[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 9



BAHAMAS:

DNA: A Tragic National Milestone


With less than 2 months left in the year, the Bahamas has surpassed the highest 
number of murders ever recorded in our nation's history. As the country marks 
this tragic milestone we are reminded of the hundreds of young men and women 
whose lives were abruptly ended as a result of violent crime.

Over the course of this year, media reports have detailed the many instances of 
violent crime; newspapers have recounted the stories of fathers snatched away 
from their sons and mothers from their daughters. So far this year, we have 
learned that none of us are safe from the ever increasing levels of crime and 
criminality facing our nation. All of us, be we preacher, politician, child, or 
senior citizen, cannot escape the impact of crime. Whether we ourselves have 
fallen victim to the criminal element or have had family members taken from us 
as a result, one truth is certain: we are all in this together. Crime is 
everybody's business and everyone must play their respective roles in 
eradicating it.

As the saying goes it takes a village to raise a child, unfortunately our 
collective village has not done enough to raise an entire generation of young 
Bahamians. Our village, including parents, teachers, church leaders and mentors 
have an important role to play in teaching our children fundamental life 
lessons such as discipline, respect and conflict resolution. For failures in 
that regard we must all accept a modicum of responsibility.

Perhaps the most important role of all however, belongs to the government. I 
have long said that it is the chief responsibility of any government to keep 
its citizens safe. On that front, this Christie led government has failed us. 
Even after claiming to have the answers this Christie administration has failed 
to carry out the laws on the books with respect to capital punishment; failed 
to effectively address the inefficiencies within the judiciary; failed to 
balance the need for rehabilitative and punitive elements of our justice system 
and FAILED to stamp out criminality and corruption within their own party and 
governmental structures.

A DNA Government WILL NOT FAIL YOU. As the next government we commit to rooting 
out the systemic corruption which has all but crippled our still developing 
nation. We commit to sweating the small stuff. Full scale enforcement of all 
our countries laws, even the smallest infractions will send a message that we 
are SERIOUS about ensuring that the Rule of Law is followed at all cost. No man 
or woman, regardless of the socio-economic or political position should be 
allowed to flout the country's laws without consequence.

A DNA government will ensure that laws are in place so that the Privy Council 
is duty bound to carry out the death penalty. A DNA government will implement 
the necessary victim resources to help families HEAL and the necessary 
rehabilitative resources to reduce recidivism.

The DNA's 1st and foremost duty will be to protect its citizens.

Branville McCartney

DNA Leader

(source: The Bahamas Weekly)






BANGLADESH:

Done to death -- Violence begets violence, and we already have an excess of it


Let us now rejoice at the sentencing of Rajon's infamous killers, who have been 
handed down the death penalty for torturing the boy on camera. The convicts 
were Kamrul, Moina, Tajuddin, and Zakir. Zakir, so far, is in hiding. They were 
also slapped with a fine of Tk10,000 each.

Let us now also rejoice at the awarding of the death penalty to Rakib???s 
killers: Sharif and Mintu. These blokes were owners of a certain Sharif Motors, 
with Mintu being Sharif's uncle. Beauty Begum, Sharif's mother, who had held 
him back while Sharif and Mintu tortured him and, eventually, brought about his 
death, was acquitted. Woe is us.

Word of mouth and the Internet reek of pleasure. Justice has been served, they 
say; these inhumane humans will receive, finally, what's coming to them. The 
Hand of God, via these uncapitalised hands of ours, will strike them down with 
Divine Justice.

I see words of jubilant celebration echoed in the intonations of my friends, 
colleagues, acquaintances. The death knell rings for these insipid souls; their 
impending death is merely a fraction of the pain and suffering they had wielded 
at their hands, against children no less, against minors who had done little to 
deserve to be at the end of such unwarranted violence.

Yay.

Indeed. In this narrative of subjectivity, one finds it difficult to be 
objective, to be rational, unbiased. But one can try. And if the "one" sounds 
too inclusive, like too much of an attempt to bring you into the fold of an 
unwilling attempt, then I shall use the singular first person henceforth.

But yes, it has become increasingly difficult to say the right thing for the 
wrong people. With so much death, violence, rape, harassment, corruption, 
traffic jams, heat, et cetera, et cetera, infinite et cetera, why would someone 
wish to try and puncture this happy, jubilant balloon and let the public not 
have its one, singular moment of joy?

