[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 6




SOUTH AFRICA:

Crime Death Penalty Won't Return But There Are Alternatives


Late last week we reported that ANC Women's League is lobbying to bring back 
the death penalty in South Africa.

The league expressed that it's necessary to reinstate the capital punishment 
and combat murder crimes in the country, particularly, the senseless killing of 
women and children.

As reported, ANC Women's League's President, Bathabile Dlamini related that 
bringing back the death penalty is one of the issues tabled for discussion at 
the ANC national policy conference.

"...women are feeling aggrieved a lot, especially young women that are calling 
for the death sentence," she said.

It has now emerged that the ruling party's peace and stability commission 
rejected the petition from the party's Women League to bring back the death 
penalty.

Speaking at a news conference in Nasrec, Johannesburg, David Mahlobo the State 
Security Minister dismissed the calls for capital punishment. Among other 
things, the Minister contended that South Africa needs a solid legal system if 
it's ever going to consider reinstating the death penalty.

He expressed that innocent citizens might be hanged and, divulged that the 
peace and stability commission came up with an alternative for the death 
penalty.

It was agreed that heavier penalties be handed to those found guilty of heinous 
crimes. In addition to that, the commission offered the country start 
implementing international agreements that will enable it to repatriate some of 
the 6,440 foreigners who are prisoners in South Africa's overcrowded jails.

Nonetheless, those guilty of serious and odious crimes will not be repatriated.

More so, it was proposed that the country's immigration policy be revised to 
such that will ensure stricter border control.

"We need a reliable database to know who is in the country," remarked the 
Minister.

That's not all, the Minister said it was further proposed that parole system be 
revised, that military veterans be used to provide private security services, 
and a separate department of military veterans established by 2018.

(source: buzzsouthafrica.com)






BANGLADESH:

Bangladesh accuses 13 of negligence, murder over garment plant blast


Police in Bangladesh have filed charges ranging from negligence to murder 
against more than a dozen people after a boiler explosion at a garment plant 
killed 13 people and injured dozens, officials said on Wednesday. Monday's 
blast happened during maintenance work at a factory owned by Multifabs Ltd, 
whose top buyers include fashion chain Lindex, which is part of Finland's 
Stockmann, German supermarket chain Aldi, and Rexholm of Denmark.

Police have blamed the accident on 3 boiler operators killed in the explosion 
on the outskirts of Dhaka, the capital, and 10 unidentified people.

"They have been accused of negligence and murder as they continued to operate 
the boiler, ignoring safety concerns," said Aminul Islam, chief of the police 
station investigating the incident.

Survivors found guilty could face punishments ranging from life imprisonment to 
the death penalty, authorities said.

Preliminary investigations showed the license for the boiler had expired on 
June 24, district administrator Dewan Muhammad Humayun Kabir told Reuters.

The company said it had applied to renew the license before the deadline, 
however.

"We applied to the authorities for renewal on June 15," company chairman 
Mahiuddin Faruqui told Reuters. "There was no negligence on our side."

The accident took place as the plant was being readied to resume operations on 
Tuesday, following a 10-day closure for the Eid al-Fitr holidays at the end of 
the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

A boiler warning light was flashing before the explosion, but the maintenance 
team ignored it, said one survivor, Harunur Rashid, a worker in the garment 
dyeing process.

"We heard strange sounds two or three times, but we were told it was nothing," 
Rashid, hurt in the head and legs by the blast, said from his hospital bed. 
"Shortly after, it exploded."

The blast happened when workers sought to restart the boiler after servicing, 
Faruqui said.

"We don't know whether it gave any warnings or not," he added.

Bangladesh's roughly $28-billion garment industry, the world's biggest after 
China, employs 4 million people and generates about 80 % of export earnings.

It came under scrutiny after the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza factory 
complex that killed more than 1,100 people, and a 2012 fire at a garment 
factory that killed 112 workers.

The Rana Plaza disaster sparked demands for greater safety and put the 
responsibility to act on foreign companies sourcing clothing from Bangladesh.

