[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 20



BANGLADESH:

Call For Bangladesh To Halt Imminent War Crimes Executions


The Bangladeshi government should halt the imminent executions of 2 men 
convicted of war crimes, Human Rights Watch said Thursday. The authorities 
should immediately suspend the death sentences of Ali Ahsan Mohammed Mujahid of 
the Jamaat-e-Islam Party and Salahuddin Qader Chowdhury of the Bangladesh 
National Party pending an independent and impartial review of their cases.

On November 18, 2015, the Bangladesh Supreme Court rejected review petitions by 
Mujahid and Chowdhury despite serious fair trial concerns surrounding their 
convictions. Both men were convicted of alleged war crimes during the 1971 
Bangladesh war of independence in trials before the International Crimes 
Tribunal (ICT).

"Justice and accountability for the terrible crimes committed during 
Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence are crucial, but trials need to meet 
international fair trial standards," said Brad Adams, Asia director. "Unfair 
trials can't provide real justice, especially when the death penalty is 
imposed."

The death sentences against Mujahid and Chowdhury follow a disturbing pattern 
from previous ICT cases. In December 2013, Abdul Qader Mollah was hanged 
following hastily enacted retrospective legislation prohibited by international 
law. Another accused, Delwar Hossain Sayedee, was convicted despite credible 
allegations of the abduction by government forces of a key defense witness from 
the grounds of the courthouse, with the ICT refusing to order an independent 
investigation into the charge. Mohammed Kamaruzzaman was hanged in April 2015 
even though witnesses and documents were arbitrarily limited by the courts and 
inconsistent prior and subsequent statements of prosecution witnesses were not 
allowed into evidence.

The trials of both Mujahid and Chowdhury have been marred by similar 
complaints, with arbitrary limitations on witnesses and documents. Mujahid's 
lawyers submitted 1500 names of defense witnesses. The court acted reasonably 
in refusing to consider all 1500, but acted unreasonably by ordering that only 
3 witnesses could testify for the defense. The court did not identify the most 
relevant witnesses; instead, it chose this number arbitrarily. Mujahid was 
sentenced to death for instigating his subordinates to commit abuses, although 
no subordinates testified or were identified. Shortly before the hearing on the 
review petition, one of his lawyers had to go into hiding following a raid on 
his house and the arrest of another defense counsel in a related case.

In Chowdhury's case, the court refused to accept any testimony from his alibi 
witnesses while still demanding that Chowdhury prove that his alibi was valid 
beyond a reasonable doubt. Despite allowing the prosecution to call 41 
witnesses, the ICT limited Chowdhury's defense to 4 witnesses.The authorities 
reportedly ordered international airlines flying into Dhaka to declare whether 
any of Chowdhury's defense witnesses were booked on their flights ahead of 
Chowdhury's review hearing, presumably with an eye to denying them entry on 
arrival.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which 
Bangladesh is a party, affords the accused the right "to obtain the attendance 
and examination of witnesses on his or her behalf under the same conditions as 
witnesses against him or her."

"Treating the prosecution and defense equally is a basic fair trial principle, 
but the ICT has routinely ignored that principle in its seeming eagerness to 
convict the accused," Adams said. "The accused in all these cases were allowed 
a minuscule fraction of witnesses, counsel were regularly harassed and 
persecuted, defense witnesses faced physical threats, and witnesses were denied 
visas to enter the country to testify."

Government assurances that it would adopt recommendations from the US 
government, Human Rights Watch, and others to improve the proceedings and amend 
the law have yet to be fulfilled. Stephen Rapp, the former US ambassador for 
war crimes, who has long advised the government to make changes to ensure fair 
trials, spoke out this week on the miscarriage of justice in the cases of 
Mujahid and Chowdhury:

"Throughout my engagement, my first interest has been to achieve justice for 
the victims and survivors through trials and appeals that would establish the 
undisputable truth and hold the major surviving perpetrators to account. For 
such a process to stand the test of time, I urged that the judicial proceedings 
of the International Crimes Tribunal respect the highest legal standards. It 
saddens me to say that I do not believe that was done in the cases of Salauddin 
Qader Chowdhury and Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid. Under the provisions of 
international law that Bangladesh has bound itself to uphold, the imposition of 
sentences of death in these cases is not justified ..."

