[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 22



TURKEY:

Turkish President Resurrects Death Penalty Issue


Protesters chant, "We want the death penalty|," as 40 soldiers are led into an 
Ankara court. The soldiers are accused of trying to assassinate President Recep 
Tayyip Erdogan during a failed coup in July, in which more than 250 people were 
killed.

Erdogan, touring the country to rally support for an April referendum to extend 
his presidential powers, promised to bring back the death penalty. "If 
parliament passes the law to bring it back, I will sign it, and pay my debt to 
the martyrs of our country," Erdogan said to thousands of supporters in the 
Turkish city of Kahramanmaras Friday.

The death penalty was abolished by Erdogan when he was prime minister in 2004 
as part of the country's bid to join the European Union; but its return would 
be popular among many nationalists and conservative voters who support him.

With anger still felt toward those behind the coup attempt and a resurgence in 
terror attacks by Kurdish insurgents, analysts predict returning the death 
penalty is a vote winner. "There is a great yearning by the people to hang 'the 
bastards;' I really think people feel that way," says political consultant 
Atilla Yesilada of Global Source partners; but Yesilada says Turkey will pay a 
high price. "If it is ever introduced, the EU has no choice but to cut the 
umbilical link to Turkey."

EU warning

The European Union has warned Ankara its bid to join would be automatically 
frozen, but, with that bid making little progress because of opposition from 
some members, there is growing resentment among many Turks toward the European 
Union.

Erdogan said he is not going to listen to Europeans, referring to them as "Hans 
and George." At the Kahramanmaras rally, Erdogan told his supporters, ???I 
listen to the Ayses and Ahmets of our country," referring to traditional 
Turkish Muslim names, while adding, "I listen to the words of God."

Analysts say such rhetoric plays well with large sections of the electorate, 
underscoring his message of the need for a strong president with strong powers. 
Many, however, are predicting the death penalty issue will be quietly forgotten 
after the April referendum.

"I always believed that the death penalty rhetoric was more to consolidate the 
alliance with the nationalists, but eventually it would be dropped," said 
analyst Sinan Ulgen, a visiting scholar of the Carnegie Europe policy group, 
"because of the very high cost of introducing the death penalty in Turkey, the 
very high political and economical cost this would entail."P> Risks involved

Notably, Devlet Bahceli, the leader of Turkey's main nationalist party, the 
MHP, has not, so far, echoed the president's latest call. Analysts point out 
the return of the death penalty would inevitability exacerbate the country's 
already deep political and ethnic divisions, if members of the Kurdish rebel 
group the PKK were executed. Any break with the EU would also threaten to 
further destabilize the country's vulnerable economy.

"We have seen how severely the markets reacted the day the European parliament 
voted to suspend the accession process which was only a non-binding 
resolution," notes consultant Yesilada, recalling November's vote. "I would 
imagine how severe the markets would react if the EU was to freeze accession 
talks. It's really a bad scenario."

Analysts also point out that despite Erdogan's tough referendum campaign 
rhetoric of not only calling for the death penalty, but also regular EU 
attacks, behind the scenes, there is another story. "What we are seeing now is 
a realistic assessment by both the EU and Ankara," Ulgen said, adding, "that 
despite the difficulties, this relationship remains of critical importance for 
both sides."

Pragmatism is being widely predicted to prevail over the death penalty, in the 
face of calls from Erdogan's grassroots, and many nationalists; but, given the 
country is set to face a crucial general and presidential election within 2 
years, few are predicting with any certainty the death penalty controversy will 
end soon.

(source: Voice of America News)






SRI LANKA:

Indian migrant labourer charged with murder of Lankan colleague


An Indian immigrant labour was charged at the Magistrate's Court here today 
with the murder of his Sri Lankan colleague 2 weeks ago, New Straits Times of 
Malaysia reported.

No plea was recorded from the accused, Durga Rao Ketali, 30, when the charge 
was read by the court interpreter before Magistrate Adibah Husna Zainal Abidin. 
Durga is charged with the murder of Sumith Nishantha Silva Appu Kankanamalage 
at Padang Buluh Estate, Jalan Sidam Kiri here, about 9pm on Feb 9.

He is charged under Section 302 of Penal Code which carries mandatory death 
penalty if convicted. Inspector Sharol Niza Serat prosecuted while the accused 
was not represented. The court fixed April 2 for mention pending an autopsy 
report. It was reported that the victim, in his 50s, died on the spot when the 
accused smashed his head with a concrete slab following an argument at the 
workers' hostel.

