[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 26




BANGLADESH:

Bangladesh Executions Over War Crimes Trigger Mixed Reactions


Sunday's executions in Bangladesh of two opposition leaders, accused of 
committing crimes during the country's 1971 war of independence from Pakistan, 
have sparked mixed reactions in the country and outside.

Bangladesh's International Crime Tribunal found Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, a 
senior politician from the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) party, guilty on 
charges of conspiracy in abduction, torture and killing of intellectuals during 
the war. ICT also convicted Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, a leader of the 
opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), on charges of torture, rape and 
genocide.

Following the executions, the ruling Awami League (AL) party and some groups 
supporting Bangladesh's war crime trials held victory rallies saying that 
Mujahid and Chowdhury deserved to be hanged for their war crimes.

But JeI and BNP said the executions were politically motivated and aimed at 
eliminating political rivals. Rights groups and legal experts charged that 
Bangladesh executed the men after a flawed trial.

Pakistan decries executions

Since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina set up the ICT in 2010, it has convicted 24 
people - mostly JeI leaders - of war crimes. Barring 2, all those convicted 
were handed out death sentences by the tribunal. So far, 4 - including Mujahid 
and Chowdhury - have been executed.

Protests against Sunday's executions came from different corners, including 
Pakistan.

Pakistan's foreign ministry issued a statement saying the trials of the two men 
were flawed, and that "Pakistan is deeply disturbed" by the executions. In a 
sharp reaction, Bangladesh summoned Pakistan's high commissioner in Dhaka and 
handed over a protest note.

Bangladesh's junior foreign minister, Mohammed Shahriar Alam, said Pakistan had 
"no right" to make any comment on internal issues of Bangladesh.

"On the issue of these trials of war criminals, who committed crimes against 
humanity, we shall not tolerate any negative comment from any country," Alam 
said.

Victim's family welcomes punishment

Dr. Nuzhat Choudhury's father, an eye specialist, was killed by Al Badr militia 
that Mujahid was convicted of leading during the war. Choudhury said after the 
execution of Mujahid that she felt justice had been delivered.

"Mujahid was directly responsible for enlisting the names of top intellectuals 
of the time, like my father, and abducting them from their homes, brutally 
torturing them and subsequently murdering them. Therefore, in his trial and 
execution, my family and I personally got justice today," Choudhury told VOA.

On Friday, the U.S. State Department said the executions of Mujahid and 
Chowdhury should not take place until it was clear that the trial processes had 
met international standards.

Tureen Afroz, an ICT prosecutor, denied the tribunal's actions were motivated 
by politics.

"But if a trial is taking place in an independent judicial forum where a 
defendant can freely exercise his internationally recognized rights, we call it 
a fair trial. I would like to say that all trials of the ICT have been very 
defense friendly," Afroz told VOA.

Trials have 'serious flaws,' some say

Earlier this month, Amnesty International noted that the trial and appeal 
processes had suffered from "serious flaws."

"They were brought to the attention of the government by Amnesty International, 
Human Rights Watch and other independent observers," said Abbas Faiz, senior 
south Asia researcher of AI. "The government authorities who had the power to 
stop the executions had full knowledge of these concerns. Yet, they went ahead 
with the executions."

Sam Zarifi, Asia-Pacific regional director of the International Commission of 
Jurists, said the human rights committee of the United Nations is very clear 
that if a government wants to carry out a death penalty, it has to ensure that 
the judicial process in the case has been absolutely fair.

"In the case of the International Crime Tribunal in Bangladesh, unfortunately 
this hasn't been the case," Zarifi said to VOA. "We saw witnesses not being 
allowed to testify, evidence that could exculpate the defendants not being 
admitted on vague grounds."

Alex Carlile, a lawyer and member of Britain's House of Lords, said the trials 
in the cases of Mujahid and Chowdhury fell "far, far short of acceptable 
standards."

