[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 19


IRAN:

If All Cultures Are Equally Valid, Can Iran Kill Gay People? ---- Gay Air 
France attendants want to be excused from working flights to Iran, because Iran 
applies the death penalty to gay people. It's yet another exposure of 
multiculturalism's contradictions.

Air France is about to resume flights to Iran after an 8-year hiatus, and in an 
internal memo told their female flight attendants that when they deboard in 
Iran they must wear a headscarf to comply with Iranian laws. Not surprisingly, 
the French flight attendants revolted. They claimed this would seriously 
violate their right to the secularism that is so fundamental to the French 
state. In response, Air France agreed to allow them to opt out of working 
Iran-bound flights.

Now, another group of Air France employees is protesting the requirement that 
they work this new route. Gay male flight attendants have started a petition 
that would give themselves a similar option as their female colleagues. But 
their cause goes beyond a violation of their secular rights. In Iran, 
homosexuality is illegal, and not just in name only. The punishments range from 
several dozen lashes to the death penalty.

If these flight attendants deboard in Iran, they risk arrest and death. Would 
Iran jeopardize the recent diplomatic thaw by arresting a French citizen under 
these charges? Probably not, although after Iran seized 10 U.S. sailors in 
January it's hard to say. But that isn't the point.

The point is, while the West congratulates itself on the Obama administration's 
diplomatic "achievement" vis-a-vis Iran, we are reminded that the Islamic 
theocracy has serious problems with human rights, especially regarding the gay 
community.

Multiculturalism's Contradictions

Although there has been some outcry over Iran's human rights record since the 
Iran nuclear deal, media organizations have, for the most part, downplayed it. 
They're more engrossed in human interest stories that conform to their 
narrative that life in the Middle East is not so different from life in the 
West. This is, of course, an important message for us to hear, and we should 
encourage awareness of our similarities where they exist. But not at the 
expense of hiding our differences or dismissing systematic violations of human 
rights, and not to promote a progressive, utopic vision of multicultural bliss.

The fact is, there's a persistent problem with multicultural ideology that sees 
evidence of injustice and discrimination everywhere at home, but turns a blind 
eye abroad.

Take, for example, women's rights. In the United States, the Left sees bias, 
sexual harassment, and micro-aggressions against women around every corner. 
They have convinced themselves that men and women are paid radically different 
salaries, culminating in last Tuesday's "equal pay day," even though when 
looking only at earners who are not primary care-givers that difference all but 
disappears.

Meanwhile, in many Muslim countries, a woman must get a man's permission before 
being allowed to work at all. This is because women are largely restricted to 
the "home sphere" as opposed to the "public" one. But a progressive will more 
or less give you the old "separate but equal" line to justify what they claim 
merely boils down to "cultural differences."

There's also a backlash against those who speak out on the issue. Ayaan Hirsi 
Ali was disinvited from Brandeis University for her views on women and Islam, 
and Mona Eltahawy's article "Why Do They Hate Us?" sparked outrage from the 
Left.

How Multiculturalism Contradicts Freedom

The same hypocrisy is on display regarding gay rights in Muslim countries. 
While the hardships of being homosexual in these countries are sometimes 
reported in Western media, there is usually very little discussion of why 
countries that adhere to Islam persecute homosexuality. That Western media 
seems to have so little interest in this is surprising, given that more than 75 
% of people in Lebanon, Turkey, the Palestinian territories, Egypt, Jordan, and 
Tunisia don't think society should accept homosexuality.

If all cultures are equal, no culture can be criticized.

The West is skittish about criticizing any aspect of Islamic culture, 
regardless of how much it might fly in the face of progressive values, because 
the multicultural framework forbids it. If all cultures are equal, no culture 
can be criticized.

In academia, it's pedestrian to see posters for talks on hyper-specific aspects 
of homosexuality in America and their attendant discriminations. Campus 
activism for LGBT rights is a hallmark of the academy. So is the promotion and 
defense of Muslim culture. But it's rare to see any acknowledgement of how 
these two causes sometimes clash.

The Left Sacrifices Gay People to Islamists

As is the case with women's rights, multiculturalism ends up winning out over 
the human rights of homosexuals in the Middle East. Progressives would prefer 
to avoid insulting the Muslim community abroad rather than point out that they 
have a systemic problem with how they view and treat homosexuality in their 
countries.

As is the case with women's rights, multiculturalism ends up winning out over 
the human rights of homosexuals in the Middle East.