(source: sundaytimes.lk)



IRAN:

Head of Judiciary Orders Quick Sunni Prisoners' Execution


Iranian regime's head of judiciary has ordered that Sunni prisoners convicted 
of drug trafficking to be executed as soon as possible so that they won't be 
subject to the new legislation approved by regime's Parliament.

According to reports, a senior judiciary official has revealed a secret decree 
given by the head of regime's judiciary 'Sadegh Amoli Larijani' to courts to 
quickly go ahead with the execution of Sunni prisoners convicted of drug 
trafficking.

The decree is aimed at preventing the Sunni prisoners from being subject to 
Parliament;s new legislation, thus replacing their death sentences with other 
punishments. At least 50 Sunni prisoners are subject to head of judiciary's 
secret decree.

The convicts are mostly held in Birjand, Mashhad, Zahedan, Shiraz, Kerman and 
Urmia prisons, for whom the death penalty will be applied.

At least 32 Sunni prisoners have been sent to the gallows in Shiraz, Birjand, 
Chabahar and Kerman prisons over the past few days, due to this secret command.

On November 23, 2016, Regime's parliament passed an emergency motion to add an 
article to the law on fighting drugs, according to which the number of capital 
cases for drug-related charges would be reduced. This motion by itself 
acknowledges that death penalty has had no effect on reducing drug use.

Fearing social protests and international pressures particularly those applied 
by the United Nations and its Human Rights Council, the motion to add an 
article to the law on fighting drugs was passed while being approved by all 
regime's entities.

(source: NCR-Iran)






IRAQ:

Urgent Action


SENTENCED TO DEATH BASED ON "CONFESSIONS"

Brothers Mahmoud Tale' Nayef and Taleb Tale' Nayef were sentenced to death by 
the Central Criminal Court of Iraq on 9 August 2016 based on "confessions" 
extracted under torture. Taleb Tale' Nayef remains at risk of further torture 
and other ill-treatment.

Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:

* Urging the Iraqi authorities to quash Mahmoud Tale' Nayef, and Taleb Tale' 
Nayef's convictions and order a full retrial of both men in proceedings in 
compliance with international fair trial standards and without resort to the 
death penalty;

* Calling on them to ensure that both men are protected from torture and other 
ill-treatment and to carry out an independent and impartial investigation into 
their allegations of torture;

* Urging them to commute all death sentences and immediately establish an 
official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.

Contact these 2 officials by 6 April, 2017:

Important note: Please do not forward this Urgent Action email directly to 
these officials. Instead of forwarding this email that you have received, 
please open up a new email message in which to write your appeals to each 
official. This will help ensure that your emails are not rejected. Thank you 
for your deeply valued activism!

President

Fuad M'asum

Convention Centre (Qasr al-Ma'aridh)

Baghdad, Iraq

Salutation: Dear Mr President

Ambassador Lukman Faily

Embassy of the Republic of Iraq

3421 Massachusetts Ave NW

Washington DC 20007

Phone: 202.742.1600 EXT 136

Fax: 202.333.1129
Email: ambassadoroffice at iraqiembassy.us

Salutation: Dear Ambassador

(source: Amnesty International)






PHILIPPINES:

Rights of accused protected in death penalty bill - Farinas


Majority leader Rudy Farinas on Wednesday said the bill reimposing the death 
penalty would protect the rights of people accused of heinous crimes.

In an ambush interview at the House of Representatives, the Ilocos Norte 
congressman said the leadership would be providing copies of the amendments to 
the bill during the plenary session.

Farinas said among the amendments in the bill was a provision allowing church 
officials and civic rights groups to assist a person accused of a heinous 
crime.

He said a fiscal or prosecutor would furnish copies of the charge sheet to the 
Commission on Human Rights, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the Free 
Legal Assistance Group, and all religious groups.

Farinas said this would enable these groups to monitor all death penalty cases.

"This is a community effort. If you feel we have an imperfect judicial system, 
let's do our share by monitoring our judicial system," Farinas said.

The church officials and lawyers would see for themselves the rationale behind 
the imposition of the death penalty, Farinas said.

"The priests and nuns who are very strong in their advocacy will go there to 
safeguard the rights of the accused. So that they may see for themselves the 
heinous offense, so that they can see that what the judge did was right."

Farinas also said the bill would require the Public Attorney's Office and the 
Office of the Solicitor General to assign senior lawyers in handling the 
automatic review of appealed cases involving death penalty.

Farinas lamented the moves of the opposition to block the prompt passage of the 
bill by questioning the quorum and moving to adjourn session in the middle of 
plenary debates.

