[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 13



EGYPT:

Egypt court ratifies 'IS' death sentences


A court in Egypt on Saturday ratified death sentences for 12 people convicted 
of planning attacks on behalf of the jihadist Islamic State group.

6 of those whose sentences were confirmed are in custody, while 6 were tried in 
absentia.

All were convicted of having joined IS -- which has declared a "caliphate" in 
parts of Iraq and Syria under its control -- and of plotting to attack Egypt's 
police force and military.

The court in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya had recommended the death 
sentence for the men last month, and was awaiting the mufti's approval to 
ratify the ruling.

The mufti, the government's official interpreter of Islamic law, issues a 
non-binding opinion in such cases.

Those convicted can appeal a ruling before the Court of Cassation, which may 
either uphold the verdict or order a retrial.

Hundreds of Islamists have been sentenced to death since the military toppled 
Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Many, including Morsi himself, have appealed.

7 have been executed.

Morsi's overthrow unleashed a deadly crackdown on Islamists that killed 
hundreds of protesters.

Militants loyal to IS, meanwhile, have killed hundreds of police and soldiers, 
mostly in attacks in the Sinai Peninsula.

(source: al-monitor.com)






AFGHANISTAN----public stonings

Couple stoned to death by Taliban on adultery charges in Sar-i-Pul


A man and woman have been stoned to death by Taliban militants in northern 
Sar-i-Pul province for having immoral contacts.

Abdul Jabar Haqbin, acting governor of Sar-i-Pul province said that Taliban had 
kidnapped the man and woman 3 days before.

He said Taliban planned to execute the hostages on Friday but it was delayed 
due to an airstrike by Afghan forces.

Haqbin added that the execution was ultimately carried in Kata Qala area of 
Suzma Qala District on yesterday.

Reports suggest that both the woman and man have children.

Taliban announce punishment to villagers based on the decision of their illegal 
courts, also called 'desert courts'.

They assign judges in large areas coming under their control.

Before this incident, Taliban have publicly executed people in different parts 
of the country including Nangarhar, Logar, Ghazni, Helmand, Zabul and Farah 
provinces.

(source: rawa.org)






INDIA:

Death penalty: Life can be far worse, says the Mahabharata


It has been over a month since we hanged Yakub Memon. Since then many Indians 
have wondered, what did we achieve? Some are worried that we may have made 
Yakub into a martyr, especially among a section of Muslims who feel that they 
are singled out for the death penalty. Others believe that justice was done, 
sending a powerful signal to terrorists. In a landmark report, the Law 
Commission, headed by Justice Ajit Prakash Shah, has now recommended abolishing 
capital punishment, except in terrorist cases. Among its reasons: the state 
must never be guilty of killing an innocent person; there's no link between 
death penalty and the amount of crime; and death sentences are inherently 
arbitrary, with no principled method to remove arbitrariness. As for me, I 
believe that keeping a person alive in maximum-security, solitary confinement 
without the prospect of bail is a far greater punishment than death.

Human beings have long wrestled with the right relationship between crime and 
punishment. When we lived in tribes, individuals and clans avenged crimes. 
After we moved into civil society, we gave the state monopoly power to punish 
crimes under due process of law. However, the idea that 'if a good person 
suffers, the bad one should suffer even more' is embedded in our psyches. We 
deny it, proclaiming piously 'I'm not the sort of person who holds grudges'. 
Yet we applaud when the villain gets what he deserves in life, in novels and 
movies.

Thirst for revenge is a powerful instinct in human beings. Many psychologists 
think it bad for it damages the 'core of the whole being'. Others argue that 
vindictive emotions are legitimate and bringing criminals to justice restores 
moral equilibrium in our lives. Thinkers from Plato onwards believed in the 
legitimacy of retributive justice. Punishment creates moral equality between 
victim and offender; forgiveness makes the offender superior to the victim.

The other aim of punishment is to deter future crime - provide incentive for a 
normal person to obey the law. In the past 50 years, public opinion shifted in 
the West from retribution and deterrence to reforming and rehabilitating 
criminals. But rehabilitation programmes in prisons mostly failed and 
criminologists became disillusioned. Today, the global debate is more modest - 
about ensuring that punishment is fair and proportional to the crime. One is 
painfully aware, however, how difficult it is to achieve proportionality in 
practice. Prison sentences vary widely for the same crime in the same country.

