[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 13




JAPAN----executions

Japan executes 2 convicted murderers


Japan executed 2 convicted murderers on July 13, the justice ministry said, 
ignoring calls from international rights groups to end capital punishment.

The hangings of Masakatsu Nishikawa and Koichi Sumida bring to 19 the total 
number of executions since conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to power 
in late 2012.

Nishikawa, 61, was convicted of killing 4 female bar owners in western Japan in 
1991, while Sumida, 34, was sentenced to death for killing a female colleague 
in 2011 and dismembering her body.

"Both are extremely cruel cases in which victims were deprived of their 
precious lives on truly selfish motives," Justice Minister Katsutoshi Kaneda 
said.

"I ordered the executions after careful consideration," he told a news 
conference.

Human rights group Amnesty International protested at the Japanese government's 
continued use of the death penalty, saying it demonstrates "wanton disregard 
for the right to life."

"The death penalty never delivers justice, it is the ultimate cruel and 
inhumane punishment," Hiroka Shoji, East Asia researcher at the campaign group, 
said in a statement.

Nishikawa was hanged while seeking a retrial. Though not unprecedented, it is 
rare in Japan.

Kaneda indicated it was mistaken to believe that death-row inmates cannot be 
executed as long as their retrial pleas are pending.

"When a rejection is naturally expected, we cannot help avoiding carrying out 
(capital punishment)," Kaneda said, noting he was not commenting on either of 
Thursday's cases but speaking in general terms.

Out of 124 death-row inmates, 91 are seeking retrial, according to Jiji Press.

Japan and the United States are the only major developed countries that still 
carry out capital punishment.

Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said "the justice minister made the 
decision appropriately under the provision of the law."

The death penalty has overwhelming public support in Japan despite repeated 
protests from European governments and human rights groups.

Opponents say Japan's system is cruel because inmates can be on death row for 
many years in solitary confinement and are only told of their impending 
execution a few hours ahead of time.

(source: Hurriyet Daily News)

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

2 men hanged as reprehensible executions continue


The Japanese government's continued use of the death penalty demonstrates a 
contempt for the right to life, Amnesty International said, following the 
execution of 2 men on Thursday.

The executions, the 1st in Japan in 2017, take the number of people executed 
under the current government to 19 since 2012.

Masakatsu Nishikawa, who was convicted of the murder of four people in 1991 and 
1992, was executed at Osaka Detention Centre. He maintained his innocence on 
some of the charges against him and the Asahi Newspaper reported that he was 
seeking a retrial. Koichi Sumida, who was convicted of murder in 2011, was 
executed at Hiroshima Detention Centre.

"Today's executions shows the Japanese government's wanton disregard for the 
right to life. The death penalty never delivers justice, it is the ultimate 
cruel and inhumane punishment," said Hiroka Shoji, East Asia Researcher at 
Amnesty International.

"Executions in Japan remain shrouded in secrecy but the government cannot hide 
the fact that it is on the wrong side of history, as the majority of the 
world's states have turned away from the death penalty."

On 1 July, Mongolia became the most recent and the 105th country worldwide to 
abolish the death penalty for all crimes.

There are 124 death row prisoners detained in Japan, based on the latest 
figures from the Ministry of Justice.

Secret executions

Executions in Japan are carried out with prisoners typically given only a few 
hours' notice, and some given no warning at all. Their families, lawyers and 
the public are usually notified about the execution only after it has taken 
place.

Secret executions are in contravention of international standards on the use of 
the death penalty. This and the lack of other adequate legal safeguards for 
those facing the death penalty in Japan has been widely criticized by UN 
experts.

This includes defendants being denied adequate legal counsel and a lack of a 
mandatory appeal process for capital cases. Several prisoners with mental and 
intellectual disabilities are also known to have been executed or remain on 
death row.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, 
regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime, the guilt, innocence or 
other characteristics of the offender or the method used by the state to carry 
out the execution. The death penalty violates the right to life and is the 
ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

(source: Amnesty International)

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

Death penalty sought for Japanese man over murders in Manila


Prosecutors demanded Thursday the death penalty for a Japanese man who 
allegedly arranged the murders of 2 compatriots in Manila in 2014 and 2015 in 
order to collect insurance payouts.