Pointing to the case that Bangladesh executed the 2 men just 3 or 4 hours after 
their reported presidential clemency petitions had been rejected, Carlile said 
Bangladesh resorted to unusual haste in carrying out the executions.

"I think the speed at which the executions took place is obscene," he said. "It 
falls way outside any acceptable criminal justice policies. I think the 
Bangladesh government has lost all respect among lawyers the world over."

(source: voanews.com)

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

Bangladesh refutes UN claim on war crimes trial


Bangladesh has refuted the claim of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for 
Human Rights that the trials of war criminals at the International Crimes 
Tribunal were not fair.

Saying that the statement is "highly disturbing," the government has sent a 
reply to the OHCHR and protested such claim.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release in this regard on 
Thursday, 2 days after the UN rights body issued the statement involving war 
crimes trial in the country.

On Tuesday, the UN human rights body renewed its call to the government of 
Bangladesh to immediately institute a moratorium on the death penalty and 
abolish it.

The statement came two days after BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and 
Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid were executed for crimes 
against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.

In a statement, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 
Ravina Shamdasani said: "We've long warned given the doubts that have been 
raised about the fairness of trials conducted before the Tribunal, the 
government of Bangladesh should not implement death penalty sentences."

In reply, the foreign ministry press statement said: "Both the convicted 
individuals have been handed down the death sentence by the ICT-BD for charges 
proven against them beyond reasonable doubts. The verdicts were subsequently 
upheld by the Appellate Division of Bangladesh Supreme after a full bench 
hearing.

"On the judgment of the Supreme Court, the Review Petitions submitted by the 
convicted persons have also been heard by the Appellate Division of the Supreme 
Court on 18 November 2015, and subsequently disposed of.:

Bangladesh explained that the ICT-BD trials takes solely into consideration the 
crimes committed by the individuals accused and convicted for crimes against 
humanity they had committed in 1971, and has no preoccupation with their 
present political status, reads the press release.

"Mr Chowdhury or Mr Mujahid's cases have nothing to do with their political 
identity or affiliation, and the point that they belong to some opposition 
political parties is only a coincidence as far as the trials are concerned."

"Moreover, certain accused and convicted individuals in the ICT-BD trials are 
with ruling party and its electoral allies. In this regard, Bangladesh has 
given a full account of the trials and proceedings related to the 2 cases of 
Messers Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid," it added.

Bangladesh also reiterated that as a state party to the ICCPR, along with its 
Optional Protocol, Bangladesh is obliged to maintain international standards in 
its judicial process. The provisions of the International Crimes (Tribunals) 
Act, 1973 (ICT Act 1973) and the rules made thereunder are not inconsistent 
with the rights of the accused enshrined under article 14 of the ICCPR.

The Government recognises its responsibility towards its citizens and is 
committed to fulfill its obligations to the citizens of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh's response to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights 
emphasised that the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973 (ICT Act 1973) 
of Bangladesh was enacted by the Bangladesh Parliament which is vested with the 
legislative powers of the Republic under the Constitution.

Read the Full Response of Bangladesh Government:

The ICT Act provides for the detention, prosecution and punishment of persons 
for genocide, crimes against humanity and other crimes under international law 
and for matters connected therewith, stated the release. "Thus, the ICT Act 
provides for the detention, prosecution and punishment of persons liable for 
such crimes committed during the War of Liberation of Bangladesh from 25 March 
to 16 December 1971."

The violations involved the indiscriminate killing of civilians, including 
women and children; the attempt to exterminate or drive out of the country a 
large part of population of approximately 10 million people; the dislocation 
of, at any one stage or another, of nearly half of the country's population of 
75 million people; the arrest, torture and killing without trial of suspects; 
the raping of women; the destruction of villages and towns; and the looting of 
property. In addition to criminal offences under domestic law, there is a 
strong prima facie case that criminal offences were committed in international 
law, namely war crimes and crimes against humanity and acts of genocide under 
the Genocide Convention 1948.

