[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 6



IRAN:

5 Rajai Shahr Prisoners Scheduled for Execution Spared From Death


5 prisoners in Rajai Shahr Prison who are sentenced to death for murder have 
had their lives spared after receiving a last-minute reprieve from the 
plaintiffs on their case. The prisoners, who were scheduled to be executed on 
Wednesday September 2, were reportedly returned to their cells. 2 of the 
prisoners' names are Davoud Alambeigi and Ghorban Mohammadi. The names of the 3 
other prisoners are not known at this time. Their executions have been 
postponed from 1 month to 1 year.

Earlier in the week Iran Human Rights had reported on the 5 prisoners, when 
they were transferred from their wards to solitary confinement in preparation 
for their death sentences to be carried out.

According to official sources in Iran, in the past week, 8 prisoners sentenced 
to death for murder have had their lives spared by the plaintiffs on their 
cases.

(source: Iran Human Rights)






TANZANIA:

NGO tells Govt to amend death penalty codes


Children Education Society (CHESO), a local non-governmental organization (NGO) 
has expressed concern over the country's penal laws saying it was prudent for 
the next government to amend such penalty to protect the rights of juvenile and 
pregnant women offenders.

Addressing journalists in Dar es Salaam, this week CHESO Executive Chairman 
Richard Shimbala said even though some laws were prohibiting imposition of 
death penalty to juvenile offenders, sighting section 26(2) of the penal code.

"There are many pathetic aspects of death penalty to children that needs a 
comprehensive revamp considering an aspect of human rights," he said.

The activist said, some of the legal aspects considerate are notoriously 
unreliable and doubtful and risking the juveniles to be declared adult even 
though cases were being faced were committed at their tender age.

"For example, when medical personnel are invited to courts to evaluate the age 
of an accused person , they tend to measure, writs, weight, height, or 
condition of the death" ...forgetting the higher possibility that such 
circumferences can completely give unreliable evidence.

However, Shimbala blamed the same law for imposing life sentence for pregnant 
women convicted of murder saying "the term imprisonment for life means that the 
prisoner remains in jail for lifetime till death".

He said the current law does not protect such groups when faced by death 
penalty something that continue to create poverty to disadvantaged families 
especially women and children.

He said the law that needs amendment includes the Penal Code (chapter 16 of the 
laws of Tanzania, amended in 2002) and the Criminal Procedure Act (chapter 20 
of the laws, revised edition, 2002).

According to him, the country still needs to maintains 2 pieces of legislation 
providing death penalty mandates which includes; the Penal Code and the 
National Defense Act, No 24 of 1996 (chapter 47 of the laws).

(source: ippmedia.com)






LIBYA:

ISIS orders parents to MARRY OFF their daughters to its depraved 
fighters----Terrified parents in Libya have been ordered to MARRY OFF their 
daughters to depraved Islamic State (ISIS) fighters, it emerged today.


Sex-crazed Islamists in the coastal city of Sirte are looking to force mothers 
and fathers to hand over their young girls in the name of jihad.

Those who refuse could find themselves hauled before a Sharia court, with 
public floggings and even the death penalty amongst the punishments routinely 
handed down by Isis militants.

The move comes after Express.co.uk revealed how Nigerian terror group Boko 
Haram has sent hundreds of fighters to Sirte to help the jihadis hold the city.

The hated terror group has declared the Sirte its new capital in north Africa 
as part of its bid to create a so-called caliphate.

In a sermon to Sirte's terrified people - who recently rebelled against their 
new Isis rulers - militant Hassan al-Karami ordered locals to marry off their 
female relatives to Isis fighters.

He said that mothers and fathers should "step up and take the initiative" by 
handing over their daughters as part of jihad. Isis has made similar demands in 
areas it has captured in Iraq and Syria, with many women revealing the horrific 
treatment they have received at the hands of its twisted and depraved fighters.

The Benghazi-born jihadist also declared the city, once the hometown of Colonel 
Gaddafi, to be part of the so-called caliphate.

