[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

The news will next be posted to this site on Dec. 30

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





Dec. 17




INDIA:

Former TV host Suhaib Ilyasi convicted for wife's murder



A New Delhi court convicted former TV serial producer Suhaib Ilyasi of 
murdering his wife in 2000 on Saturday.

Additional Sessions Judge S.K. Malhotra held Ilyasi guilty of his wife's murder 
and would hear arguments on quantum of sentence on December 20.

In 2014, the Delhi High Court had asked the trial court to add the graver 
charge of murder under section 302 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Ilyasi 
for his wife's death.

He will face a minimum punishment of life imprisonment and the maximum of death 
penalty in the case.

Ilyasi, also the editor-in-chief of Bureaucracy Today magazine, has been facing 
the trial as an accused for the last 17 years in dowry death case of his wife 
Anju Ilyasi.

The high court's order had come on a plea filed by Rukma Singh, Anju's mother, 
challenging the February 19, 2011 order of a trial court which had rejected her 
plea for trying Ilyasi under the penal provision of murder.

Rukma Singh said her son-in-law was facing the charge of killing his wife for 
dowry under section 304 of IPC, which attracts much lesser punishment.

Anju Ilyasi died on January 11, 2000 at her Mayur Vihar house. Ilyasi was 
arrested on March 28, 2000 and charges were later framed against him in the 
case after his sisters-in-law and mother-in-law alleged that he used to torture 
his wife for dowry.

The trial court had framed charges against him relating to dowry death and 
subjecting a woman to cruelty (section 304 (b) and section 498 (a). After the 
high court order, it charged Ilyasi with murder.

Suhaib Ilyasi is best known for hosting the reality TV show India's Most 
Wanted.

(source: timesnownews.com)

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

Rapists of minors should be hanged within 6 months: DCW Chief



Lamenting the "delay" in carrying out sentence of December 16 gang-rape and 
murder incident, Delhi Commission for Women Chief Swati Maliwal on Saturday 
claimed the long winding legal process allowed the criminals to feel they can 
get away with such heinous crimes.

She urged the prime minister to bring in a legislation wherein at least those 
convicted of raping minors are given death penalty within 6 months.

Nirbhaya, a para-medical student, was brutally gang-raped on the intervening 
night of December 16, 2012, in a moving bus in South Delhi. The incident took 
place while she was returning with a friend after watching a movie. She died 13 
days after the incident at a hospital in Singapore.

Of the 6 men arrested in the case, one of the accused Ram Singh hanged himself 
in prison in March 2013, while another man, who was a juvenile at the time of 
the crime, was convicted in August. In 2016, he was released from the 
correction home after serving the maximum sentence of 3 years in a reform home.

The other 4 - Akshay, Vinay Sharma, Pawan and Mukesh - were found guilty and 
sentenced to death by the Delhi High Court in September 2013. The Supreme Court 
also upheld the high court's decision.

"It's the 5th death anniversary of Nirbhaya incident and the fact is that 
nothing has changed in this country. Everyday girls and women are being 
brutally raped in this country," she said.

Maliwal also highlighted the need for having fast-track courts in the city so 
that rapists are punished forthwith.

Also, there is a need to upgrade the delivery mechanism of the forensic 
department as well as the accountability of the police, she said in a letter to 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The system has made the criminals confident enough to believe that they can 
get away with any crime perpetrated against a woman or a child. It is very 
unfortunate that even Nirbhaya herself has not got justice in this country. 
Nirbhaya's mother is still running from pillar to post in order to ensure that 
her beloved daughter can get justice," Maliwal said.

The DCW chief said that at least in case of rape of minor girls, there should 
be a law in this country in which such rapists should be punished and given 
death penalty within 6 months.

She also made an appeal to the prime minister to constitute a high-level 
committee on women's safety in Delhi, having the Union home minister, the 
lieutenant governor, the chief minister, the police commissioner and the DCW 
representatives as its members, to take effective decisions on issues of 
women's safety.

Drawing the prime minister's attention to the Nirbhaya fund, which has remained 
unutilised till date, Maliwal urged him to devolve the fund immediately to the 
states failing which the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' programme will lose its 
relevance.

(source: asianage.com)

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

2 BJP states contemplate death penalty for rape; face opposition----The Bill - 
Dand Vidhi (Madhya Pradesh Sanshodhan) Vidheyak, 2017 - is awaiting the 
President's assent



The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Madhya Pradesh has passed a 
Bill in its Assembly to award capital punishment to those found guilty of 
raping children below the age of 12. The Rajasthan government, too, was 
contemplating of bringing a similar Bill.

Currently, the maximum punishment under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for rape 
convicts is life imprisonment. The state government has also suggested that the 
minimum punishment for rape be kept 14 years, and 20 years in case of gang 
rape.

