[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 8




INDONESIA:

2 Taiwanese arrested in Jakarta over drugs: CIB


Criminal Investigation Bureau officials and Indonesian police officers join 
hands at a news conference at the Jakarta Police Narcotics Division in 
Indonesia to signify their solidarity in a joint effort to fight illegal drugs. 
Photo: CNA, courtesy of the Indonesian police

2 Taiwanese were arrested last month in Jakarta for allegedly trying to smuggle 
almost 3.8kg of amphetamines into Indonesia, the Criminal Investigation Bureau 
(CIB) said on Wednesday.

Lai Chen-yu and Huang Ming-wei, both 24, were allegedly caught with amphetamine 
packets taped to their legs when they landed at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta 
International Airport on a flight from Taiwan on March 13, the bureau said.

The 3.776kg haul has an estimated street value of NT$4.6 million (US$150,322), 
it said.

The Jakarta Police Narcotics Division, together with CIB officials, announced 
the arrests at a news conference on Wednesday in the Indonesian capital.

Jakarta Police Chief Inspector General Mochamad Iriawan credited cooperation 
between Indonesian and Taiwanese police for the arrests.

"The Taiwanese police told us earlier about the 2 Taiwanese suspects. Their 
tip-off helped us track down the suspects' flight," he said.

CIB officials assisting in the investigation said that Lai was a language 
student at a Kaohsiung university, and that he had signed a confession after 
being questioned by Jakarta police.

"Lai said he was introduced by friends to a contact person for a drug ring, but 
he does not know the person's real name or identity," said Cheng Hui-ming, 
captain of the bureau's Third Investigation Unit.

Cheng said the contact told Lai he could make easy money and that Lai, who was 
unemployed, agreed to do so, with the promise that he would be paid NT$150,000.

"It is not worth losing your life getting involved in drug smuggling, because 
Indonesia has severe punishments against such crimes. [The 2 suspects] may face 
a minimum of 20 years in prison or be given the death penalty," Cheng said.

7 Taiwanese were sentenced to death for drug smuggling in Indonesia last year, 
he added.

3 of them were found carrying 2kg of amphetamines and were arrested at the 
airport. The other 4 were convicted for possession of 26kg of amphetamines in 
an Indonesian city, he added.

Since Indonesian President Joko Widodo assumed office in 2014, he has presided 
over the execution of 18 people convicted of drug charges, including 15 
foreigners, Cheng said.

Jakarta police officials said they are still trying to track down the 
ringleaders, and evidence point to collusion between Taiwanese syndicates and 
an Aceh-Jakarta drug network.

The 2 suspects were supposed to take the amphetamines to a restaurant in West 
Jakarta and hand them over to a man known by the initials of T.A.W., Iriawan 
said.

(source: Taipei Times)






INDIA:

SC: Death penalty breaches reformative theory of punishment ---- In its 262nd 
report, the bench noted, the Law Commission of India recommended abolition of 
the death penalty for all crimes other than terrorism-related offences and 
waging war.


The Supreme Court on Friday commuted to life term the capital punishment 
awarded to a murder convict, noting that death penalty "somehow breaches the 
reformative theory of punishment under criminal law".

A bench of Justices P C Ghose and Rohinton F Nariman also underlined that death 
penalty had in fact become a "distinctive feature" of criminal law in India, 
and that the apex court had been encouraging discussion and debate on the 
subject.

"Today when capital punishment has become a distinctive feature of death 
penalty apparatus in India which somehow breaches the reformative theory of 
punishment under criminal law..." said the bench.

It recalled that the top court had recently referred to the Law Commission to 
study the issue of death penalty in India to "allow for an up-to-date and 
informed discussion and debate on this subject".

In its 262nd report, the bench noted, the Law Commission of India recommended 
abolition of the death penalty for all crimes other than terrorism-related 
offences and waging war - offences affecting national security.

Making these observations, the court said it was not inclined to award capital 
punishment to the convict in the murder case. "Therefore, confinement till 
natural life of the accused respondent shall fulfill the requisite criteria of 
punishment in peculiar facts and circumstances of the present case," it held.

The court was hearing an appeal by the Maharashtra government, which had 
pressed for death penalty for one Nisar Ramzan Sayyed, who had in October 2010 
set on fire his pregnant wife and thrown his minor son into the blaze, causing 
their death. While the trial court sent Sayyed to the gallows, the High Court 
acquitted him for want of concrete proof.

The apex court, after taking note of the dying declaration of his wife and 
other circumstantial evidence, held that Sayyed's guilt was proved beyond 
reasonable doubt but this was not a "rarest of the rare case" that warranted 
him to be sentenced to death.

(source: indianexpress.com)






GAZA:

Palestinian rights groups condemn Gaza executions


Palestinian human rights groups have condemned the execution by authorities in 
the Gaza Strip of 3 civilians accused of collaborating with Israel.

According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the Hamas-controlled 
interior ministry in Gaza hanged the men, aged 55, 42 and 32, on Thursday 
morning. They have been identified only by initials.

The 55-year-old was from Khan Younis in southern Gaza and had been detained 
since 2011, according to Al Mezan Center for Human Rights. He had originally 
been sentenced to 15 years in prison, but a military court later changed the 
sentence to death.

The 42-year-old was accused of passing information about Palestinian resistance 
factions to Israeli occupation forces. He had also been in detention since 
2011. The 32-year-old was identified as a resident of Gaza City.

PCHR called the executions "a clear violation" of the Palestinian Basic Law, 
which requires death sentences to be ratified by the president of the 
Palestinian Authority.

The current incumbent, Mahmoud Abbas, has not ratified a death sentence in a 
decade. In total, 38 persons have been executed since the Palestinian Authority 
was established in the early 1990s, 36 of them in the Gaza Strip, according to 
PCHR. 25 executions were carried out without ratification from the PA leader.

PCHR has long campaigned against the death penalty as a matter of principle and 
reiterated following the latest executions that the measure is neither just nor 
a deterrent.

The group also stated that "torture is systematically used against those 
convicted of collaboration while being interrogated."

Al Mezan reaffirmed its condemnation of the death penalty, stating that it is 
ineffective and "violates the human right to life."

(source: electronicintifada.net)

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

UN rights agency condemns PLO's executions in Gaza, urges moratorium on death 
penalty


The United Nations human rights office today strongly condemned the execution 
of 3 men in Gaza for "collaboration with the occupier" and urged authorities to 
halt all further executions and comply with Palestine's obligations under 
international law.

Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner 
for Human Rights (OHCHR) told reporters in Geneva that the executions took 
place "despite our appeal and those by other international and Palestinian 
organizations for the sentences not to go ahead."

OHCHR stressed that the executions "were carried out in breach of Palestine's 
obligations under international law," including the International Covenant on 
Civil and Political Rights, whose conditions on the use of the death penalty 
were not abided.

The defendants had been convicted of treason under the PLO Revolutionary Penal 
Code on the basis of what is termed "collaboration with the occupier".

The conviction of "treason" does not meet the threshold of "most serious 
crimes," as stipulated by the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights, Ms. Shamdasani said. These are typically understood as intentional 
killings.

In addition, the defendants were tried in military court, in contravention of 
international law.

"We are also concerned that trials in Gaza resulting in the imposition of a 
death sentence do not appear to meet international fair trial standards," the 
spokesperson said.

She said that the accusations were insufficiently investigated, raising the 
possibility that the confession may have been coerced.

"We urge the authorities in Gaza to halt further executions and comply with 
Palestine's obligations under international law," said Ms. Shamdasani.

"We also call on the State of Palestine to immediately establish an official 
moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to its abolition."

(source: un.org)