Crime and punishment is the central theme of Ashwatthama's story in the 
Mahabharata. By all accounts, Ashwatthama was a fine young man - confident, 
modest and fair-minded. The son of the great teacher, Drona, he grew up in the 
privileged company of princes. When war is declared, he finds himself on the 
wrong side. He fights with integrity and in the end accepts the defeat of the 
Kauravas. He is outraged at the deceitful death of his father, however, and 
vows revenge. He sets fire to the victorious, sleeping armies of the Pandavas. 
His night-time massacre is a deed so repulsive that it turns the mood of the 
epic from martial triumphalism to dark, stoic resignation.

When Draupadi, Pandavas' queen, learns that all her children died in the night 
massacre, she cries for vengeance. When Ashwatthama is finally captured, the 
Pandavas debate over the right punishment for his horrendous crime. Death would 
be too kind, they agree. Krishna ultimately pronounces the sentence: 'For 3,000 
years you will wander on this earth, alone, and invisible, stinking of blood 
and pus.'

Indians have long felt ambivalent about the death penalty; hence, very few 
executions have taken place since Independence (57 in 68 years). Most of the 
world has abolished it - only 36 have not and this includes India and the US. 
The UN resolution says that it 'undermines human dignity'. But I am not 
convinced. I would argue that retaining the death penalty, in fact, enhances 
human dignity. The most serious argument for its abolition is that it is almost 
impossible to implement it fairly; why have we not used it, for instance, 
against the ghastly crimes of the Naxalites? Whether Krishna's sentence meets 
the test of proportionality, the Mahabharata has the right idea - keeping a 
person alive, brooding and suffering over his deed, is a far greater punishment 
than death.

(source: Gucharan Das, The Times of India)






INDONESIA:

Death row British grandmother plays with granddaughter for 'first and final' 
time ---- Lindsay Sandiford, 59, says after playing with two-year-old Ayla that 
she is 'just grateful I've met her'


A British grandmother who faces death by firing squad in Indonesia has met her 
granddaughter for the 1st time.

Lindsay Sandiford, 59, was informed she was among a group of 10 convicted drug 
smugglers scheduled for execution on the 21 September, prompting a desperate 
attempt to reach out to her family for the last time.

Officials in Indonesia later informed Ms Sandiford's legal team that all 
executions would be suspended until at least the end of this year.

But that plans were already in motion for 2-year-old Ayla, who was born 7 
months after Ms Sandiford's arrest in Bali in May 2012, to fly out and meet her 
grandmother for the 1st time.

The pair met a number of times over the last week, according to the Mail on 
Sunday, along with Ayla's parents. They were pictured sat on the floor, playing 
with a Barbie toy set.

Ms Sandiford's stay of execution means she now has at least 3 months to try and 
raise the 25,000 pounds she needs to fund a final appeal against her death 
penalty.

She told the Mail the delay represented "just more torture". "I'm just grateful 
I've met Ayla," she said. "It's hard to come to terms with the fact I might not 
see her again and she might not remember me, but I'm so glad I got to spend 
time with her."

David Cameron raised the case when he made a state visit to Indonesia in late 
July, and said he hoped to "help the family concerned". The British government 
has nonetheless said it will not help fund any of Ms Sandiford's legal costs.

Dee Stepo, a British pastor who lives in Australia and runs a Facebook page 
raising funds for Ms Sandiford's cause, oversaw a blessing ceremony for the 
family in Bali.

She wrote on Facebook on Sunday: "Please note no dates have been set for 
executions. We will always believe for justice and a miracle."

(source: The Independent)






IRAN----executions

Iranian Authorities Execute 2 Prisoners in Gilan for Drug Possession


2 prisoners with drug related charges were hanged to death at *Rasht Central 
Prison on the morning of Saturday September 12, according to the Iranian 
official media source Seda o Sima.

One of the prisoners was reportedly 34 years old and sentenced to death for 
possessing 3 Kilograms and 700 Grams of crystal meth and 20 Litres of raw 
substances for the production of crystal meth. The other prisoner was 
reportedly 45 years old and sentenced to death for possessing 1 Kilogram of 
crack.

* Rasht Central Prison is also known as Lakan Prison and is located in the 
province of Gilan, northern Iran.

(source: Iran Human Rights)