[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 31




GLOBAL:

The 13 countries where being an atheist is punishable by death


Around the world, a number of countries continue to criminalize atheists and 
humanists, with 13 having laws which enable them to impose the death penalty.

It's often said that the world is becoming an increasingly secular place. Just 
last week David Cameron sparked backlash when he used his Easter message to 
describe the UK as "a Christian country". Critics pointed out that just 30 per 
cent of people in the UK describe themselves as religious, making Britain one 
of the least religious countries in the world. 53 per cent of people say they 
have no faith, while 13 per cent claim they are committed atheists.

However, despite the prevalance of atheism and humanism in the UK, many may be 
surprised to know that having no faith can be a life or death matter around the 
world. In thirteen countries, you can be sentenced to death for not having a 
faith:

1. Afghanistan.

2. Iran.

3. Malaysia.

4. Maldives.

5. Mauritania.

6. Nigeria.

7. Pakistan.

8. Qatar.

9. Saudi Arabia.

10. Somalia.

11. Sudan

12. United Arab Emirates

13. Yemen

In a number of other countries, the death penalty is not a formal punishment on 
statute books but atheists and humanists have been murdered by religious 
extremists on account of their beliefs.

In countries including India and Bangladesh, police have been accused of 
condoning these murders by failing to investigate them properly. At least 3 
atheist bloggers have been hacked to death in Bangladesh after penning posts 
advocating that scientific proof should inform opinion above religious beliefs.

(source: The Times of India)






IRAN:

Iranian group gets help from Islam to save juveniles from execution ---- As 160 
under-18s wait on death row in the Islamic Republic, an NGO is raising blood 
money and public awareness to halt executions of juvenile offenders


On the night of 22 March 2009, 17-year-old Hamid was in his dad's mini-bus when 
their neighbour's son, Ayyoub, 16, got in. Hamid was in the business of selling 
mobile phones, and Ayyoub had been in dispute with him for days over a 
cellphone he'd bought from him. As their argument became heated, Hamid grabbed 
part of a seat cover and strangled Ayyoub.

Hamid was sentenced to death by hanging. Murder in Iran carries capital 
punishment even for minors who are incarcerated until the sentence is carried 
out when they turn 18. The execution can be halted only if the victim's family 
pardons the offender, usually in return for blood money.

Ayyoub's father, Ali Kouravand, considered a pardon but this was in Izeh, a 
city in the south-western province of Khuzestan with strong tribal networks. As 
Hamid and Ayyoub were from different tribes, the father could not decide on his 
own. His tribe set stringent conditions for a pardon. They demanded that the 
killer's family pay the victim's a large sum, and then to leave Izeh.

It took the NGO Imam Ali's Popular Students Relief Society much negotiation 
before Ayyoub's family agreed to a pardon. In December 2015 Kouravand took his 
family to Ahvaz prison to meet his son's killer - knowing that by pardoning 
Hamid, his family would be boycotted by their tribe, at least for a while.

Hamid had been prepared by Farzad Hosseini from Imam Ali Society. "His mind was 
frozen, he didn't know how to react," says Hosseini. "Before he entered the 
room where Ayyoub's family were waiting, I told him: 'Kiss their hands and 
apologise. Keep your head down'."

Hamid did as he was asked. He bowed and kissed Kouravand's hand, and in 
response Kouravand kissed his cheek, pardoned him and gave him his blessing. 
The family received around $35,000 in blood money, partly gathered by Imam Ali 
society through public fundraising.

Imam Ali's Popular Students Relief Society was founded in 1999 by a group of 
students at Tehran's Sharif University of Technology led by Sharmin 
Meymandi-Nejad, originally to combat poverty. Today 15,000 volunteers are 
involved in projects to help the vulnerable in 12 provinces including Tehran, 
Fars, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Hormozgan and Qom.

A playwright and university teacher, Meymandi-Nejad had been intrigued in 1997 
by the case of Gholam Reza Khoshrou, known as khoffash-e shab (the night bat), 
who was tried and executed for the murder of nine women, some of whom he had 
raped. Meymandi-Nejad followed the story of Khoshrou in prison with the aim of 
making a documentary but was struck by the hardships Khoshrou had faced as a 
child, growing up with a step-mother in a poor and violent neighbourhood before 
being sent to a juvenile detention centre and at 18 to prison, where, he told 
his phycologist, he was raped many times by other prisoners.

