[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 18



UNITED KINGDOM/ETHIOPIA:

David Cameron writes to Ethiopia amid fears for death-row Briton


David Cameron has intervened twice to secure UK access to a Briton who was 
kidnapped by Ethiopian forces in 2014, it has emerged, amid Foreign Office 
concerns that there has been "no substantive progress" on the case.

The government has confirmed to Buzzfeed News that since 2014, the Prime 
Minister has written twice to his Ethiopian counterpart to ask for regular 
British consular access to Andargachew 'Andy' Tsege. Mr Tsege is a British 
father of 3 who was kidnapped and rendered to Ethiopia by the country's 
security forces in June 2014. Mr Tsege, a political activist who has called for 
reform in Ethiopia, appears to be held under a sentence of death that was 
imposed in absentia in 2009. British officials have asked the Ethiopian 
government for regular consular access to Mr Tsege, and for a 'legal process' 
for him in Ethiopia, but have stopped short of requesting his release. 
(http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/22741)

News of the Prime Minister's interventions came as a July 2015 briefing from 
the Foreign Secretary's office to Downing Street emerged. In the briefing, 
officials note that the UK's strategy on Mr Tsege's case had achieved "no 
substantive progress" since 2014, and that "our repeated requests for 
regularised consular access have not been granted" by Ethiopia; "despite 
multiple assurances given to the foreign secretary by the Ethiopian foreign 
minister." The briefing concludes by describing the UK's relationship with 
Ethiopia as an "otherwise successful partnership."

The news follows the recent voicing of concerns for Mr Tsege by the UN Special 
Rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez. In his annual report to the UN's Human 
Rights Council, which meets this month, Mr Mendez said there was "substantial" 
evidence that the Ethiopian government had subjected Mr Tsege to "torture, 
ill-treatment, prolonged solitary confinement and incommunicado detention."

Calls for Mr Tsege's release have already been made by the UN's Working Group 
on Arbitrary Detention, the European Parliament, and human rights organisation 
Reprieve, which is assisting his family in London.

Harriet McCulloch, deputy director of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said: 
"Andy Tsege was unlawfully sentenced to death in absentia by Ethiopia's 
government, and has since suffered a series of terrible abuses - including 
kidnap, rendition and torture. Yet, nearly 2 years on from Andy's 
disappearance, it appears even David Cameron's interventions aren't moving 
Ethiopia to grant the UK's basic requests. Britain must take a much firmer 
line, and ask Ethiopia to release Andy - as the UN and others have done."

*Further detail on Mr Tsege's case can be found on the Reprieve website, here.

* Reprieve http://www.reprieve.org.uk/

(source: ekklesia.co.uk)






THAILAND:

Arrested in Thailand: Mysterious Canadian with links to UN gang


Khamla Wong, who lived in B.C. and has ties to the UN gang, has been arrested 
in Thailand on drug charges.

A mysterious Canadian with links to the United Nations gang has been arrested 
in Thailand on drug trafficking charges.

Khamla Wong, also known as Khamla Siharaj, is also accused in Canada of 
smuggling hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into B.C.

The 46-year-old has been on the run since 2012 when he was charged after a 
major investigation by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit-B.C.

Wong was living in Abbotsford before he disappeared. At one time he owned a 
restaurant frequented by UN gang members in the Fraser Valley city.

Thai authorities confirmed Tuesday that Wong had been arrested with a Chinese 
national in Bangkok and charged with possession with the intent to sell 259 
ecstasy pills.

Wong is also being investigated for fraud after he was found with a fake 
passport in the name of a Thai national.

Thai police said Wong has used the passport regularly since 2013 to travel in 
and out of Thailand.

CFSEU Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said Wong will have to deal with his Thai 
charges before Canada can prosecute him.

"We are aware the Thai police have located Khamla Wong and have arrested him on 
what appears to be a local drug-related investigation," Houghton said Thursday. 
"So now we are in talks with the Department of Justice. Whatever happens to 
Khamla in the Thai courts, that's got to be resolved before any action is taken 
between our respective governments."

Thailand has notoriously harsh sentences for drug trafficking - up to life in 
prison or even the death penalty.

"From what I've read, that is the potential penalty for a drug trafficker in 
Thailand," Houghton said.