Article VI of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of 
Genocide (1948 Genocide Convention) provides that persons charged with genocide 
or any of the other acts enumerated in Article III shall be tried by a 
competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act was 
committed. The Convention also provides that (Article 6.2) in countries which 
have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for 
the most serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the time of the 
commission of the crime and not contrary to the provisions of the present 
Covenant and to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of 
Genocide.

This penalty can only be carried out pursuant to a final judgement rendered by 
a competent court. This clearly is the case, which has been maintained by the 
Supreme Court in Bangladesh with regard two verdicts under discussion.

Article V of the Convention also provides that The Contracting Parties 
undertake to enact, in accordance with their respective Constitutions, the 
necessary legislation to provide effective penalties for persons guilty of 
genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III of the Convention.

It has been categorically found that the rights of defense and procedure given 
in the ICT Act and the Rules of Procedure are manifestations of "due process of 
law" and "fair trial" which make the legislation of 1973 more humane, 
jurisprudentially sound and legally valid.

The International Bar Association (IBA) Committee, in a report has also opined 
that "The 1973 Legislation together with the 2009 amending text, provides a 
system which is broadly compatible with current international standard". This 
opinion should alone suffice, as far as the minimum standard required by 
international law is concerned.

Besides, the ICC Statute never denies the primacy of the national law. Article 
10 of the Statute explicitly recognizes that "nothing in this part shall be 
interpreted as limiting or prejudicing in any way existing or developing rules 
of interpreted as limiting or prejudicing in any way existing or developing 
rules of international law for the purpose other than this Statute".

In conclusion, Bangladesh mentioned that The ICT-BD trials have created an 
opportunity for ending the culture of impunity, ensuring justice to the 
victims, and paving the way for truth and reconciliation. This was duly 
recognised by the European Parliament in its Resolution of16 January 2014 where 
it posited, "... the International Crimes Tribunal has played an important role 
in providing redress and closure for victims of and those affected by the 
Bangladeshi war of independence."

Similarly, the European Parliament earlier also acknowledged the need for 
reconciliation, justice and accountability for the crimes committed during the 
1971 war of independence while stressing the important role of ICT in this 
matter.

It is unfortunate that while the international community across the board has 
embraced the trials as an effort to end the culture of impunity for mass 
atrocity crimes committed over 4 decades ago, some selected quarters are still 
resorting to sweeping, biased and unfounded comments about the trials as fed to 
them by the agents and sympathisers of those accused and convicted.

The Government and the people of Bangladesh are confident that plausible legal 
arguments can be provided for all the fabricated charges being leveled against 
the trials, and that the fact that fair trial and due process standards had 
been upheld through out the trial process, would ultimately prevail.

In view of the above, to any discerning observer, the position taken by the 
OHCHR in the said press briefing note raises a question - whether the OHCHR is 
siding with the perpetrators of war crime, genocide and crimes against 
humanity. It is also a question if the OHCHR is choosing to undermine the cry 
for justice of the families of innumerable victims; whether the impunity that 
the majority of the people of Bangladesh want to see gone, is being upheld by 
the OHCHR.

The present government of Bangladesh came to power with an overwhelming 
majority who supported their declared manifesto of bringing an end to the 
impunity so long enjoyed by the perpetrators of war crime, genocide and crimes 
against humanity and no democratic government could ignore such a demand in 
Bangladesh.

(source: dhakatribune.com)

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

Man to die for killing wife for dowry


A court here yesterday sentenced a man to death for killing his wife for dowry 
in Sadar upazila in 2000.

Judge Saiful Islam of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal 
handed down the verdict.

The death penalty awardee is Bappi Mia, 37, son of Abdus Samad of Manik Chok 
Hotilapur area in the upazila.

The Tribunal acquitted three charged sheeted accused as charges brought against 
them could not be proved. They are Bappi's elder brother Papu Mia, Rani Begum, 
wife of Bappi's brother Tutul Mia, and mother Arefa Begum.

According to the case statement, Bappi married Kohinoor Begum, 19, daughter of 
Abul Hossain of Joypurpara in the upazila, in 1999.

