Special Rapporteurs 
noted that the future of death penalty in Africa is positive.

According to the special Rapporteurs, 3/4 of the world States have abolished 
the death penalty in law or in practice and the same applies to Africa. In 2014 
only 4 States in the region are known to have conducted executions. Earlier in 
July, the Togo became Africa's 12th state party to the 2nd Optional Protocol of 
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aimed at the 
abolition of the death penalty.

Moreover, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has consistently 
called for the abolition of the death penalty over the last 2 decades. The 
Commission has drafted a Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' 
Rights on the Abolition of the Death Penalty.

"These are very significant steps by the Commission, and if the Protocol is 
adopted soon by the African Union and opened for ratification by African 
States, that will give a renewed emphasis to the process of putting the era of 
the death penalty behind us," the UN experts stressed.

Strong leadership is vital to the adoption of a tenacious human rights 
framework in any region. The recent executive orders by President Lungui are a 
good sign of the kind of potent leadership that the region needs.

(source: Diplomatic Courier)