[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

August 25



IRAN:

Iran's executions continue as West prioritizes nuclear deal


Earlier this month Iran executed at least two dozen political prisoners on 
various charges of activities against the regime or membership in extremist 
groups. Though there was nothing new either with the charges or the number of 
executions, the action this time brought wide condemnation, especially by Kurds 
who thought the world was turning a blind eye to Iran's human rights violations 
due to its nuclear deal with the West.

"The application of overly broad and vague criminal charges, coupled with a 
disdain for the rights of the accused to due process and a fair trial have in 
these cases led to a grave injustice," said Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN High 
Commissioner for Human Rights.

Among those hanged was Hassan Afshar, a 19-year-old who was arrested and 
convicted of rape at the age of 17. Al Hussein called the execution of 
juveniles "particularly abhorrent."

On August 2, the Iranian government announced that it had executed 20 members 
of a "takfiri" group (a term used by Iran to denote false Islam) that were 
mainly Kurdish and Sunnis. A few days later, members of the family of Kurdish 
nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri said that he had been executed.

These executions immediately caught the attention of rights groups who 
described them as shameful and made Iran a regional leader in executions.

"Iran's mass execution of prisoners on August 2 at Rajai Shahr prison is a 
shameful low point in its human rights record," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle 
East director at Human Rights Watch, in a press release on August 8.

"With at least 230 executions since January 1, Iran is yet again the regional 
leader in executions but a laggard in implementing the so far illusory penal 
code reforms meant to bridge the gap with international standards," she added.

Many have blamed the West, the United States in particular, for not holding 
Iran accountable to its human rights violations mainly in order to keep their 
Vienna nuclear deal in place. But the US State Department says that it remains 
concerned about human rights in Iran and has raised the issue with them through 
many channels.

"We reaffirm our calls on Iran to respect and protect human rights, and to 
ensure fair and transparent judicial proceedings in all cases," a State 
Department official told Rudaw English. "We have consistently and publicly 
expressed our concerns about Iran's human rights record through a range of 
channels."

Emad Kiyaei, Director of External Affairs at the American Iranian Council, says 
that his council has condemned the recent executions in Iran and that it has 
raised the issue with the US government. However, he believes that the nuclear 
deal does not mean Iran has been given a blank check to act as it wants. On the 
contrary, he sees the deal as a chance to bring the Islamic Republic out of 
isolation and help improve its human rights record.

"Instead of resorting to coercive policies, the Council recommends the creation 
of a joint working group between Iran and the EU to examine policies and 
methodologies to reform the judicial system in Iran," Kiyaei told Rudaw 
English.

Kiyaei said that the issue of human rights in Iran should be separated from the 
nuclear deal as it was specific to dealing with Iran's nuclear program, which 
was not intended to address all the issues that exist between Iran and the 
international community. "Therefore, it is unlikely that human rights issues 
would derail this accord."

He argued that keeping the sanctions on Iran could only worsen the situation 
for prisoners and would not necessarily reduce the number of executions.

"The Council does not believe that coercive or further sanctions on Iran would 
improve the human rights condition within the country," Kiyaei said, adding, 
"Instead, through open dialogue, diplomacy and weaving Iran more intimately 
within the international community would be more conducive in empowering those 
within the Iranian government who seek to reform, moderate and transform the 
country to be more in line with universal human rights."

Alex Vatanka, Senior Fellow and Iran expert at the Middle East Institute in 
Washington differs. He does not think the nuclear deal would improve Iran's 
human rights record as it was only to make sure Iran did not become a nuclear 
power which has now turned into a business scheme.

"The nuclear deal was never meant to change Iran's overall character but simply 
to make sure it did not become a nuclear weapons power," Vatanka told Rudaw 
English. "I don't see any signs that the P5+1 would want to void the deal 
because of Iranian behavior towards its own people at home."

Vatanka believes that Tehran uses the executions as a show of force especially 
to deter its opponents and drown any dissent.

He argues: "At the moment the int. community wants to safeguard the nuclear 
deal and is looking for commercial opportunities in Iran. Unfortunately the 
human rights record of Iran is not on the top of the list in either Europe or 
in America."

Some critics of Iran's judicial system believe that the authorities seem to be 
particular in who they execute and they mostly target minority groups, chief 
among them the Kurds.

"We should know that currently out of 915 political prisoners documented, 411 
are Kurds," Taimoor Aliassi, UN representative of the Association for Human 
Rights in Kurdistan - Geneva (KMMK-G), told Rudaw English, adding that 75 % of 
Kurdish prisoners are accused and convicted of being mohareb, a judicial term 
in Iran for enmity against God.