In Canada, Wong faces 1 count of conspiracy to traffic 121 kilograms of 
cocaine, another count of conspiracy to import 97 kilograms of cocaine and one 
count of possession of a firearm.

He was born Khamla Siharaj in Laos before immigrating to Canada and legally 
changing his name to Wong.

He became a Canadian citizen, but as a result of his outstanding Canada-wide 
arrest warrant and the Interpol Blue Notice, Passport Canada revoked his 
Canadian passport.

Justice Dept. media officer Andrew Gowing confirmed there is an extradition 
treaty between Canada and Thailand.

"Due to the confidential nature of state-to-state communication, the government 
can neither confirm nor deny whether an extradition request has been made 
related to Mr. Wong," Gowing said in an email.

Before Wong's arrest, Canadian authorities believed he was hiding with his wife 
and young Canadian children in either Europe or Asia.

"Wong speaks many Asian languages, along with English. He has already changed 
his name at least once, as has his wife, and this, along with his language 
skills, is likely making his ability to move around Asia - where we believe he 
has spent much of his time - and escape the police much easier," Houghton said 
earlier.

He also told The Sun that Wong was "extremely savvy to police techniques and 
counter-surveillance, but we believe that he has also made many enemies in the 
criminal world."

Wong's co-accused in Canada have received stiff sentences. Last year, Jeremy 
Albert Stark got 13 years and Christopher Lloyd Mehan was sentenced to 10 for 
their roles in the international drug ring. Another accused, Robert Charles 
Arthur, received a 3-year sentence in January.

The B.C. men were snared in the investigation started by the U.S. Drug 
Enforcement Administration in Los Angeles in 2008. The DEA used a confidential 
informant to distribute encrypted BlackBerry devices to members of the drug 
gang in both Canada and the U.S., including Stark, Mehan and Wong.

The BlackBerrys used a server inside a DEA office, allowing agents to read all 
the messages about drug deliveries and money drop-offs. U.S. agents sent 
information to CFSEU, which began its own investigation.

The co-ordinated effort led to 218 kilograms of cocaine being seized in 2 large 
shipments smuggled through the Pacific border crossing inside commercial trucks 
in December 2008.

UN gang members and associates have turned up in several countries.

(source: The Province)






MALAYSIA:

Duo charged with drug trafficking


A Malaysian and his Thai wife were jointly charged in the magistrate's court 
here with trafficking in 247.1kg of cannabis earlier this month.

Abdul Rahman Mohd Zain, 55, and Sophaporn Saengsir, 44, were indicted yesterday 
with committing the offence on March 5 at their house in Taman Teja, Changlun.

They face the mandatory death penalty if convicted.

Their 2 daughters, who were nabbed with them in a raid on their house by Bukit 
Aman???s Special Tactical Intelligence Narcotics Group, were released 
yesterday.

Magistrate Mohd Khairul Hafizuddin Ramli fixed June 5 for mention.

(source: The Star)






GHANA:

Is Rawlings ready to be executed?


The death penalty is one of the few issues I vacillate on and therefore will 
not criticize anybody on any position they take, whether against or for. My 
problem is that, somebody might be executed and later found out the person was 
not guilty and there is no remedy to ameliorate that wrong. On other times, a 
crime is so heinous there is no other punishment except death penalty, I 
therefore have no problem with President Rawlings call for murderers to be 
executed. The message is alright with me except the nessenger who has no moral 
right to call for others to be executed for murders when he has admitted 
killing others.

President Rawlings called for the execution of murderers yesterday when the 
family of the slay Abuakwa North Member of Parliament, J.B Danquah's informed 
him about his death and this is what he said:

"Our constitution empowers us and gives us the right to punish, to exact the 
same level of punishment and if we cannot do it, to serve as a lesson, to those 
who are taking others' lives with ease, then please I'd like to use this 
occasion - I should have done this a long time ago - to invite Parliament to 
consider the need to look into our constitution as to whether we should not now 
empower the regional security councils to sign or to approve the taking of a 
life for a life," Mr Rawlings said when the family of the late J B Danquah-Adu 
visited the former President at his residence in Accra on Wednesday, March 16. 
"

IF THAT IS PRESIDENT RAWLINGS POSITION ON DEATH PENALTY, IS HE WILLING TO BE 
EXECUTED SINCE HE HAS ADMITTED TO KILLING YEYE BOY? NOW READ RAWLINGS ADMISSION 
OF KILLING SOMEBODY WITHOUT ANY COURT JUDGEMENT.