The Bill - Dand Vidhi (Madhya Pradesh Sanshodhan) Vidheyak, 2017 - is awaiting 
the President's assent.

The civil society said awarding death punishment would barely be a deterrent. 
"This is a knee-jerk reaction from the state government," said Ravi Kant, a 
Supreme Court lawyer and child rights activist. "Rapists would now kill victims 
to hide their identities. The state government should instead invest in 
policing and scientific techniques of investigation. Most accused get away 
scot-free because of shoddy investigation and victims turning hostile because 
of threats."

The Madhya Pradesh government brought the Bill following the rape of a teenager 
in Bhopal. The girl was returning from her coaching class when 4 men allegedly 
abducted and raped her.

The state reported the most number of rapes in 2016. According to the National 
Crime Records Bureau, the state reported 4,882 rapes cases, followed by Uttar 
Pradesh with 4,816 cases and Maharashtra with 4,189 cases. Madhya Pradesh was 
also among the states that reported the maximum number of cases for crimes 
against children. Uttar Pradesh topped this list with 15.3 % of cases, followed 
by Maharashtra at 13.6 % and Madhya Pradesh at 13.1 %.

The Justice J S Verma Committee, which was set up to recommend amendments to 
the Criminal Law for speedy trial and enhanced punishment of criminals accused 
of committing sexual assault against women, had also suggested against imposing 
the death penalty. The committee was set up following public demand for death 
punishment in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya case in Delhi in 2012.

"The committee rejected the proposal for chemical castration as it fails to 
treat the social foundations of rape. It opined that death penalty should not 
be awarded for the offence of rape as there was considerable evidence that 
death penalty was not a deterrence to serious crimes. It recommended life 
imprisonment for rape," said the summary of the report available on the website 
of PRS Legislative Research, a not-for-profit organisation.

After the Verma Committee report, the government amended the IPC through the 
Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, popularly known as the anti-rape Bill. It 
introduced several provisions, including Section 376A, which allowed for death 
penalty to be imposed in cases where rape led to the death of the victim, or 
left the victim in a persistent vegetative state. The maximum punishment was 
raised to life imprisonment in case of a non-death. 2 years later, the Law 
Commission recommended abolition of death penalty for all crimes except cases 
related to terrorism.

Madhya Pradesh, which is not bound either by the Law Commission report or the 
Justice Verma committee report, has proposed that death penalty should be given 
to those found guilty of raping children below the age of 12 years. "The Union 
government is finding it difficult to recommend the President to accept the 
state government Bill because of the divergent views. The matter has been 
referred to the Union Law ministry for its opinion," said an official.

Among the other changes, the Madhya Pradesh government has also passed a 
provision for a 3-year jail term for stalking.

Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria told reporters that the state 
government was currently reviewing the Madhya Pradesh Bill and intends to bring 
its own Bill in the budget session.

(source: business-standard.com)








KENYA:

Supreme Court gives factors to be considered before recalling one's death 
penalty



A ruling by a 3-judge bench led by Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu, 
Justice Njoki Ndung'u and Justice Jacton Ojwang pronounced mandatory death 
penalties for capital offenses unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court on December 14 quoted Section 204 of the Penal Code, which 
states that mandatory death sentences are detrimental. The ruling, however, 
does not affect the validity of the death sentence.

The ruling came after talks in the topic with big organizations such as The 
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, the International Commission of 
Jurists Kenyan chapter, Legal Resources Foundation, Katiba Institute and the 
death penalty project taking part.

The talks leading to this ruling were nudged by two petitioners who asked the 
court to scrap off the mandatory death penalty. The 2, Francis Karioko 
Muruatetu and Wilson Thirimbu Mwangi have been convicts for the last 14 years. 
They were arrested for the murder of businessman Lawrence Githinji Magondu.

In Kenya, cases that commonly attract punishment by death are usually murder 
and robbery with violence.

For the past 7 years, over 50% of the counties under the United Nations (UN) 
umbrella have scrapped off death penalties on convicts.

The ruling means that over 7,000 convicts awaiting the hangman's moose will 
have a chance to redeem themselves over fresh sentences.

Some of the factors that will be considered in determining if the convicts 
should escape death are;

Age of the offender

The number of times the offender is accused

Whether the offender pleaded guilty or not

Current behavior of the offender

Whether the offense was gender violence related

Whether the offender shows remorse

Chances for rehabilitation on and social re-adaption of the offender

(source: standardmedia.co.ke)

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

House must complete urgent changes to law



The enactment of the Constitution in 2010 paved the way for far-reaching 
revisions and amendments of existing laws to create a fair and clear framework 
for adjudication of disputes.

Several amendments have been made, although largely those with a bearing on 
politics, which indeed, dominates public discourse. But there are some 
fundamental yet covert stipulations that have been ignored.