When Khoshrou was executed, Meymandi-Nejad promised himself he would do his 
best to help kids in violent neighbourhoods to keep them from becoming another 
Khoshrou. This led by 2006 to Meymandi-Nejad's decision to work against the 
execution of juvenile offenders.

Since then the group has saved 25 juvenile offenders - including one woman - 
from execution and are working on nearly 50 other cases. Where offenders' 
families cannot afford the blood money, the group raises funds from the public 
through conferences and online campaigning.

Cases usually come to their attention when juvenile offenders' families seek 
their help, as Imam Ali Society lacks access to court files. "We face lots of 
restrictions, there is no systematic support," says Hosseini, 33, who became 
involved 8 years ago when a civil engineering student at Sharif University. "We 
can't even visit our clients in prison easily. It depends on the prison staff 
who sometimes out of humanity let us pay limited visits to the offenders." 
After gathering information by reading official documents, talking to the 
offender's family, and if possible visiting the offender in prison, comes what 
Hosseini describes as the "very difficult and complicated" task of approaching 
the victim's family to seek a pardon.

By the time the Imam Ali Society is involved, the case is usually a few years 
old, which as Hosseini says, means the victim's family anger and desire for 
revenge have had time to fester. The visit is often far from smooth.

Hosseini says he and fellow volunteers were attacked by one family of a murder 
victim: "They wanted to kill us." But over time they were not only able to talk 
to the family but even convince them to share a meal with the offender's 
family.

"Everything depends on how we treat the [victim's] family," he says. "When we 
approach the next of kin, we see them as our own family. We put ourselves in 
their shoes. To us, the person who was killed is like our own brother or 
father."

Hosseini carries with him a photograph of a father of 7 killed 10 years ago by 
a 17-year-old male, forgiven by the victim's family last autumn. "I really love 
him like my own father."

But however time-consuming the process can be, most cases are not successful. 
Hosseini says only 1 or 2 out of 100 see the victim's family pardoning the 
juvenile offender. He cites the case of Alireza Shahi, hanged in November 2015 
in Rajaei Shahr prison in Karaj city, west of Tehran, 7 years after he killed 
someone during a street fight when he was 18.

"We tried so hard to convince the victim's family, but they didn't want to 
listen at all," recalls Hosseini. "Even the night before the execution, we went 
to the prison and were next to his [Shahi's] family until dawn. We were hoping 
that maybe the execution would be halted, but in the morning he was executed. I 
visited Alireza in prison twice. I hugged him. He was like my own brother. He 
was so innocent. It all had happened during a fight. I really can't understand 
- why should this kid be executed?"

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child says no death sentences should be 
imposed for offences committed by individuals under 18. Iran ratified the 
convention in July 1994, but the age of adult criminal responsibility remains 9 
lunar years for girls and 15 lunar years for boys.

While Imam Ali Society's ultimate goal is to change the law and stop all 
executions of juvenile offenders, it has welcomed more limited changes. In May 
2013 a new Islamic Penal Code was adopted, with Article 91 allowing a judge to 
impose an alternative punishment if there is doubt over the offender's maturity 
and wisdom, or if the judge determines the juvenile did not comprehend the 
nature of the crime or its consequences. In December 2014, the general board of 
the supreme court ruled that all juvenile offenders on death row were entitled 
to request a retrial based on Article 91.

But these changes didn't bring actual results. Hosseini says since 2013 they 
have encountered 2 or 3 cases positively affected by Article 91. Amnesty 
International reported 12 executions of juvenile offenders in 2014 and 4 in 
2015: there had been 4 in 2012 and 9 in 2013.

Iran doesn't deny it executes juvenile offenders but often disagrees with 
numbers reported. The authorities also argue they are trying to make changes. 
In January in a meeting with the UN's Committee on the Rights of the Child in 
Geneva, Mahmoud Abbasi, deputy for human rights and international affairs at 
the justice ministry, said that reforming policies would not work without 
changing the attitudes "particularly of policy-makers and those directly 
involved with children".

Neither the UN nor Iranian activists are prepared to ease up. On 14 March, 
during the 31st session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the UN 
special rapporteur on Iran Ahmed Shaheed said that "at least 73 juvenile 
offenders were reportedly executed" in Iran between 2005 and 2015. He added 
that "at least 160" others are on death row.