Trials before the ICT, including those of Mujahid and Chowdhury, have been 
replete with violations of the right to a fair trial. The ICT has fundamental 
flaws because of article 47(A) of the constitution, which states, "This Article 
further denies any accused under the ICT Act from moving the Supreme Court for 
any remedies under the Constitution, including any challenges as to the 
unconstitutionality of Article 47(A)."

The article specifically strips people accused of war crimes of certain 
fundamental rights, including the right to an expeditious trial by an 
independent and impartial tribunal, and the right to move the courts to enforce 
their fundamental rights. This article has permitted the ICT overly broad 
discretion to deny those accused in this and prior cases the rights and 
procedures accorded to other defendants.

Many of the trials before the ICT have been marred by evidence from intercepted 
communications between the prosecution and the judges that has revealed 
prohibited and biased communications. The ICT???s response on several occasions 
to those who have raised objections about the trials has been to file contempt 
charges against them in an apparent attempt to silence criticism rather than to 
answer substantively or to rectify any errors. Human Rights Watch, the 
journalist David Bergman, and staff members of The Economist magazine have all 
been tried for contempt for publishing articles critical of the trials.

Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances because of 
its inherent cruelty. Bangladesh should join with the many countries already 
committed to the United Nations General Assembly's December 18, 2007 resolution 
calling for a moratorium on executions and a move by UN member countries toward 
abolition of the death penalty.

The UN Human Rights Committee, which interprets the ICCPR, has said that "in 
cases of trials leading to the imposition of the death penalty, scrupulous 
respect of the guarantees of fair trial is particularly important" and that any 
death penalty imposed after an unfair trial would be a violation of the right 
to a fair trial.

"Bangladeshis are rightly demanding justice for the atrocities in the 
liberation war," Adams said. "But delivering justice requires fairness and 
adherence to the highest standards, particularly when a life is at stake."

(source: Eurasia Review)






PAKISTAN:

Arrest warrants for PML-N MNA issued in Pakistan


The PML-N MNA who had won from NA-107 Gujrat-4 during the May 2013 general 
election was awarded death penalty by an anti-terrorism court.

The Supreme Court has issued arrest warrants for PML-N MNA Chaudhry Abid Raza 
for his alleged involvement in the murder of 6 people in Gujrat.

The PML-N MNA who had won from NA-107 Gujrat-4 during the May 2013 general 
election was awarded death penalty by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in 2003. 
However, Raza was acquitted after the families of the deceased forgave him 
after compromise.

An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali took notice of 
his acquittal on terrorism charges. The bench stated that a compromise under 
Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 is not allowed.

(source: Khaleej Times)

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

Death penalty: Govt not sharing data on executions, says JPP


The government has executed at least 300 people over the past 11 months, 
according to an independent assessment undertaken by the Justice Project 
Pakistan (JPP).

There is also confusion over the scale of Pakistan's death row, believed to be 
the largest in the world, says the JPP.

"2 weeks ago, the Pakistani government said that some 6,000 people were facing 
execution in the country; however, this is incompatible with another government 
estimate, of 8,000, made by the Interior Ministry at the beginning of the 
year," it said in a statement.

"Despite appeals by human rights organisations for clarity on the number of 
people executed and the number on death row, the government is refusing to 
share official information on either issue."

The JPP said this indicated that there might be uncertainty over who was being 
executed. It said police torture and forced confessions were common in 
Pakistan.

Rights organisations have voiced concerns that many of those on the death row 
were sentenced in unfair trials. "Since more than 73 % of births are 
unregistered in Pakistan, there are also fears that many of those who have been 
executed may have been juveniles when arrested," the JPP said. JPP Executive 
Director Sarah Belal said, "We know that Pakistan is executing people at a 
record rate. Worse still, there is overwhelming evidence that many of those 
hanged have been tortured into 'confessing,' or were sentenced as children. The 
government needs to put a stop to this chaotic killing spree."

(source: The Express Tribune)






MALAYSIA:

Pardon For Foreigners Must Go Through Malaysian Legal System


The pardon for foreigners who are given the death penalty in Malaysia must go 
through several procedures specified by the country's legal system, said Deputy 
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

"In making the appeal for a decision made by the court, those people concerned 
can do so to the Court of Appeal or can take it straight away to the Federal 
Court subsequently," he told a media conference after receiving a courtesy call 
by the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security 
Affairs Luhut Binsar Panjaitan at his office, here Friday.