In this category is the provision of mandatory death sentence that remains 
etched in the statutes in complete abrogation of the constitutional remit.

The challenge with the mandatory death sentence as construed in the Penal Code 
is that it ties the hands of the judges; there is no jurisdictional discretion 
to determine or entertain mitigating circumstances and give room for lesser 
sentence.

To be sure, the offences that carry death penalty are murder, robbery with 
violence and treason.

CAPITAL OFFENCE

On occasions, judges have found themselves in the unsettling situation, where 
although an offender may be truly guilty of capital offence, the circumstances 
may not necessarily merit death sentence; forcing them to opt for acquittal for 
lack of an alternative.

This is the context that has informed the ruling by the Supreme Court in a case 
filed by convicts facing death sentence.

The court seeks to clarify the constitutional confusion, hence it has declared 
that mandatory death sentence is an illegality and should be expunged from the 
books.

Textually, the court argues, death penalty per se may remain in the books, but 
it should not be mandatory.

CONTROVERSIAL LAW

In other words, the law should provide a continuum that gives courts the 
latitude to determine each capital offence on merit and pronounce themselves 
appropriately as situation may so dictate.

For a good measure, the Supreme Court has submitted its ruling over the matter 
to Parliament and the Kenya Law Reform with the express intention of having 
them initiate the process of amending the applicable statues.

Clearly, this is a straight forward matter that should be speedily acted upon. 
The relevant authorities should seize themselves of the matter and commence 
drafting applicable amendments to clarify the controversial law, and any other 
such like, to align to the Constitution.

(source: Editorial, nation.co.ke)








IRAQ:

UN Urges Iraq to Immediately Halt Executions



The United Nations rights office has urged Iraq to immediately halt all 
executions, stressing that putting to death 38 terrorist suspects was "deeply 
shocking."

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

"It appears extremely doubtful that strict due process and fair trial 
guarantees were followed in these 38 cases," Agence France Presse quoted 
Throssell as saying on Friday.

The UN has learned of 106 executions in Iraq so far this year, including 
mass-hangings of 42 people 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.

Dakhel Kazem, a senior official in the provincial council, said the prison 
executed "38 death row prisoners belonging to Al-Qaeda or ISIS accused of 
terrorist activities".

A prison source told AFP that those executed on Thursday were all Iraqis, but 
that one also held Swedish nationality.

Sweden had confirmed that among them was an Iraqi-Swedish citizen.

"The death penalty is an inhumane, cruel, and irreversible punishment. Sweden 
and the rest of the EU condemn its application in all its forms," Swedish 
Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said in a statement.

Sweden on Friday summoned Iraq's ambassador over the mass-hangings.

Throssell also voiced deep concern over the reported shelling and burning of 
homes in the Iraqi city of Tuz Khurmatu, warning of a "serious risk" that 
violence could escalate.

The United Nations rights office pointed to reports that residential areas of 
Tuz Khurmatu, in the Salahaddin governorate, had been shelled on December 9 and 
12, "causing casualties among civilians."

"It is not clear who is carrying out the shelling, which is reported to be 
coming from the mountains overlooking the area," Throssell told reporters.

Iraqi forces are working to determine where the shelling is coming from and who 
is responsible.

Tensions have been swelling in the disputed area of Tuz Khurmatu following 
September's independence referendum in the neighboring Kurdistan Region.

The city's population is a mix of Turkoman, Kurd and Arab communities, and 
Throssell warned that "there is a serious risk that given the ethnic and 
religious fault lines in the area, that violence could escalate and spread."

In recent weeks, clashes have raged between the Kurdish security forces also 
known as the Peshmerga and Turkmen Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs).

"This fighting has to date resulted in an unconfirmed number of deaths in each 
group," Throssell said.

She said staff from the UN rights office visited the city on December 7 and 
again on the 14th to investigate reports of the burning of homes and looting of 
businesses.

They had seen "some 150 premises that had been burned or otherwise damaged," 
she said, adding that they had also spoken with people who had fled violence in 
the city and were currently staying in Kirkuk and Erbil.

In October, a similar number of houses were reportedly looted and burned by 
Turkmen PMUs and civilians, she pointed out.

As many as 11 houses reportedly belonging to Kurdish families and officials had 
also been destroyed by explosives in the city, Throssell said.

"Thousands of residents, mainly of Kurdish origin left for the Kurdistan Region 
of Iraq, apparently fearing repercussions, and to date many have not returned," 
she warned.

The UN rights office called for an end to "all acts that threaten the 
fundamental rights of the Tuz Khurmatu population."

"We also call on the Iraqi authorities to ensure that civilians there are 
protected and those responsible for human rights abuses brought to justice," 
Throssell said.

(source: aawsat.com)