[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 20



PHILIPPINES:

Church: shun culture of death


The incoming Duterte administration has promised a bloodbath in the war on 
drugs and criminality - but not if the Catholic Church can help it.

Led by Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle, the Church released yesterday an 
"oratio imperata" or mandatory prayer for incoming government officials. It is 
contained in a pastoral letter that will be read in all churches around the 
country, calling on the faithful to value human life and shun a "culture of 
death."

It was released as 7 more suspected drug dealers were gunned down by police 
yesterday, bringing the total body count since the election victory of Rodrigo 
Duterte to 42.

The prayer will be recited during masses from June 21 to 29 or for 9 
consecutive days before the country's newly elected leaders assume their posts 
on June 30.

Apart from respect for life, the prayer also asks God to bless leaders with 
"true love for the poor and godly humility" and "passion for truth that 
liberates and integrity that inspires."

It also prays for "sincere generosity and courageous simplicity of lifestyle" 
and "spirit of heroic sacrifice and unrelenting fortitude."

"Loving God, look with favor on those who rule with authority over us. Through 
your loving hands, may prosperity and progress be achieved, may peace and 
harmony be assured, may freedom and justice be served and may this nation be 
healed and protected from harm through Christ your Son who is Lord ever and 
ever. Amen," read the prayer.

The prayer was included in a circular distributed to the archdiocese's priests, 
chaplains, superiors of religious communities and Catholic schools.

The prayer, available in English and Filipino, is also posted on the website of 
the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Prior to the May 9 polls, leaders of the Catholic church found themselves in 
conflict with Duterte.

The CBCP criticized Duterte over his plan to restore the death penalty in the 
country and his reputation as an alleged "punisher" or "killer" of criminals as 
a long-time mayor of Davao.

It also blasted his policies perceived to be anti-life that were aired during 
the campaign.

Days before the presidential poll, the CBCP even released a pastoral letter 
suggesting to its faithful not to vote for Duterte.

Without naming names, the bishops urged Filipinos not to vote for "a candidate 
whose speech and actions, whose plans and projects show scant regard for the 
rights of all, [and] who has openly declared indifference if not dislike and 
disregard for the Church, especially her moral teachings."

Duterte, for his part, retaliated and branded the Catholic Church as the "most 
hypocritical" institution in the country.

Former CBCP president and retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas 
recently issued a statement in response to Duterte's tirades.

"Mine is the silence of respect for those who consider us their enemies but 
whose good we truly pray for, and whose happiness we want to see unfold," the 
prelate said.

(source: Philippine Star)

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

Longer, stricter prison terms better than hanging, says Atienza


How about a 40-year minimum prison term for hardened criminals instead of death 
by hanging? A prolife representative who is against the death penalty has 
proposed longer life sentences for heinous crime convicts as an alternative to 
the plan of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to reinstate capital punishment.

Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza has vowed to push for new legislation that would punish 
heinous crimes with a harsher form of lifelong incarceration, instead of death 
by hanging.

"Our alternative is tantamount to locking up a convict and throwing away the 
key," said Atienza, who earlier backed Duterte's aggressive stance against 
crime but cautioned against the "reckless" revival of the death penalty.

Under his proposal, those found guilty of grave crimes would receive a sentence 
called "qualified reclusion perpetua," which means the convicts will remain in 
prison for "an absolute minimum of 40 years," or until they reach the age of 
70, whichever comes first, before becoming eligible for parole.

"The problem with the death penalty is that it leaves no room for 
rectification. We cannot bring a dead convict back to life, even if another 
party later confesses to having committed the crime for which the [innocent 
man] had been wrongfully condemned," said Atienza, a former Manila mayor.

He noted that the death penalty had long been abolished by 140 countries, 
including the Philippines, describing it as "a cruel and degrading punishment 
that violates the sanctity of human life."

At present, the maximum penalty in the Revised Penal Code is "reclusion 
perpetua," or a simple life term, which actually means 30 to 40 years in 
prison, with the convict becoming eligible for conditional early release after 
serving half of the term, or after 15 to 20 years, Atienza said.