(source: Reuters)






PAKISTAN----executions

Child molester, killer hanged


Qaiser Shah of Walghan Sakhian village who was convicted for killing a 
7-year-old boy Hussain Haider after abducting and committing sodomy with him 
about 11 years ago has been hanged in the Central Jail Gujranwala.

He was convicted by the District and Sessions Judge Hafizabad Ashtar Abbas and 
after rejection of his mercy appeal by the President of Pakistan, the convict 
has been hanged to death in the Central Jail Gujranwala.

Sukheki police have registered the case against him. He was awarded death 
penalty by session court while his appeal was rejected by the Lahore High Court 
and the Supreme Court and his mercy petition was also rejected by the 
president. Dead body of the executed convict was handed over to his heirs after 
legal formalities.

(source: The Nation)

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

Pakistan executed average of 3.5 prisoners a week since Dec 2014: JPP----At 
present, 25 of 27 prisons in Punjab are significantly over capacity and the 
highest number of executions take place in the most overcrowded prisons.


Pakistan's use of the death penalty has failed to deter crime, is not being 
used to curb terrorism and is exceedingly used as a political tool, even 
sometimes as an overcrowding solution, a report by the Justice Project Pakistan 
finds.

The research finds that until May this year, a total of 465 prisoners have been 
sent to the gallows since Pakistan lifted the moratorium on executions in 
December 2014. This makes Pakistan the 5th most prolific executioner in the 
world, following China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Punjab has emerged as the overwhelming practitioner of the death penalty, 
accounting for 83 % of executions, and 89 % of death sentences in Pakistan. 
However, it has also witnessed only a 9.7 % drop in murder rates from 
2015-2016. Sindh, on the other hand, has viewed a drop of nearly 25 % in the 
same time period - even though it carried out only 18 executions compared to 
Punjab's 382. In fact, murder rates in Pakistan were already in decline before 
the moratorium was lifted, casting even more doubt on the already dubious 
relationship between the death penalty and reducing crime.

A closer look at the yearly trends of executions shows that anti-terrorism 
courts (ATC) accounted for only 16 % of executions. In 2015, 65 people tried by 
ATCs were hanged but only 8 from Jan 2016 to May 2017. The majority of death 
sentences that have been carried out in that time have come from district and 
sessions courts, which do not have jurisdiction over terrorism cases.

The government has sought to justify lifting the moratorium for all 27 
death-eligible crimes by claiming it is necessary to deter terrorist attacks in 
Pakistan. But the data indicates that the government is mostly hanging 
terrorists through military courts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and through ATCs in 
Sindh.

Another trend that has emerged is that the number of executions spike in the 
wake of a terrorist attack (in Punjab) that kills over 5 people. This indicates 
that the use of executions, like the lifting of the moratorium, are often a 
reactionary step.

In Punjab, there is another worrying trend that indicates that executions are 
being used as a means to make room in prisons that are facing overcrowding. 
Currently, 25 of the 27 prisons in the province are significantly over capacity 
and the highest number of executions take place in the most overcrowded 
prisons.

Pakistan heads for its 1st UN review under the International Covenant on Civil 
and Political Rights (ICCPR) on July 11, that obligates it to uphold and 
respect the right to life for all its citizens. Pakistan's return to an 
executing state has been taken up in the list of issues framed by the Human 
Rights Council committee.

In just 1 year after the moratorium was lifted, Pakistan became the 3rd most 
prolific executioner in the world. During that time, execution warrants for the 
mentally ill, physically disabled and juvenile offenders have been issued. More 
and more cases of wrongful executions have come to light since then. In October 
last year, the Supreme Court acquitted 2 brothers in Bahawalpur after they 
spent 11 years on death row, only to find they had already been executed the 
year before. Another prisoner was found innocent a year after he had been found 
dead in his cell. There are likely many more cases like this, considering a 
condemned prisoner will spend an average of 11.41 years on death row.

JPP Executive Director Sarah Belal, adds: "Pakistan's troubling and continued 
use of the death penalty has continuously fallen short of meeting its 
international human rights commitments and fair trial standards, as well as our 
own domestic laws. The death penalty is not an effective tool to curb militancy 
and crime, as the data clearly shows, yet has been increasingly used for 
political gain. It is time for the stakeholders to commit to genuine reform in 
our criminal justice system, and until it does, to restore the moratorium on 
the death penalty."

