[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 15



IRAN----execution

Prisoner Hanged On Murder Charges in Southern Iran



A prisoner was hanged at Shiraz Central Prison on the charge of murdering a 
forest guard.

According to a report by Iran Environment and Wildlife Watch, on the morning of 
Thursday December 14, a prisoner was executed at Shiraz Central Prison.

The prisoner was convicted of murdering a forest guard, named Manuchehr 
Shojayian, on Friday June 24, 2016. However, no information regarding the 
identity of the prisoner and the details of his case has been published.

According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 142 of the 
530 execution sentences in 2016 were implemented due to murder charges. There 
is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in 
issuing death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and 
intent.

(source: Iran Human Rights)








IRAQ:

UN 'shocked and appalled' at mass-execution in Iraq



The UN on Friday harshly criticised the mass-hanging of 38 men at a prison in 
southern Iraq this week, urging Baghdad to immediately halt all executions.

Iraq on Thursday hanged 38 jihadists belonging to the Islamic State group or 
Al-Qaeda for terrorism offences at a prison in the southern city of Nasiriyah, 
according to provincial authorities.

It was the largest number of executions in Iraq on a single day since September 
25, when 42 people were put to death in the same prison.

"We are deeply shocked and appalled at the mass execution on Thursday," United 
Nations human rights office spokeswoman Liz Throssell told reporters in Geneva.

The hangings, she warned, "once again raises huge concerns about the use of the 
death penalty in the country".

The UN had determined that all of the 38 executed prisoners were men and had 
been convicted for terrorism-related crimes, but could say nothing more about 
their identities, she said.

A prison source however told AFP that they were all Iraqis, but that one also 
held Swedish nationality.

The executions came after Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Saturday declared 
victory against the Islamic State group after a three-year campaign by 
government forces backed by a US-led coalition to retake territory seized by 
the jihadists.

The UN and rights watchdog Amnesty International have repeatedly voiced 
concerns about the use of the death penalty in Iraq, which ranks among the 
world's top executioners, after China, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

"Given the flaws of the Iraqi justice system, it appears extremely doubtful 
that strict due process and fair trial guarantees were followed in these 38 
cases," Throssell warned.

"This raises the prospect of irreversible miscarriages of justice and 
violations of the right to life," she said.

The UN has learned of 106 executions in Iraq so far this year, including the 
mass-hangings in September.

"We once again urge the Iraqi authorities to halt all executions, establish an 
immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty and carry out an urgent 
and comprehensive review of the criminal justice system," Throssell said.

(source: digitaljournal.com)








KENYA:

Landmark death penalty judgement must lead to full abolition of cruel 
punishment



Commenting after the Kenyan Supreme Court declared mandatory death sentencing 
unconstitutional, Oluwatosin Popoola, Amnesty International's Adviser on the 
Death Penalty, said:

"This landmark judgment is a significant step towards complete abolition of the 
ultimate cruel and inhumane form of punishment.

"It's now time for the Kenyan authorities to take the required legal steps to 
abolish the death penalty fully and join the 105 countries that have completely 
consigned the punishment to history."

Background

The judgement was handed down following an application by 2 men who have been 
on death row for the last 14 years. It in effect means judges now have 
discretion and will no longer automatically sentence to death people convicted 
of murder or armed robbery - the only 2 crimes that still attract the death 
penalty in Kenya.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases and under any 
circumstances, regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of 
the offender, or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.

(source: Amnesty International)








INDIA:

Death penalty will bolster the dignity of women, says court



Claiming that the decision to award death penalty to Ameerul Islam would 
bolster the dignity of women in society, the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court 
observed that the brutal crime in the Jisha case was a clear demonstration of 
exceptional depravity and extreme brutality towards a helpless woman. "Her 
resistance at the cost of her life could be termed as a reflection of gender 
justice that shocked the collective conscience of the society. Hence, sympathy 
in any form would be misplaced and it would shake the confidence of the public 
in the administration of criminal justice system," the court said in its 
verdict.