A so-called "life termer" under existing laws is also entitled to good conduct 
or loyalty allowances, and a reduction of sentence for preventive detention or 
for time spent in jail prior to conviction, he said.

"But under our proposal, all these allowances and the benefit of a reduced 
sentence for preventive detention would not apply to convicts sentenced to 
qualified reclusion perpetua," Atienza said.

(source: Philippine Daily Inquirer)

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

Outgoing Labor chief wants Duterte to consider death penalty for illegal 
recruiters


Outgoing Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz wants 
incoming President Rodrigo Duterrte to "consider" imposing death penalty on 
illegal recruiters found guilty of victimizing Filipinos who want to work 
abroad, according to a report by the Philipine News Agency (PNA) on Sunday.

PNA quoted Baldoz as saying that the activities of illegal recruiters should be 
regarded as organized or heinous crimes that deserve capital punishment.

"Right now, the law already provides the highest penalty of life imprisonment 
since it is considered as economic sabotage. So considering illegal recruitment 
for death penalty could be considered," the PNA quoted Baldoz as saying.

Currently, as stated under Rule IV, Section 5 of Republic Act 10022, a 
syndicate or a group of 3 persons or more found guilty of illegal recruitment 
that constitutes economic sabotage faces the penalty of life imprisonment or up 
to 40 years of incarceration.

Illegal recruitment is defined under the law as any act of canvassing, 
enlisting, contracting, transporting, utilizing, hiring, or procuring workers 
for employment abroad when undertaken by non-licensee or non-holder of 
authority.

Yearly, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administrationthe reports about 400 
to 500 cases of illegal recruitment of aspiring overseas Filipino workers, the 
PNA said.

Duterte is bent on restoring death penalty against criminals involved in 
illegal drugs, gun-for-hire syndicates, and those guilty of heinous crimes such 
as rape and robbery with murder.

(source: interakyson.com)






SOUTH AFRICA:

SA could deport criminals to Botswana despite death penalty


Currently, South African law prohibits the extradition of criminal suspects to 
all countries that still use capital punishment.

The South African government have proposed amendments to the Treaty on 
Extradition allowing for the deportation of criminal suspects to Botswana where 
they face a possible death sentence.

According to Cabinet minutes published on the SA government website on June 8, 
Pretoria said it would soon amend the Treaty on Extradition to facilitate 
extradition requests from Botswana in order to improve law enforcement 
cooperation and ensure that South Africa did not become a haven for fugitives.

"South Africa will enter into an Amended Treaty on Extradition with the 
Republic of Botswana, in terms of article 231(1) of the Constitution."

The aim is for more effective cooperation between South Africa and Botswana to 
facilitate extradition requests received from Botswana, where the death penalty 
is a possible sentence.

"This underscores that South Africa will not be a safe haven for criminals by 
providing for the extradition of fugitives and to facilitate the effectiveness 
of law-enforcement authorities in the prevention, investigation and prosecution 
of crimes," reads part of the proposal.

Currently, South African law prohibits the extradition of criminal suspects to 
all countries that still use capital punishment, a position which has 
previously strained relations with Botswana after several failed extradition 
attempts of suspects implicated in high-profile crimes which included 
car-jacking, murder and armed robbery.

Several South Africans are among the 47 people who have been executed in terms 
of the death penalty since Botswana gained independence in 1966. The executions 
have strained relations between the 2 countries after Botswana ignored pleas 
for clemency from South Africa, which abolished the death penalty in 1995.

According to the Botswana penal code, the death penalty can be applied to 
persons found guilty of high-profile crimes which include murder, aggravated 
and gruesome armed robbery, and treason, among others.

(source: The Citizen)






MALAWI:

Malawi rules out death penalty for albino killers


Malawi has ruled out the implementation of the death penalty for people who 
kill albinos.

Information Minister Patricia Kaliati said such legislation would go against 
human rights agreements that the country had ratified.

"Malawi is a signatory to many human rights instruments and we would not want 
to contravene them. We would not like a former head of state answering a case 
at the International Criminal Court over the death penalty," Kaliati said.

A member of the opposition Malawi Congress Party, had said that a proposal 
would be tabled in Parliament to allow death sentences to be handed down.

