[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 12




PAKISTAN:

'President rejected 513 mercy petitions in 5 years'

Pakistan is among the 5 most prolific executioners in the world with 487 
executions in the last 3 years, while the president has rejected 513 mercy 
petitions in the last 5 years, a report launched on Wednesday has found.

The report, No Mercy: A Report on Clemency for Death Row Prisoners in Pakistan, 
was launched by Justice Project Pakistan.

It said that the government has executed nearly 500 people since lifting the 
moratorium on the death penalty in 2014.

And although the president possesses the constitutional authority under Article 
45 to pardon death row defendants, in practice in such petitions have been 
consistently denied since December 2014, operating under a blanket policy for 
cases with strong evidence of humanitarian abuse and violations.

The report quoted the Ministry of Interior as stating that the president's 
office had rejected 513 mercy petitions by condemned prisoners - 444 of which 
were from the first 15 months after the resumption of executions in December 
2014.

The interior ministry has also informally confirmed that the government has a 
de facto policy to summarily reject all mercy pleas.

The report includes case studies of death row prisoner Abdul Basit, Imdad Ali, 
juvenile offender Mohammad Iqbal and Zulfiqar Ali, a Pakistani citizen on death 
row in Indonesia. The cases illustrate the systemic problems of Pakistan's 
criminal justice system.

The report argues that given the procedure failings, individuals on death row 
should be given a fair chance to obtain clemency and introduce new and 
potentially exculpatory evidence.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Nusrat Bibi, the mother of the paralysed 
death row prisoner Abdul Basit whose mercy petition is pending, broke into 
tears and asked the president: "How can you hang a man who cannot even stand?"

She said her son was sentenced to death in 2009, and contracted tubercular 
meningitis at the Faisalabad Central Jail due to its unhygienic conditions.

"Due to the failure of jail authorities to provide him treatment, his condition 
deteriorated and after remaining unconscious for one week, he wasshifted to DHQ 
hospital. Despite spending 13 months there, he became paralyzed from the waist 
down," she said.

A mercy petition filed for Basit in 2013 was rejected in 2015 without any 
written reason for the rejection.

Relatives of other death row prisoners were also present at the launch, and 
appealed to high-ups to examine mercy petitions in humanitarian grounds.

Commissioner from the National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) Chaudhry 
Shafique said at the event that Pakistan's clemency process was deficient and 
improvements should be made to align it with the country’s constitutional and 
international human rights obligations.

"The president's power of mercy is critical for ensuring justice under 
Pakistan's criminal justice system," he added.

(source: dawn.com)




CHINA:
China remains world's top executioner, Iran next, says Amnesty report


China has remained the worlds top executioner amid a decline in global 
executions, Amnesty International's annual report on capital punishment said on 
Thursday.

Amnesty International recorded at least 993 executions in 23 countries in 2017, 
down by 4 % from 2016 (1,032 executions) and 39 % from 2015 when the 
London-based organisation reported 1,634 executions, the highest number since 
1989.

Besides China, 84 % of all reported executions took place in just 4 countries 
-- Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan.

Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) resumed executions 
in 2017, the report said.

Executions noticeably fell in Belarus (by 50 %) and Egypt (20 %). However, it 
increased in Palestine from 3 in 2016 to 6 in 2017; in Singapore from 4 to 8; 
and in Somalia from 14 to 24.

In 2017, Guinea and Mongolia abolished the death penalty in law for all crimes.

While Kenya abolished the mandatory death penalty for murder, Burkina Faso and 
Chad also took steps to repeal this punishment with new or proposed laws.

"The progress in sub-Saharan Africa reinforced its position as a beacon of hope 
for abolition... It is high time that the rest of the world follows their lead 
and consigns this abhorrent punishment to the history books," said Amnesty's 
Secretary General Salil Shetty.

The report also showed Amnesty International recorded commutations or pardons 
of death sentences in 21 countries including India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and 
the US.

The organisation recorded at least 2,591 death sentences in 53 countries in 
2017, a significant decrease from the record-high of 3,117 recorded in 2016. At 
least 21,919 people were known to be on death row at the end of 2017.

(source: ibtimes.sg)



JAPAN:
Amnesty accuses Japan of breaching int'l rules on death penalty


Amnesty International accused the Japanese government of flouting international 
norms Thursday by executing death row inmates who were seeking retrials.

The human rights organization noted that for the first time since 1999, Japan 
last year executed people who had their appeals for retrial pending before the 
courts. This was the case in three of the four executions in the country in 
2017.

Speaking at the release of the group's annual death penalty report, Chiara 
Sangiorgio, Amnesty International's adviser on the death penalty, told Kyodo 
News, "What was noticeable last year was that the government breached some of 
its own practices as we saw people who were applying for a retrial being 
executed."

"We also saw someone executed in December even though he qualified under 
Japanese law as a minor at the time of the crime.

"It feels as if things are not improving and we see a sort of cruelty in which 
the death penalty is being used with the government going back on some of its 
own practices."