This hypocrisy is especially pronounced at a time when so many people who have 
invested in multiculturalism as a political philosophy and way of life are 
gnashing their teeth over the trans bathroom fight now raging across the 
country. Jimmy Buffett and Bruce Springsteen have even canceled their shows in 
North Carolina and Mississippi to object to what they see as a grave injustice.

How trivial and unimportant this must seem to a man in Iran who is about to be 
put to death for living with a male partner, or to the gay men living under 
ISIS or the al-Qaeda-backed al-Nusra Front, who are thrown off buildings and 
stoned to death. How little perspective this shows on the part of the Left. I'm 
not arguing that all fights against discrimination at home are insignificant. 
But there should be some awareness of how focused we are on gay rights in the 
United States compared to what we are willing to brush aside in the name of 
tolerance when it comes to Muslim societies. We're willing to chock it up to 
cultural differences - if we dare to bring it up at all.

So as we celebrate the "historic" nuclear deal, we ought to remember that all 
is not well in Iran. Air France employees, at least, are seeing it first-hand.

(source: M. G. Oprea is a writer based in Austin, Texas. She holds a PhD in 
French linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin----The Federalist)






UNITED NATIONS:

Countries Clash Over Death Penalty at UN Drug Policy Session


The 1st U.N. special session to address global drug policy in nearly 20 years 
bristled with tension Tuesday over the use of the death penalty for 
drug-related offenses, as countries wrestled over whether to emphasize 
criminalization and punishment or health and human rights.

The outcome document adopted by member states included no criticism of the 
death penalty, saying only that countries should ensure that punishments are 
"proportionate" with the crimes.

"Disproportional penalties ... create vicious cycles of marginalization and 
further crime," Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto told the gathering. He 
also called for the decriminalization of marijuana for medical and scientific 
purposes and said the international community's responses to drug issues is 
"frankly, insufficient."

He said Mexico in the coming days would announce specific drug policies with an 
emphasis on health and human rights.

Indonesia, which last year executed 14 people, mostly foreigners, convicted of 
drug-related crimes amid an international outcry, defended its stance Tuesday, 
saying the death penalty is not prohibited under international law.

China, which along with countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran carries out 
executions for drug offenses, signaled little flexibility on its approach.

"Any form of legalization of narcotics should be resolutely opposed," Public 
Security Minister Guo Shengkun told the gathering.

Prior to this week's 3-day meeting, Democratic presidential candidates Hillary 
Clinton and Bernie Sanders, rock star Sting and hundreds of others sent an open 
to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon letter saying the war on drugs has 
failed. It said that for decades, governments have focused resources on 
repressing drug use, resulting in the imprisonment of millions of people, 
mostly the poor and ethnic minorities, and mostly for non-violent offenses.

The letter's signers, including former presidents of Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, 
Switzerland and others, joined a growing number of government officials and 
drug policy analysts calling for a shift in global drug policy from emphasizing 
criminalization to health and human rights.

Hundreds of government officials, representatives of non-governmental 
organizations and individuals from civil society are attending the General 
Assembly special session at U.N. headquarters.

The last special session on the topic in 1998 ended with the lofty but 
unattainable goal of ridding the planet of illegal drugs by 2008.

On the non-medical use of drugs, the outcome document adopted Tuesday says 
countries should "develop and implement countermeasures and supportive public 
health, education and socioeconomic strategies to effectively address and 
counter the non-medical use and misuse of pharmaceuticals that contain narcotic 
drugs and psychotropic substances, while ensuring their availability for 
legitimate purposes."

Last month, The Global Commission on Drug Policy - whose members include former 
presidents of Mexico and Brazil, as well as former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi 
Annan and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson - said in a statement that 
discussions drafting the outcome document adopted Tuesday relied too heavily on 
an outdated approach that emphasizes criminal justice and prohibition.

The group argued that the emphasis should instead be on alternative approaches 
including abolishing capital punishment for drug-related offenses and a focus 
on treatment.

(source: Associated Press)






MALAYSIA:

Drugs: Trial of salesman starts


The trial of a 29-year-old salesman charged with trafficking 2,510.4gm of syabu 
began on Monday at the High Court here.

Leong Hon Choong, a West Malaysian, is accused of committing the offence at 
10.30pm on Feb 12, 2015 at the office of the Narcotic Investigation Department 
in the State police headquarters at Kepayan here.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Gan Peng Kun in tendering the opening address told 
Judge Datuk Nurchaya Hj Arshad the prosecution would show that the totality of 
the evidence will point to the irresistible conclusion that Leong in his own 
behalf trafficked the said drugs.

He said the prosecution would prove that at 9am on Feb 12, 2015, a narcotic 
raiding team was led to the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) Terminal 
2 and on arrival, they saw the accused, Leong, bringing a black luggage bag.

