[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 8




IRAN:

Imprisoned Spiritual Leader Facing the Death Penalty Again for His Personal 
Beliefs


Imprisoned spiritual thinker Mohammad Ali Taheri has again been tried for the 
charge of "corruption on earth" despite being cleared of the same charge in 
2015, his sister Azardokht Taheri told the Center for Human Rights in Iran 
(CHRI).

If convicted, the founder of the banned Erfan-e Halgheh spiritual group could 
be issued the death penalty.

"We are very worried. The authorities have no respect for their own rulings. My 
brother was acquitted of 'corruption on earth,' but according to his lawyer 
(Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaee), that charge was brought up again in court on 
February 27 (2017) even though the trial was supposed to be for the charge of 
'engaging in medical practices,'" Azardokht Taheri told CHRI on March 2, 2017.

The day after his trial, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) 
station aired a propaganda video featuring alleged former students of Taheri 
calling for his execution for his alleged promotion of "anti-Islamic" views.

"This program was shown to deceive the public," said Azardokht Taheri. "Mr. 
Taheri has many students and they have always said that they got good results 
from his courses. Why weren't they interviewed?"

"Nowhere (in the video) does Mr. Taheri say he has done anything wrong," she 
added. "They aired only bits and pieces of his statements. We're worried that 
it was aired for sinister reasons."

In the heavily edited interviews, Taheri's "students" claim he taught 
anti-Islamic ideas and encouraged them to distance themselves from God and 
Islam. One woman said her daughter stopped praying after attending his classes.

The video also included clips from Taheri's lectures, all of which included no 
statements against Islam.

Some scenes also appeared to be taken from his taped interrogation sessions, in 
which he refuses to express regret for his personal beliefs.

Mohammad Ali Taheri, 60, was due to be freed in May 2016 after the completion 
of his 5-year prison sentence for "insulting the sacred" and "immoral contact 
with women."

In February 2015, he was again interrogated about alleged heresy in his books 
and sentenced to death for spreading "corruption on earth," but the Supreme 
Court rejected the verdict in December and opened his case for reconsideration.

His latest trial was held at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court presided by 
Judge Mashallah Ahmadzadeh.

Iran's security establishment has come down hard on Taheri and supporters of 
the Erfan-e Halgheh spiritual group, viewing it and any other alternative 
belief system, especially those seeking converts, as a threat to the prevailing 
Shia order.

(source: iranhumanrights.org)

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

U.N. Special Rapporteur Concerned About the Continued Practice of Public 
Execution in Iran


Ms. Asma Jahangir was appointed as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human 
rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran by The Human Rights Council of the U.N., 
during its 33rd Session. After completion of her study, she said she regrets 
that her study does not reveal any notable improvement in the situation of 
human rights in the country.

She says that the situation in areas like independence of judiciary and 
lawyers, freedom of expression, and use of arbitrary detentions continue to be 
of serious concern.

Human rights organizations tracking executions in Iran estimate that at least 
530 executions took place in 2016. The majority of these executions were for 
not the "most serious" drug-related offences. Drug offenders are often deprived 
of basic due process and fair trials. They are held in long periods of 
incommunicado and pretrial detention, lack adequate access to a lawyer and/or 
to a proper defence, there are allegations that drug offenders are subjected to 
beatings and coerced confessions which are later used in revolutionary courts 
to secure their death sentences. The recently amended Criminal Procedure Code 
which mandates that all death sentences, including those for drug offences be 
reviewed by the Supreme Court does not seem to have led to any significant 
change in this respect.

The Special Rapporteur was also concerned about the continued practice of 
public execution. It is reported that some executions took place in public 
places in the presence of children, this has however been denied by the State 
Party.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has reportedly executed the highest number of 
juvenile offenders in the world during the past decade. Despite an absolute ban 
on the practice under international law, the Iranian penal code continues to 
explicitly retain the death penalty for boys of at least 15 years of age and 
girls of at least 9 years for qisas (retribution in kind) or hudud crimes, like 
homicide, adultery or sodomy. As a result of the 2013 amendments to the penal 
code, judges are now required to assess the mental capacity of juvenile 
offenders before issuing a death sentence to determine if they understood the 
consequences of their actions at the time they committed hudud-related crimes.