In their closing argument at the Kofu District Court in Yamanashi Prefecture, 
west of Tokyo, the prosecutors maintained Toshihiko Iwama, 43, committed a 
"heinous and inhuman" crime when he orchestrated the killings. They added there 
is no possibility of rehabilitation.

Iwama's defense counsel said the accused was not cash-strapped at the time of 
the crime and had no motive to kill the two. Iwama also said at the court, "I 
never committed (the murders)."

The district court is scheduled to hand down a ruling on Aug. 25.

According to the indictment, Iwama conspired with his accomplices to hire a 
local hit man who shot and killed Shinsuke Toba, 32, in October 2014 and 
murdered Tatsuya Nakamura, 42, in a similar way between the end of August and 
beginning of September in 2015 in the Philippine capital.

Both victims were from Yamanashi Prefecture. Toba, a manager of an osteopathic 
clinic, lived in Nirasaki and Nakamura, a company executive, was a resident of 
Fuefuki.

(source: The Mainichi)






IRAN----executions

3 Prisoners Executed


On the morning of Wednesday July 12, a prisoner was reportedly hanged at 
Urmia's central prison on murder charges, and 2 prisoners were reportedly 
hanged at Hamadan Central Prison on drug charges.

The 2 prisoners from Hamadan Prison were among a group of 3 prisoners who were 
transferred to solitary confinement on Sunday July 9 in preparation for their 
executions. Close sources have identified 1 of the prisoners who was executed 
as Samad Abdoli, but the identity of the other prisoner is not known at this 
time. The execution sentence for the other prisoner, Masoud Joodaki, was 
postponded for unknown reasons.

Iranian authorities are carrying out death sentences for drug related charges 
at the same time that a bill is being reviewed by the Judicial Commission of 
the Iranian Parliament calling for the death sentences for many prisoners 
charged with drug trafficking to be called off. Iranian parliament members had 
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.

According to close sources, the prisoner who was executed at Urmia's central 
prison is Borzou Sheikhi. According to a report by the human rights news 
agency, HRANA, Mr. Sheikhi was a professor at the University of Urmia.

Iranian official sources, including the media and the Judiciary, have not 
announced these executions.

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

6 Prisoners Executed in Rajai Shahr Prison on Murder Charges


6 prisoners were reportedly executed at Karaj's Rajai Shahr Prison on murder 
charges.

According to close sources, the executions were carried out on the morning of 
Wednesday July 12. These prisoners were among a group of 13 who were reportedly 
transferred to solitary confinement on Monday July 10 in preparation for their 
executions. Iran Human Rights has obtained the names of 3 of the prisoners: 
Mohammad Hamavand, Hamid Eslami, and Mohammad Shirzad. The other 7 prisoners 
were reportedly returned to their cells after their execution sentences were 
postponed by the complainants on their cases.

Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have not 
announced these executions.

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

More than 1 Execution Every 4 Hours in July


Following a pause in executions during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, 
executions in Iran have dramatically increased since Saturday July 1.

In the past 12 days, Iran Human Rights has reported on 56 executions carried 
out in Iran. 31 of the 56 prisoners were reportedly hanged on drug related 
charges. Only 7 of the 56 executions were reported by official Iranian sources, 
including the Judiciary and state-run media.

Iran Human Rights considers the volume of executions in Iran inhumane and calls 
for their immediate halt. "In the past 12 days in Iran, we have witnessed more 
than 1 execution every 4 hours. This is unprecedented, even for the Islamic 
Republic of Iran. It is crucial that the international community reacts to 
this," says Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson for Iran Human Rights.

"It is incomprehensible that the death sentences for prisoners with drug 
related charges are being hastily carried out at the same time that a bill is 
being reviewed by the Iranian Parliament to stop the death sentences for many 
prisoners with drug charges. It is possible that the Iranian authorities intend 
to carry out the death sentences for as many prisoners with drug related 
charges as possible before passing the bill. If this is the case, then we will 
be witness to a massacre."