They approached him and conducted a body search but found no incriminating 
object.

Leong remained silent when he was asked whether he had any drugs and he and the 
luggage were then brought to the police headquarters.

The police proceeded to inspect his luggage after a caution under Section 37B 
of the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) was read and translated in Mandarin for Leong.

The luggage which was locked was cut open.

DPP Gan said further evidence would be led by the prosecution to show that 
police found 2 golden boxes with Chinese characters each containing four black 
plastics with Chinese characters containing crystalline substances believed to 
be dangerous drugs in the luggage.

He said that the 8 black plastics were kept inside a box and that the 
prosecution would also adduce evidence the box was sent to the Chemistry 
Department on Feb 16 and that the analysis on the crystalline substance was 
found to contain 2,510.4 gm of methamphetamine (syabu).

The prosecution will rely on Section 37A of the DDA to invoke the presumption 
provided under Section 37(d) of the DDA to show that Leong had in custody the 
black luggage containing the dangerous drugs and therefore, deemed to have been 
in possession and knew the nature of such drugs, said DPP Gan.

The prosecution is expected to call about 9 witnesses in the trial which is 
scheduled for four days until April 21.

Leong, who stands charged under Section 39B of the DDA which carries the death 
penalty, is represented by counsel Ram Singh.

(source: Daily Express)






UGANDA:

MP Atiku supports continuity of death penalty


Ayivu county Member of Parliament Bernard Atiku has voiced his support for the 
maintaining of the death penalty.

The lawmakers' pronouncement comes in the wake of efforts to amend four laws 
with reference to the death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment for 
the most serious offences/crimes.

But the Attorney General Fred Ruhindi while appearing before the Parliamentary 
and Legal Affairs Committee on April 14 proposed that the Bill be merged with 
the government's proposals prepared by the Uganda Law Reform Commission.

Atiku and some members of the public in Arua spoke in favour of the death 
penalty. The private members bill is being moved by Serere Woman MP Alice 
Alaso.

(source: newvision.co.ug)


INDONESIA:

Death penalty defended by Indonesian leader


Indonesia's president has defended his country's use of the death penalty for 
drug offences, arguing during his visit to Germany that drug abuse constitutes 
an emergency.

Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws and more than 130 people on death row, 
mostly for drug crimes.

Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed last year after 
trying to smuggle drugs through Bali in 2005, and Indonesian authorities have 
recently said the country is preparing to execute more foreigners convicted of 
drug offences.

President Joko Widodo said on Monday that Indonesia 'has an emergency, above 
all in drug abuse'.

He said 30 to 50 people a day die in Indonesia because of drugs.

'Implementation of the death penalty is carried out very cautiously,' Joko said 
through an interpreter.

He spoke after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who underlined 
Germany's opposition to capital punishment and its wish for Indonesia 'not to 
implement it if possible'.

(source: Sky News)

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

What deterrent? BNN reported huge increase in drug users in months after last 
executions


Despite heavy criticism from the human rights activists and the international 
community, Indonesia executed 14 people in 2015. All had been convicted of 
drug-related crimes. Nearly a year after the last round of executions, 
Indonesia looks prepared to move forward with a fresh wave of state-sanctioned 
killings in the near future.

President Joko Widodo, after his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, 
once again defended Indonesia's use of the death penalty, saying "Indonesia 
currently has an emergency, above all in drug abuse." He also once again cited 
the figure that 30-50 people a day die because of drugs in Indonesia (a highly 
dubious statistic).

Of course, in defending the use of the death penalty against drug smugglers, 
President Jokowi and others in the government are making the assumption that 
the death penalty acts as a deterrent to others who might try to smuggle, sell 
or use drugs in Indonesia.

And that is a very questionable assumption. Many academics have argued that 
there is no evidence that the death penalty acts as a deterrent using empirical 
evidence. But most of that evidence is based upon homicide rates in other 
countries like the United States. Perhaps, in the specific case of Indonesia 
and drug crimes, circumstances are different enough that that data could be 
considered inapplicable?

But now it has been nearly a year since April 29, 2015, when the Indonesian 
Government, with the eyes of the whole world watching them, executed 8 people 
for drug smuggling. If the government's assumption about the death penalty's 
deterrent power is correct, then we should have seen a significant decrease in 
drug use in the time that followed.

Instead, apparently just the opposite happened. According to data released by 
the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), Indonesia actually experienced a huge 
increase in drug users over the last year.