The MP's comments have renewed calls for the death penalty with supporters 
saying it will clear society of albino killers.

(source: africanews.com)

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

Bring the death sentence, forget international institutions - says Nsanje chief


Though Malawi has signed various international agreements human rights, a local 
leader from Nsanje district has urged government to implement death sentence 
arguing that the constitution gives courts powers to hand out the penalty to 
murder convicts.

The call comes at a time when Malawi government disclosed that it will not 
implement death sentence in fear of international institutions that are in 
agreement with the country on human rights issues.

Death hangingReacting on the development, Chief Malemia said Malawi needs to 
stand on what its constitution say.

"I could be a lay person but that shouldn't be an excuse to counter our laws, 
we spend taxpayers' money in making these laws, this is Malawi, not 
international institutions for human rights," said Malemia.

Malemia added that death sentence will see the barbaric acts of killing people 
with albinism dying a natural death.

Meanwhile, Malawians expect the nude parade organized by Mulanje South Member 
of Parliament Elias Bon Kalindo to force government to have death sentence 
being practical in Malawi.

Section 201 of the Penal Code provides that individuals convicted of murder 
"shall be liable to be punished with death or with imprisonment for life."

Records show that from 1972 to 1993 during Kamuzu Banda???s era a total of 823 
were sentenced to death. Out of the 823 convicts, 299 were executed and the 
remaining ones died in prison.

However, On April 27, 2007, the Constitutional Court declared that mandatory 
death sentences were unconstitutional, inhumane and a degradation to human 
dignity.

The court was ruling in a case where a murder convict Francis Kanfantayeni and 
5 others were challenging the constitutionality of the death penalty.

(source: malawi24.com)






UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

Obaida's murder: Accused admits to murder, sexual assault charges ---- The 
public prosecution is pushing for the death penalty.


A man admitted in the Court of First Instance on Monday having sexually 
assaulted and strangled to death 8-year-old Obaida.

The Jordanian accused, 48, confessed before the Presiding Judge Orfan Attieh 
that he strangled Obaida, also Jordanian, to death after sexually assaulting 
him in Al Mamzar area.

He has been referred to court on charges including kidnap, premeditated murder, 
physical assault, making criminal threats and consuming of alcohol without a 
license and driving under the influence.

Answering a question by the judge whether he sexually assaulted the victim in 
his car, the defendant said: "Yes. But I can't remember what happened. I was 
under the influence of alcohol". He claimed he was in a 'coma' as he was 
unconscious when he committed the crimes.

He admitted strangling the victim with his hands and then squeezing a piece of 
clothes around his neck for around 5 minutes until the boy became motionless.

According to prosecution records, the defendant kidnapped the boy from outside 
his home in Sharjah. He denied, however, in court having kidnapped the victim 
claiming he went with him willingly.

The public prosecution is pushing for the death penalty.

The accused is believed to have lured the boy inside his car after fooling him 
he would gift him a scooter. He strangled him out of fear he would tell his 
parents. He dumped the body later under a tree on the Academic City road.

Obaida was last seen on May 20 when he was outside his father's car workshop. 
He was then reported missing and his body was found 2 days later.

Lawyer Mohammad Al Mazmi submitted to the court documents saying he would be 
representing the victim's parents in a civil lawsuit.

The court adjourned the hearing to June 27 for a defence lawyer to be 
appointed.

(source: Khaleej Times)



EGYPT:

Rights Group Condemns Junta Death Sentences for 4 Journalists----The Arab 
Observatory for Media Freedom denounces the latest unjust sentences against 
media workers as an escalation of the junta campaign to further curb freedom of 
the press.


In a serious escalation in the junta's attack on freedom of the press in Egypt, 
the Cairo Criminal Court issued Saturday a final ruling dealing harsh sentences 
against 4 journalists and 2 citizens, in addition to jail sentences against 
others including Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, accused of leaking state 
information to Qatar.

