[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 4



SRI LANKA:

Sri Lankan President commutes death sentences of 60 inmates to life


Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has decided to commute the sentences 
of 60 prisoners in death row to life sentences prisoners on account of the 69th 
Independence Day on February 04.

President Sirisena has taken the decision to spare the lives of the prisoners 
based on the recommendations made by a Committee appointed by the Ministry of 
Justice and headed by retired Supreme Court Judge Nimal Dissanayake.

The Committee was appointed to review and report whether the death sentences on 
death row prisoners should be commuted to life imprisonment. Accordingly, the 
Committee has recommended commuting the sentences of 60 prisoners to life 
imprisonment effective from February 04.

The death row convicts will be considered for parole only after they served a 
minimum sentence of 20 years and their pleas for any relief will be referred to 
the parole board once in four years after that.

Although Sri Lankan courts give death penalty in serious crimes such as murder, 
rape and drug trafficking, no executions have been carried out since 1976. All 
death penalty cases have been commuted to life in prison.

(source: colombopage.com)






INDIA:

Hurriyat calls for Valley shutdown after Kashmiri youth awarded death penalty


The joint separatist leadership has called for protests against the death 
sentence of Muzaffar Ahmad, resident of south Kashmir's Kulgam district.

Separatist parties have called for a shutdown today in Kashmir against the 
death penalty awarded to a Kashmiri by a West Bengal court.

The joint separatist leadership has called for protests against the death 
sentence of Muzaffar Ahmad, resident of south Kashmir's Kulgam district.

Authorities have placed Hurriyat(M) Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house 
arrest to prevent him from rallying against the court's sentence.

Muzaffar Ahmad is among the 3 militants who were arrested by BSF on April 1, 
2007 from Petrapole border for trying to infiltrate the International Border 
(IB).

He along with three others have been given a death sentence under Section 121 
of IPC for 'waging a war against the nation'.

Muzaffar's family in Kulgam allege unfair trial and said that they couldn't 
afford a lawyer to plead their case, hence rendering Muzzafar defenceless.

Protests over the matter were reported from many areas in south Kashmir.

(source: India Today)






BELARUS:

Lukashenko says ready to impose moratorium on death penalty if there is 
majority public support


I am ready to impose a moratorium on the death penalty if such a measure is 
supported by the majority of Belarusians, Belarus President Alexander 
Lukashenko said at the meeting with the members of the public, representatives 
of the Belarusian and foreign mass media on 3 February, BelTA has learned.

The head of state noted that he does not have the right to abolish the death 
penalty or impose a moratorium on its use because the majority of the 
Belarusians voted against abolishing it in the referendum. Alexander Lukashenko 
suggested launching a big campaign in the society (including in the parliament, 
parties, public associations) to discuss the matter and study all pros and 
cons. "If people vote to abolish capital punishment, I will sign the 
corresponding decree the same day as the results of the referendum are 
announced," the President stressed.

"Every time that a death sentence is awarded, I sign a decree. You have no idea 
what it takes. I understand that a man will be gone," the head of state said. 
"But before I sign a decree, I study the case file on the man: photographs, 
operational materials, etc. When I see them, my blood turns to ice," the 
president said.

Alexander Lukashenko cited an example of the recent criminal case of Mogilev 
'black realtors' who had been killing people for several years burying them 
alive to get their apartments. "They have killed many old men and women... And 
what for?" the President stressed.

The issue of death penalty is often politicized, the head of state noted. "I 
often tell Europeans: Let's start with America. Will you force them to abolish 
the death penalty? Or others from whom you take money, shake hands with? Let's 
start with them. These are double standards," Alexander Lukashenko emphasized.

The president recalled that Russia imposed the moratorium a long time ago but 
eventually came to regret it. Now they are not abolishing it for a number of 
reasons. "Maybe it is bad that we have this moratorium. Or maybe we are right? 
Those who have imposed the moratorium are ready to cancel it today. It is just 
that they do not know how," Alexander Lukashenko noted.

(source: belta.by)

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

Belarus cannot abolish capital punishment - president


Capital punishment cannot be abolished in Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, the 
president of Europe's only retentionist country, said on Friday.

"I have no right to abolish capital punishment as we held a referendum," 
Lukashenko told reporters, referring to the referendum held in 1996 when over 
80% of Belarusian voted against abolishing the death penalty.

"If people vote against death penalty, I will sign the moratorium," the 
president said, accusing Europe of double standards.