Isis has declared its intention to use the Mediterranean city as a springboard 
from which to invade Europe.

Speaking at a mosque in the city's third district, where an ill-fated anti-Isis 
rebellion was brutally crushed two weeks ago, al-Karami announced that the 
group will set up Sharia Law courts in Sirte to hand down brutal punishments to 
anyone who questions their rule. Penalties for anybody who disobeys the 
Islamist fanatics will include public flogging and even the death sentence.

He also said that the city's university will be reopened in a bid to brainwash 
local inhabitants. It will teach a strictly Isis-approved curriculum, and men 
and women will be completely separated.

Boosted by hundreds of heavily armed Boko Haram warriors, al-Karami also 
taunted the group's enemies, who are trying to take back the city.

Referring to a newly formed Arab League force, which has vowed to fight Isis, 
he boasted: "The Islamic State does not fear the infidel apostate Arab 
coalition against it."

Libya's embattled government has called for international air-strikes on Isis 
to halts its rapid spread through northern Africa.

Last month Isis announced plans to use Sirte as a springboard to invade Europe, 
urging its militants to make the short journey across the Mediterranean and 
"conquer Rome".

The jihadists in Sirte have threatened to turn their attentions on nearby 
Europe, saying in propaganda videos that they will "conquer Rome".

(source: Sunday Express)






THE MALDIVES:

Maldives Pres condemns lawyer stabbing, reiterates death penalty vow


President Abdulla Yameen on Saturday strongly condemned the stabbing of 
opposition lawyer Mahfooz Saeed.

Speaking during the closing ceremony of his re-election convention to identify 
leaders for his campaign in the 2018 presidential polls, president Yameen 
condemned the attack in the strongest term.

He reiterated that the government will impose capital punishment to stop future 
attacks.

"I'm extremely saddened. It is simply not right for a person to suffer this 
type of physical injury over what he does or says. We need to stop such crimes 
in the Maldives. Under the security angle of our YES campaign, we will enforce 
the death penalty for premeditated murder," president stressed.

Meanwhile, home minister Umar Naseer has also condemned the attack and vowed to 
bring the perpetrators to justice.

Maldives human rights watchdog has urged authorities to fast track the 
investigation and deliver swift justice.

Mahfooz who is a member of former president Mohamed Nasheed's legal team was 
stabbed in the left side of his head while he was on his motorbike on Friday. 
The knife had missed his eye-socket by a few millimeters.

State run Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) had said Mahfooz was now out 
of danger after a 3 hour emergency surgery.

(source: haveeru.com)




BARBADOS:

Keep noose


RETIRED HIGH COURT JUSTICE Leroy Inniss says he is personally not against the 
imposition of the death penalty, and believes it should remain on the statute 
books.

"We have not had anyone here executed for a very long time and I would be very 
surprised if it happens in the very near future," Inniss told the SATURDAY SUN 
yesterday. But he maintained there was "nothing wrong in keeping it on the 
statute books if at some time it has to be used".

While he noted that most countries around the world were refraining from 
execution, he said in view of the heinous crimes being committed in Barbados 
that were attracting a public outcry, "it might be good to let it remain there 
(on the statute book) in case you think you have to use it".

Speaking against a background of public calls for retention of the death 
penalty, the former judge said: "I don't think that research shows it makes any 
particular difference. But in my own view, I am certainly not against the death 
penalty being imposed on persons."

(source: Nation News)






INDIA:

Capital Punishment Violates Human Rights and the Constitution


It's largely due to the anxiety among people to know more about an incident 
full of bizarre developments - like the Sheena Bora murder case - which gets 
the eye balls. It is natural for a human being to yearn for being the first to 
know. Though the emphasis given by media on certain points which it considers 
vital for making a news interesting or for its one-upmanship, it is for the 
people to form their own opinion.