This is the point that is being argued by Matius Arif Mirdjaja, a preacher and 
human rights activist who was baptised by former Bali 9 member Andrew Chan (who 
was 1 of the 8 executed in April 2015) inside Bali's Kerobokan Prison.

As Matius pointed out, according to BNN???s own data, from May to December 
2015, the number of drug users jumped by over 40%.

"In fact, the numbers of drug users, according to the head of BNN, increased 
significantly, by 1.7 million, during the period of time from June to November 
2015. In June 2015 they said there were 4.2 million users while in November 
2015 there were 5.9 million," Matthew wrote to Tribunnews on Monday.

(We checked and BNN Chief Budi Waseso did indeed declare that there were 5.9 
million drug users in Indonesia in November 2015, up from 4.2 million users in 
June 2015.)

Matius also pointed out that during that same period BNN seized 620,345 
kilograms of methamphetamines, 235 kilograms of marijuana and 580,141 pills of 
ecstasy. As we know, there have also been plenty of major drug smuggling busts 
in 2016 as well.

If the government really believes that the death penalty serves as any kind of 
deterrent, how can they explain this radical increase in usage and the large 
numbers of drugs still found to be flowing into the country?

Matius said the above numbers illustrate why executions simply do not act as a 
deterrent to criminals - it simply has no psychological impact on them.

"Those numbers are just the tip of the iceberg, what is visible on the surface. 
That is, the big problem is hidden just below the surface. Does this mean we 
should just kill more drug smugglers? Or build more prisons?"

"They way to eradicate drugs is not to kill the dealers, but to alleviate 
society's need to consume, through humanistic measures."

The government keeps saying the drug emergency in Indonesia is getting worse, 
but doesn't that just prove that the executions had no real impact? Unless the 
government wants to admit that it is simply killing criminals for the sake of 
killing them, now is the time to admit that a different solution is needed.

(source: coconuts.co)

********

Why European Leaders Must Challenge Indonesia President Joko Widodo on Human 
Rights Abuses


She was the only woman on the stage. On either side stood uniformed men, their 
stern gaze bearing down on her. The 60-year-old woman from Indonesia's Aceh 
province had been dragged out in front of a crowd to be punished for allegedly 
selling alcohol. Wearing a white robe and loose-fitting headscarf that obscured 
her face, she remained as anonymous as the hooded figure looming over her, 
brandishing a cane. In all, she received 30 strikes, becoming the first 
non-Muslim to be caned in Aceh since Indonesian authorities there introduced a 
controversial brand of Sharia law.

She wasn't, however, the 1st woman to be punished in this cruel and inhumane 
way. A widely circulated video from December 2015 shows a younger Muslim woman 
being caned for supposedly drifting into "close proximity" of a man she wasn't 
married to. In the video, the woman is shown emitting a cry of anguish each 
time the cane snapped against her back. Before the cane could be raised for a 
5th time, she fell forward, head first, on to the stage, unable to bear the 
pain any longer.

When Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, also known as 'Jokowi,' tours Europe 
this week, it will be as the leader of over 250 million people and a nearly 
$900 billion economy, expected to continue growing over the next 5 years at a 
steady clip of over 5 %. After meetings in Germany, he will be received by 
officials in Brussels, and then be feted by U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer 
George Osborne for 3 days. His final stop will be at The Hague, in the 
Netherlands, the seat of international justice.

It would be a travesty if, in their conversations with President Widodo this 
week, European leaders did not match their interest in Indonesia's resilient 
economy with questions about the country's enduring human rights issues.

When he was elected in 2014, President Widodo made a series of commitments to 
human rights, encouraging hopes of change - provoking comparisons with U.S. 
President Barack Obama's rhetoric, and not just the 2 men's slight physical 
resemblance. He promised to address historic human rights abuses, protect 
freedom of religion, combat intolerance, implement police reforms, defend 
women's rights, and protect Indonesia's indigenous people. On most of these 
fronts, and others, Amnesty International has recorded a worrying trend in the 
wrong direction.

As detailed in our annual death penalty report, in 2015, a year when the number 
of countries in the world who have abolished the death penalty became a 
majority, Indonesia executed 14 people. Within weeks of coming to power, 
President Widodo balked at suggestions that they should be granted clemency. 
Earlier this month, the Indonesian Attorney General announced plans for 10 more 
people to be executed. To this end, he has even managed to secure a budget for 
the planned executions.

President Widodo is not entirely oblivious to the injustice of the death 
penalty. In cases involving Indonesians sentenced to death abroad, especially 
in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, his government has offered them support. At home, 
sadly, President Widodo has insisted that the death penalty should serve as a 
deterrent, a notion that lacks credible evidence. In some cases, the death 
sentences handed down by Indonesian courts were the product of manifestly 
flawed legal proceedings. By our estimates, there are currently over 180 people 
on death row in Indonesia.