He said the Indonesian government had submitted 36 appeals for its nationals 
who had been sentenced to death by hanging to the Pardons Board through the 
appointed lawyers.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Home Minister, said just as the other convicts, 
Indonesian nationals who had been handed the death sentence had also gone 
through the legal process specified, and it was something that must be 
respected.

The decision on the appeals had yet to be made and Luhut, who was informed 
about it, respected the legal process implemented in this country.

Ahmad Zahid said 81 Indonesian nationals who were given the death sentence were 
among the 4,896 nationals of that country who were serving the jail sentence in 
several prisons in Malaysia.

"Of the 81 convicts sentenced to death by hanging, 65 were involved in offences 
under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, 13 murder cases, 2 kidnapping cases and 1 
was involved in a firearms case," he said.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid said Luhut took the opportunity at the meeting to record 
his country's appreciation to Malaysia, particularly the Malaysian Maritime 
Enforcement Agency (MMEA) which was directly involved in the mission to put out 
the fire in South Sumatera recently.

He said Indonesia deeply appreciated the manpower mobilised by the agency, 
including the MMEA's willingness to send the Bombardier CL 415 aircraft, which 
was capable of carrying huge amounts of water to put out forest fires in 
several areas there.

In addition, the meeting also discussed, among other things, the Agreement on 
the Prevention of Cross Border Crimes between Malaysia and Indonesia which was 
presented by Malaysia to Indonesia earlier, he said.

(source: Bernama)



NIGERIA:

Lawyer advocates abolition of death sentence


Female lawyersAn Abuja-based legal practitioner, Mr Victor Okwudiri, has 
advocated abolition of death sentence as penalty for any crime or offence in 
the nation's law books.

Okwudiri, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday, 
argued that capital punishment was a waste of "human capital" and a double 
jeopardy for the nation.

The legal practitioner said that there were 3 purposes to the administration of 
criminal justice - to secure justice for the victim, to protect the society and 
to rehabilitate the criminal.

He stressed that "it is only a victim with a vendetta mentality" that would 
want to pursue justice to the point of termination of the life of a human 
being.

According to him, taking life as a punishment will not bring back the life of 
the victim.

"And in the long run society will suffer double jeopardy by losing 2 persons, 
the victim and the criminal, instead of one."

Okwudili said, "each time a soul dies, the nation looses human capital because 
everyone has the potential to transform the world.

"The transformation of a place like Saudi Arabia is tied to a man.

"We have heard of great men like Nelson Mandela and Lee Kuan Yew. What if they 
were killed prematurely?

"The national and global transformation that their nations and entire world 
witnessed would not have happened if they were prematurely aborted.

"Similarly, if we keep taking lives in the name of punishment for crime, we 
will be robbing ourselves of great potential that will have been instrumental 
to the development we earnestly seek," he said.

Okwudiri insisted that life imprisonment was a better option to death sentence.

He, therefore, recommended that the Nigerian Prisons Service should be 
overhauled for maximum rehabilitation of criminals as obtainable in the western 
world.

He added that the prison could re-orientate its inmates and positively change 
the psychology of criminals if they were well managed.

"If re-orientation and indoctrination can make suicide bombers blow themselves 
up, they can as well be used positively to change murderers to better 
citizens," he argued.

Okwudiri added that life is sacred and only God gives life, therefore, only God 
has the right to take life, not the government.

(source: dailypost.ng)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Saudi court sentences Palestinian poet to death for apostasy-HRW


A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced a Palestinian poet to death for apostasy, 
abandoning his Muslim faith, according to trial documents seen by Human Rights 
Watch, its Middle East researcher Adam Coogle said on Friday.

Ashraf Fayadh was detained by the country's religious police in 2013 in Abha, 
in southwest Saudi Arabia, and then rearrested and tried in early 2014.

The verdict of that court sentenced him to 4 years in prison and 800 lashes but 
after appeal another judge passed a death sentence on Fayadh three days ago, 
said Coogle.

"I have read the trial documents from the lower court verdict in 2014 and 
another one from 17 November. It is very clear he has been sentenced to death 
for apostasy," Coogle said.

Saudi Arabia's justice system is based on Sharia Islamic law and its judges are 
clerics from the kingdom's ultra conservative Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam. In 
the Wahhabi interpretation of Sharia, religious crimes including blasphemy and 
apostasy incur the death penalty.