JPP, a human rights organisation established in December 2009, provides 
pro-bono legal representation to the most vulnerable Pakistani prisoners facing 
the harshest punishments.

(source: Reuters)

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

465 prisoners sent to gallows since 2014, says report


Until May this year, a total of 465 prisoners have been sent to the gallows 
since Pakistan lifted a moratorium on the death penalty in December 2014 in the 
wake of a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, a report by 
the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) has revealed.

According to the data gathered by the JPP, Pakistan has become the fifth most 
prolific executioner in the world after China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Punjab, in this period, emerged as an overwhelming practitioner of the death 
penalty, accounting for 83 % of the executions, and 89 % of death sentences in 
the country.

The province witnessed only a 9.7 % drop in murder rates during 2015-2016, said 
the JPP report.

Sindh, on the contrary, had a drop of nearly 25 % in the same time period - 
with only 18 executions as compared to Punjab's 382.

Rights body urges authorities to prevent juvenile executions

Anti-terrorism courts in the country, the report said, accounted for only 16 % 
of the executions.

In 2015, 65 people tried by ATCs were executed. However, from January 2016 to 
May 2017, only eight people tried by ATCs. The majority of death sentences that 
were carried out during that time were awarded by district and sessions courts, 
it added.

The government sought to justify lifting the moratorium for all 27 
death-eligible crimes, claiming it was necessary to deter terrorist threats in 
Pakistan. But the JPP report says it was mostly hanging terrorists through 
military courts in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and through ATCs in Sindh.

10% of death row convicts children

Another trend that emerged was the number of executions spike in the wake of a 
terrorist attack that killed more than five people in Punjab. The trend 
indicated that the use of executions, like the lifting of the moratorium, was 
often a reactionary step.

In Punjab, another disturbing trend showed that executions were being used as a 
means to make room in prisons that faced overcrowding. Currently, 25 of the 27 
prisons in the province are significantly over capacity and the highest number 
of executions takes place in the most overcrowded prisons, according to the 
report.

(source: The Express Tribune)






IRAN----executions

Execution of 21 Prisoners, Including a Woman and 2 Executions in Public


The anti-human regime of mullahs sent 21 people to the gallows during the days 
of 1 to 5 July. At least seven prisoners were hanged on July 5 at Gohardasht 
Prison in Karaj. Among the executed was Omid Rostami, 28, and Abbas Yusefipur 
was previously severely beaten by the agents of prison, and was taken to the 
hospital by the order of Dariush Amiriyan, the interior director of the prison. 
A number of prisoners were executed on the basis of confessions that were 
forcefully taken from them under torture. The gathering of the executed 
families in protest against the execution of their children and their relatives 
outside Gohardasht Prison was attacked by oppressive forces. Police agents were 
trying to disperse the victims' families by air firing.

On July 4, 6 prisoners were hanged. 2 prisoners, 24 and 27, were executed in 
public in the Abshar Street in Torbat-e-Heidarieh in Khorasan-e-Razavi 
province. Omid Rajabi, the deputy to the general prosecutor of 
Torbat-e-Heydarieh, threatened that "the judiciary will execute the sentences 
with certainty, and will treat anarchists with no tolerance." A 24-year-old boy 
was executed in the central prison of Kerman, 2 detainees in the central prison 
of Orumieh and another prisoner in Qa'emshahr Prison.

The day before, 4 prisoners were hanged in Isfahan and Zahedan. On July 2, a 
38-year-old married prisoner was hanged in Zanjan's central prison. On 1st of 
July, 3 prisoners, including a woman, were hanged in Rasht Central Prison.

On another occasion, on the July 3rd, a 30-year-old prisoner was hit by 74 
lashes in Khayyam Street in Malayer, Hamedan Province.

Khamenei, the supreme leader of the mullahs' regime, in defense of all such 
repression and crimes, called the leader of the regime's judiciary, mullah 
Larijani, "a prominent figure, and praised ???the important and valuable work 
of the judiciary". Mullah Larijani too called the disgraceful record of the 
regime's judiciary in repressing and suppressing especially brutal punishments 
as "an attempt to revive Islamic human rights".