"Let's begin with America, make them abolish capital punishment," he said.

Under the Criminal Code of Belarus, capital punishment can be imposed for 
terrorism, treason, war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, homicide, 
etc.

According to Amnesty International, at least 3 people were executed in Belarus 
in 2016.

(source: http://tass.com)






AUSTRALIA:

Australia's top lawyers urge Government to push for end to capital punishment 
worldwide


Today marks the 50th anniversary since the last Australian was executed on home 
soil, but since then 6 Australians have died at the hands of other governments.

The Law Council is urging the Australian Government to act on the 
recommendations of a joint parliamentary committee into ending the death 
penalty that was tabled early last year.

Law Council of Australia president Fiona McLeod said when an Australian was 
executed overseas, the Australian Federal Police shouldered some of the blame.

"It's really not fair on individual police officers to give them the judgement 
call to expose an individual to death."

She said the Government already had the blueprint to do all it could to bring 
about the end of the death penalty worldwide.

"So what we're doing is urging the Government to act on the recommendations of 
a joint parliamentary report, called A World Without the Death Penalty, and to 
implement those recommendations with speed and with gusto."

George Newhouse, the principle solicitor of the National Justice Project, said 
Australia needed to get smarter about the issue.

He argued that under Australia's extradition treaties it would be extraordinary 
for the Government to allow an individual to be returned to a country where 
they would suffer cruel and inhumane punishment.

He said it seemed the Federal Police were subject to a lower standard, which 
was an issue in need of attention.

"I've acted in cases where alleged war criminals are to be sent back to another 
country, and the Government negotiates with the country to ensure that that 
person isn't subjected to a death penalty," Mr Newhouse said.

"But we don't do that, or we don't take those steps, when the AFP is involved."

Hopes Chan, Sukumaran case will be the last

The executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in 2015 began with a tip-off 
from the Australian Federal Police.

Barrister Julian McMahon represented both men.

"When we lost that case, everyone involved - the lawyers, journalists who were 
closely watching events, and of course government officials who had worked 
incredibly hard over years - were all deeply affected."

He wants Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran to be the last Australians executed 
overseas.

"It's realistic to have a policy where the Australian Government or its various 
agencies do not ever assist another country's police forces or judicial systems 
towards an execution."

He said Australia cannot achieve an end to the death penalty on its own.

"When we push our position, which we now do well as a country, and we join with 
other countries doing the same thing from all over the world, we could do that 
with confidence without expecting a backlash."

Mr McMahon said Australia's guidelines should be very clear.

"The guidelines I think should be much tougher so that it's very clear that 
there are no circumstances where we hand over information which will lead to 
people getting executed," he said.

"And if that's our clear position, other countries will adjust quickly in how 
they work with us."

(source: abc.net.au)

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

Government urged to strengthen AFP policy to prevent death penalty cases


The Turnbull government has been urged to strengthen Australian Federal Police 
policy to prevent citizens being exposed to the death penalty overseas, as 
Australia marks 50 years since the last execution in the country.

A joint parliamentary committee recommended in May last year that AFP 
guidelines be amended to include a "stronger focus" on preventing citizens and 
non-citizens being exposed to the risk of the death penalty in countries 
including Indonesia and the United States.

On the 50th anniversary of the hanging of Ronald Ryan, who was convicted of 
shooting a prison officer and became the last man executed in Australia, the 
Law Council of Australia will call on the government on Friday to adopt the 
recommendations.

Legal experts have warned existing AFP guidelines, introduced after Bali 9 
members Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were sentenced to death in Indonesia, 
are not strong enough to prevent future executions.

A tip-off from the AFP to the Indonesian National Police led to the Bali 9's 
arrest.

Australia opposes the death penalty but current guidelines do not prevent the 
AFP sharing information with international law enforcement agencies where there 
is a risk the death penalty may be applied.

The AFP is simply required to "consider" a range of factors in such cases, if 
it is aware providing the information is "likely to result" in the prosecution 
of a specific person for an offence carrying the death penalty.

Those factors include the seriousness of the suspected crime and Australia's 
interest in promoting and securing co-operation from overseas agencies in 
tackling crime.

The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, chaired by 
former Liberal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, recommended the guidelines be 
overhauled so the primary aim is to prevent people from Australia or elsewhere 
being exposed to arrest or charge for crimes likely to attract the death 
penalty.