3 representatives from Imam Ali Society, including Hosseini, were present 
during the session. On 14 March, in response to Shaheed's report, a 
representative read a statement noting the lack of implementation in many cases 
of Article 91 and restating opposition to executing those who committed the 
offence when aged under 18.

Hosseini says change should come primarily from below. "We believe that most of 
our social and human rights issues are solvable if we empower civil society 
within the country," he explains. "When we started working years back, public 
mentality was different. People didn't want to get close to imprisoned kids. 
But now through our efforts people are willing to help juvenile offenders, even 
murderers. Currently several thousand people [in Iran] are in favour of the 
abolition of death penalty for juvenile offenders, so now the judiciary and 
those in charge have realised these laws need to be changed."

(source: The Guardian)






BELARUS:

New death sentence in Belarus: "EU opposes capital punishment in all cases"


The European Union has again called on Belarus to abolish the death penalty, 
following confirmation by the country's Supreme Court of a new death sentence 
this week. "Despite the seriousness of the acts, the European Union opposes 
capital punishment in all cases," said the EU spokesperson in a statement 
issued yesterday, adding: "It has proved to fail as a deterrent and it 
represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity."

"We urge Belarus, the only country in Europe which still applies capital 
punishment, to respect the right to life of each one of its citizens and to 
join a global moratorium on the death penalty as a first step towards its 
abolition," the statement added.

(source: enpi-info.eu)






PAKSITAN:

Pakistan Pledges Not to Amend Law That Imposes Death Penalty for Blasphemy


Muslim radicals ended a four-day sit-in in a high-security "red zone" near 
Pakistan's federal parliament, claiming victory after the government late 
Wednesday gave assurances it will not seek to amend the country's notorious 
blasphemy laws or show leniency to anyone convicted under them.

The government's pledge to the protestors came just days after a deadly Easter 
Sunday bombing in Pakistan's 2nd-biggest city underlined anew the threats faced 
by minority Christians both from terrorists and from Islamist extremists like 
those at the sit-in in the capital.

The protestors, estimated at 25,000-strong at the peak of their demonstration, 
are supporters of a police officer executed a month ago for the 2011 murder of 
a provincial governor he was paid to protect. Bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri became a 
hero to many fundamentalist Muslims after killing Punjab governor Salman 
Taseer, whom he had accused of blasphemy.

During the sit-in some protestors, members of radical Sunni groups known for 
their zeal for Mohammed and the Qur'an, clashed with police and set fire to 
buses and bus shelters.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had ordered that the protest be brought to an end, 
peacefully, by Wednesday. Pakistani media reported that protest leaders 
declared victory after talks with government officials netted them several of 
their listed demands.

They included an assurance that no amendments will be made to provision 295-C 
of the penal code, which states that "Whoever by words, either spoken or 
written or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or 
insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy 
Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death."

According to the private television network Geo News, Daily Times and other 
outlets, the government also promised that no-one convicted under the blasphemy 
laws will be spared.

The government agreed further to release hundreds of people arrested during the 
sit-in who do not stand accused of attacking property or personnel, and in 
response to demands that shari'a be imposed across Pakistan agreed that clerics 
would submit proposals on the matter to the religious affairs ministry.

Government ministers portrayed the various points as an "understanding," saying 
no written agreement was signed with protest leaders. Interior Minister 
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan declared that no future protests would be allowed in 
the capital's "red zone."

On 2 of the protestors' demands, the government gave no assurances: They had 
called for Qadri to be publicly declared a "martyr," and for the execution of 
Asia Bibi, the 1st Christian woman in Pakistan to be sentenced to death for 
blasphemy.

Asia Bibi, a mother of 5, has been on death row since her conviction in 2010 
for "blaspheming" Mohammed. Qadri murdered Taseer after the governor, a liberal 
Muslim, came out in support of Asia Bibi and called for her pardon.

'Appeasement'

How much of a concession the government has made to the protestors by pledging 
not to touch the blasphemy laws is debatable, since there has been no 
significant attempt to amend or annul them for years.

The last tentative effort to amend the blasphemy laws, by a lawmaker in the 
then-ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP), was dropped just weeks after 
Taseer's assassination after its sponsor, who had received death threats, 
failed to receive the support of her own party.

Religious freedom advocates say Christians and other minorities have long been 
disproportionately targeted under the blasphemy laws, which at times have also 
been used as a pretext in instances of personal grudges or business disputes.

