[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 9



INDONESIA:

Groups want abolition of death penalty


In conjunction with the 13th World Day Against the Death Penalty, local rights 
groups have renewed their call for the government to abolish the death penalty, 
especially for drug convicts, as the penalty has failed to offer any meaningful 
deterrent effect.

Data from the Community Legal Aid Institute (LBH Masyarakat) revealed that from 
May, or a month after the government conducted the 2nd round of this year's 
executions, to August, the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) carried out 10 
large-scale drug raids, seizing 70 kilograms of methamphetamine, 235 kilograms 
of marijuana and 700 ecstasy pills.

"If we include data on raids by the police. The number would be higher," Ricky 
Gunawan of LBH Masyarakat said Thursday in Jakarta.

He said the data showed that the application of the death penalty was not an 
effective measure to combat drug-related crimes.

In recent years, Indonesia had appeared to be shifting away from the death 
penalty, in line with the global trend toward abolition. However, President 
Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, decided to embrace the practice, claiming that Indonesia 
was facing a drug emergency.

Since he took power in October 2014, he has allowed firing squads to execute 14 
inmates convicted of drug-related offenses, the highest number of convicts 
executed since the country first implemented the penalty in 1980.

This year's executions were divided into 2 rounds.Australians Andrew Chan, 31, 
and Myuran Sukumaran, 34, the ring leaders of the so-called Bali 9, were among 
the executed convicts shot in the 2nd round. Both were sentenced to death for 
smuggling 8.3 kg of heroin from Bali to Australia in 2005.

They had been detained for years at Kerobokan Prison in Bali before President 
Jokowi eventually rejected their clemency pleas and let the firing squad pull 
the trigger on April 29 this year.

The government will likely execute another 14 inmates next year. However, 
Attorney General HM Prasetyo said that his office had yet to determine the 
exact number of convicts to be executed.

Poengky, executive director of the human rights watchdog Imparsial, said that 
President Jokowi's firm stance on executions appeared to be primarily a public 
relations stunt.

"President Jokowi is trying to show that he promotes clean and firm 
governance," Poengky said. "He seems to be trying to reduce Indonesia's 
reputation as a corrupt nation with an unreliable legal system."

She said that it would be better for President Jokowi to allow the convicts to 
become justice collaborators to uncover more drug cases in the country. By 
killing them, she argued, the President lost any chance to hunt down more 
important perpetrators.

Wahyu Wagiman, the executive director of the Institute for Policy Research and 
Advocacy (ELSAM), said that the death penalty inflicted mental suffering on 
death-row inmates because many spent years in detention fearing for their 
lives.

"The long detention period prior to the execution shows that the country's 
legal process lacks humanity," Wahyu said.

A study from the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) released in April 
2015 revealed that the government handed down around 42 death sentences from 
2002 to 2013, 11 of which were the result of an unfair judicial process. Jan 
Pronk, former Dutch development cooperation minister, said that Indonesian 
should follow the worldwide trend of ending the death penalty.

"Studies show that about 40 % of those executed in the US were innocent. And in 
some countries they say drug abuse is a major disease. But the death penalty 
does not scare off criminals. In Mexico, the US, the real criminals are never 
found." Pronk told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

(source: The Jakarta Post)






MOROCCO:

Associations campaign against death penalty----Symbolic sit-in in front of 
Parliament on Oct. 12


A coalition of associations in Morocco campaigning against the death penalty 
have organized on October 12 a symbolic sit-in in front of Parliament for the 
13th World Day Against the Death Penalty. The organizations are seeking to 
raise a national debate on fundamental human rights, as well as judicial errors 
and the lack of opportunity for the poorest to get a suitable defense during 
trial.

The issue is controversial as it pits religion against the constitutional 
charter. Article 20 guarantees the right to live and article 22 physical 
integrity. Islamic law, however, states that those who do wrong, pay with their 
lives. And the reform of the criminal code only reduces the number of crimes 
punished with the death penalty: 11 against the current 33. As far as 
parliamentary work is concerned, there is a project to abolish executions that 
has been presented over a year ago but debate has not been scheduled yet.

No execution has been carried out for over 20 years. The last dates back to 
1993 and Amnesty International ranks Morocco among ''de facto abolitionist'' 
countries. But when debate takes place at the UN, Morocco abstains. The next 
vote is scheduled in 2016.

Meanwhile tribunals continue to sentence to death.

Last September, in Marrakech, a 24 and 26-year-old were sentenced to death 
after they were found guilty of causing a deadly car accident in which a family 
of four people died because they had thrown stones on the street.

A group of lawmakers, 240 across the political spectrum, including a 
pro-Islamist party, is pressing on the theme, along with a group of attorneys. 
Dossiers on the death penalty have been presented, including one testifying 
that 70 inmates sentenced to death and followed daily for five months were 
found to be malnourished and abandoned to their fate on death row as they were 
only trying to find a way to commit suicide.