Death penalties are a complex issue. But fact: No developed nation in the world 
has the death penalty, except for the United States and Japan. Fact: There is 
no evidence that supports the claim that the death penalty prevents future 
crimes. Fact: Innocent people get killed due to insufficient evidence, 
incompetent lawyers, ineffectual trials, inadequate technology, with the number 
being a whopping one out of 25 in the US. Fact: Death penalty trials are longer 
and hence, more expensive for us, the citizens, the tax-payers.

Opinion: Murder for murder cannot be a civilised reaction in the 21st century. 
Not to go around touting an old Gandhian proverb, but a blind world cannot be 
on our agenda for the future. Violence has always begotten violence, and when 
the world, and especially our nation, is so bogged down by such excesses of it, 
continuing that culture of taking life away when it need not be, is redundant, 
morose, ugly.

One was witness to the same kind of fervour during the Shahbagh protests. If 
I'm not mistaken, most of the protesters were composed of a liberal mindset, 
constituting the more progressive nook of the Bangladeshi middle and 
upper-middle classes.

It was surprising to see the same crowd call for death, the same crowd who are 
so intent on valuing life in the now. But perhaps that is a false dichotomy 
perpetrated by Western media: Republicans vs Democrats, pro-lifers vs 
pro-choice, pro-capital punishment vs the opposite.

What we "need," however, is a relative matter, unless one is citing food and 
air. Do we need capital punishment?

Opinion: We don't. If one were to take God out of the equation, just for a 
moment, then death seems almost merciful. Spending life inside the confines of 
a disgusting prison cell (the quality of prisons is another issue, for another 
time) seems more fitting for child torturers and murderers, where they may be 
exposed to all sorts of other, similarly heinous individuals and politics, who 
treat them with cruelty that is "befitting" their crime.

Opinion: Even if one were to reinsert God back into the equation, and believes 
in the idea of life after death and divine justice, God will take care of the 
person when his time comes, while he watches a flashback made-for-TV movie on 
the big screen of judgement day. There is, of course, the paradoxical argument 
which claims that God oftentimes works through us, and we are left wondering 
who wields the hand that ties the noose and brings down the sword: God or us?

Opinion: It makes us the better person, the bigger individual, to not respond 
to violence with violence, to murder with murder. The right to take life away 
has not been bestowed upon most of us, then why the government? If we are not 
allowed to kill someone who has killed someone we love, why should the state?

Having never lost a dear member at someone else's hands, my claim to 
objectivity is definitely easier. Opinion: We should strive for objectivity in 
our viewpoints when we are fighting for a cause that affects more than just us, 
and think about the long term ramifications of not just having an archaic 
system such as the death penalty, but other similar concepts leftover from 
bygone days.

Fact: Taking major decisions while angry, hurt, sad, basically under the 
influence of emotions has almost never resulted in picking the more effective 
long-term choice. Opinion: A future of violence is as little palatable to the 
taste-buds as a history of one.

(source: Op-Ed; SN Rasul----Dhaka Tribune)

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

6 to die for killing 8yr-old boy in Mymensingh


A Mymensingh court today awarded death sentence to 6 persons in connection with 
killing an 8-year-old boy in Muktagacha upazila of Mymensingh in 2010.

The court handed down life-term imprisonment to a woman in this connection, 
said Court Inspector Nowjesh Ali Miah.

Farhad, son of Ayub Ali, was killed after abduction on May 4, 2010 following a 
land dispute in Kheruajani village. Police recovered the body 3 days into the 
abduction, our Mymensingh correspondent reports quoting the court inspector.

Judge Mohammad Johirul Kabir of the Additional District and Sessions Judge's 
Court-2 delivered the death penalty against Abdul Quddus, 60, his son Saheb 
Ali, 35, Ibrahim alias Ibra, 55, his son Md Jewel, 35, Abdul Mazid Madhu, 70, 
and Montaz Ali Monta, 60.

Of the death convicts, Saheb Ali was tried in absentia.

The court also handed down life-term imprisonment to Kamola Khatun, 50, wife of 
death convict Quddus.