Indonesia's jails have also worryingly come to house new prisoners of 
conscience, dimming hopes that the release in 2015 of Filep Karma, a peaceful 
protester jailed for over a decade, would prompt further releases. Earlier this 
month, political activist Steven Itlay was charged with having committed 
"rebellion" and faces life imprisonment. Johan Teterissa, a former 
schoolteacher and political activist from Maluku province, remains behind bars 
8 years after his arrest. His crime was to have led a peaceful demonstration, 
performed a traditional war dance, and unfurled a banned Malukan flag.

In Maluka, Amnesty knows of 29 prisoners of conscience, and a further 27 in the 
restive easternmost region of Papua, where just this month peaceful protests 
were met by police arrests in 7 different cities. Far from breaking with 
Indonesia's past, it appears to be business as usual. Indeed, as the bruises 
administered to the 60-year-old woman last week will attest, the scope of human 
rights abuses in Indonesia is widening.

The European leaders who meet President Widodo this week might consider asking 
what her name is, and whether he recalls the hopeful pledges he made to her and 
millions of other Indonesians 2 years ago.

(source: Opinion; Papang Hidayat is Amnesty International's Indonesia 
Researcher----Newsweek)






INDIA:

HC upholds death for man for rape


The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has upheld the death sentence 
awarded to a man for rape and murder of a 6-year-old girl in Shravasti district 
of Uttar Pradesh in 2012, observing that leniency in such cases will send a 
wrong message to the society.

A division bench of Justices Surendra Vikram Singh Rathore and Pratyush Kumar 
delivered the judgement yesterday dismissing the appeal of convict Chhotkau and 
answering the reference sent by the sessions court for confirming the death 
penalty.

On March 29, 2014 Sessions Judge, Shravasti, had awarded death sentence to the 
convict and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on him for murder. He was also 
sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of another Rs 50,000 imposed on him 
for rape.

Chhotkau had filed the appeal challenging the order of the sessions court.

"In such cases, leniency by the court will send a wrong message to the society. 
Such type of cases deserve exemplary punishment so that persons of deviant 
behaviour may choose not to do so.

"We are of the view that this case is rarest of the rare. When by his deviant 
behaviour and abnormal sexual urge, the culprit has forfeited his right to be 
alive in the society, we think death sentence is the only punishment which can 
be warded to him," the High Court observed.

On March 8, 2012, the victims uncle had reported to police station Ikauna that 
his niece aged about 6 years was taken by Chhotkau. The girls body was later 
found from the sugarcane fields in Shravasti.

The FIR in this case was registered against Chhotkau under sections 302 
(murder) and 376 (rape) of IPC.

(source: India Today)






CHINA:

China seizes 400kg of cocaine in biggest bust in years


Chinese police have broken up a cross-border drug-trafficking ring in raids 
that seized more than 400 kilograms of cocaine - the country's biggest seizure 
in recent years, authorities said.

9 suspects, including 5 from Hong Kong, were detained over the course of the 
operation, public security authorities in the southern province of Guangdong 
said in a statement.

Under Chinese criminal law they could face execution. Chinese courts have a 
near-100 % conviction rate and the death penalty can be imposed for smuggling, 
selling, transporting or manufacturing more than one kilogram of opium, 50 
grams (1.8 ounces) of heroin or methamphetamine, or a "relatively large amount' 
of other drugs.

A total of 400.5 kilograms (883 pounds) of cocaine was seized, a "record 
amount" for a single case anywhere in the country in recent years, the police 
statement said Monday.

(source: Manila Times)






BANGLADESH:

One to walk gallows for killing wife


A Dhaka court has awarded the death penalty to Md Sharif for killing his wife 
at Savar in 2014.

Judge SM Kudduszaman of Dhaka district and sessions judge court handed down the 
verdict in the presence of the convict on Monday.

The court recorded depositions of 14 out of 21 prosecution witnesses during the 
trial proceedings in the sensational murder case.

On June 7, 2014, Sharif stabbed his wife Shilpi Aktar and sister-in-law Shila 
Aktar in his bedroom on suspicion over an extramarital affair at Jadurchar 
Hemayetpur of Savar upazila,

Later, Shilpi died during treatment at a hospital.

The victim's mother Samiron Begum lodged a case with the local police station 
in this connection.

Sub-inspector Abdul Kashem, also investigation officer of the case, submitted a 
charge sheet against Sharif in the case on August 28, 2014.

(source: Dhaka Tribune)