Individuals accused of blasphemy have frequently been attacked by mobs, and 
vigilantes claiming to be protecting the honor of the prophet have taken the 
law into their own hands.

Among many killed in such circumstances was a High Court judge, shot to death 
in his Lahore chambers in 1997 after acquitting a man who had been convicted of 
blasphemy by a lower court; a minority Ahmadi lawyer, shot dead in 2014 after 
agreeing to represent a university lecturer facing blasphemy charges; and a 
Christian couple, accused by a mob of blasphemy and burned alive in a brick 
kiln, also in 2014.

On Sunday more than 70 people, many of them women and children, were killed in 
a suicide bombing at a public part in Lahore. Claiming responsibility for the 
attack, a Pakistan Taliban offshoot made it clear the target was Christians 
celebrating Easter.

Earlier this week Xavier William, head of a Pakistani Christian human rights 
advocacy group, Life For All, responded to queries about both the Easter Sunday 
bombing and the Islamabad sit-in.

"Religious intolerance, sectarian violence and blatant terrorism is destroying 
the very core of our social fabric," William said.

"In a plural Islamic society, which is what we must aspire and strive to 
become, there is no place for intolerance, violence and appeasement of 
extremist groups who are trying to make our nation hostage to their 
obscurantist ideology."

Human Rights Focus Pakistan president Naveed Walter accused the government of 
having "no long-term strategy to eliminate terrorism from the society," citing 
both its response to terrorist threats against Christians, and the sit-in in 
Islamabad in support of Qadri - whose execution, Walter said, "also increased 
hatred against the Christian community."

(source: CNSNews.com)






INDIA:

Man sentenced to death for 2012 Anaimalai double murder case


A local court in Coimbatore on Wednesday awarded death penalty to a 28-year-old 
man for murdering 2 women at Anaimalai in 2012. For the double murder, Rajiv 
was awarded the death penalty and for the attempt to murder, he was sentenced 
to life imprisonment," said E R Sivakumar, additional public prosecutor. and a 
case was registered against him under Sections 302 (Murder), 307 (attempt to 
murder) and 506(ii) (criminal intimidation). Rajiv had moved the high court 
against the life imprisonment and the sentence was commuted to 7 years 
imprisonment. He added that the death penalty was awarded mainly because of the 
cruelty of the murder and also considering the fact that the accused was 
punished for the similar crime earlier.

The Additional District and Sessions Judge, G Vijaya, also sentenced him to 
life imprisonment for the charge of attempt to murder and 3 years' imprisonment 
for the charge of criminal intimidation.The convict M Rajiv Gandhi, a resident 
of Anaimalai in Coimbatore district, was a juvenile offender who was sentenced 
to life imprisonment when he was 17 years old. In 2005, he had murdered a man 
named Kanakaraj.

In that case his neighbour N Murugan was 1 of the witnesses. Rajiv had moved 
the high court against the life imprisonment and the sentence was commuted to 7 
years imprisonment. He came out of jail in February 2012. Rajiv then stayed in 
his house, which was close to Murugan's home.

(source: nyoooz.com)

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

Triple blast convicts plead for leniency in sentence before POTA court----Prime 
conspirator Saquib Nachan says his father made him surrender before court


"My father held my hand and made me surrender before court. He asked me only 
one thing: Did you execute the blast? When I said no, he took me to the court. 
He had blind faith in the judiciary," Saquib Nachan told the Special Prevention 
of Terrorist Act (POTA) court on Wednesday.

Seeking leniency and asking the court to sentence him to the period already 
undergone by him in prison, he said: "Not only me but my entire family suffered 
because of the terror tag, my children were called as sons of a terrorist and 
as I suffered in prison, they also suffered outside."

Nachan, who claimed he prepared his case overnight after the conviction was 
handed down to him under the POTA and Arms Act charges, said: "Under POTA it 
was the discretion of the court to hand over the sentence, if he feels it can 
be even one day or only Rs100 fine, the wordings of the explanation of the 
section for possessing weapons in a notified area says imprisonment up to life 
and does not specify a minimum sentence."

Nachan, who was a businessman, claimed he suffered huge financial losses and 
his family which has certain repute in the local community at Padgha village 
suffered a face loss among peers. He also told the court that last month his 
father passed away and at times when he saw him in prison, he would feel it was 
a mistake to ask him to surrender. But he would immediately console himself and 
me that judiciary will give the right decision.