Farhad's father Ayub Ali had a long standing land dispute with the convicts. 
Following the feud, the convicts abducted Farhad and killed the body, court 
sources said.

Ayub Ali lodged a murder case with Muktagacha Police Station on May 7.

After investigation, Sub-Inspector Omar Ali, the investigation officer of the 
case, pressed a charge-sheet against the 7.

(source: The Daily Star)



SAUDI ARABIA:

151 executed this year in highest recorded toll in nearly 2 decades


At least 151 people have been put to death in Saudi Arabia so far this year - 
the highest recorded figure since 1995 - in an unprecedented wave of executions 
marking a grim new milestone in the Saudi Arabian authorities' use of the death 
penalty, said Amnesty International.

So far in 2015, on average, one person has been executed every other day. 
Annual execution tolls for Saudi Arabia in recent years have rarely exceeded 90 
for the entire year. The latest execution took place on 9 November.

"The Saudi Arabian authorities appear intent on continuing a bloody execution 
spree which has seen at least 151 people put to death so far this year - an 
average of 1 person every 2 days," said James Lynch, Deputy Director at Amnesty 
International's Middle East and North Africa Programme.

According to Amnesty International's records, the last time Saudi Arabia 
executed more than 150 people in a single year was in 1995, when 192 executions 
were recorded. In 2014 the total number of executions carried out was 90 - 
meaning that so far there has been a 68% increase in executions over the whole 
of last year.

Death sentences in Saudi Arabia are frequently imposed for non-lethal offences, 
such as drug-related ones, and after unfair trials which lack basic safeguards 
for fair trial provided for under international human rights law and standards. 
This was documented in Amnesty International's August 2015 report Killing in 
the Name of Justice: The death penalty in Saudi Arabia .

Almost 1/2 of the 151 executions carried out this year were for offences that 
do not meet the threshold of "most serious crimes" for which the death penalty 
can be imposed under international human rights law. This blatantly contradicts 
the Saudi Arabian authorities' claims to apply the death penalty with the 
strictest safeguards in place. Under international human rights standards "most 
serious crimes" are crimes that involve intentional killing.

Of the 63 people executed this year for drug-related charges, the vast 
majority, 45 people, were foreign nationals. The total number of foreign 
nationals executed so far this year is 71. The death penalty is 
disproportionately used against foreigners in Saudi Arabia. Foreign nationals, 
mostly migrant workers from developing countries, are particularly vulnerable 
as they typically lack knowledge of Arabic and are denied adequate translation 
during their trials.

"The use of the death penalty is abhorrent in any circumstance but it is 
especially alarming that the Saudi Arabian authorities continue to use it in 
violation of international human rights law and standards, on such a wide 
scale, and after trials which are grossly unfair and sometimes politically 
motivated," said James Lynch.

Concerns over the increase in executions have been further compounded by the 
apparent use of the death penalty as a political tool to clamp down on Saudi 
Arabian Shi'a Muslim dissidents.

Last month the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Sheikh Nimr Baqir 
al-Nimr, a prominent Shi'a Muslim cleric from the Kingdom's Eastern Province, 
after a politicized and grossly unfair trial at Saudi Arabia's notorious 
counter-terror court (the Specialized Criminal Court).

This followed news that Sheikh al-Nimr's nephew Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr, and 
2 other young Shi'a activists, Dawood Hussein al-Marhoon and Abdullah Hasan 
al-Zaher, who were arrested as juveniles after participating in anti-government 
rallies, also had their death sentences upheld. All 3 have said they were 
tortured and denied access to a lawyer during their trials. The 3 young men 
have recently been transferred to solitary confinement heightening fears that 
their executions could be imminent.

Saudi Arabia also continues to impose death sentences on and execute people 
below 18 years of age, in violation of the country's obligations under 
international customary law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

"Using the death penalty against juvenile offenders is an egregious violation 
of international human rights law. The use of the threat of executions as a 
tool to punish and intimidate political dissidents by the Saudi Arabian 
authorities is an appalling abuse of power," said James Lynch.

"Instead of intimidating people with the threat of state sanctioned killing, 
the Saudi Arabian authorities should halt all impending executions and urgently 
establish a moratorium on executions as well as overhaul the Kingdom's deeply 
flawed justice system."