Associations and individuals have set up the website Tudert.ma (tudert means 
life in the berber language) where petitions and events are posted.

(source: ansamedinfo.com)






SRI LANKA:

EU hails Sri Lanka's stand against death penalty


The European Union (EU) today welcomed the announcement by the Minister of 
Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapaksha that Sri Lanka would vote in favour of the UN 
General Assembly resolution on a moratorium on the Death Penalty.

A joint statement issue by the EU in Colombo said that the European Union, 
Norway and Switzerland oppose the Death Penalty in all circumstances.

The statement noted that the Death Penalty represents an unacceptable denial of 
human dignity and violates the right to life universally affirmed in the 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reaffirmed in the International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Its worldwide abolition is a priority.

The statement said that evidence from around the world shows there is no 
evidence that the Death Penalty deters crime. It also notes that the Death 
Penalty is irreversible, mistaken identity and wrongful convictions do happen, 
many death sentences are issued after confessions obtained by torture and 
innocent people die.

The statement also noted that suspects are more likely to be sentenced to death 
if they are poor or belong to an ethnic or religious minority.

Last year, at least 22 countries around the world carried out executions and at 
least 2,466 people were sentenced to death - an increase of 28%. Many of those 
convicted spend years on death row, waiting to see if a reprieve will be 
granted.

Sri Lanka currently has more than 400 prisoners under sentence of Death. 101 
countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

"Make your voice heard for Sri Lanka to be part of the solution - not part of 
the problem. Tweet #NoDeathPenalty," the joint statement added.

The statement was signed by David Daly, Head of Delegation of the European 
Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Jean-Marin Schuh, Ambassador of France to 
Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Dr. Jurgen Morhard, Ambassador of the Federal 
Republic of Germany to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Paolo Andrea Bartorelli, 
Ambassador of Italy to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Joanne Doornewaard, 
Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Dr. 
Victor Chiujdea, Ambassador of Romania to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, James 
Dauris, British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Thorbjorn 
Gaustadsaether, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Sri Lanka and the 
Maldives and Heinz Walker-Nederkoorn, Ambassador of Switzerland to Sri Lanka 
and the Maldives.

(source: Colombo Gazette)



INDIA:

NITISH KATARA MURDER----Can't give death penalty to Vikas Yadav, says SC


The Supreme Court today turned down a plea for awarding death penalty to Vikas 
Yadav, son of Uttar Pradesh politician DP Yadav, and his cousin Vishal for 
killing 23-year-old Nitish Katara in 2002 for being friendly with Bharti, 
sister of Vikas.

On February 6 this year, the Delhi High Court had sentenced them to 30 years in 
jail by enhancing the life term (which normally meant 14 years) awarded by the 
trial court. Katara's mother Nilam had come to the SC seeking further 
enhancement of the sentence to death penalty or imprisonment for the rest of 
their lives.

A Bench comprising Justice JS Khehar and Justice R Banumathi rejected the plea, 
observing that the crime could not be described as the 'rarest of rare or an 
honour killing that shocked the collective conscience of society, warranting 
the award of death penalty."

It was not an honour killing as neither the caste or the family background of 
the victim would be accepted as "bad" by society, the Bench explained, 
obviously referring to the fact that Nitish was a business executive and was 
the son of IAS officer Nishit Katara.

He was last seen with the convicts in a vehicle being driven by Vikas in the 
Delhi region on the night of February 16/17, 2002. The HC had termed it as 
honour killing.

Bharti had been allowed by her family to go to the Kataras' house only a few 
days earlier to invite them to her sister's wedding which showed that the Yadav 
family had accepted their friendship. Probably, what infuriated the convicts to 
murder the victim was the "manner in which the couple danced" at the wedding 
from where Nitish was abducted, the Bench felt.

The SC also pointed out that the murder had been committed with one single blow 
on the head without any maiming or other forms of torture.

The HC sentenced them to 25 years without any remission for committing the 
murder and 5 years for destroying evidence and clarified that the 2 terms would 
run consecutively. Such a long jail term was necessary for their reformation, 
it said.

The Yadav cousins' appeal against the HC verdict is pending in the SC.

(source: The Tribune)






EUROPEAN UNION:

MEPs urge end to EU funding for drug executions


The European Parliament has called on the EU to ensure that it is not using 
taxpayers' money to fund the execution of alleged drug offenders overseas.

In a resolution passed yesterday (8 October) by 569 to 38, MEPs called on both 
the European Commission and member states "to reaffirm the categorical 
principle that European aid and assistance, including to UNODC 
counter-narcotics programmes, cannot facilitate law enforcement operations 
which lead to death sentences and executions of those arrested".