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam calls on the international community and civil 
societies inside and outside Iran to help prevent a massive human tragedy 
before it is too late by reacting to the wave of executions in Iran.

Previously, Iranian parliament members had requested from the Iranian 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.

(source for all: Iran Human Rights)

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

Iran Regime's Plan to Execute 120 Prisoners


Reliable reports received from the families of prisoners incarcerated in 
Gohardasht prison and some informed sources in the prisons indicate that some 
prisoners who were transferred to solitary confinement in the past few days 
have met with their families for the last time in Gohardasht prison near Karaj.

According to the families, the death sentence of at least 13 prisoners will 
soon be implemented.

A large number of the families of the death row prisoners had gathered outside 
the prison on Tuesday, July 11, behind the prison doors.

Three prisoners who are supposed to be executed on Wednesday, July 12, are 
identified as Mehdi Ahmadi, Hamid Ismami and Nader Ahmadi.

According to the prisoners, some prison officials have said that 117 people are 
supposed to be executed in Gohardasht prison in the next few weeks. For this 
reason, the regime has increased the implementation of death sentences in 
Gohardasht prison from 1 day a week on Wednesdays to 2 days a week on Sundays 
and Wednesdays.

It should be mentioned that they have executed some prisoners last week on 
Sunday in Gohardasht prison. Some of these prisoners were transferred from 
Qezelhesar prison to Gohardasht. The names of those executed last Sunday, July 
2, were not announced and only the names of those prisoners executed on 
Wednesday, July 5, (9 or 10 people) were officially published.

According to Gohardasht prisoners, death row prisoners who have been in prison 
for more than 10 years have given 45 days to get consent otherwise their death 
sentence will be enforced.

Some of the executions carried out by the clerical regime in the past 3 weeks 
are as follows:

11 July 2017 -- 2 prisoners were executed in Semnan prion, central Iran.

10 July 2017 -- 2 prisoners were hanged in Gorgan prion, northern Iran.

10 July 2017 -- 2 prisoners were executed in the prisons of Mahabad (western 
Iran) and Rasht (northern Iran).

9 July 2017 -- A prisoner was executed in central prison of Arak.

8 July 2017 -- 4 prisoners were hanged in central prison of Orumiyeh (northwest 
Iran).

6 July 2017 -- 2 prisoners were executed in Maragheh prison, East Azerbaijan 
province.

5 July 2017 -- The death sentences of at least 7 prisoners were implemented in 
Gohardasht prison in Karaj.

4 July 2017 -- The death sentence of a man in Ghaemshahr prison (northern Iran) 
was enforced.

4 July 2017 -- 2 other prisoners were also executed in central prison of 
Orumiyeh. On the same day, the death sentences of 2 prisoners were implemented 
in public on the side of a sports hall in the city of Torbat-e Haidariyeh.

On 12 July 2017, the National Council of Resistance of Iran reported in a 
statement that the inhuman regime of the mullahs has hanged at least 57 
prisoners in Iran Since the Beginning of July.

(source: NCR-Iran)






SAUDI ARABIA:

Amnesty: Saudi Arabia silence Shia dissent with execution


Saudi Arabia is using the death penalty as a means to silence Shia dissent, 
says Amnesty International.

"These brutal executions are the latest act in the Saudi Arabian authorities' 
ongoing persecution of the Shia minority. The death penalty is being deployed 
as a political weapon to punish them for daring to protest against their 
treatment and to cow others into silence," said the group's director for 
research, Lynn Maalouf, on Wednesday.

Maalouf made the remarks after Saudi Arabia executed four Shias in the 
kingdom's oil-rich Eastern Province over allegations of conducting terrorist 
activities.

"The international community must come down hard on Saudi Arabia to ensure that 
others currently facing execution after deeply flawed legal proceedings do not 
meet the same fate. Saudi Arabia should quash their death sentences and 
establish an official moratorium on executions," she added.

Amnesty has documented a further 34 other cases of Shia men currently sentenced 
to death mostly following unfair trials based largely on confessions obtained 
by torture.

The Shia-dominated Eastern Province, particularly the Qatif region, has been 
the scene of peaceful demonstrations since February 2011. Protesters, 
complaining of marginalization in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, have been demanding 
reforms, freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners, and an end 
to economic and religious discrimination against the oil-rich region.