Similarly, Muzammil Ansari, who planted 3 bombs between 2002-2003 at Mumbai 
Central, Vile Parle and Mulund train blast, told the court that for the last 13 
years he has suffered great mental agony being in prison. He claimed he was 
falsely implicated and his co-workers at the private firm in Andheri where he 
worked deposed falsely against him.

Ansari, who face the death penalty, sought for interim bail to meet his family 
and said he was tortured and illegally detained by the police. Moreover, he has 
not been able to return anything back to his parents who educated him. Ansari 
is a mechanical engineer by education. He also said that while in prison he 
helped other inmates in writing letters to their family members.

The POTA court on Tuesday convicted 10 accused, including conspirators Saquib 
Nachan and planter Muzammil Ansari, for planning and executing triple blasts, 
in 2002-2003. The court acquitted 3 accused of all charges leveled against 
them. On Wednesday all of the convicted pleaded for leniency in sentence before 
the court.

(source: dnaindia.com)

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

Man gets death penalty for double murder


The IV-Additional District Judge here, on Wednesday, awarded death penalty to a 
30-year-old man for murdering the wife and daughter of his neighbour, who had 
earlier testified against him in a murder case.

Additional Public Prosecutor E.R. Sivakumar said that M. Rajivgandhi alias 
Marimuthu (30) of Subbaiya Goundan Pudur Sungam near Anamalai, murdered 
Kanagaraj on November 1, 2005. The Fast Track Court in Coimbatore awarded him 
life imprisonment on August 7, 2006.

"He made an appeal in the Madras High Court where the sentence was commuted to 
7 years imprisonment. Rajivgandhi was released in 2012. He held a grudge 
against his neighbour N. Murugan (60) for testifying against him in the murder 
case," Mr. Sivakumar said.

Rajivgandhi and Murugan were farm labourers who lived in adjacent houses that 
they built on a poramboke land.

"Rajivgandhi asked Murugan for a portion of the latter's land to expand his 
house, which Murugan refused," Mr. Sivakumar said and added that this 
infuriated Rajivgandhi further.

Around 6 p.m. on February 11, 2012, Murugan's wife M. Palaniammal (55) and 2 
daughters M. Jothimani (31) and M. Magudeeswari (28) went to a vacant space 
behind their house to ease themselves, when Rajivgandhi blocked their way and 
attacked them with a machete.

"Suffering around 18 deep cuts all over their bodies, Palaniammal and Jothimani 
died on the spot. Badly injured Magudeeswari fell unconscious. Murugan and his 
son Manikandan (26) tried to rescue the 3 when Rajivgandhi threatened to kill 
them. He fled on a 2-wheeler in which his accomplice, Jothimani (55), was 
waiting," Mr. Sivakumar added.

Anamalai Police registered a case under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to 
murder) and 506(ii) of the Indian Penal Code.

They arrested Rajivgandhi about 15 days later as he was under hiding and he was 
lodged in jail since then.

Accomplice Jothimani who helped him escape the scene died during the course of 
trial about a year ago.

On Wednesday, judge G. Vijaya awarded death sentence to Rajivgandhi for a 
murder, life imprisonment for another murder and 3 years imprisonment for 
attempt to murder, all to be served concurrently. Rajivgandhi was lodged at the 
Coimbatore Central Prison.

(source: The Hindu)

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

Sharad Yadav favors death penalty to liquor manufacturers


Days after Bihar Government unanimously passed the Bihar Excise Bill, which 
holds stringent punishments, including death penalty for the country's liquor 
makers and sellers, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav on Thursday said the decision was 
justifying and welcoming. Yadav stated that to accomplish the idea of 'liquor 
free state', strict measures are necessary to be taken.

(source: ANI)


SINGAPORE:

Sarawakian on death row in Singapore to know fate next week


A Malaysian man who faces the gallows in Singapore will find out next Tuesday 
whether his sentence is commuted by the country's Court of Appeal.

Kho Jabing, 31, who is from Ulu Baram, Sarawak faces the gallows for killing a 
Chinese construction worker with a tree branch back in 2008 during a robbery 
attempt.

He was scheduled to be executed on Nov 6 last year but received a stay the day 
before, after his lawyer filed a motion raising points of law about the way the 
case was handled.