On the same day, Qasr Al-Nil Court decided to postpone the second trial of 
Yehya Qalash, head of the journalists union; Gamal Abdel-Rahim, the union's 
general secretary; and Khaled Albalshi, the union's deputy, on charges of 
harboring wanted journalists. Also, on Saturday afternoon, Musaab Hamid, 
correspondent of the satellite TV channel Misr 25, appeared in a military 
court, having been arrested by coup security forces on July 10, 2015.

The Arab Observatory for Media Freedom (AOMF) reaffirms that the sentences 
handed down Saturday against media professionals is are purely political, aimed 
at punishing political dissidents, and also mean even less freedom of the 
press, preventing journalists from publishing information, which is the core of 
their work, with accusations of spying for just getting and disseminating 
information to fulfill the right of the audience.

This is the 1st time an collective execution ruling is issued against four 
journalists at once in a publishing case. The Egyptian Constitution rules out 
even jail terms for journalists in such cases (as in Article 71). The court 
here used the death penalty directly in clear contempt of human lives, and the 
most basic human right - the right to life.

Having considered the trial and prosecution evidence, AOMF affirms that all the 
4 journalists were supposedly guilty of are matters relating to their 
professional duties and essential work in publishing information, obtaining 
documents and data and releasing them to the public.

Thus, these journalists do not deserve punishment for any of these actions. It 
also is absurd that the Egyptian authorities claim the journalists accused in 
this case (Ibrahim Hilal, Alaa Sablan, Ahmed Afifi, and Asmaa Alkhatib) were 
communicating with Qatari officials, but they made no mention of the names of 
those supposed officials. Furthermore, no charges were laid out against the 
said officials, which means the whole case is merely a matter of vengeful 
retaliation.

AOMF calls on all organizations and institutions concerned with freedom of the 
press locally and internationally for urgent action to save the lives of these 
journalists, and to save the freedom of the press in Egypt from systematic 
suppression in the guise of junta justice that in fact aims to turn the media 
into mere mouthpieces for the ruling regime, stripping away all the 
achievements and democratic gains of the January 25, 2011 Revolution.

(source: ikhwanweb.com)






IRAN:

Iran Regime Sentences Three Ahwazi Young Men To Public Execution


A senior Iranian regime judiciary official has issued the final confirmation of 
the death penalty for three Ahwazi rights activists, with another four 
sentenced to between 25 and 35 years in prison, as well as exile.

Gholam-Hossein Mohsen Eie'I, the First Deputy Head of the Iranian regime's 
Judiciary, confirmed the sentences in an interview with the regime-affiliated 
Moj News Agency, adding that the sentences issued by the 'Revolutionary Court' 
in Ahwaz had been upheld by the Supreme Judicial Court in Tehran on appeal.

3 of the defendants, Qais Obeidawi, Ahmad Obeidawi and Sajad Obeidawi were 
sentenced to death by public execution. Of the other 4, Mohammed Helfi and 
Mehdi Moarabi were sentenced to 35 years each, to be served in exile from the 
Ahwaz region (also known as 'Khuzestan province', the name it was given in 
1936) in a prison in the city of Yazd, while Mehdi Sayahi and Ali Obeidawi were 
sentenced to 25 years each imprisonment. It should be noted that the 4 
prisoners sentenced to lengthy prison terms were exiled to prisons outside the 
Ahwaz region in June of 2015.

The 7 men were arrested in April of 2015 in the city of Hamidieh in the Ahwaz 
region on charges of killing an Iranian policeman at a checkpoint. They were 
subjected to kangaroo trials held in secret without being allowed any access to 
lawyers, a flagrant violation of international laws and conventions. The 
prisoners have also been prevented from having any contact with their families 
since their detention.

Human rights activists in Ahwaz, who strongly suspect that the men were 
tortured into confessing to the crime, a standard regime policy towards 
detainees, have demanded that the United Nations' International Council on 
Human Rights intervene to prevent the executions from taking place, warning 
that they are expected to be carried out imminently.

The Iranian regime has stepped up its already brutal oppression of Ahwazi Arabs 
and other minorities in Iran under the administration of the "moderate 
reformist" President Hassan Rouhani. Since coming to power in 2013, Rouhani has 
presided over the execution of at least 1,800 people as well as public 
beatings, floggings, and amputations.