The Shia community of the province accounts for somewhere between 10 and 15 % 
of Saudi Arabia's 33-million-strong population.

"The Saudi Arabian government is showing no signs of letting up in its use of 
the death penalty and has employed it vigorously since the traditional pause 
for Ramadan ...The death penalty continues to be used in violation of 
international human rights law and standards on a massive scale, and often 
after trials which are grossly unfair and sometimes politically motivated," 
concluded Maalouf.

(source: presstv.ir)

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

Partially deaf and blind Saudi man 'moved into solitary confinement in 
preparation for his execution'----Munir al-Adam 'held in cell for 24 hours a 
day' and could be beheaded at any time


A disabled man who was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for attending a 
protest, has been moved into solitary confinement in preparation for his 
execution, a human rights group has claimed.

Munir al-Adam was found guilty of "attacks on police" and other offences during 
protests in the east of the kingdom in the April 2012.

A court in the country's capital, Riyadh, sentenced the 23-year-old to death in 
January last year. That sentence was upheld in May 2017.

Mr Adam has impaired sight and was already partially deaf when he was arrested, 
but he is now completely deaf in one ear. He claims this is a result of being 
badly beaten by police.

Human rights group Reprieve, said Saudi authorities had not given a reason for 
his move to solitary confinement, which took place on 22 June. But it said 
prisoners were usually transferred into cells alone prior to their execution.

Mr Adam's family had not been allowed to visit him, the group said, adding that 
it believed he was being held in a cell for 24 hours a day without outdoor 
exercise breaks.

The 23-year-old steel cable worker could be executed at any moment without his 
family being notified, Reprieve director Maya Foa said.

"There's usually no date and no location given," she said. "The system is 
incredibly secretive and opaque, which adds to the distress for the families of 
those involved."

Reprieve said the case against Mr Adam - made in a secretive criminal trial - 
relied on a false confession he was tortured into giving. He has since 
retracted the statement.

In May, the Saudi Specialised Criminal Court upheld the death sentence against 
Mr Adam, days after US President Donald Trump visited the kingdom.

Reprieve had called on Mr Trump to raise the issue of human rights during the 
trip, but he is not thought to have broached the subject.

News that Mr Adam had been moved into solitary confinement came after the Saudi 
interior minister announced that 6 people were executed earlier this week. 
Among them was a Pakistani man arrested for drug offences.

The deaths are thought to bring the number of executions by Saudi Arabia this 
year to 44.

(source: independent.co.uk)






VIETNAM:

New law to enable Vietnam's corrupt officials to escape death penalty by paying 
back stolen money


The law was passed despite concerns that it may weaken the fight against 
corruption.

Amendments to Vietnam's Penal Code, which takes effect in January 2018, give 
those found guilty of corruption and bribery the chance to escape the death 
sentence if they return 75 % of their ill-gotten gains.

Those sentenced to death for corruption or taking bribes can have their 
punishment commuted to life in jail if they cooperate with the authorities 
during the investigation and voluntarily return at least 75 % of their illegal 
earnings, officials said at a press briefing called by the President Office on 
Wednesday.

The 2015 Penal Code had been scheduled to come into effect in July 2016 but was 
shelved due to multiple errors and loopholes. The National Assembly, Vietnam's 
top legislature, approved the revised law last month.

The clause was one of the controversial parts of the new code. Some lawmakers 
argued that it would weaken the fight against corruption, which the Vietnamese 
government has set as one of its priorities.

Under the 1999 Penal Code, capital punishment could be handed down to those who 
abused their power to embezzle VND500 million ($22,000) or take bribes of at 
least VND300 million. Vietnamese workers earned an average of $2,200 last year.

The new law also spares convicts over 75 years old from the death penalty, as 
well as those convicted of robbery, vandalizing equipment and works significant 
to national security, opposing order, surrendering to the enemy, drug 
possession, drug dealing and the production and trade of fake food. That will 
bring Vietnam's number of capital crimes from 22 to 15.

(source: vnexpress.net)