Amnesty claims these actions represent a breach of protections recognized under 
Japanese and international laws and signal a "departure from the practice 
observed for 20 years."

Sangiorgio also expressed concern about the fate of the 13 members of the AUM 
Shinrikyo cult on death row for carrying out the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on 
the Tokyo subway system that killed 13 people and left over 6,000 people ill.

Death sentences have been finalized for the cult members while some of those 
convicted are reported to be seeking retrials.

"We believe the death penalty does not deter crime and these executions will do 
little to improve security in the country," the Amnesty adviser said.

"We think that if the cult members are applying for a retrial, then the grounds 
for doing so must be considered given previous cases of unsound convictions," 
she said, adding that the group is "also concerned about several death row 
prisoners who are displaying symptoms of mental and intellectual disability."

In Japan in 2017, Amnesty recorded 4 executions and 3 death sentences issued. 
By the end of the year, 123 people had their death sentences finalized by the 
courts.

The organization expressed "concern" that the 2017 figures represented a small 
increase on the numbers recorded for each of the years between 2014 and 2016.

While Japan's capital punishment has drawn international criticism, a majority 
of the Japanese public supports it. A 2014 government survey showed that 80.3 % 
of Japanese people aged 20 or older favored capital punishment, down from a 
record 85.6 % in the previous survey in 2009.

Amnesty International recorded at least 993 executions in 23 countries in 2017, 
down by 4 percent from 2016. Most executions took place in China, Iran, Saudi 
Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan. China remains the world's top executioner but the 
data is classified as a state secret. Amnesty estimates "thousands" are 
executed in China.

(source: The Mainichi)




IRAN----executions
A Man Executed in Northern Iran for Murdering a Child

A man who was charged with murdering a 3-year-old boy was hanged at Rasht 
Central Prison.

According to ISNA, on the morning of Tuesday, April 10, a man who was charged 
with murdering a 3-year-old boy, named Ahoura, was hanged at Rasht Central 
Prison.

The murderer was earlier identified by the media as Meysam, 27. He was charged 
with physical harassment of a 3-year-old boy which led to his death on October 
14, 2017. The forensics announced that the cause of death was cerebral 
hemorrhage.

Branch 3 of the Criminal Court of Guilan sentenced Meysam to death on December 
7, 2017 which was approved by the Supreme Court on January 23, 2018.

According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 240 of the 
517 execution sentences in 2017 were implemented due to murder charges.



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

Execution in Northwestern Iran----The execution of this prisoner has not been 
announced by the state-run media so far.


A prisoner was hanged at Maragheh Prison on murder charges in March.

According to a close source, on the morning of Sunday, March 4, a prisoner was 
hanged at Maragheh Prison. The prisoner, identified as Jalil Khademi, was 
sentenced to death on murder charges.

Jalil Khademi, who was from Marand city in East Azerbaijan Province, was 
arrested in 2014 and had been held in prison ever since.

A close source told IHR, "Jalil murdered a man named Khosro Asghari over 
financial disputes. He had not been able to win the consent of the plaintiff."

It should be noted that the execution of this prisoner has not been announced 
by the state-run media so far.

According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 240 of the 
517 execution sentences in 2017 were implemented due to murder charges.

There is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results 
in issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and 
intent.

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

Political Prisoner's Death Sentence Approved by the Supreme Court


Ramin Hossein-Panahi is a political prisoner in Sanandaj Central Prison. His 
death sentence has been approved by the Supreme Court, and he might be executed 
soon.

According to a close source, on Tuesday, April 11, Branch 39 of the Supreme 
Court approved Ramin Hossein Panahi's death sentence.

Hossein Ahmadi Niaz, Mr. Panahi's lawyer, told Iran Human Rights, "Ramin's 
confessions were extracted under torture. The proceedings were unfair and 
unjust. Because those who arrested him [are the plaintiffs], and the 
prosecutors and the court, all are a united entity in this regard. Thus, they 
didn't pay attention to our requests."

He continued, "I will request a retrial which can delay the execution, however, 
my client might still get executed anytime, and he is in danger. The verdict is 
unjust, and it is not in accordance with legal principles and human rights."

He concluded, "both the Revolutionary Guards and the Ministry of Intelligence 
were the plaintiffs and asked for the maximum penalty."

Ramin Hossein Panahi was shot and arrested by the Revolutionary Guards on 
Friday, June 23, 2017. The Revolutionary Guards claimed that he was armed, but 
the defendant's family deny the accusation.

The political prisoner was held in solitary confinement of the Intelligence 
Protection Organization of Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution for 
200 days after which he was transferred to Sanandaj Central Prison on January 
9, 2018.

It should be noted that Ramin Hossein Panahi's trial was held on January 15, 
2018, and he was sentenced to death on the charge of "rebellion, action against 
national security, and joining of Komala (A Kurdish Party)."

According to Article 287 of the Islamic Penal Code, only the members of a group 
who resort to an armed uprising against the system of the Islamic Republic 
shall be sentenced to death by law.

(source for all: Iran Human Rights)