(source: Amnesty International)




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

Iranians executed in S Arabia 'deprived of lawyer'


Deputy FM for Parliamentary and Consular Affairs has said Saudi Arabia denied 
having lawyers for 3 Iranians tried and executed in a Saudi court.

Hassan Ghashghavi who was speaking to the press on the sidelines of joint 
meeting of ambassadors and provincial governors on Monday, said that the court 
trial traced back to 2011 when Saudi government had announced that it had 
hauled a ship carrying 500kg of narcotics, arresting 11 onboard, 6 of whom were 
Pakistani and 5 others were Iranian by nationality; "2 of Iranians got a 
verdict of no guilty by the court; however, the remaining 3 others got a death 
penalty, which has recently been confirmed by royal edict and all 3 were 
beheaded," he told reporters.

"Many Iranians are still subject to death in prisons of foreign countries; we 
have in our prisons foreign nationals who have received death penalty. 
Beheading a foreign national had drawbacks in foreign policy terms; however, 
Saudi Arabia and Saudi court failed to observe the principle of good 
neighborliness," Ghashghavi said. "On Sunday, Foreign Ministry's Social Affairs 
office summoned Saudi charge d'affaires to voice strong protest over execution 
of 3 Iranians, to which Saudi official promised communicating the protest to 
Riyadh," he added.

"Saudi Arabia had refused to cooperate with Iranian side in coordinating for 
choosing a lawyer for 3 Iranians during trial on the grounds that narcotics 
crime in Saudi Arabia are dealt as among serious crimes," he told reporters.

(source: Mehr News Agency)






SCOTLAND:

Radio 4 programme focuses on last hanging in Scotland


SLN contributor John Forsyth has produced an hour long radio programme for 
Radio 4 to mark the 50th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty.

The programme part of the Archive on 4 series includes a lengthy discussion of 
the last hanging in Scotland with a contribution by the late Robert Henderson 
QC who recalled Lord Wheatleyinspecting the Gordon Highlanders as part of the 
opening ceremony and describes who jurors were in a state of shock to find 
themselves part of capital proceedings.

Fifty years since the abolition of the death penalty in the UK, the debate 
about its possible return has not gone away. In the programme John Tusa looks 
back at how abolition was achieved and considers the continuing arguments with 
Labour politician Roy Hattersley, philosopher Roger Scruton, lawyers, 
criminologists and other experts.

Capital punishment was effectively abolished in the UK on the 8th November 
1965.

It was one of the succession of changes in the law - along with legalisation of 
abortion and decriminalisation of homosexuality - during the Harold Wilson 
governments of 1964 -70 that transformed British society.

What did the abolition of capital punishment do for our society? And how do the 
prophecies of disaster and the assurances of a more moral society of the time 
look through the prism of current homicide statistics?

The public story of abolition has largely been told by the abolitionists, 
focusing on notorious cases of blatant mistakes, such as Timothy Evans, or 
apparent state brutality such as Ruth Ellis or Derek Bentley.

For the 1st time, John Tusa investigates, through case papers, the resistance 
to abolition that took place below the radar from within the legal 
establishment.

While the arguments were expressed in and out of Parliament in high-flown 
language of morality and the obligations of the state to protect its citizens, 
the archive reveals the minutiae of the last days of the condemned men and 
women.

John Tusa considers how far the three main issues that were debated at the time 
- deterrence, protection from wrongful execution, and the national morality - 
would have been affected by present day evidence-gathering such as DNA 
profiling and current victim-oriented politics.

The programme can be heard here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06nhr7r#play

(source: scottishlegal.com)






ENGLAND:

Niece of hanged man describes battle to clear his name


50 years ago, an Act of Parliament led to the abolition of the death penalty in 
the UK. It followed a series of high profile cases in the 1950s, including that 
of Derek Bentley.

He was just 19 years old when he was hanged for the murder of a policeman 
during a burglary. His conviction was quashed by the Appeal Court in 1998.

Derek's niece Maria Bentley-Dingwall told the Victoria Derbyshire programme how 
the battle to clear his name led her to become a human rights activist.

(source: BBC news)

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

London's 11 most notorious public execution sites----50 years after the death 
penalty was abolished in Britain, we track down the places in the capital where 
the condemned were killed


The death penalty was abolished in Britain exactly 50 years ago. To mark the 
anniversary, we've tracked down the capital's most notorious public execution 
sites.