The guidelines should also include "a requirement that the AFP seek assurances 
from foreign law enforcement bodies that the death penalty will not be sought 
or applied if information is provided", the committee said.

Law Council of Australia president Fiona McLeod, SC, said the guidelines were 
unclear and it was up to an individual AFP officer's judgment as to "how the 
various factors are weighted".

"This is particularly unfair to the AFP officer - who is forced to carry the 
heavy weight of responsibility on their own judgment and conscience," Ms McLeod 
said.

She said the federal government had been an "outstanding advocate" against the 
death penalty and should "continue to take the lead".

The death penalty was abolished for Commonwealth offences in Australia in 1973. 
NSW, which lagged the other states, did not abolish capital punishment until 
1985.

(source: Sydney Morning Herald)

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

Last man hanged: 50 years in Australia without an execution


50 years ago, Australia carried out its final execution amid a swirl of protest 
and political pressure. But as Jamie Duncan reports, capital punishment remains 
firmly in the nation's consciousness despite the abolition of the death 
penalty.

Ronald Joseph Ryan was a robber with a long criminal record.

On 3 February 1967, Ryan was hanged for the murder of prison warder George 
Hodson as he escaped Pentridge Jail, in the Melbourne suburb of Coburg.

As the guards took turns to attend a staff room Christmas party on 19 December 
1965, Ryan and accomplice Peter John Walker scaled a 5m (16ft) wall, with 
blankets attached to a hook.

They overpowered a guard, stole guns and forced the guard to open a gate.

Mr Hodson was shot in the chest and died in the middle of a busy road outside 
the jail while trying to grab Walker.

Ryan and Walker escaped but were re-captured in Sydney on 6 January 1966.

11 witnesses said they saw Ryan fire the fatal shot, but a warder testified 
that the only shot he heard was his own. He said he was aiming for Ryan but 
fired over Ryan's head to avoid a woman who blundered into the way.

After 12 days of deliberation, a jury found Ryan guilty of Mr Hodson's murder 
and the judge, Justice John Starke, who was opposed to capital punishment, 
pronounced the mandatory death sentence for the crime.

Walker was found guilty of 2 counts of manslaughter - that of Mr Hodson and the 
shooting death of acquaintance Arthur Henderson while on the run.

At the time in the state of Victoria, the government's cabinet determined the 
fate of condemned prisoners.

The last executions in Victoria occurred in 1951, when Jean Lee - the last 
woman hanged in Australia - and her 2 male accomplices were executed for 
torturing and murdering a 73-year-old illegal bookmaker.

Rope, fashioned into a hangman's noose. February 2008.Image caption Support for 
capital punishment has, with periodic reversals, declined in Australia Between 
then and 1967, Liberal and Labor cabinets commuted all but one of 35 death 
sentences to life imprisonment.

The exception was Robert Tait, who murdered an 82-year-old woman. The 
government's refusal of clemency was overturned in the nation's High Court.

Members of Victorian Premier Sir Henry Bolte's cabinet were known to be 
opponents of capital punishment, but Sir Henry ensured his team refused to 
commute Ryan's sentence.

Years later, juror Tom Gildea said while the jury was convinced of Ryan's 
guilt, none believed he would hang, and 7 later wrote to cabinet seeking 
clemency for Ryan.

The conservative-leaning Melbourne Herald campaigned for Ryan's life. In a 
January 1967 editorial, it said: "The state government's insistence on this 
final solution is causing the deepest revulsion. It is punishment in its most 
barbarous form. And experience has shown it gains nothing but dishonour for the 
community which inflicts it."

Mass protests in sizes never before seen in Melbourne had no effect on Sir 
Henry. Ryan, almost 42, was hanged at Pentridge at 08:00 with hundreds of 
protesters outside the jail.

Queensland was the 1st Australian state to outlaw the death penalty, in 1922. 
Victoria followed in 1975 and New South Wales (NSW) was last, in 1985.

But whenever egregious crimes have shocked Australians, the question of a 
return to capital punishment is raised.

It happened after Martin Bryant shot dead 35 people at Port Arthur in Tasmania 
in 1996; the fire-bombing of Brisbane's Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub by James 
Finch and John Stuart in 1973, which killed 15; and the 2012 rape and 
strangulation of Jill Meagher, 29, by Adrian Ernest Bailey.

The death penalty was raised over the 2003 kidnapping and murder of Daniel 
Morcombe, 13, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, by Brett Peter Cowan; Julian 
Knight's 1987 Hoddle Street massacre in Melbourne; and Ivan Milat's 
"backpacker" murders in NSW in the 1980s and '90s.