Ms. Asma Jahangir notes as positive the adoption of article 1197 of the Code of 
Criminal Procedure, which acknowledges the right of the accused to remain 
silent during preliminary investigations, and of article 60, which explicitly 
prohibits the use of coercion, obscene/derogatory language, 
suggestive/deceptive or irrelevant questioning. However, she noticed that forms 
of torture are not defined in Iranian law and that the new code has not 
established the necessary procedures for investigating torture allegations. She 
also received numerous documented cases of persons allegedly subjected to 
torture and ill treatment with the view to extracting confessions from them. 
The practice of prolonged period in solitary confinement was documented and 
there are also numerous reports and instances where prisoners were deprived of 
family visits and/or of medical care.

In a report it published in July 2016, a non-governmental source highlighted 18 
cases of denial of medical treatment and indicated that the objective of this 
practice was to intimidate and punish political prisoners and prisoners of 
conscience.

In the case of Ms. Akbari Monfared, who was serving a 15 years in prison in 
relation to her membership in the banned opposition group known as the People's 
Mojahedin OrganizationIran (PMOI), the denial of medical treatment reportedly 
took place after she published a letter demanding justice for her brothers and 
sisters who were reportedly executed in 1988. The Government responded to most 
of these cases indicating that prisoners were in good health condition and that 
they were benefiting from proper health and medical facilities.

In June, Ms. Narges Mohammadi, a prominent human rights activist went on her 
hunger strike for 20 days to regain access to her children. According to the 
Government, she was sentenced to 1 year in prison for propaganda against the 
system, 5 years in prison for assembly and colluding against the national 
security, and 10 years for establishing and running an unlicensed and illegal 
group. The sentences run concurrently, and thus she is serving 10 years' 
imprisonment.

In December, Ms. Nazanin Ratcliffe a British-Iranian charity worker whose 
detention was considered as arbitrary by the United Nations Working Group on 
Arbitrary Detention, was reportedly pressured to choose between moving her 
2-year-old daughter into prison or signing a document renouncing all her rights 
regarding her child. At least 50 lawyers have reportedly been prosecuted since 
June 2009 for representing prisoners of conscience, political detainees or 
"national security" prisoners. On 20 May 2016, the Special Rapporteur's 
predecessor and other United Nations experts issued a joint statement 
expressing concern about the situation of lawyers and human rights defenders, 
serving heavy sentences for their peaceful activities or simply for carrying 
out their professional duties. The experts noted that in addition to detaining 
human rights lawyers, their continued targeting and harassment by the 
authorities had apparently "forced some lawyers to limit their professional 
activities or leave the profession altogether."

The Special Rapporteur welcomes the declaration made by President Rouhani in 
November about the necessity for news media to feel safe while doing their jobs 
and notes that similar declaration had been made in the past. However, on 18 
May 2016, Iran's parliament adopted the Political Crimes Bill, which mandates 
the Judiciary to prosecute such crimes in open court, before a jury. Certain 
provisions of this law, including Article 1 appear to criminalize attempts to 
"reform the country's policies," and Article 2 reaffirms the Government's 
authority to criminalize the "publication of lies," as well as insults or 
defamation against government officials such as the president and his deputies, 
the head of the judiciary, and parliamentary members. Moreover, the Government 
is reportedly preparing to introduce 2 bills to parliament, which, if passed, 
could further erode press freedom and freedom of expression in the country. The 
1st bill is designed to replace the current restrictive Press Law, and the 2nd 
would establish a state organization. Under Articles 609 and 698, of the 
Islamic Penal Code, criticizing government officials or publishing false news 
is punishable by 74 lashes. The government however drew the attention of the 
Special Rapporteur to the fact that "in Iran insulting committed leaders, great 
personalities and thinkers, is unthinkable and many countries including Iran 
have criminalised such insulting behaviours".