1. Tyburn

Tyburn was synonymous with public executions for almost 600 years. A mere 
village in 1196, when the first took place there, the site is now close to 
Marble Arch, one of central London's busiest corners.

A stone memorial can be seen on the pavement marking the spot where the Tyburn 
Tree, its distinctive 3-sided gallows, once stood. Oliver Cromwell's exhumed 
body was, symbolically, hung at Tyburn in 1661.

2. Newgate Prison

In use for more than 700 years - from 1188 to 1902 - and the site of London's 
gallows after Tyburn was retired from duty in 1783. The executions took place 
in public - with the gallows set up on Newgate Street - until 1868.

The prison, whose former inmates include Casanova, William Kidd and Daniel 
Defoe - was demolished in 1904. The Old Bailey occupies the main site, but head 
to the church of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate to see the old jail's execution 
bell, Amen Court, which is home to a surviving wall, or The Viaduct Tavern, 
where 5 former cells of a neighbouring lock-up are visible in the basement.

3. The Tower and Tower Hill

Just a handful of prisoners were actually executed inside the grounds of the 
Tower. They include Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey and Robert Devereux, all of 
whom were given the chop on Tower Green - a memorial marks the spot (though 
there is now doubt that this is actually the exact site of the executions).

Far more met their demise on Tower Hill, in full gaze of the public, including 
Thomas Cromwell and Sir Thomas More. Today, the site of the scaffold is laid 
out as a memorial garden. The Hung Drawn & Quartered pub, on Great Tower St, 
would make a suitable spot for last orders.

4. Lincoln's Inn Fields

London's largest public square has played host to a clutch of gruesome endings. 
Among them was Lord William Russell, convicted of plotting to kill Charles II. 
Jack Ketch, somewhat notorious for his lack of skill with the executioner's 
axe, was given the job. The 1st blow led Russell to cry: "You dog, did I give 
you 10 guineas to use me so inhumanely?" - 3 further swipes were needed to 
dismember him. Ketch repeated the trick with the beheading of James Scott, 1st 
Duke of Monmouth (at Tower Hill), when it took him five chops to remove the 
head.

Another grisly execution at Lincoln's Inn Fields was that of Anthony Babington 
for conspiring with Mary, Queen of Scots. The full sentence was as follows: 
"From (the Tower of London) you shall be drawn on a hurdle through the open 
streets to the place of execution, there to be hanged and cut down alive, and 
your body shall be opened, your heart and bowels plucked out, and your privy 
members cut off and thrown into the fire before your eyes. Then your head to be 
stricken off from your body, and your body shall be divided into 4 quarters, to 
be disposed of at (the Queen's) pleasure." Legend has it Babington was still 
conscious when his "privy members" were being toasted.

A bandstand occupies the site of the executions. Afterwards, head to Sir John 
Soane's museum, filled with curiosities. It holds candlelit evening openings 
each month.

5. Execution Dock

For more than 400 years pirates, smugglers and mutineers sentenced to death by 
Admiralty courts swung at this scaffold on the banks of the Thames at Wapping. 
Most were brought from Marshalsea, a prison in Southwark (on what is now 
Borough High Street - look out for a plaque on the prison's last remaining 
wall). The execution procession took them over London Bridge and past the 
Tower, with a stop at a public house, for a final quart of ale, customary.

Until the end of the 18th century, the bodies of pirates were often left on the 
noose until at least three tides has washed over their heads. Others were 
displayed at Cuckold's Point, on the Rotherhithe peninsula, or Blackwall Point, 
on the Greenwich peninsula, as a warning to others.

Perhaps the most famous execution here was that of Captain Kidd in 1701. A 
riverside pub is now named in his honour, while a replica of the gallows can be 
seen outside a 2nd (The Prospect of Whitby).

6. Smithfield

A predecessor to Tyburn, the Elms at Smithfield was the site of William 
Wallace's execution. It happened much like in the movie, Braveheart (hung, 
drawn and quartered), though there is no evidence to support the blood curdling 
cry of "Freedom!" Wallace's head was tarred and put on display atop London 
Bridge; his limbs placed (separately) in Perth, Stirling, Berwick and 
Newcastle, and a left quarter sent to Aberdeen (it's said to be entombed in the 
walls of St Machar's Cathedral). A memorial to the Scot can be seen outside St 
Bartholomew's Hospital. The building also features a plaque to commemorate the 
death of several Marian Martyrs: protestants executed under Queen Mary.