Even this year, talk has resurfaced after a car was allegedly deliberately 
driven down a Melbourne pedestrian mall, killing 6 people and injuring dozens. 
Dimitrious "Jimmy" Gargasoulas, 26, faces murder and other charges.

Crusading commentator-turned-politician Derryn Hinch opposed capital punishment 
for decades before the horrific rape and murder of Sydney nurse, Anita Cobby, 
by 5 men, including 3 brothers, in 1986.

Hinch, a senator who heads his own Justice Party, says the death penalty should 
apply in cases such as Knight's, where no doubts exist.

"If Australia had the death penalty, a lot of young women could be alive 
today," Hinch wrote in 2012.

"Mersina Halvagis (fatally stabbed as she tended her grandmother's grave in 
Melbourne in 1997) would be alive today. Her killer, Peter Dupas, would have 
been executed after his 1st murders. If sex offenders served their full term 
behind bars, Jill Meagher could be alive today," he said.

"If our touchy-feely parole boards spent half as much time considering victims 
and their families as they do to rushing serial, violent criminals back on to 
the streets, this world would be a safer place. And if a federal government had 
the guts - or a state government had the independence and backbone - to hold a 
referendum on the return of capital punishment for some crimes, it would pass 
by a majority of about 75% to 25%."

Maybe not. Polls from Roy Morgan Research between 1947 and 2009 suggest capital 
punishment supporters may be a vocal minority.

Respondents were asked whether they favoured the death penalty or imprisonment 
in murder cases.

In 1947, 1953 and 1962, a sample of 1,000 voters aged 21 and over found they 
favoured capital punishment 67% to 24%, 68-24% and 53-37% respectively, with 
the remainder undecided.

There was no poll around Ryan's 1967 execution. From the next survey in 1975 
until 2009, the sample of 1,000 included anyone aged 14-plus.

In 1975, support for capital punishment fell behind, at 40%, to 43% against, 
but by 1980 it was on top again at 43-40%.

The gap slowly widened. By February 1989, death penalty supporters had an 
absolute majority (52-34%) peaking at 54-36% in 1993.

But there was a dramatic swing in the decade between surveys in 1995 and 2005.

In 1995, there was still absolute majority support for the death penalty, with 
53% in favour and 36% against.

But in November 2005 - 7 months after the arrest in Indonesia of the Bali 9 
heroin traffickers following an Australian Federal Police tip-off - only 27% 
supported it, with 66% opposed. A month later, support slipped further, to 25% 
v 69%. By August 2009, the last survey, it dropped yet again to 23-64%.

A 2014 text message poll of 1,307 people, asking whether anyone who commits a 
lethal act of terror in Australia should face the death penalty, showed narrow 
support for the proposition - 52.5%, with 47.5% against.

Dr Amy Maguire, lecturer in law at Australia's Newcastle University and capital 
punishment opponent, says the executions of Bali 9 drug smugglers Myuran 
Sukumaran and Andrew Chan may have changed Australian attitudes.

Prior to this, Ronald Ryan's execution was at best a dim memory.

"My sense is that the Chan and Sukumaran case enlightened some numbers of 
Australians who may previously been fairly unconcerned about the use of the 
death penalty overseas for people convicted of drug offences," she told the 
BBC.

"As well as having strong advocacy at government level, the families and 
friends of Sukumaran and Chan bravely conveyed their grief publicly and 
demonstrated that capital punishment is effectively torture not only for the 
person executed but also for their loved ones.

"The argument that Sukumaran and Chan had worked very hard to rehabilitate 
themselves and would be more fairly sentenced to life or many years in prison 
was, I think, fairly persuasive to many people."

While there remains a significant proportion of Australians who support capital 
punishment, Dr Maguire believes no Australian government will ever re-introduce 
it.

"No, I believe Australia is very firmly committed to the abolition of capital 
punishment, and in fact the Bali executions galvanised the government into 
building a firmer platform on which to advocate for abolition globally. 
Australian law is unequivocally against the death penalty," she said.

There are legal barriers, too. In 2010 the federal government passed laws 
banning the reintroduction of capital punishment, in line with a voluntary 
international treaty.

But 50 years on, Ronald Ryan's execution and tension over how best to deal with 
heinous acts that were once capital crimes, echoes through Australia's judicial 
system.