As long as the evil system of Velayat-e faqih is in power, the people of Iran 
will not gain anything but oppression, torture or execution. The Iranian 
Resistance calls on all international human rights organizations to take 
immediate and effective action to stop the death penalty in Iran. Any relation 
with religious fascism ruling in Iran should be conditional upon ending the 
human rights abuses in Iran.

(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran)

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

8 Prisoners Hanged at Rajai Shahr Prison


On the morning of Wednesday July 5, 8 prisoners were reportedly hanged at Rajai 
Shahr Prison. According to close sources, the prisoners were likely executed on 
murder charges.

Iran Human Rights has obtained the names of four of these prisoners: Ghahreman 
Abbaspour, Abbas Yousefi, Nasser Avangah and Omid Rostami.

The 8 individuals were among a group of 11 prisoners who were transferred to 
solitary confinement on Sunday July 2 in preparation for their executions. The 
execution sentences of 3 of the 11 prisoners were not carried out, and they 
were returned to their cells.

The human rights news agency, HRANA, had reported that Ghahreman Abbaspour was 
sentenced to death for murder based on Qasameh (a testimonial given under oath) 
and despite the lack of evidence against him.

Qasameh is one way, within the Islamic jurispudence and criminal law in Iran, 
to prove crimes related to murder and physical injuries without enough evidence 
against the suspect. Qasameh is used when a judge recognizes a testimony as 
louth, when the judge believes the testimonial to be true despite lack of 
evidence.

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

Man Hanged on Drug Charges


An unidentified man was reportedly hanged on drug related charges at Qaem Shahr 
Prison (Mazandaran province, northern Iran).

According to close sources, the execution sentence was carried out on Tuesday 
July 4. The identity of the prisoner is not known at this time.

Iranian parliament members had formerly requested from the Judiciary to stop 
drug related executions for at least 5,000 prisoners pending further 
investigation. However, the request has not stopped the Judiciary from carrying 
out death sentences for prisoners with drug related charges.

Iranian official sources, including the media and the Judiciary, have not 
announced this execution.

(source for both----Iran Human Rights)






SAUDI ARABIA:

NIGERIAN AT RISK OF EXECUTION IN SAUDI ARABIA


Nigerian national Suliamon Olufemi remains at risk of execution in Saudi 
Arabia. On 19 April, 11 of his co-defendants were released from prison and 
deported to Nigeria, having completed their 15-year sentences. Suliamon Olufemi 
was sentenced to death in 2005 after an unfair trial and has exhausted all of 
his appeals.

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

* First Urging the Saudi Arabian authorities to quash the conviction of 
Suliamon Olufemi, and order a retrial in line with international fair trial 
standards without recourse to the death penalty;

* Calling on them to order an independent investigation into his allegation of 
torture and other ill-treatment;

* Urging them to grant him regular access to a lawyer of his choice.

Friendly reminder: If you send an email, please create your own instead of 
forwarding this one!

Contact these two officials by 14 August, 2017:

King and Prime Minister

His Majesty Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud

The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques

Office of His Majesty the King, Royal Court, Riyadh

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Fax: (via Ministry of Interior) +966 11 403 3125 (please keep trying)

Twitter: @KingSalman

Salutation: Your Majesty


Ambassador Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia

601 New Hampshire Ave. NW,

Washington DC 20037

Fax: 1 202 944 5983

Phone: 1 202 342 3800

Email: info at saudiembassy.net

Salutation: Dear Ambassador

(source: Amnesty International)






BELARUS:

Lukashenko calls for Europe not to push Belarus towards decision on death 
penalty


Belarus will solve the death penalty issue, but it needs time and understanding 
of the European states, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said, 
speaking at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

"Time is needed to abolish death penalty. So, please, do not push us. We know 
what it is about and what your demands are. And, I'm sure, we will gradually 
approach the solution to this problem," Lukashenko said, addressing the OSCE 
Parliamentary Assembly members.

The Belarusian leader stated that the republic heard of the proposal

(source: tass.com)