Ms. Asma Jahangir regrets that no progress has been made towards the 
ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against 
Women and the elimination of legal provisions, which discriminate women in 
various fields. It is particularly disturbing that blatantly discriminatory 
provisions such as those contained in the penal code which stipulates that the 
value of a woman's life is equal to half of a man's remain in force in the 
country. Of concern is also possible adoption of new discriminatory legal 
provisions against women.

Child marriage remains legally possible for girls aged 13 and for boys aged 15. 
Even younger children can be married with the permission of the court but the 
marriage may not be consummated until puberty. In June, a spokesperson for the 
Tehran-based Association to Protect the Rights of Children stated that child 
marriages had reached alarming levels and stressed that approximately 17 % of 
all marriages in the country involve girls married with old men. Forced 
marriages are though prohibited by law.

And still, discriminatory laws and regulations that require women to observe 
the Islamic dress code, or hijab, continue to be enforced by security and law 
enforcement officials but also by citizens in accordance with the 2015 
legislation.

The situation of recognized and unrecognized religious minorities remains a 
matter of serious concern. Bahai's continue to be systematically discriminated, 
targeted, and deprived them of the right to a livelihood. The Special 
Rapporteur urges the authorities to recognize that freedom of religion or 
belief entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, and that measures 
restricting eligibility for civil, political, social or economic privileges, or 
imposing special restrictions on the practice of other faiths, violate the 
prohibition of discrimination based on religion or belief and the guarantee of 
equal protection under article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights.

(source: NCR-Iran)






BANGLADESH:

2 to die for killing RAB man's wife in Gazipur


A Gazipur court has awarded death penalty to 2 people in a 2014 case over the 
murder of a RAB man's wife.

District and Sessions Judge AKM Enamul Hoque pronounced the verdict on 
Wednesday with 1 of the convicts Md Abul Bashar Haolader, 33, on the dock.

The other convict is 46-year-old Harun Ghorami alias Babul.

The court also fined them Tk 20,000 each.

Sheikh Omar Ali started the murder case on Nov 8, 2014, over the death of his 
wife Salma Sultana alias 'Shathi'.

"While posted at Nabinagar-based RAB-4 in Savar, Ali came to know that Salma 
had been hacked to death at her home in Gazipur's Tongi," Court Inspector 
Robiul Islam quoted from the case details.

"2 unidentified men stormed into the house by pushing down tenant 'Kulsum'. 
Hearing Kulsum scream, neighbour Dr Mizan entered the house and found Salma's 
bloodstained body lying on the ground. He saw the 2 assailants fleeing the 
spot."

Omar Ali lodged the case against 2 unidentified people.

Police pressed charges against 5 on Aug 15, 2015. Court has acquitted 3 in the 
case.

(source: bdnews24.com)






PHILIPPINES:

CHR: Approving death penalty 'blatant breach of international law'----The 
Commission on Human Rights also says 'jurisprudence on most serious crimes do 
not include narcotics crimes,' the only offenses retained in the House bill


The Commission on Human Rights slammed the approval of the death penalty bill 
by the House of Representatives, reiterating that the proposed revival of 
capital punishment would violate international treaties.

In a statement late Tuesday, March 7, the CHR said the Philippine government 
can neither withdraw from the treaties nor use constitutional provisions "as 
arguments against the validity or interpretation of those treaties."

"In view of the absolute nature of these treaties, the enactment of the current 
legislative measure is a blatant breach of international law and constitutes an 
internationally wrongful act subject to international responsibility," said the 
CHR.

The commission also pointed out that the crimes covered under House Bill Number 
4727 - all drug-related offenses - are not considered "the most serious crimes" 
defined in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights (ICCPR). The Philippines ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the 
ICCPR back in 2007.