The court observed that life had been a continuous battle for the victim.

"She lived in a small house at Vattolippady canal puramboku (a common land 
belonging to the government) till her death, braving financial crunch and 
neighbours' disdain for the family. Her father, late Kuttikattuparambil Pappu, 
had abandoned the family when she was a small child. However, she took the 
challenge to overcome all the hurdles that came in her way and her dream to 
become an advocate was just about to become a reality.

Her mother Rajeswary had been a strong pillar of support for her and the mother 
dreamt to see her daughter enrolled as an advocate so that the family can hope 
for a secured future," the court said. "However, all their dreams ended when 
the accused mercilessly raped and murdered her in an extremely brutal, 
grotesque, diabolical, revolting and dastardly manner to arouse the intense and 
extreme indignation of the society. She was subjected to rape while she was all 
alone at her residence.

Her clothes were torn apart and partially pulled away from her body. When the 
victim persistently resisted the attempt of rape, the convict inflicted 38 
injuries all over her body, out of which a majority of these injuries were on 
the abdomen and on the external genitalia that caused the death of the victim."

The injuries noted in the postmortem report are self-explanatory to show the 
inhuman behaviour of the convict. It is disheartening to note that, had the 
victim consented to the evil act of the convict, she would not have been 
subjected to brutal murder, the court said. "Though the defence counsel had 
made some wild suggestions with respect to the involvement of Anarul Islam and 
Hardath Baruwa in the crime, no positive evidence is brought in or adduced by 
the accused so as to even think about the complicity of another person in the 
crime.

"No incriminating evidence is brought out in evidence for the investigation to 
implicate any other person other than the accused. The investigation does not 
reveal the complicity of any other person in the crime." "In the absence of any 
other positive evidence to show the involvement of any other person, the only 
irresistible conclusion is that the accused and the accused alone has committed 
the crime using a shawl and knife," it added.

'Duty of the court to award death penalty'

In awarding the verdict, the court observed that when the collective conscience 
of the community is so shocked, it is the duty of the court to inflict death 
penalty, irrespective of personal opinion with regard to the desirability of 
imposing the death penalty. "In the interest of justice, the law leans in 
accordance with the perception of society and not 'judge-centric'. Hence this 
is a fit case for awarding death sentence to the accused," the court said.

(source: The New Indian Express)








INDONESIA:

11 Taiwanese to face Indonesian firing squad next year



Despite a brief reprieve this month, the 11 Taiwanese citizens who have been 
sentenced to death for drug offenses are still on track to face the firing 
squad as early as January of 2018, announced the Indonesian government Tuesday 
(Dec. 12), reported SETN.

The 11 Taiwanese sentenced to death for drug trafficking by Indonesian district 
and high courts have been identified as Chen Chia-wei, Wang An-kang, and Lo 
Chih-cheng, as well as 8 other Taiwanese citizens who have had their names 
partially concealed with the following surnames: Lin, Chen, Chuang, Li, Shih, 
Wu, Hung, and Yeh.

Although 8 of the 11 have not completed the judicial process, experts believe 
that given Indonesia's track record with death penalty cases, their chances of 
appealing their sentences are slim.

All death row inmates, including the Taiwanese were given a brief reprieve on 
Tuesday, when Indonesian prosecutors disclosed that they will not execute any 
more prisoners for the remainder of this year. However, they added that 
executions will resume as soon as Jan. 2018.

As part of the country's war on drugs, Indonesian President Joko Widodo is 
intensifying the severity of punishments, and has even told his police officers 
to "gun down" drug traffickers if necessary, especially foreigners, said John 
Chen, head of the Taipei Economic and Trade Office in Indonesia. Chen was 
quoted by CNA as warning Taiwanese citizens "not for one moment to consider 
smuggling drugs to Indonesia."

Taiwan also uses shooting as the main method to execute criminals condemned to 
death, though it is delivered by a single handgun to the heart or the brain 
stem, as opposed to a squad of riflemen aiming for the heart, as is the case in 
Indonesia.

(source: Taiwan News)