Aliassai said that since the establishment of the Islamic Republic nearly 4 
decades ago more than 14,000 prisoners have been executed, a great majority of 
them ethnic minorities such as Kurds, Balochis and Afghan refugees and most of 
them not announced to the public.

"A significant number of these victims are political prisoners and ethnic 
rights activists who were executed under the cover of drug offences," he said. 
"Regarding the last mass executions, they are all Kurdish and faith political 
prisoners sentenced in a hasty and unfairly manner for crime of mohareb based 
on Articles 279 and 286 of Iran???s Penal Code."

In 2015, Iran was the 2nd highest executioner in the world after China but 1st 
per capita.

Aliassi urged the world powers, especially the US and European Union, to make 
the lifting of sanctions and easing of economic and diplomatic ties conditional 
to Tehran's respect for human rights and the rights of groups such as Kurds, 
Ahwazi Arabs and Baluchis.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is governing by spreading violence, fear and 
terror. So hanging prisoners in public is part of controlling mechanism and 
Islamic Republic will not abolish death penalty unless there is a change of 
regime."

(source: rudaw.net)






UGANDA:

Court to hear pleas of 30 death row convicts


High Court Judge Wilson Masalu Musene is set to hear mitigation by 30 death row 
inmates seeking to have their sentences reduced on Thursday.

Represented by Justice Centers Uganda (JCU) through its Prison Decongestion 
Programme, the convicts are beneficiaries of the 2003 Constitutional petition 
of Susan Kigula & 417 others that challenged the death penalty.

The Supreme Court ruled that it was wrong to sentence someone to death without 
mitigation (hearing their side).

It ordered the return of all pending death row appeal cases to the High Court 
for only mitigation of sentence.

A number of death row convicts have previously been released due to their long 
stay in prison and others had their death sentences reduced to life 
imprisonment.

Death row inmates whose sentences were already confirmed by the Supreme Court 
must be executed within 3 years and if not, the death sentence be deemed 
converted to imprisonment for life without remission - which is 20 years.

(source: newvision.co.ug)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Wikileaks Condems Saudi Gay Man To Death Penalty


Massive dumping of data by WikiLeaks that included the approval of the sites 
founder Julian Assange have revealed personal data about individuals that could 
be financially damaging and in some cases potentially life threatening. The 
Associated Press reported the development on August 23, 2016. Assange responded 
that the complaints from individuals and from many of his most prominent 
supporters were not news worthy.

Assange had previously utilized a group of journalists and other experts to 
filter the information that the site had exposed in order to delete any 
information that could be personally damaging to individuals who were not 
directly involved in government corruption or spying on the public. The 
practice took as long as 3 years and Assange has decided that the need for the 
public to know how corrupt government is trumps the privacy of the individual.

WikiLeaks has published reports that include the address, phone number, 
employer, and website of a gay man in Saudi Arabia. The exposure of being gay 
in Saudi Arabia carries a death sentence. Lesbian, gay, and transgender 
representative have expressed their disgust at this violation of what they 
perceive as privacy.

Exposures of rape, sexual molestation, and false imprisonment of non-government 
individuals have been corroborated by independent sources including the victims 
themselves.

The tapping of the Democratic National Convention is claimed to have led to the 
hacking of donor sites and theft from individuals who had their credit card and 
Social Security number published by WikiLeaks.

Many of the critics in all countries that have been involved consider the 
action by WikiLeaks to be illegal under their privacy laws. The staunchest 
Assange supporters are backing away from the exposure of personal information 
of innocent individuals in anticipation of legal action against the site and 
Assange.

Many former supporters claim that the recent release of several million files 
violates the original premise of WikiLeaks in planning to protect the privacy 
of the public from government.

(source: stocknewsusa.com)






VIETNAM:

HCMC court upholds death sentence for Australian drug mule


The Ho Chi Minh City People's Court Wednesday confirmed the death sentence for 
a Vietnamese-Australian for drug smuggling after a reinvestigation determined 
the drug amount was too big to commute the sentence.

Pham Trung Dung, 39, was arrested at Tan Son Nhat Airport in May 2013 when 
checking in for a flight to Sydney after customs officers suspected he had 
drugs in his luggage.

He was sentenced to death in April 2014 after police identified the powder as 
more than four kilograms of heroin.

The Supreme People's Court later ordered authorities to weigh the heroin 
afresh, and it turned out there were nearly 3.6 kilograms.

The judges ruled Wednesday that it was "a huge amount" that poses a threat to 
society.

Dung said he was in Vietnam for a family vacation and a local had asked him to 
carry the drug to Australia for a fee of US$30,500.

Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. Those convicted of 
possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 
kilograms of methamphetamine face the death penalty.

The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal 
narcotics is also punishable by death.

(source: Thanh Nien News)