The real number of the regime's victims is believed to be far higher than the 
publicly admitted figure, with many executions reportedly unannounced. With 
Ahwazi Arabs and other minorities increasingly viewed as a threat to the 
Islamic Republic's leadership's consolidation of a homogenous Persian Shiite 
nation, the theocratic regime is stepping up its already brutal repression in 
an effort to crush dissent, as well as implementing a policy of population 
transfer within Ahwaz as a means of changing the demographic composition of the 
region.

The rights groups pointed out that the primary goal of such executions is to 
intimidate further and terrorise Ahwazi Arabs into silence and submission 
following a wave of protests for freedom and human rights which have swept the 
Ahwazi, Baluchi, and Kurdish regions.

It is imperative that international human rights organisations and the United 
Nations put pressure on the Iranian regime to force it to desist from its 
systematic violence and oppression against Ahwazis and other minorities, and to 
respect the fundamental human and civil rights of Ahwazi Arabs, including the 
right to be educated in their own Arabic language, which they are currently 
denied, as well as the rights to employment, freedom of expression, free 
assembly and free association, as enshrined in international law.

We urge all human rights organisations and all peoples of good conscience 
worldwide to raise their voices and to contact their political representatives 
in order to force the Iranian regime to abandon its unconscionable 
state-sanctioned policies of racial segregation, oppression and brutality, and 
to free all prisoners of conscience and individuals detained simply for 
participating in peaceful demonstrations.

Remaining silent in the face of such monstrous crimes against humanity should 
no longer be considered an option. In the words of Italian-American human 
rights activist Ginetta Sagan, 'silence in the face of injustice is complicity 
with the oppressor.'

(source: countercurrents.org)






BANGLADESH:

Death-row war criminal Mir Quasem transferred to Dhaka jail


Convicted war criminal Mir Quasem Ali has been moved to the Dhaka Central Jail 
from the prison at Gazipur's Kashimpur, reports bdnews24.comMir-Quashem

The prison van carrying him left for Dhaka around 7am on Monday, said Kashimpur 
jail's Superintendent Prashant Kumar Banik.

The senior Jamaat-e-Islami leader has been kept at the condemned cell after 
reaching the Dhaka jail around noon, said Dhaka Central Jail Senior 
Superintendent Jahangir Kabir.

Asked why he has been transferred, Kabir told bdnews24.com, "He will be kept 
here."

The former Al-Badr commander was found guilty by the International Crimes 
Tribunal and was awarded death penalty in 2014.

He challenged the verdict but in March this year, the Supreme Court upheld the 
death sentence.

On Sunday, he filed a petition for a review of the verdict.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam, however, could not confirm whether the Supreme 
Court's vacation bench will hear the matter during Ramadan.

Once the matter of review is resolved and if the death sentence is upheld, the 
war crimes convict will have the opportunity to seek a presidential clemency.

(source: bdnews24.com)

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

Jamaat leader files plea against death sentence----Tarique's appeal in graft 
case rejected


Condemned war criminal Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali yesterday filed a 
review petition with the Supreme Court against its verdict upholding his death 
penalty for his crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.

Mir Ahmed bin Quasem, son of Ali, who submitted the review petition with the 
Supreme Court, said there were 14 grounds for seeking release of the convict in 
the war crimes case.

On June 6, the International Crimes Tribunal issued a death warrant for the 
Jamaat-e-Islami leader hours after the Supreme Court released the full text of 
its verdict upholding his death penalty.

On March 8, the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for Ali for his crimes 
against humanity during the Liberation War.

The International Crimes Tribunal-2 in a verdict had sentenced Ali in the port 
city of Chittagong in 1971, to death on November 2, 2014.

On November 30, 2014, Ali filed an appeal before the Supreme Court challenging 
the death penalty.

Among the total 14 charges brought against Ali for war crimes, the tribunal 
convicted him on 10 counts of charges and acquitted him from 4.

The 64-year-old top Jamaat-e-Islami financier was president of the Chittagong 
city unit of the Islami Chhatra Sangha, the student wing of the party, till 
November 6, 1971.

(source: Gulf News)