In that case, the House better conclude the debates and move on to the period 
of amendments to speed up the 2nd and 3rd reading approval of the bill, he 
added.

The vote on the bill under 2nd reading is scheduled on Feb. 28.

Farinas said the plenary debates should end on a later session to give the 
lawmakers time to discuss the period of amendments next week before approval on 
Feb. 28.

The bill would limit the heinous crimes to drug-related offenses, plunder, 
treason and rape.

Meanwhile, the death penalty bill in the Senate hit a gridlock after senators 
centered on the country's obligations to the United Nations International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which under the Second Optional 
Protocol states that "Each State Party shall take all necessary measures to 
abolish the death penalty within its jurisdiction."

(source: newsinfo.inquirer.net)

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

If death penalty bill becomes law, execution won't likely happen during 
Duterte's term - lawmaker


The execution of the 1st convict may not happen in the next 4 to 5 years under 
the term of President Rodrigo Duterte even if the death penalty bill is passed 
by Congress and becomes law, Majority Leader Rodolfo Farinas said.

"Even with the reimposition of the death penalty you cannot expect an execution 
in the next 4 or 5 years," he said in an interview, adding that it would take 
time to go through the processes of the courts before the final conviction is 
handed.

"It would already take take long time at the investigation stage, then this 
would go to the prosecutor and would be filed before the judge. There would 
still be a trial and an appeal," he added.

Asked if this meant that there would be no execution under the Duterte 
administration, Farinas said, "It's possible, because the President has about 5 
years and 4 months left, so just think how long the gestation period of a death 
penalty case is. It will really take time."

Farinas also stressed that the law does not have a retroactive effect on 
offenses committed before its passage.

Debates on House Bill No. 4727 would resume on Tuesday but the House leader 
warned that it could be terminated if those opposed to the measure would 
continue to question the quorum.

After the termination of the debates, there will be a period of amendments, in 
which the lawmakers can introduce their proposed changes. Voting on 2nd reading 
is tentatively scheduled on February 28.

>From 21 heinous crimes, the list was down to four punishable by the death 
penalty, as agreed upon by the members of the majority bloc during an earlier 
caucus - plunder, drug-related crimes, treason and rape.

Farinas earlier said that rape was no longer included, but clarified that it 
would now be punishable by death penalty.

The mode of execution would be lethal injection, firing squad, and hanging. It 
would be up to the judge to determine the mode of execution, Farinas said.

He said House members would also introduce several safeguards in the bill such 
as requiring the Public Attorneys' Office and the Office of the Solicitor 
General to assign senior lawyers to death penalty cases.

Farinas said a provision to be added would also require the fiscal to furnish 
the files and information of the case to religious and civic organizations, 
human rights groups, Integrated Bar of the Philippines, and the Free Legal 
Assistance Group to assist the accused.

(source: interaksyon.com)

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

'Death penalty revival efforts in House useless'


Critics on Wednesday said efforts at the House of Representatives to revive the 
death penalty may become futile if the Senate won't act on its counterpart 
measure.

While the supermajority at the lower chamber is perceived to be backing the 
bill, the Senate seems to be divided on the proposed measure.

Buhay Party List Rep. Lito Atienza also called on the majority not to railroad 
the bill by skipping the debates. "Why are you rushing it?" Atienza said. 
"There are about 20 members still wanting to participate and interpellate. Why 
would you now deprive these 20 members to be satisfied with the exchanges in 
the interpellation?"

Atienza believes the absence of a quorum is proof that a majority of the 
lawmakers at the lower chamber actually reject the bill.

"That's one way of looking at it but I think the main reason there is no quorum 
is the lack of interest on the part of the general membership, especially the 
majority," he said.

House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, meanwhile, admitted that the death penalty 
bill will face rough sailing in the Senate.

PH TO LOSE TRADE BENEFITS

Separately, Akbayan party-list Rep. Tom Villarin in a statement said that the 
Philippines risks losing over $12 billion in trade benefits and over 200,000 
jobs if it reimposes the death penalty.

Villarin said if the Philippines revives the death penalty, it will lose zero 
tariffs privilege for its exports to European Union countries.

"Why will we let go of such gains when the perceived benefits of reimposing the 
death penalty are non-existent?" he said.

The Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP+) allows the Philippines to export 
to the EU without duties or with reduced tariffs.

The GSP+ is based on ratification and compliance with international conventions 
on human rights, labor rights, environment and good governance.

The Philippines was given preferential status under the European Union-GSP+ in 
December 2014, allowing the duty-free export of about 6,274 Philippine products 
exported to EU countries.

