[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 11


MALAWI:

UN commends Malawi set free 13 persons on death row: Kafantayeni justice



The United Nations has welcomed the release of 13 persons from death row in 
Malawi in pursuant to a ruling to the Supreme Court of Appeal that prisoners 
sentenced to a mandatory death sentence are entitled to be resentenced.

In 2007, in the Kafantayeni case, the High Court declared that mandatory death 
sentences were unconstitutional, being in violation of the right to a fair 
trial and the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.

Following amendments to the Penal Code in 2011 allowing courts discretion in 
sentencing murder suspects, the Malawi Human Rights Commission in conjunction 
with NGOs in 2013 launched a death row re-sentencing project, with 192 
prisoners entitled to be resentenced.

In a statement issued Friday made available to Nyasa Times, the UN resident 
coordinator in Malalwi Mia Seppo is urging the government of Malawi to consider 
ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil 
and Political Rights (ICCPR), aiming at aboliton of the death penalty.

"By doing so, Malawi would join the approximately 160 of the 193 Member States 
of the United Nations that have abolished the death penalty or introduced 
moratoriums, either in law or in practice," she says.

Seppo says, in line with the 2014 recommendations of the UN Human Rights 
Committee, the UN calls on the Malawi government to review the Penal Code and 
ensure that the death penalty, if imposed at all, is applicable only to the 
most serious crimes as defined by article 6, paragraph of the ICCPR.

Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) in conjunction with the other 
non-governmental organisations launched a "Death Row Inmates Resentencing' 
project in 2013 to facilitate resentencing of all convicts on death row. The 
project will phase out this year.

Other implementing institutions include the Paralegal Advisory Service 
International, the Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance 
(Chreaa), Chancellor College and the Malawi Prison Service.

(source: Nyasa Times Reporter)








BANGLADESH:

Unconstitutionality of mandatory death penalty



Amidst of debate over the abolition of death penalty around the world, the 
higher judiciary in Bangladesh has come with a milestone judgement declaring 
mandatory death penalty unconstitutional. This judgement was pronounced in an 
appeal arising out of a Writ petition jointly filed by the Bangladesh Legal Aid 
and Services Trust (BLAST) and Shukkur Ali, a convict who was sentenced to 
death under the Nari o Shishu Nirjaton (Bisesh Bidhan) Ain 1995.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court declared section 6(2) (3) (4) of 
the Nari O Shishu Nirjaton (Bisesh Bidhan) Ain 1995 and section 34(2) of the 
Nari o Shishu Nirjaton (Bisesh Bidhan) Ain 2000 unconstitutional because they 
prescribe a mandatory death penalty for the offence of causing death after 
rape. The aforesaid sections were challenged as they violate Articles 
7(Supremacy of the Constitution), 26 (Laws inconsistent with fundamental rights 
to be void), 27(equality before law), 31(right to equal protection of law), 32 
(right to life) and 35 (Prohibition on cruel and degrading treatment or 
punishment) of the Constitution. The provisions were also questioned as it did 
not keep any scope of exercising the power of judicial discretions in awarding 
sentence. The judgement was delivered by the Hon'ble Chief Justice of 
Bangladesh Mr, Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha presiding over a bench comprising 
Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Hasan Foez 
Siddique.

The judgment has some dynamic features. Firstly, it widens the scope of 
judicial discretions. For curtailment of such power may result into injustice. 
The constitution has guaranteed right to life and that can only be taken away 
through the due process of law. Due process of law not only includes law making 
process but also involves procedural protections with a view to ensuring fair 
trial and justice. By virtue of the device of due process of law, the judges 
can exercise their judicial minds in order to check unfairness and 
arbitrariness in judicial proceedings. Considering this, the Hon'ble judges in 
the aforesaid judgement ruled out the absence of judicial power of discretions 
in awarding sentence.

Secondly, the judgment carries few elements of rule of law which need to be 
emphasised in terms of law making process. For example, if we look at Article 
31 of the Constitution, then we see that the Article not only guarantees equal 
protection of law but also imposes limitation on the power of parliament in the 
enactment of laws. Similarly, Article 7 and 26 works as safeguards against 
arbitrary law making process.

The Articles oblige the parliament to make reasonable laws. The judgment will 
make the lawmakers more cautious in maintaining reasonableness and rationality 
of law.

Thirdly, It reminds again that imposition of harsher punishment is not the sole 
way of ensuring justice and mitigating crime rate rather in some cases it 
disregards the standard of procedural fairness. The imposition of rigid penalty 
can impact negatively on the efficiency of courts and make sentencing less 
transparent.

Whereas the criminal cases in Bangladesh rarely see conviction, the imposition 
of harsher punishment can impact negatively on the offenders. While the 
offenders got the sense that the punishment is certain and the discretion of 
judges is limited then they might engage in committing crime out of vengeance 
and show disrespect towards the law.

Finally, this judgment secures the right to freedom from torture or cruel, 
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment which clearly reflects the urge of 
the judiciary to close the gap between international and national standards of 
ensuring fair trial.

By declaring mandatory death penalty unconstitutional the judiciary has 
enriched the jurisprudence of punishment theory which is something new in the 
Bangladeshi context. It reminds us again that right to life necessarily 
includes right to respect for life.

(source: Mohammad Golam Sarwar is a lecturer, faculty of law, Eastern 
University; The Daily Star)








IRAQ/SYRIA:

ISIS fighters trick men into dates to prove they are gay----Some men can buy 
their freedom by paying a ransom, but most face death by being thrown off a 
roof

ISIS and other extremist Islamic groups are using honey trap methods to lure in 
and capture allegedly gay men.

A source inside ISIS-controlled territory told the Daily Star: 'They set up 
dates to coax them into being arrested and executed.'

ISIS' religious police, the Hisbah, have a special squad of young fighters 
whose task it is to trick gay men into going on dates with them, according to 
the Daily Mail.

They aim to wipe out homosexuality, which is haram, or banned, under Islam, 
from Iraq, Syria and Libya, according to the Star's source.

If men go on dates with the fighters, the extremists see it as proof for their 
homosexuality; a 'crime' which, under ISIS, is punished by death.

'Sometimes the men are lucky if they have money and can pay a ransom,' the 
Star's source said.

'But often they are taken straight to their deaths.'

Men are often thrown off roofs; those who survive the fall have been seen to be 
stoned to death by a mob watching the execution.

Other Islamist groups, including the Syrian Al Nusra who are closely linked to 
Al Qaeda, have been known to use similar methods to capture gay men.

(source: gaystarnews.com)