(source: BBC News)






SINGAPORE:

Kovan double murder: Apex court upholds death penalty


Former cop Iskandar Rahmat, convicted in 2015 of the brazen killing of 
car-workshop owner Tan Boon Sin and his son Tan Chee Heong, failed in his 
appeal to escape the death penalty on Friday (Feb 3).

The Court of Appeal - comprising Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and Judges of 
Appeal Chao Hick Tin and Andrew Phang - dismissed Iskandar's claim that the 
fatalities were caused when he was attempting to defend himself when his 
victims assaulted him.

Iskandar - who turned 38 on Friday - was "clearly the aggressor", the judges 
found, noting that the elder Tan's wife had testifised that her husband was not 
a violent person, and that his movements were hampered by a chronic knee 
problem.

The younger Tan, being much lighter than Iskandar, also "could not have been so 
menacing and strong to retaliate", said Justice Phang, who was delivering the 
judgment on the court's behalf to a packed public gallery.

The shocking double murder dominated headlines, especially after Iskandar, then 
an active police officer, was named as the suspect.

On July 10, 2013, the body of the younger Mr Tan, then 42, was dragged along 
Upper Serangoon Road under a silver Toyota Camry, shocking passers-by. The 
bloody trail led back to 14J Hillside Drive, about 1km away, where his father's 
body lay, with multiple stab wounds.

Iskandar had claimed that he intended a rob-and-run job but was forced to fight 
off a knife-wielding elder Tan to protect himself, and Tan died from his 
injuries during the scuffle.

During the trial, the court heard that Iskandar had hatched the plan to rob the 
elder Tan's money to avert a possible sacking from the police force over his 
"financial embarrassment". He carried out his scheme the day before a deadline 
to make a S$50,000 lump sum payment to clear his S$65,000 bank debt.

Lying to Tan that he was an intelligence officer, Iskandar had convinced him to 
place a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera - which was a dummy - inside 
Tan's safe deposit box at Certis Cisco in Paya Lebar and to remove his money 
from it, in order to help the police nab the thief who was stealing from the 
box. Iskandar than accompanied Tan back to his home, where the brazen murders 
took place.

On Friday, the court also rejected Iskandar's defence during an appeal last 
year that he was suffering from acute stress reaction during the killing. It 
was "unsatisfactory" to produce a new psychiatric report "so late in the day", 
three years after the murder, the court said.

(source: todayonline.com)



IRAN:

Iranian authorities executed 1 person every 9 hours in January


According to reports compiled by Iran Human Rights, the Iranian authorities 
hanged 87 people in the month of January 2017, including 2 juvenile prisoners 
and 6 prisoners who were executed in public. Out of the 87 executions, only 19 
of them were announced by official Iranian sources. Most of the executions 
which were carrieed out in Iran in January 2017 were for drug related charges.

According to research conducted by Iran Human Rights, executions tend to 
significantly increase in the months leading to an election in Iran but 
significantly decrease or stop a couple weeks before the election. Iran Human 
Rights is deeply concerned that a new wave of executions have started in Iran 
and worries that the number of executions will increase following the "Fajr 
Decade" celebrations.

Iran Human Rights urges the international community, especially European 
countries, to pay attention to the execution crisis in Iran, and calls on all 
countries which have diplomatic relations with the Iranian authorities to call 
on the Iranian authorities to stop executions.

"In the month of January, we witnessed an average of one execution every 9 
hours, including 2 juvenile offenders and 6 public executions. Lack of 
reactions from the international community to these executions encourages the 
Iranian authorities to execute even more people in the months leading to the 
2017 presidential election," says Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, spokesperson for 
Iran Human Rights.

(source: Iran Human Rights)

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

Halt imminent execution of juvenile offender, urge UN human rights experts


Calling on the Government of Iran to immediately halt the execution of a 
juvenile offender whose trial was reportedly marred with lack of due process 
and fair trial guarantees, a group of United Nations human rights experts have 
urged the authorities to adopt a moratorium on juvenile executions.

According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), 
the offender, Hamid Ahmadi, was 17 years old when he was sentenced to death in 
2009 for the fatal stabbing of a young man in a fight between 5 boys, the year 
before. The court relied on confessions reportedly obtained under torture and 
ill-treatment at a police station. Mr. Ahmadi was also denied access to a 
lawyer and his family.