"It will only worsen the peace and order situation in Mindanao, which will be 
greatly affected by such policy. Death penalty will kill industries, jobs, and 
livelihoods of the poorest people in our country--a tragic irony of unfathomed 
proportions," Villarin said.

The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that in 2014, the year the 
Philippines signed the GSP+ trade agreement, tariff-free exports amounted to 
$6.73 billion.

It rose to $7.17 billion in 2015 and will eventually cover the total trade to 
EU which comprises around 12% of our country's exports.

EXPAND PUBLIC ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

CIBAC party-list Rep. Sherwin Tugna, meanwhile, proposed the expansion of the 
Public Attorney's Office in case the death penalty bill is approved.

"We would like to make sure that those who are accused who are poor will not be 
prejudiced. Free legal assistance should be extended to those who belong to 
those who are poor," the party-list group said.

The party-list group said PAO needs more budget to address the need for more 
lawyers, especially those who will assist the underprivileged allegedly 
involved in heinous crimes punishable by death penalty.

CIBAC Party-List calls for the creation of a special division in PAO which will 
handle cases of poor defendants who may be penalized with death penalty.

"It is of prime importance that the state guarantees that nobody gets 
wrongfully convicted due to failure to obtain adequate legal aid," the group 
said.

(source: abs-cbn.com)

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

House minority: No quorum, no revival of death penalty


Following the decision of the House leadership to fast-track the passage of the 
death-penalty bill, lawmakers belonging to the opposition bloc have vowed to 
use the lower chamber's perennial problem of absence of quorum to block the 
proposal to revive the capital punishment.

In a news conference, Liberal Party Rep. Edcel C. Lagman of Albay said it is 
still the responsibility of the House leadership to maintain the quorum to 
assure that the interpellations and debates on the pending bills would 
continue.

"We are willing to debate, to interpellate till kingdom come, but we will do 
this if we have quorum," Lagman said. "It is a puzzle why the House leadership 
gets peeved when the absence of a quorum is raised considering that under the 
[House] Rules, no business can be conducted in the absence of a quorum," he 
added.

Lagman said the advance voting was a reaction to the quorum calls of those 
objecting to the retrogressive measure.

He added that moving for adjournment due to absence of a quorum under Article 
75 of Rule XI of House rules is a legitimate parliamentary motion, like calling 
for a nominal voting under Article 116 of Rule XV.

Earlier, Majority Leader Rodolfo C. Farinas of Ilocos Norte said the leadership 
of the lower chamber has decided to put to an early vote the Durte 
administration-backed death-penalty bill.

He said the House Bill (HB) 4727 will be approved on 2nd reading on February 28 
- a week earlier than the March 8 original schedule.

The opposition is continuously questioning the lack of quorum that delays the 
sponsorship and debate period.

Moreover, Lagman said he cannot understand why the lower chamber is rushing the 
voting on the very important, although retrogressive, measure.

"During the past Congresses de-bating the comprehensive agrarian-reform 
program, reimposition of the death penalty, the abolition of the death penalty 
[and] the reproductive-health bill, nobody was muzzled.

"This kind of muzzling has not happened before. This is a way of continuing the 
culture of violence, because suppressing freedom of expression is a form of 
violence," he added.

"A train terminal has been installed menacingly in the plenary hall of the 
House of Representatives for the railroading of the approval of HB 4727 
reimposing the death penalty.

The train's arrival has been advanced from March 8 to February 28, when the 
death penalty bill has been scheduled by the House leadership for voting," he 
said.

Akbayan Rep. Tom S. Villarin said the House leadership is railroading the 
passage of the death-penalty bill to propel President Duterte's popularity. 
"That is the only pragmatic and political reason on why they want to rush this 
bill."

Meanwhile, the so-called "super-majority" has agreed to narrow down to 10 from 
21, the number of heinous crimes punishable by death, which include 
drug-related offenses, plunder, rape and treason.

These drug-related cases include importation of dangerous drugs and or 
controlled precursors and essential chemicals; sale; trading; administration; 
dispensation; delivery; distribution and transportation of dangerous drugs 
and/or controlled precursors and essential chemicals; and maintenance of drug 
den.

Also punishable by death are manufacture of dangerous drugs and/or controlled 
precursor and essential chemicals; cultivation or culture of plants classified 
as dangerous drugs; unlawful prescription of dangerous drugs; criminal 
liability of public officer for misappropriation; misapplication or failure to 
account for the confiscated seized or surrendered drugs; and criminal liability 
for planting evidence.

(source: businessmirror.com.ph)