"The 'most serious crimes' shall be read restrictively and shall be limited to 
the crimes that, as qualified by the United Nations Human Rights Committee and 
the United Nations Economic and Social Council, 'do not go beyond intentional 
crimes with lethal or other extremely grave consequences,'" said the CHR. 
"Jurisprudence on most serious crimes do not include narcotics crimes."

The death penalty bill is a priority measure of President Rodrigo Duterte, who 
believes capital punishment is a form of retribution. Malacanang has hailed the 
House's move, saying it would boost the war on drugs.

'Double whammy'

More than 7,000 people have been killed in the Duterte administration's war on 
drugs since July 1, 2016, from police operations and vigilante-style killings.

In a statement, Human Rights Watch (HRW) slammed the House's approval of the 
death penalty bill as "another blow to the country's deteriorating human rights 
situation."

"Not only is capital punishment an inherently cruel punishment that is 
invariably imposed unfairly, but - contrary to what Duterte and others claim - 
it has not been shown to deter crime. Adding a veneer of legality to the 
bloodbath in the Philippines will make stopping it even harder," said Carlos 
Conde, Philippine researcher of HRW's Asia division.

"The passage of this law would represent a double whammy against human rights 
in the Philippines," he also said. "Now the Philippines will have the dubious 
distinction of becoming the 1st party to the [Second Optional Protocol to the 
ICCPR] to restore the death penalty."

A total of 217 lawmakers voted in favor of the measure while 54 voted against 
it and 1 abstained. A total of 272 out of 293 congressmen were present in the 
voting. 21 lawmakers were absent.

The measure now goes to the Senate, where Senate President Aquilino Pimentel 
III said the vote could go either way.

(source: rappler.com)

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

Death penalty is 'anti-poor' - rights group


A militant human rights group in Bicol said the poor would be the target of 
abuses should the death penalty bill be passed as a law.

Vince Casilihan, Bayan Bicol spokesperson, said the death penalty is not the 
solution to crime.

"It has been proven in other countries that having death penalty does not serve 
as deterrence against crime," he said, adding that the proposed law is 
anti-poor. "It will only lead to more human rights violations."

Some individuals who also learned of the news of the House of Representatives 
approval of the death penalty bill Tuesday also feared that the reimposition of 
the capital punishment would be abused by those in power.

Hermes Miraflor, 66, a real estate broker from Daraga town in Albay, said the 
proposed bill is discriminatory and self-serving since it only favors incumbent 
lawbreakers "who are themselves plunderers, murderers, rapists or in short 
criminals planning to save or exclude themselves from this proposed bill."

Lawyer Jose Leo Vega from Ligao City, Albay said the bill was hastily passed on 
the 3rd reading.

"The judge will choose the method of execution. It was only limited to drug 
pushing ... other more heinous crime should have been included such as plunder, 
rape, treason and murder...," he said.

"...That there is the possibility for that person, as an act of redemption, to 
demonstrate his worth to society in some meaningful ways eliminates the need 
for the death penalty. In itself, a sentence of life imprisonment is a fair and 
universally tolerated maximum penalty for violators of heinous crimes," Freddie 
Tesalona, a native of Lubang, Occidental Mindoro and the founder and executive 
director of Lubang-Looc International based in New York, said.

But there are also those who believe the revival of the death penalty is 
essential.

Marcial Tuanqui, Director Albay Chamber of Commerce, said the death penalty 
bill should be approved "as we need such punishment for hardened criminals and 
to deter others from committing serious crimes."

"The essence of the law is in its implementation, strict and serious in a 
sense. (I'm in) favor of death penalty as long as there will also be a review 
of the justice system," said Don Zian Encarnacion, college professor, City of 
Calapan.

(source: newsinfo.inquirer.net)

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

Cordillera women lament passage of 'selective' death penalty bill, blast 
deletion of rape, plunder


Women's rights advocates in the Cordillera lamented the passage by the House of 
Representatives of the death penalty bill, which they bashed as "selective" for 
excluding one of the most grievous crimes against them and children -- rape -- 
as well as plunder.