"To our knowledge, in the case of Hamid Ahmadi, the most stringent guarantees 
of fair trial and due process contained in international human rights 
instruments have been disrespected and, the allegations of torture and 
confessions extracted under duress were not taken into consideration nor did 
the lead to any investigation," the human rights experts said.

"Any death sentence undertaken in contravention of a Government's international 
obligations, and particularly when a conviction is based on confessions 
extracted under torture, is unlawful and tantamount to an arbitrary execution," 
they stressed.

Mr. Ahmadi's execution, planned to take place - by hanging - on Saturday, 4 
February, is the 3rd time it has been scheduled. In the 2 previous instances, 
they were halted at the last minute.

Any death sentence undertaken in contravention of a Government's international 
obligations, and particularly when a conviction is based on confessions 
extracted under torture, is unlawful and tantamount to an arbitrary execution

OHCHR further noted that the Iranian Supreme Court had overturned the death 
sentence in 2009 due to some doubts about the testimony of several key 
witnesses but ultimately upheld the death sentence a year later.

Furthermore, following the adoption (in 2013) of new juvenile sentencing 
provisions of the Islamic Penal Code, Mr. Ahmadi was granted a retrial but was 
eventually re-sentenced to death by a Provincial Criminal Court in December 
2015.

Unprecedented rate of scheduling and even conducting executions of juveniles

The experts also condemned that execution of juveniles continue to be scheduled 
and even conducted at an unprecedented rate in the country since the beginning 
of the year.

"On 17 January, we already intervened to halt the execution of another 
juvenile," they noted.

"Since then, we have learned that 2 other juveniles have been hanged on 15 and 
18 January. Arman Bahr Asemani and Hassan Hassanzadeh were both juveniles at 
the time they allegedly committed the offence for which they were sentenced to 
death."

Underlining that that international standards unequivocally forbid the 
imposition and execution of the death penalty on persons below 18 years of age, 
the UN experts urged Iran to observe its international obligations by putting 
an end to the execution of juvenile offenders "once and for all."

The human rights experts voicing their concern included:

--Asma Jahangir, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran

--Agnes Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary 
executions

--Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or 
degrading treatment or punishment

--Benyam Dawit Mezmur, current Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of 
the Child, a body of 18 independent experts monitoring implementation of the 
Convention on the Rights of the Child by its State parties

Independent experts and Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva based 
UN Human Rights Council - an inter-governmental body responsible for promoting 
and protecting human rights around the world - to examine and report back on a 
specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary 
and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.

(source: UN News Centre)

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

Iran set to hang 2rd juvenile offender in a month----Hamid Ahmadi set to be 
executed on 11 February


The Iranian authorities must immediately stop the execution of a man arrested 
for a crime committed when he was 17 years old, said Amnesty International, 
ahead of his scheduled execution in just over a week's time (11 February).

Hamid Ahmadi was convicted - following an unfair trial marred by torture 
allegations - over the fatal stabbing of a young man during a fight between him 
and four others in the city of Siahkal in 2008. He was arrested on 5 May 2008 
after he contacted the police to report the stabbing, an incident in which he 
said he played no direct role.

Ahmadi was first sentenced to death in 2009 after an unfair trial which was 
based on "confessions" he said were extracted through torture and other 
ill-treatment.

He has said that police officers held him for 3 days in a filthy, urine-stained 
cell; tied his hands and feet together and pushed him face down on the cell 
floor; tied him to a pole in the yard; kicked his genitals; and denied him food 
and water. One officer told him that he should not fear execution and should 
just "confess" to the stabbing so that the investigation would be concluded as 
soon as possible. The pain inflicted on him was so severe that he said he was 
willing to confess to anything to end it. The authorities are not known to have 
investigated his torture allegations.

The last time Ahmadi's execution was scheduled, in May 2015, it was halted at 
the last minute after a public outcry. He was then granted a retrial based on 
new juvenile sentencing provisions in Iran's 2013 Islamic Penal Code allowing 
judges to replace the death penalty with an alternative punishment if they 
determine that the juvenile offender had not attained "mental maturity" at the 
time of the crime. However, he was sentenced to death for a 2nd time in 2015.

This is the 3rd time Ahmadi has been transferred to solitary confinement to 
await his death. He was transferred to solitary confinement in Lakan prison in 
the city of Rasht in preparation for his execution last Saturday (28 January). 
His execution was initially scheduled for 4 February but his family were 
informed today that it has been postponed by a week.