In January liberal writer Raif Badawi was flogged 50 times after his sentencing 
to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for blasphemy last year, prompting an 
international outcry. Badawi remains in prison, but diplomats say he is 
unlikely to be flogged again.

Saudi judges have extensive scope to impose sentences according to their own 
interpretation of Sharia law without reference to any previous cases. After a 
case has been heard by lower courts, appeals courts and the supreme court, a 
convicted defendant can be pardoned by King Salman.

Fayadh's conviction was based on evidence from a prosecution witness who 
claimed to have heard him cursing God, Islam's Prophet Mohammad and Saudi 
Arabia, and the contents of a poetry book he had written years earlier.

The case went to the Saudi appeals court and was then returned to the lower 
court, where a different judge on November 17 increased the sentence to death. 
The 2nd judge ruled defence witnesses who had challenged the prosecution 
witness' testimony ineligible.

Saudi Arabia's Justice Ministry or other officials could not immediately be 
reached for comment.

(source: Reuters)






RUSSIA:

Common Sense Needed if Reinstating Death Penalty in Russia - Kremlin


The reinstatement of the death penalty in Russia would require common sense and 
not an emotional approach, Kremlin Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov said Friday.

Earlier today, the leader of the center-left A Just Russia party suggested 
reinstating the capital punishment for terrorists and their collaborators in 
the wake of terror attacks on a Russian airliner in Egypt and public venues 
across Paris.

"Sometimes it's necessary to rely not on emotions, but on common sense and 
Russia's international obligations. In my personal opinion, to put it mildly, 
is that this [reinstating the death penalty] is premature and inappropriate," 
Ivanov said.

Ivanov said that he did not believe this move would gain the support of over 90 
percent of Russian citizens, should the country hold a referendum on the issue.

Russia suspended the death penalty indefinitely in 1999, although it was 
retained in the Constitution. The capital punishment by firing squad is 
reserved for especially severe offenses, such as aggravated murder and 
genocide.

(source: sputniknews.com)






INDONESIA/AUSTRALIA:

Ruddock welcomes Indon execution reprieve----Anti-death penalty advocate Philip 
Ruddock says Indonesia's decision to pause executions to focus on its economy 
is a move in the right direction.


A veteran Liberal MP welcomes news that Indonesia has placed a moratorium on 
all executions, but says Australia won't stop pursuing an end to the punishment 
worldwide.

Philip Ruddock, co-chair of the Australian Parliamentarians against the death 
penalty group, said a reprieve in Indonesia is a move in the "right direction".

"I think if the United States were to change it would be quite powerful in 
relation to influencing other countries," he told ABC radio on Friday.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, who was in Jakarta on Thursday, said the 
federal government's position on the death penalty was well known.

"The Australian government welcomes the announcement from the Indonesian 
government," he told reporters in Brisbane on Friday.

(source: sbs.com.au)

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

Indonesia's turnaround on death penalty means heartbreak for 2 Australian 
families


There are 2 Australian families facing what's meant to be a happy time of year 
with heavy hearts. There are 2 Australian families that lost their sons to the 
firing squad in Indonesia after 10 years in prison. And there are 2 Australia 
families who will be sickened by the latest news from Indonesia: they have 
halted executions.

According to the country's top security minister, the current death row inmates 
will not be facing the firing squad in the near future.

Luhut Binsar Panjaitan told a news conference the government's priority was to 
address the economic slowdown, during bilateral meetings aimed at boosting 
trade with the Australian government.

It's a step to patch up the damaged relationship fractured by the killing of 2 
Australian citizens: Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan in April.

"We haven't thought about executing a death penalty with the economic 
conditions like this," Mr Panjaitan told reporters in Jakarta.

BBC reports Indonesian correspondents have said no executions are scheduled at 
this time, a stark contrast from the hurried nature of Chan and Sukumaran's 
last days.

Indonesia's economic growth dropped below 5% in 2015, and executions cost not 
only government money, but tourism to the country as Western nations generally 
oppose their hard line on prisoners.

This year Indonesia executed 14 people by firing squad, including citizens from 
Brazil, the Netherlands and Nigeria, as well as Australia, damaging 
relationships and losing ambassadors from the majority.

Currently, there are dozens of people awaiting their fate, although none are 
Australians.

It remains to be seen whether Chan and Sukumaran would still be alive today if 
executions were halted, but it's a question that their families will no doubt 
be thinking about.

(source: startsatsixty.com)