On June 14, 2000, Bappi put pressure on Kohinoor to bring money from her 
parents as dowry. As she refused to do so, Bappi beat her dead and dumped the 
body in a nearby water body.

Police recovered Kohinoor's body the following day and sent it to Mohammad Ali 
Hospital for autopsy.

Kohinoor's father filed a case with Bogra Sadar Police Station, accusing 4 
identified and 2 unidentified people.

Sub-inspector (SI) Mojibur Rahman, investigation officer (IO) of the case, 
submitted a charge sheet mentioning the names of the accused on November 10, 
2000.

(source: The Daily Star)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Mothers of Saudi juveniles facing beheading appeal for mercy, as executions 
loom----Local media in Saudi Arabia have reported that more than 50 people 
detained will be executed over the coming days


The mothers of 5 juvenile prisoners facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia 
have called for their children's convictions to be quashed, amid fears they may 
about to be executed.

A joint statement released by the mothers on Tuesday described the potential 
execution of their children as "unique in the history of Saudi justice".

"Saudi authorities have subjected our children to multiple forms of injustice," 
the statement said, with the mothers accusing the government of arbitrarily 
detaining and torturing their children, as well as subjecting them to unfair 
trials.

"We demand that the Saudi government drop their sentences and order their 
re-trial. These trials must be public, in accordance with international 
principles, and must be attended by neutral observers," they said.

Mohammed al-Shioukh, Abdullah al-Zaher, Ali al-Rebh, Dawood al-Marhoon, and Ali 
al-Nimr have been sentenced to death. All of them were under 18 years old at 
the time of their arrests in 2012, which were for taking part in 
anti-government protests organised by the Shia community in the Eastern 
Province.

Fears have risen that the 5 young Saudis will be imminetly beheaded after local 
news outlet Okaz reported on Monday that 55 people convicted of 
"anti-government offences" will be executed over the coming days.

Okaz did not reveal the names of those to be executed, nor did they reveal the 
exact date of the potential executions, but they did say some of those to be 
beheaded will be prisoners from the Eastern Province.

Anti-death penalty advocacy group Reprieve described the reports as "extremely 
concerning".

"These reports are [...] suggesting the Saudis may be just days away from 
executing people convicted when they were children, who were demanding 
political reform in their country," Maya Foa, director of Reprieve's Death 
Penalty Team, said in a statement.

"These executions must be stopped," she added.

Saudi Arabia's Shia community make up around 10 to 15 % of the kingdom's 29 
million population. They are concentrated in the country's Eastern Province, 
which is rich with oil but rife with poverty.

The Shia community have long complained that the government discriminate 
against them, particularly in areas of employment and education.

In 2011, inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings, protests erupted in the Eastern 
Province, with the local Shia community pouring onto the streets to demand 
increased representation and more rights in the kingdom.

The leader of those protests, firebrand cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, was 
arrested in July 2012 after a gun battle with authorities.

Nimr, the uncle of juvenile detainee Ali al-Nimr, is among those slated to be 
executed for their role in the Eastern Province protests, which continue to 
take place but have dramatically decreased in size since the 2012 crackdown.

Saudi authorities reject that Nimr led peaceful rights-based protests, and 
instead allege that they faced - and continue to face - armed anti-government 
gangs in the Eastern Province.

"The al-Nimr family members pursued violence and attacks on security forces and 
government facilities beside terrorising civilians, hooliganism and vandalism," 
Saudi authorities recently said in a statement given to the Daily Telegraph.

"We have all the rights to maintain safety and security of our citizens and we 
cannot understand the demands to make it go unpunished."

The mothers of the 5 young Saudis facing execution said on Wednesday that they 
will not go quiet even if their children are beheaded.

"We [...] will only stay silent over this crime if they kill us alongside our 
children," the statement said.

Saudi Arabia has executed at least 151 people so far in 2015, nearly doubling 
last year's total of 88.