Others killed at Smithfield include Wat Tyler (cut down by the Mayor of 
London), John Badby (burned in a barrel) and Richard Rouse (boiled to death).

7. St Paul's Churchyard

Just a handful have been executed in the shadow of London's finest cathedral, 
including Henry Garnet, convicted of complicity in the Gunpowder Plot. Though 
sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered, sympathetic onlookers reportedly 
pulled on the priest's legs to end the ordeal early.

The exact spot of the execution is not known. Get your fix of the macabre by 
inspecting the final resting places of Nelson, Wellington, Wren et al in the 
cathedral and its crypt.

8. Banqueting House

Charles I lost his head on a temporary gallows erected outside Banqueting House 
on Whitehall. A bust of the former king marks the spot. Banqueting House, the 
only surviving part of the Palace of Whitehall, can be visited for a shade more 
than a fiver.

9. Charing Cross

Site of the final Eleanor Cross, inexplicably torn down in the 17th century 
(before the Victorians built the replica), this spot traditionally marks the 
centre of London and was once the location for all manner of public brutality. 
Alongside the statue of Charles I once stood a pillory, where ne'er-do-wells 
were flogged. Executions also took place, including those of several of the 
regicides of the beheaded king. Samuel Pepys, the diarist, recalls the carnival 
atmosphere that the square once had, with street entertainers and numerous 
taverns (such as the Golden Cross, with features in David Copperfield and The 
Pickwick Papers) attracting a boisterous crowd.

10. Old Palace Yard

The grounds in front of the Palace of Westminster was where Guy Fawkes met his 
end in 1606 - symbolically, opposite the building he had tried to destroy. Sir 
Walter Raleigh joined him 12 years later, and took it with aplomb, his final 
words being a somewhat impatient: "Strike, man, strike!"

11. Kennington Common

South London's equivalent to Tyburn were the Surrey Gallows, which stood on the 
site of St Mark's Church, close to Oval underground station. Records suggest at 
least 129 men and 12 women were sent to meet their maker here, including a 
number of Jacobites and highway robbers.

For a remarkably detailed record of public executions in Britain, see 
www.capitalpunishmentuk.org

(source: The Telegraph)

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

Tightening noose? British views on the death penalty 50 yrs since abolition


Despite its abolition in Britain five decades ago, opinion remains divided over 
the ethics and viability of the death penalty.

Peter Anthony Allen and Gwynne Owen Evans were the last Britons to be executed, 
hanged in 1964 for the murder of John Alan West.

In 1965, Labour MP Sydney Silverman, who was determined to abolish the penalty, 
introduced a Private Member's Bill to suspend death sentences. While no 
executions took place since, the death penalty was finally abolished in all 
circumstances in 1998.

At the time, the majority of the population was in favor of abolition. However, 
recent opinion polls on capital punishment show views may be hardening once 
again.

According to a YouGov poll published in 2014, British people "still tend to 
support" the reintroduction of the death penalty, by 45-39 %.

"The Commons vote which ended capital punishment was a milestone for British 
justice, yet YouGov research finds it to be one of those issues where the views 
of the British public go against the political consensus," it said.

"By 45-39 % people tend to support the reintroduction of the death penalty for 
murder," it added.

However, research published in the NatCen British Social Report in March found 
48 % of the 2,878 people surveyed are in favor of the punishment - the lowest 
figure since the survey began in 1983, when around 75 % ruled in favor.

Marking the 50th anniversary, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron called for the 
penalty to be abolished globally.

"50 years ago today the death penalty was abolished for murder in the UK. We 
must keep campaigning to end it throughout the world," he said on Twitter.

Human rights charity Reprieve is opposed to reconsidering the death penalty. 
"50 years of abolition is something to be proud of - but we must not let the 
progress we have made as a nation in the last half century be reversed by our 
current government, which has presided over a series of changes that undermine 
Britain's commitment to human rights," Reprieve said in a statement.

(source: rt.com)