We Believe in Second Chances founder Kirsten Han said the Singapore-based 
non-governmental organisation was making arrangements to bring Jabing's family 
to Singapore.

"Jabing's judgement will be out on Tuesday 5 April, 9.30am at the Court of 
Appeal," she told The Star Online on Thursday.

Jabing was sentenced to death in 2010 but in August 2013, following revisions 
to Singapore's mandatory death penalty laws, the High Court sentenced him to 
life and 24 strokes of the cane instead.

The prosecution challenged the decision before the Court of Appeal, which again 
sentenced Jabing to death in a 3-2 majority decision earlier this year.

On Oct 19, Singapore president Tony Tan rejected a clemency petition before a 
stay of execution by the Court of Appeal.

In 2013, the Singapore government amended the mandatory death penalty that gave 
judges the discretion to choose between death and life imprisonment with caning 
for all but the most serious category of murder, as well as certain cases of 
drug trafficking.

(source: The Star)






MALAYSIA:

Kasthuri: Putrajaya should 'walk the talk' on executions


There should be no executions until the bill to abolish the "mandatory" death 
penalty is tabled in Parliament.

When there's a possibility of judicial blunders, no one can ensure that just 
and right sentences have been rendered to the accused, pointed out Batu Kawan 
MP Kasthuri Patto in a statement.

"The government should walk the talk that there shall be no executions until 
the Bill to abolish the 'mandatory' death penalty was tabled in Parliament."

The Attorney-General and the government should not play Russian roulette with 
the lives of inmates on death row by arbitrary, "secretive" and hasty 
executions, she added. "It should immediately impose a moratorium on executions 
for all crimes."

The MP was commenting on the fact that it would be a week on Friday since the 
"secretive" execution of 3 men in Taiping. "They had been sentenced to death 
for a crime that took place in 2005 in Sungai Petani."

The families had been given a letter from the Taiping Prisons Department on 
Wednesday 23 March informing them that they may visit their sons on Thursday 
after 9 am and that they will be carrying out the executions in the soonest 
time, noted Kasthuri. "The letter concluded that the families may also discuss 
on claiming the bodies of the 3 men after the execution for their burials."

The letters had been dated 10 March and according to the families, they had 
only received them on 23 March, a delay of 13 days, said the MP. "This may be 
deliberate to deprive the families of help and support from various bodies who 
may try to halt the executions."

While she does not condone or defend the crimes committed by the 3 men and 
other offenders, the nature in which the executions had taken place had been 
extremely shady, "secretive" and hasty, she reiterated. "To top it all, 
questions have been raised if any particular case had become a victim of the 
miscarriage of justice."

It is apparent that the prisons were bent on executing the 3 men come hell or 
high water, charged the MP.

In November last year, she reminded, a roundtable discussion had been held in 
Parliament by "Parliamentarians for Global Action for the Abolition of the 
Death Penalty" on initiatives, commitments and particularly reforms on the 
state of inmates on death row and the abolition of the mandatory death penalty.

The main outcome of the meeting was that the government put in place an 
official moratorium on executions pending the assessment of the report on 
effectiveness of the death penalty, said Kasthuri. "The government pledged to 
introduce a Bill to abolish the mandatory death penalty for all offences and a 
review of the existing death row cases."

(source: freemalaysiatoday.com)






JAPAN----executions

Japan executes an elderly man and a woman, despite international calls for 
abolition


FIDH and its member organisation in Japan, Center for Prisoners' Rights, 
strongly condemn the execution of 2 prisoners in Japan that took place last 
week. On Friday 25 March, Japan's Justice Minister Mitsuhide Iwaki authorised 
the execution of Mr. Yasutoshi Kamata and Ms. Junko Yoshida. These are the 1st 
executions to take place in Japan in 2016, adding to the 14 other executions 
since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was re-elected in 2012.

Mr. Kamata's death sentence for murder charges was confirmed in 2005, and he 
was 75 years old when he was executed last week. In response to a questionnaire 
sent to him by a human rights group in 2015, he stated that he had "become 
senile and did not understand anything complicated." The execution of Mr. 
Kamata is particularly problematic considering the UN Human Rights Committee's 
recommended in 2008 that Japan adopt "a more humane approach with regard to the 
treatment of death row inmates and the execution of persons at an advanced age 
or with mental disabilities." [1] Since the UN handed down this recommendation, 
Japan has executed several elderly and mentally disabled individuals.