The possibility of a consensus among millions of information-starved-people 
will always be bleak. How much is too much, will also remain a dilemma. So is 
the legitimacy of other punitive actions in a variety of heinous crimes that 
attract the extreme penalty of death or imprisonment. Or for that matter, the 
necessity of putting up a person for trial in a case on the basis of fractured 
"public opinion".

A similar argument was placed by the Union government in defence of retaining 
death sentence on statute. It told the Law Commission that has, however, in a 
split opinion recommended abolition of the capital sentence except in terror 
cases, that "public opinion demands it".

Capital Punishment Debate

Undoubtedly, a government could plead in the name of "public opinion" to 
further its own agenda on an important issue. The retention or abolition of the 
capital sentence had taken the centre stage of media pages when the sole death 
convict in 1983 Mumbai serial blasts case Yakub Abdul Razak Memon was trying 
hard to seek the indulgence of Supreme Court for commutation of the extreme 
penalty into life imprisonment. He lost the last remedy after about 3-hour long 
mid-night hearing by a bench of 3 Supreme Court judges on July 30, 2015. He was 
hanged at 7 AM.

It wasn't for the 1st time that the sentence for death to a terror convict had 
taken a political turn. Similar division of public opinion was seen when the 
Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged. But the sentence for death is 
also a hot cake for intense debates in view of the fact that it has been banned 
in at least 140 countries because it's inhuman and archaic.

A decision to abolish the death sentence could be taken either by keeping aside 
the public opinion or the sentence could be handed out by a judge after taking 
into account the views of public. Perhaps, both the propositions are 
far-fetched in the prevailing dispensation system.

Law Commission's Report

"One could argue that public opinion is indeed a factor to be considered while 
making important decisions which affect the population at large. However, it is 
not necessary for the government to follow public opinion on every issue", the 
Law Commission chairman A P Shah said in a lengthy report which was submitted 
to Union Law Minister D V Sadanand Gowda on August 31,2015.

Disapproving of the government's stand on death sentence, the multi-member 
commission said, "Indeed, the Government has a duty to drive public opinion 
towards options which support fairness, dignity and justice, which are 
constitutionally enshrined ideals". There are undisputed precedents where laws, 
policies and practices that were inconsistent with human right standards were 
supported by a majority of the people, but were proven wrong. Eventually they 
were abolished or banned. "Leaders must show the way how deeply incompatible 
the death penalty is with human dignity", the Commission counsels the 
government.

"Very few of the current abolitionist countries would have been able to ever 
abolish the death penalty had they waited for public opinion to change on the 
issue. Moreover, once the death penalty was abolished, the legal framework 
motivated the public opinion to change radically on the issue, and now the 
death penalty is thought of as unthinkable", it adds.

Doing Away with Archaic Practices

Take the case of India where certain laws relating to social issues such as 
Sati, dowry, untouchability, and child marriage underwent changes for the 
betterment of society. All these medieval practices have been banned now. 
Needless to say the government has the power to lead public opinion even 
against deeply entrenched cultural norms.

Thus, it is an obligation to act accordingly when faced with issues concerning 
human dignity and equality. The existence of death sentence in India is 
abhorrent and an anathema to human rights and Article 21 of the Constitution 
that guarantees right to life with dignity. Fundamental rights don???t cease to 
exist at the gate of prison.

It may be pointed out that a court does not have the means to rigorously 
examine public opinion in a given matter. A cohesive, coherent and consistent 
public opinion remains a "fiction" for the dispensation machinery. The 
Commission, therefore, feels that the opinion of members of the public can be 
"capricious, and dependent upon the (mis) information that the 'public' is 
provided not only of the facts of an individual case, but of the criminal 
justice process itself".

In such a situation, capital sentencing becomes "a spectacle in media". If 
awarding of sentence is in consonance with the wishes of the majority, the 
media trial also becomes a possibility, something that's impossible in a 
country guided by the rule of law and the Constitution. In such situations, 
invoking public opinion would defeat the entire framework enumerated in some 
judgements and the Constitution.

(source: Rakeksh Bhatnagar--The writer is a Delhi-based senior journalist; 
thequint.com)