WHY I KILLED 'YEYE BOY'-Rawlings Confesses

By Daily Guide - Daily Guide General News | Sat, 04 Nov 2006

Several years after the series of bloodletting, atrocities and disappearances 
that characterised Jerry John Rawlings' military juntas, some of the motives 
behind the sinister acts are beginning to unfold, this time from the horse's 
own mouth.The leader of the bloodiest regime in Ghana's history, Flt. Lt. Jerry 
John Rawlings, claimed that his main reason for ordering the execution of 
Torgbui Akakpovi Ahiaku, popularly called, Yeye Boy of Atidzive, near Abor in 
the Volta Region, as well as other traditionalists, was to demonstrate to their 
people that juju does not pay. The former President and founder of the 
opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), after nearly three decades of 
silence, was virtually compelled to blow off the lid at a press conference in 
his Ridge residence last week Thursday.

With no sense of remorse whatsoever, Mr Rawlings, an apostle of fetishism, 
boastfully said Yeye Boy in particular, was killed to send a strong message to 
fetish priests that juju was a sham. According to Mr. Rawlings, the execution 
of the jujumen, who were suspects of ritual murder in their communities, was to 
let the people know that there was no salvation in juju. At the conference, a 
female TV Africa reporter had wanted to know whether the country, and therefore 
the citizenry, was any safer now, than in the revolutionary days. Obviously not 
satisfied with the responses from Victor Gbeho and other spokespersons like Dr 
Benjamin Kumbuor, the unrelenting lady reporter insisted on a specific answer 
to her question, which prompted the former president to tell the world, the 
'hidden truth'.

Rawlings said, Talking about the lady's question on safety, we talked of the 
murder of the judges and the punitive action that was taken, and I also talked 
about my brother's son. When people commit ritual murders and we catch up with 
them and the chiefs and timber merchants, and we execute them right in their 
villages for people to think that juju has not saved them, then we are violent 
people? he asked..

Yeye Boy, the fetish priest of Atidzive, near Abor in the Volta Region, was 
abducted from his home by armed soldiers in 1982 and bundled into a waiting 
military vehicle.

That was the last time his relatives saw, or heard of him. A few days after his 
abduction from Atidzive, his charred, mutilated body was discovered in a bush 
along the Accra-Ho road. He was not tried in any court of law or even military 
tribunal, and no official explanation had since been given for his execution. 
However, there was the strong suspicion that it was part of the witch-hunting 
exercise embarked upon by the leadership of the PNDC.

Rawlings' chilling confession may now give his family the respite, as regards 
the sin of the once revered jujuman. Dozens of vehicles and properties 
registered in Yeye Boy's name were looted, while several of his relatives and 
children were forced to go into hiding, after his sadistic murder. Unofficial 
sources suggested human ritual, but his execution was not announced, as were 
the cases of the generals.

In the wake of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) 2 years ago, the 
children of Yeye Boy petitioned the commission and after thorough 
investigations, the committee recommended reparation and apology for his death. 
Torgbui Akakpovi Ahiaku was the 111th person on the reparation list and his 
family is to be given c20m. Hundreds of fetish priests, traditional rulers, 
students and soldiers were murdered in similar manner, a number of whom were 
suspected of committing crimes as minor as indebtedness.

Yeye Boy's execution was one of the most chilling stories heard by the Justice 
Amoah-Sekyi-led NRC.

The Commission was informed by a certain Mathias Kudzo, who was at the time of 
the murder, a soldier with the Ho Mortar Regiment and a close Rawlings 
confidante, that he was part of the team that raided Yeye Boy's location after 
an order for the action was received from Accra.

The jujuman was rumoured to have been a voodoo consultant for Rawlings in the 
heady days of the revolution, but attracted his wrath when he was reported to 
have asked for the clothing of the junta leader.

As Bombardier Mathias Kodzo related, when a close friend of Rawlings heard 
about the request which he (Yeye Boy) had made, it was believed that he drew 
the attention of the junta leader to a rumour that the late General E.W.K. 
Kotoka, one of the architects of the 24th February 1966, had obliged to a 
similar request by the jujuman and paid dearly for it.On hearing this, the NRC 
was told, Rawlings grew furious and allegedly ordered, Go and bring the bastard 
whereupon his hounds charged on Yeye Boy, seized him and eventually subjected 
him to a gory death.