Ms. Yoshida, sentenced to death in 2010 for murder, had her request for a 
retrial rejected last year. It is suspected that the Ministry of Justice 
expedited her execution in so that she could not file another petition for 
retrial. Following Ms. Yoshida and Mr. Kamata's executions, there remain 124 
people sentenced to death in Japan.

In 2020, Japan will host the United Nations (UN) Congress on Crime Prevention 
and Criminal Justice. Considering the growing global trend towards abolition 
and the multiple decisions by UN human rights bodies confirming that the use of 
the death penalty entails serious human rights violations, the government of 
Japan should abolish the death penalty before the 2020 Congress, in order to 
bring its laws and criminal justice system in line with international human 
rights standards.

Our organisations strongly condemn Japan's continued use of the death penalty, 
and call on the government of Japan to immediately suspend all executions with 
a view to ultimately abolishing the death penalty.

(source: fidh.org)






BAHAMAS:

Judge Spares Death Penalty, Laments Violent Crime Trend


A judge who spared a 22-year-old man the death penalty yesterday in connection 
with a 2012 murder case expressed concern at an increasing trend of young men 
under the age of 30 being tried and convicted of violent crimes.

Justice Indra Charles had been asked by prosecutor Uel Johnson to impose the 
death sentence on Livingston Woodside for the June 3, 2012 shooting death of 
Owen Rose Sr.

Rose, of Elizabeth Estates, was found dead that night at Washington Street with 
gunshot wounds in his body.

It was the Crown's case that the murder was a paid execution with Woodside, who 
was 19 at the time, pulling the trigger. His alleged accomplice, 19-year-old 
Glenardo Johnson was 16.

A jury unanimously convicted both men of murder on May 1, 2015.

The judge sentenced Woodside to 40 years and Johnson to 35 years imprisonment 
at the Department of Correctional Services to run from the date of conviction.

Both were credited 3 years for time spent on remand prior to conviction, 
reducing their respective sentences to 37 and 32 years.

"One cannot restate the number of murders committed in this country by young 
men like the ones in the prisoner's box," Justice Indra Charles stressed.

"It bothers me why so many young men are continuously before this court. It's 
very rare to see someone who is 30 years old charged with these crimes. The 
trend, it seems, is to see them much younger as even teens are appearing in 
Supreme Court and it appears to me that message we (the court) are sending out 
is not sounding."

"The court should be cognisant of the fact that just about every day the 
newspapers read murder," the judge also stressed.

Justice Charles said notwithstanding these serious concerns, "each case must be 
determined on its own peculiar facts."

"The Crown did seek the death penalty for Woodside. However, the court is of 
the firm view that because of his young age, he's not a candidate for the death 
penalty."

The judge acknowledged the 2011 amendment to the Penal Code, which followed the 
Privy Council's decision in the Maxo Tido decision, which notes that only 
certain types of aggravated murder are currently punishable by death. These 
include murder of a law enforcement officer; murder of a judicial officer, 
including judges, registrars and prosecutors; murder of a witness or juror; 
murder of more than 1 person; murder committed by a defendant who has a prior 
murder conviction; and murder in exchange for value.

"The amendment further provides that any murder committed in the course of/or 
in furtherance of a robbery, rape, kidnapping, terrorist act, or any other 
felony is punishable by death, with no explicit requirement of intent to cause 
death.

"Justice Charles said the appellate court, in its Simeon Bain decision, ruled 
that the crimes named in amendments met the threshold of consideration of the 
imposition of the death penalty.

"However, she also had to consider the case on its own merits and whether the 
circumstances determined it to be the "worst of the worst" and "rarest of the 
rare."

"Justice Charles said she also had to consider Woodside's reasonable prospects 
for reform as presented in a probation report given to the court.

"Despite the fact that this case qualifies for the death penalty, I don't think 
the death penalty should be imposed," the judge said.

"Johnson was told that because of a provision in law, he could potentially be 
released after serving 20 years following a review of his time in custody 
because the offence was committed as a juvenile.

Justice Charles ordered both men to enrol in anger management sessions as "both 
of you appeared to be angry throughout the trial."

Jiaram Mangra and Christina Galanos represented the pair at trial.

Johnson and Woodside have the right to appeal the conviction and sentences.

(source: tribune242.com)