[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 14




IRAQ:

Iraqi President approves decision to carry out death penalty


Iraqi President Fuad Masoum has approved a decision to carry out death 
sentences for a number of prisoners convicted of serious terrorism offenses 
which "claimed the lives of innocent citizens," according to a statement by the 
official website of the Iraqi Presidency posted on Wednesday (July 13).

Iraqi Presidency Spokesman Khalid Shwani said, "Decrees signed by the executive 
office were sent to the proper authorities for the purpose of implementing 
these provisions."

Shwani said the death sentences were approved following a study by a special 
legal committee formed for the purpose.

Citing Shwani, the Iraqi Presidency said in its statement the committee has 
resumed work to resolve remaining cases after receiving the approval of the 
Iraqi president in accordance with the required legal process.

Hundreds of Iraqis took to the streets on Monday (July 11) in the area of 
Talibiya near the entrance to Sadr City, demanding authorities carry out the 
death sentences of 300 people convicted of terrorism offenses.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has ordered the Ministry of Justice to 
implement the death sentences of inmates convicted of terrorism.

(source: nrttv.com)






CAMEROON:

Detained 'Boko Haram supporters' dying of torture, disease in Cameroon - 
Amnesty----"In the fight against Boko Haram, innocent people are paying the 
price"


More than 1,000 people accused of supporting Boko Haram in Cameroon are being 
detained in military bases and prisons, often without any evidence, and dozens 
are dying from disease, malnutrition and torture, a rights group said on 
Thursday.

Since a regional offensive last year drove Boko Haram from most of their 
strongholds, the Islamist militants have waged a guerrilla-style campaign 
targeting civilians. In Cameroon, teenage girls have killed dozens in suicide 
bombings carried out by the group.

But a crackdown by the government and security forces on the Islamist militants 
has fuelled the widespread abuse of civilians across Cameroon's Far North 
region, said Amnesty International.

Cameroonian government officials were not immediately available for comment.

"We are not necessarily talking about Boko Haram fighters - but about normal 
people who happened to be in the wrong place in the wrong time," said Amnesty 
researcher Ilaria Allegrozzi.

"In the fight against Boko Haram, innocent people are paying the price," she 
told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Many people are held at illegal detention sites in military bases run by 
Cameroonian troops before being transferred to official prisons, Amnesty said 
in a report.

Several detainees in the military bases told Amnesty that they were tortured 
and beaten with sticks, whips and machetes, sometimes until they lost 
consciousness.

"Two prisoners were beaten up so badly that they died in front of us," Amnesty 
quoted a 70-year-old man as saying. "The men kicked them, slapped them 
violently, and hit them with wooden sticks."

In the main prison in Maroua, the capital of the Far North region, between six 
and eight people die every month in dirty and overcrowded cells where 
malnutrition is rife, Amnesty said.

Detainees suspected of supporting Boko Haram who are brought to trial risk 
being convicted and sentenced to death, despite there often being little or no 
evidence, the rights group said.

More than 100 people have been sentenced to death in Maroua's military court 
since July 2015, although none have yet been executed, said the "Right Cause, 
Wrong Means" report.

Most defendants are charged under an anti-terrorism law passed in 2014, which 
is ambiguous and vague, Amnesty said.

A 27-year-old who was arrested after sending a text message to his friends, 
joking about Boko Haram recruiting graduates, could face the death penalty, the 
rights group said.

"If a student can face the death penalty for sending a sarcastic text message, 
it is clear that there is a serious problem with the design and use of 
Cameroon's anti-terrorist legislation," said Alioune Tine, Amnesty's regional 
director.

More than 15,000 people have been killed and 2.4 million uprooted in Nigeria 
and neighboring Chad, Niger and Cameroon during Boko Haram's 7-year campaign to 
carve out an Islamic caliphate in northeast Nigeria.

(source: Reuters)






INDONESIA:

Kuta drug kingpin threatened with death penalty


An alleged narcotics kingpin and 2 other Bali drug lords operating under him in 
the same network have been threatened with the death penalty.

Suspected drug boss Putu Leon, 44, along with Cahyadi alias Boy, 38, and I Made 
Astawa alias Krecek, 39, have been hit with charges carrying life imprisonment 
and the death penalty.

The suspects and evidence were submitted to the district attorney's office on 
Tuesday. Evidence, found after a thorough police investigation, reportedly 
consists of hundreds of millions of rupiah, Australian and American dollars, 
luxury cars and motorcycles, as well as mobile phones.

Meanwhile, drug evidence found from Cahyadi included as much as 58 ecstasy 
pills and183 packages of crystal meth, Head District Attorney Erna Normawati 
Widodo Putri told Tribun Bali.

The 3 suspects, labeled as big time drug dealers by police - supposedly some of 
the biggest in Bali - were arrested during a dramatic raid back in March 2016 
on Jl. Dewi Sri.

Leon, originally from Karangasem, was the big boss and financier, while Cahyadi 
and Astawa would deal in places like nightclubs in Bali, reports say.

(source: coconuts.co)