In fact, the whole of Atidzive suffered the wrath of the soldiers, who 
descended on the village to carry out the orders. Bombardier Kodzo, now a man 
of God, showed visible remorse for having taken part in that operation, when he 
took his turn before the NRC.That was the closest Ghanaians got to knowing what 
had happened to Yeye Boy, whose abduction and subsequent death, like many 
others in the course of the so-called revolution, was shrouded in mystery."

Justice Sarpong

(CRDINAL of TRUTH)

(source: ghanaweb.com)




JORDAN:

Need to fix legal aberrations


Minister of Justice Bassam Talhouni recently expressed support for the 
abolition or amendment of the death penalty in a local electronic media outlet.

He also said he agreed with amending the infamous Article 308 of the Penal 
Code, which spares a rapist punishment if he marries his victim.

This is encouraging, coming, as it does, from an official who could affect 
change of the legislation.

The death penalty has been phased out and abolished in most countries; Jordan 
need not remain an exception to the growing international consensus on the 
issue for much longer.

As for the practice of not punishing a rapist simply because he marries his 
victim, this is a serious aberration that must be addressed, actually revoked, 
as soon as possible.

The minister is to be commended for speaking out against major shortcomings in 
the national legislation on crime and punishment.

If his statements were made with the tacit blessing of the government, even 
better. But whatever is the case, it is good to hear such official speak out 
against laws that do not make anyone proud.

If these 2 items in the national legislation are corrected, that will be a good 
step in the direction of rectifying other issues that still need to be 
addressed, especially those touching on gender equality.

Jordan cannot remain out of step with the enlightened world.

If the minister's stand is taken into consideration and will be used to tackle 
controversial laws, citizens will have reason to be proud of their justice 
system.

Now that the country has just adopted a national plan of action for the 
protection and promotion of human rights for the years 2016-2025, it behooves 
the government to act on the recommendations of the minister of justice and 
make the necessary changes as soon as possible.

(source: Editorial, The Jordan Times)






ISRAEL:

With 'Death for Terrorists' Bill, Israel Risks Joining a Very Dubious Club ---- 
Space will not suffice to enumerate all the arguments against the death 
penalty, now that bill calling for the death penalty for terrorists has been 
resurrected.


The bill calling for the death penalty for terrorists has suddenly been 
resurrected and is coming up for debate on Sunday in the Ministerial Committee 
on Legislation. The main reasons for this are the need to deter terrorists and 
the fact that Israel releases terrorists before their full prison term is up.

Space will not suffice to enumerate all the arguments against the death 
penalty. But it is important to make clear that comparative studies among 
states in the United States, and research that compares the situation before 
and after the death penalty was instituted or abolished, have not been able to 
prove that it is in any way a deterrent that prevents murders, certainly not 
murders committed by terrorists. The latter know that they are risking their 
lives during or after their actions, so the claim that the death penalty deters 
them insults our intelligence. That is also one of the reasons why, with the 
exception of the United States, the death penalty does not exist in any 
democratic country.

Are the supporters of the bill seriously proposing that because the government 
of Israel is unable to make rational decisions about negotiating with terrorist 
organizations over the release of prisoners, it will decide to execute people? 
And would this solve the problem, or just exacerbate it? After all, a murder 
trial with a death penalty will be a lengthy one, and during that time 
terrorist groups will be especially motivated to abduct soldiers or civilians 
to demand the release of the indicted or condemned individual.

If Israel insists on executing that individual, will it not be condemning to 
death the next Israeli to be abducted by a terror group? It is worth recalling 
the incident of the British sergeants, who were held by the pre-state 
underground force Etzel and were killed after Jewish prisoners were executed - 
after which no more underground prisoners were executed.

But the main argument against the death penalty has nothing to do with the 
question of efficacy or deterrence but rather, the heinousness of intentional 
killing, in cold blood, by the state. This is an inhuman punishment, which 
leads to contempt for the value of human life and human dignity. It should also 
be remembered that the death penalty is irreversible, and no system is 
infallible. The State of Israel must not slip down the slope of populism and 
hunger for revenge, joining the dubious club of death-penalty countries like 
China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

(source: Editorial, Ha'aretz)