The EU is the world's 2nd largest donor to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime 
(UNODC), which oversees anti-drug operations in countries which apply the death 
penalty for drug offences, such as Iran and Pakistan.

The resolution comes as new figures from the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), also 
published today, indicate that Iran has hanged more that 500 people for 
drug-related charges in 2015 so far - already exceeding last year's total of 
367. The 500 make up the majority of the 800 people that IHR believes Iran has 
executed this year in total. Meanwhile, Pakistan has leapfrogged Saudi Arabia 
to become the world's 3rd most prolific executioner, hanging at least 240 
people in the last 10 months.

The European Parliament resolution also demanded increased transparency, 
requesting the European Commission publish "an annual account of its funding 
for counter-narcotics programmes ... outlining what human rights safeguards 
have been applied to ensure it does not enable death sentences".

The EU has contributed over 72 million euros to UNODC projects focused on 
'organised crime and drug trafficking'. This money has paid for equipment and 
training for the narcotics forces in Iran and Pakistan, both of which ascribe 
the death penalty for non-violent drug offences in violation of international 
law.

Besides donating to UNODC projects, the EU also funds counter-narcotics 
operations in Iran and Pakistan through its own 15.5 million euros initiative 
aimed at tackling heroin trafficking.

UN human rights experts condemned executions for drug crimes, arguing "they 
amount to a violation of international law and are unlawful killings". The UN 
Special Rapporteurs on summary executions and torture said: "International 
agencies, as well as States providing bilateral technical assistance to combat 
drug crime, must ensure that the programmes to which they contribute do not 
ultimately result in violations of the right to life."

Commenting, Maya Foa, Director of the death penalty team at international human 
rights charity Reprieve, said: "Today's vote is a stinging rebuke of 'EU 
execution aid' by MEPs from across the political spectrum. As the UNODC seeks 
to negotiate secretive funding deals for drug police in Iran and Pakistan, MEPs 
have made clear that European taxpayers' money should never enable executions. 
The European Commission must now lay out its plans to end European aid for 
executions once and for all - and do so in a transparent and open manner."

Jean Lambert MEP, said: "For far too long the European Union and Member States 
have given their backing to aggressive anti-drug operations which send 
non-violent offenders to death row. This support undermines Europe's position 
on capital punishment and is helping to fuel a global resurgence in the use of 
the death penalty for drug offences. Instead of enabling executions in this 
way, the EU should be using its influence constructively, and making all such 
support strictly conditional on recipient states abolishing the death penalty 
for drug crimes. Our resolution has been passed today with a resounding 
majority reflecting all shades of political opinion, and European decision 
makers must sit up and take note."

Richard Howitt MEP said: "It is a disgrace that European taxpayers' money is 
being used to fuel executions overseas. It's perfectly possible to assist 
foreign law enforcement bodies while applying common sense conditions which 
ensure our aid does not lead to executions. The EU has must look into the 
consequences of its lethal counter-narcotics assistance, and that's why I'm 
pleased that today a resounding majority of MEPs have called for transparent 
annual reports on this spending."

* The text of the resolution can be read here: 
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML%2BMO...

*The most up-to-date figures on the number of executions in Iran this year, 
including those for drug offences, released by Iran Human Rights can be read 
here: http://iranhr.net/en/articles/2335/

* Reprieve http://www.reprieve.org.uk/

(source: ekklesia.co.uk)






IRAN----executions

3 more prisoners hanged in Iran


3 prisoners were hanged in a notorious jail north-west of the Iranian capital 
on Wednesday.

The 3 men were hanged at dawn in Gohardasht (Rajai-Shahr) Prison in the city of 
Karaj.

They had been transferred to solitary confinement earlier in the week in 
preparation for their execution.

The mullahs' regime on Tuesday hanged 4 other men in northern and southern 
Iran.

The regime's judiciary in Qazvin Province, north-west of Tehran, said a 
prisoner only identified by his 1st name Aliyar was hanged on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday the fundamentalist regime hanged 3 prisoners in Adel-Abad 
Prison in Shiraz, southern Iran.

They were identified as Ali Baz Khosravi, Mostafa Khosravi and Ali Baz Nourian.

On Sunday Mr. Aziz Maktabi was hanged in the same prison.

The mullahs' regime in Iran continues to execute more of its citizens per 
capita than any other U.N. member state. Some 2000 people have been executed 
during Hassan Rouhani's presidency in the past 2 years.

A statement by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 
Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on August 5 said: "Iran has reportedly executed 
more than 600 individuals so far this year. Last year, at least 753 people were 
executed in the country."

Amnesty International said on September 7 that "the Iranian authorities must 
end their unprecedented killing spree - more than 700 people have been executed 
so far this year."

(source: NCR-Iran)