(source: middleeasteye.net)

**********

Concerns as reports suggest juvenile executions in Saudi may be days away


International human rights NGO Reprieve has raised concerns over Saudi media 
reports, which suggest that juveniles Ali al Nimr and Dawoud al Marhoon could 
be executed in days.

Saudi news outlet Okaz has today reported that 55 people convicted of 
'anti-Government offences', are to be executed in the coming days. A number of 
those are apparently from the same region as juveniles Ali al Nimr and Dawoud 
al Marhoon, and Ali's Uncle, the high profile pro-democracy activist Sheik al 
Nimr. The fears were compounded after the young men were taken for an announced 
medical examination in the prison, which suggests their execution has been 
scheduled.

The reports have raised concerns at human rights NGO Reprieve, which is 
assisting the two juveniles, that their executions could be imminent, as well 
as that of Abdallah al-Zaher, who was only 15 when he participated in protests. 
Both Ali and Dawoud were convicted in part on trumped-up anti-Government 
charges, despite their being youth activists who attended pro-democracy 
protests.

Ali al Nimr and Dawoud al Marhoon were both sentenced to death when they were 
under 18, for attending pro-democracy political protests. Both are understood 
to have been held in solitary confinement in Riyadh.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has previously called on the Saudi 
authorities to stop the planned execution of Ali al Nimr, and his government 
cancelled a bid to provide services to the Saudi prisons because of human 
rights concerns.

Maya Foa, Director of Reprieve's Death Penalty Team, said: \"These reports are 
extremely concerning - suggesting that the Saudis may be just days away from 
executing people convicted when they were children, who were demanding 
political reform in their country. These executions must be stopped, and 
Saudi's allies in the UK must once again make representations to prevent them 
going ahead."

(source: reprieve.org)






IRAN----execution

Call to save death row prisoner aged 15 at time of alleged crime


Execution of 17 prisoners, including 6 young men aged 20 to 25, only 5 days 
after UN condemns executions in Iran

The Iranian Resistance calls for measures to save the life of Mr. Salar Shadi 
Zadi, a young prisoner on death row who was merely 15 at the time of his 
alleged crime, and asks all international human rights dignitaries and 
organizations to protest this barbarity and medieval viciousness, and to take 
effective action to prevent the execution of this young man.

Salar Shadi Zadi is scheduled to be executed on November 28 after already 
enduring 9 years behind bars. At least 72 prisoners under the age of 18 have 
been executed under the mullahs' rule during the past decade, Amnesty 
International reported.

The religious fascism ruling Iran, dubbed by the people as the "Godfather of 
ISIS," has in the past 5 days alone executed at least 17 prisoners. This 
follows the recent United Nations resolution condemning vicious human rights 
violations in Iran and a UN call to stop executions in Iran. 6 of those 
executed had only 20 to 25 years of age.

A 20-year-old man in the town of Mayamey in Semnan Province was hanged on 
Wednesday, November 25. Despite calls made by international organizations a day 
earlier, Alireza Shahi, aged 25, was executed along with 4 other individuals. 
>From the age of 18 he had been behind bars for 7 years.

3 prisoners hanged on November 21 in Zahedan Central Prison were all young men. 
Mojtaba Lak-Zehi, 22, was aged 17 at the time of his alleged crime. He and 
Hassan Dori Moghadam, 20, were both from Iran's Baluchi minority community. 
Nazir Ahmad Rigi, 24, was an Afghan national.

Also on November 21, Mehdi Budineh was executed in Zabol Central Prison at the 
age of 25.

The mullahs' regime is resorting to the execution of youths in public and in 
prisons across the country in an attempt to cement a climate of fear across the 
society and prevent massive uprising by the disgruntled population described by 
regime officials as the "army of the hungry." The Iranian Resistance calls on 
all Iranian people, especially the youth, to rise up and protest these crimes.