"What kind of society are we building for the children?" Veron Malecdan, 
secretary general of Innabuyog-Gabriela Cordillera in reaction to the passage 
Wednesday of House Bill 4727 by a vote of 217 for, 54 against and one 
abstention.

While opposed to capital punishment, Malecdan described the measure approved by 
the House as useless because it was crafted by "corrupt" politicians seeking to 
save themselves from its coverage by yanking plunder from the menu of crimes 
punishable by death.

"Why did they exclude (rape) from the death penalty if they are damned serious 
in deterring crimes in the country?" Malecdan asked at a press conference to 
mark International Women's Day. "So with plunder with billions of pesos in 
taxpayers' money being stolen by corrupt officials while millions of Filipinos 
suffer from the insufficient delivery of government social services)."

The bill passed by the House covers only drug-related crimes after lawmakers 
removed other offenses such as rape, plunder and treason.

Malecdan noted that drugs are the only reason rapes are committed.

She said rape can happen anywhere and anytime and many rapists are not even 
into drugs. She also said in many cases, rape is accompanied with murder.

Worse, she said, rape has been made a bailable crime once more.

Senior Inspector Mercedes Bocalen of the Baguio City police Women and 
Children's Protection Desk said excluding rape from coverage of the death 
penalty did not make sense.

(source: interaksyon.com)

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

Bishops express grief but vow to continue anti-death penalty campaign


Filipino Catholic bishops on Tuesday has lamented the approval of the death 
penalty bill as they also pledge to continue pro-life campaign against death 
penalty.

"We, your bishops, are overcome with grief but we are not defeated nor shall we 
be silenced," said Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines President 
and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas in a statement posted on the 
CBCP website.

The bishops said that with the approval of the bill, "the House of 
Representatives has given its consent for the State to kill."

The death penalty bill, which seeks to reimpose capital punishment on 7 
drug-related offenses, was passed in the 3rd and final reading in the Lower 
House on Tuesday.

The legislative measure got 217 affirmative votes, 54 legislators voted against 
the proposal while 1 abstained. 21 others were absent.

Archbishop Villegas said, "They may have won but it does not mean that they are 
right."

The prelate also urged Catholics to stand by the pro-life teachings if the 
Church, which includes giving respect for human life.

"We call on all Catholic faithful and all Filipinos who stand for life to 
continue the spirited opposition to death penalty," he said.

"We urge Catholic lawyers, judges and jurists to allow the gentleness of the 
Gospel of Life to illumine their reading and application of the law, so that 
their service to society as teachers and agents of the law and of justice may 
bring life," he added, and noting that this was done during Lent, which is a 
preparation to "celebrate the triumph of life over death."

"In the midst of Lent we prepare to celebrate the triumph of Life over Death, 
and while we grieve that the Lower House has voted for death, our faith assures 
us that Life will triumph," he added.

The Lenten season, which started on Ash Wednesday, is the holiest time for 
Catholics and is spent on reflections on the suffering, death and resurrection 
of Jesus Christ.

(source: gmanetwork.com)

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

The death penalty is an inhumane, unlawful and ineffective response to drugs


The adoption of a draft law by the Philippine House of Representatives to 
revive the death penalty sets the country on a dangerous path in flagrant 
violation of its international legal obligations, Amnesty International said 
today.

"The idea that the death penalty will rid the country of drugs is simply wrong. 
The resumption of executions will not rid the Philippines of problems 
associated with drugs or deter crime. It is an inhumane, ineffective punishment 
and is never the solution. The Philippines' attempts to reintroduce it are 
clearly unlawful. This will just earn the country notoriety as one of the few 
countries to revive its horrific use," said Champa Patel, Amnesty 
International's Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Today, the House of Representatives of the Philippines adopted on its third and 
final reading of House Bill 4727, a measure put forward by President Duterte's 
majority coalition to reintroduce the death penalty.