Over the past month the Iranian authorities have executed 2 other young men 
arrested as children, and scheduled a third which was halted at the last 
minute. Phil Luther, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa 
Research and Advocacy Director, said:

"Carrying out the third such execution in a month would be yet another stain on 
the conscience of Iran and an utter betrayal of its own commitments to uphold 
children's rights.

"Instead of displaying such appalling enthusiasm for use of the death penalty, 
the Iranian authorities should urgently halt Hamid Ahmadi's execution, commute 
his death sentence and order a fair retrial in line with international human 
rights standards."

Iran is a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, but its outdated 
laws continue to allow the death penalty to be applied to girls as young as 9 
and boys as young as 15. Amnesty is calling on the Iranian authorities to 
urgently amend Article 91 of Iran's 2013 Islamic Penal Code to prohibit the use 
of the death penalty against juvenile offenders, without any discretion for the 
courts or other exceptions. Pending this legislative change the head of the 
judiciary must establish an official moratorium on executions and ensure that 
the death sentences imposed on all people arrested as children are commuted 
without delay.

(source: Amnesty International)






ST. LUCIA:

Francis backs referendum on death penalty


Asserting that there are compelling arguments both for and against the death 
penalty, National Security Minister, Hermangild Francis, has come out in 
support of a referendum on carrying out executions for criminals convicted of 
capital murders.

The last execution in Saint Lucia took place in 1995.

"The public has a say - Saint Lucians can decide 'yes, this is what we want'," 
he said.

The minister admitted that there is pressure from other countries not to carry 
out the death penalty.

"You are supposed to be independent but you are not really independent because 
you need to get grants and you need to get assistance from some of these 
countries, but it is on the law books and again - it is not automatic," Francis 
observed.

But he said if there is pressure from outside forces there was need to go to 
the people of Saint Lucia and explain the situation to them:

"We want aid from England and Sweden and those countries, but at the end of the 
day if we implement the death penalty then we will not get the type of monies 
that we need to take care of our people, 'what do you want us to do as a 
government?'"

Asked whether he was indicating that there should be a referendum, Francis 
said:

"Yes. You can do that and then it sends a loud message to the persons out there 
that this is what the people want and at the end of the day you have to give 
people what they want."

Asked whether he intended to push for the referendum, Francis responded in the 
negative.

"I would not lead any charge on the death penalty," he stated, asserting that 
the DPP is the one who decides whether to seek the death penalty.

Francis referred to Wednesday's double homicide at Tamarind Heights, Active 
Hill, in which a man and his girlfriend were stabbed to death.

He expressed the view that if the perpetrator goes through the system and is 
found guilty, he was sure that if the the DPP should ask for the death penalty 
no one would fight it.

"That is a discussion we need to have - I don't want to say exactly how I feel 
about the death penalty, but the death penalty is on our books so if you commit 
murder there is a possibility that you can be sentenced to death," Francis 
explained.

He stated that since there is a provision for executions in the law, Saint 
Lucia should follow the law.

"Whether I like it or I don't like it, that is what the law says," the former 
Deputy Police Commissioner said.

The Minister was a guest last night on the DBS Television programme, Newsmaker 
Live, with host -Timothy Poleon.

(source: stluciatimes.com)






NIGERIA:

Nigerian judge wants death row executions carried out to ease prison congestion


A judge in Nigeria's southern Delta State wants governors in the country to 
sign warrants for persons on death row.

According to Judge Marshal Umukoro, doing so will help decongest Nigeria's 
prisons which has over 1,600 inmates on death row, according to statistics from 
the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

The judge also avers that doing so will help deter people from committing 
crimes that will land them such punishment. He was delivering a lecture titled, 
'The Judiciary and Criminal Justice System,' at an institution in the city of 
Ibadan.

His position is in sharp contrast to that of international right groups like 
Amnesty International (AI) who have repeatedly called for the abolishing of the 
death penalty.

The most recent executions in Nigeria were in late December 2016 when three 
prisoners were killed in Edo State. AI called on the state government to 
abolish the executions describing the Edo case a "backward step in global 
trends towards abolishing death penalty."

Africa's most populous nation still has executions on their law books and it is 
applicable for persons convicted for murder and armed robbery.

Before executions are carried out after conviction, state governors have to 
approve the action. Local media reports that most governors have also commuted 
death sentences to life imprisonment. Lagos State on Wednesday approved death 
penalty for kidnappers, a move AI has swiftly condemned.

(source: africanews.com)