(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran)

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

Young Prisoner Hanged in Public in Northern Iran


A young prisoner charged with rape was hanged to death in public in Meyami, 
Semnan. Iranian state-run media Javan News has identified the prisoner by the 
initials A.M. and stated his age as "about 30 years old." Iranian offiials have 
not released any more information about the case, making it unclear whether the 
prisoner was over the age of 18 at the time of his arrest.

Commenting on the execution, Abbas Ali Akbari, the head of Meyami's Judiciary, 
says: "The offender was arrested for committing several counts of rape and was 
sentenced to lashings and death."

(source: Iran Human Rights)






ENGLAND:

Holloway prison closure will be mourned by few ---- Notorious Victorian 
prison???s inmates have included Sylvia and Christabel Pankhurst, Myra Hindley 
and Ruth Ellis

The announcement that the site of Holloway prison is to be sold to become a 
chic London housing address would have astounded generations of women 
incarcerated there.

Despite repeated alteration and rebuilding in the 163 years since it opened, so 
that barely a trace of the original architecture survives, Holloway was still 
described in the most recent report by the prison inspectorate as having "a 
fearsome reputation".

Its inmates have included the sisters Sylvia and Christabel Pankhurst and other 
suffragettes, many of whom suffered the pain and sometimes broken teeth of 
repeated force-feeding to break their hunger strike. Many were freed from 
Holloway when they became ill enough to embarrass the government, only to be 
rearrested and locked up again under what was known as "the cat and mouse act".

The Moors murderer Myra Hindley fell in love with one of her prison officers in 
Holloway. Ruth Ellis became the last woman to be executed in England, in 
Holloway. She was hanged by the state executioner Albert Pierrepoint while a 
crowd of 500 outside the gates chanted protests against the death penalty. Her 
body was exhumed with those of other executed prisoners during rebuilding work 
in the 1970s, and reburied in a churchyard in Buckinghamshire under the name 
Ruth Hornby to protect the grave from ghoulish souvenir hunters.

A more aristocratic prisoner entered the high gates in 1940. Lady Diana Mitford 
was often described as the most beautiful woman in England - "her beauty rang 
through the room like a peal of bells", a smitten Evelyn Waugh wrote. She 
became a friend of Adolf Hitler, who sent a chauffeur-driven Mercedes to take 
her to the Olympic Games in Berlin, and she married the British fascist leader 
Oswald Mosley at the home of the Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels, with 
Hitler as a guest. Mosley was imprisoned in Brixton in 1940, and Mitford soon 
afterwards in Holloway, which was then in a terrible state, its plumbing system 
badly damaged by German bombing.

Mitford's treatment was far from that meted out to thousands of poor women 
without grand connections. Winston Churchill personally ordered that she should 
be allowed a daily bath, though in fact water was so scarce that she was 
reduced to weekly bathing. Mitford ordered in supplies through her Harrods 
account, and later - again at Churchill's intervention - Mosley was allowed to 
join her to live in a small house within the prison walls, where they grew 
aubergines and fraises du bois in the yard. When both were released in 1943, 
20,000 people signed a petition in protest.

Like many other Victorian prisons that would acquire notoriety, Holloway was 
constructed in an attempt to improve conditions for inmates held in overcrowded 
buildings that had hardly changed since medieval times. In the 1850s Holloway 
was still a pleasant semi-rural area, with market gardens and cottages. The 
prison was originally for men and women, but in 1903 it became the largest 
women's prison in the country.

Within a decade, the imprisonment of the suffragettes and the vivid accounts of 
many, including Sylvia Pankhurst, of the torture of force feeding had made 
Holloway infamous.

In the most recent report by the chief inspector of prisons, Nick Hardwick, he 
wrote that although the rate of self-harm was falling, at 63 incidents a month 
it was still high, as in many women's prisons, and that Holloway prisoners were 
anxious and fearful about their safety. "This was not surprising," he wrote. 
"Holloway has a fearsome reputation."

Although there will undoubtedly be protests if the site is sold for luxury 
housing, few will mourn the death sentence for Holloway as a prison.

(source: The Guardian)