The proposal was passed with 216 votes in favour, 54 against and one 
abstention. The Speaker of the House openly threatened to strip members of 
Congress of key positions if they dared to vote against the bill, or even 
abstain from voting. The bill will now go to the Senate.

"The Senate is now the Philippines' last real hope of upholding its 
international obligations and rescuing the country from this backwards step," 
said Champa Patel.

The draft law has been passed at a time when the country is reeling from a wave 
of more than 8,000 deaths, many of them through extrajudicial executions in its 
"war on drugs" since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power on 30 June 2016.

Amnesty International is opposed to the death penalty for all crimes and in all 
circumstances. Under international law, the death penalty must be restricted to 
most serious crimes, and drug related crimes do not meet this threshold. There 
is also no evidence to show that the death penalty has a unique deterrent 
effect.

"The death penalty for alleged drug offenders, like extrajudicial executions, 
violates international law, deprives people of the right to life, and 
disproportionately targets the poor," said Champa Patel.

In 2007 the Philippines ratified an international treaty that categorically 
prohibits executions and commits the country to the abolition of the death 
penalty. Legally, this obligation cannot be withdrawn at any time.

Since the death penalty was abolished in 2006, the Philippines has been a 
strong advocate against capital punishment and has championed several 
initiatives to this end in international forums. It has also worked to commute 
the death sentences imposed on Filipino nationals abroad, such as overseas 
workers.

"If the Philippines authorities want to deal with the root causes of 
drug-related offences, they should support humane, voluntary, health-focused 
and evidence-based policies as an alternative," said Champa Patel.

Background

House Bill 4727 is a consolidated version of several proposals adopted by the 
Sub-Committee on Judicial Reforms of the Committee on Justice of the House of 
Representatives on 29 November 2016.

As of today, 141 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice; 
in the Asia Pacific region, 19 countries have abolished the death penalty for 
all crimes and a further 8 are abolitionist in practice. The new Criminal Code 
of Mongolia abolishing the death penalty for all crimes will become effective 
in July 2017.

(source: Amnesty International)

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

The Philippines' Alarming Death Penalty U-Turn ---- Capital Punishment Bill 
Could Reach President Duterte's Desk Soon


The Philippine House of Representatives voted today to reinstate the death 
penalty for serious drug-related offenses in yet another blow to the country's 
deteriorating human rights situation.

If the Philippine Senate approves a similar bill as expected and President 
Rodrigo Duterte then signs it into law, it would be a major setback both for 
human rights in the Philippines and for the global campaign to abolish capital 
punishment.

In the past decade, the Philippines has been a regional leader in Southeast 
Asia in the campaign against capital punishment. In 2007 it ratified the 
optional protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 
on the abolishment of the death penalty - the 1st in the region to do so. Since 
then, it has supported several United Nations resolutions reaffirming a 
moratorium on capital punishment around the world. Now the Philippines will 
have the dubious distinction of becoming the 1st party to the protocol to 
restore the death penalty.

Reinstating the death penalty was one of Duterte's major campaign promises and 
was the 1st bill proposed by the legislature after he took office in June 2016. 
In December, Duterte pledged to execute 6 criminals a day once the death 
penalty was reinstated. The speaker of the House of Representatives, Pantaleon 
Alvarez, has threatened legislators that they would lose positions in 
congressional committees if they didn't vote to bring back capital punishment.

Coupled with the Duterte administration's brutal "war on drugs" in which police 
and unidentified "vigilantes" have killed nearly 8,000 people since last July, 
the passage of this law would represent a double-whammy against human rights in 
the Philippines. Not only is capital punishment an inherently cruel punishment 
that is invariably imposed unfairly, but - contrary to what Duterte and others 
claim - it has not been shown to deter crime. Adding a veneer of legality to 
the bloodbath in the Philippines will make stopping it even harder.

(source: Human Rights Watch)