[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide----S. LAN., IRAN, KENYA, PAKIS., INDIA

[Rick Halperin]

regular news postings to this listserve will resume on December 30....Happy 
Holidays to all!


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December 17



SRI LANKA:

List of inmates with death penalty sent to the President



A high ranking officer at the Ministry of Prison Reforms confirmed that a list 
of 20 drug dealers sentenced to death, has been submitted to the Presidents 
office once again.

The spokesperson further said that over eight of the listed inmates have 
appealed against the death penalty. Among the 20 drug dealers are 2 Pakistan 
nationals and a female inmate.

He added that a list with names of inmates sentenced to death had been 
submitted to the Presidents office on a previous occasion as well.

(source: newsfirst.lk)








IRAN----execution

Prisoner Hanged at Mashhad Prison



A Prisoner was hanged on murder charges at Mashhad Central Prison last 
Wednesday.

According to the Iranian website, Rokna, a 50 years old man was executed on the 
morning of December 12, 2018. He was sentenced to death for murdering his wife 
8 years ago. The plaintiffs were his daughters but he could not win their 
consent.

According to the Iranian Islamic Penal Code (IPC) murder is punishable by qisas 
which means “retribution in kind” or retaliation. In this way, the State 
effectively puts the responsibility of the death sentence for murder on the 
shoulders of the victim’s family. In many cases, the victim's family are 
encouraged to put the rope is around the prisoner's neck and even carry out the 
actual execution by pulling off the chair the prisoner is standing on.

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.

(source: Iran Human Rights)








KENYA:

Courts to review over 400 death sentences in 2019: CJ David Maraga



At least 400 inmates have applied for a review of their death sentences since 
the Supreme Court did away with the penalty in December last year, Chief 
Justice David Maraga has said.

Mr Maraga said that the Judiciary will embark on the process of resentencing in 
2019 and give a chance to several inmates to persuade the courts to review 
their sentences.

“I don’t have the exact numbers right here but they are quite many. There are 
about 400 but we will deal with them. Even when we were making the judgment at 
the Supreme Court, we knew that there will be quite a number,” said Mr Maraga 
on Sunday during a visit at Kamiti Maximum Prison.

LANDMARK RULING

In a landmark judgment in December 2017, 6 judges of the Supreme Court found 
that the mandatory nature of the death sentence as provided for under Section 
204 of the Penal Code was unconstitutional.

The judges, led by Justice Maraga, said a person facing the death sentence 
deserves to be heard in mitigation because of the finality of the sentence, 
adding that during mitigation the offender’s version of events might evoke 
pity, necessitating the court to consider an aspect that might have been 
unclear during the trial.

Justice Maraga said that during the resentencing process they will take into 
consideration other factors such as rehabilitation success of an inmate based 
on reports from the prison management before finalizing the new sentencing.

“Resentencing is not a long process. It is a question of coming and one is 
given an opportunity to say why his sentence should be reviewed,” he said.

'EXECUTION HISTORY'

Although Kenya has not executed anyone on death row since 1987 when Hezekiah 
Ochuka was convicted and hanged for the 1982 attempted coup, the sentence is 
still handed to offenders.

Documented reports indicate that from 1963 to 1987, 280 persons out of 3,584 
people sentenced to death were executed in Kenya.

But since 1987, those on death row have been kept waiting for the hangman’s 
noose. It was not until 2009 when President Mwai Kibaki commuted the sentences 
of more than 4,000 convicts on death row to life.

According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, a total of 6,058 prisoners 
have been sentenced to death since 2011 with the majority of persons on death 
row mainly convicted for robbery with violence.

In March, the Attorney-General (AG) named a 13-member task force chaired by 
Maryann Njau-Kimani, Secretary for Justice at AG’s office, to gather views from 
Kenyans on life sentencing, and establish a framework to deal with the 
resentencing of persons on death row as directed by the Supreme Court.

The task force will define life imprisonment and whether Parliament should come 
up with minimum and maximum sentences for capital offences.

This followed a suggestion by lawyers that Parliament should come up with 
minimum and maximum sentences for serious offences such as murder, robbery with 
violence and attempted robbery with violence, which afford a prisoner a chance 
for conditional release.

As the law stands, those serving life imprisonment or detention are released 
after some years under the President’s prerogative of mercy.

(source: nation.co.ke)








PAKISTAN:

Pakistan Executes 56 Terrorists in 4 Years Since School Attack



Military courts in Pakistan have handed down death sentences to 310 people 
convicted of terrorism in the last four years, and 56 of them have been 
executed. 15 of the death penalties were approved by the military chief Sunday, 
according to an official announcement.

The army released the details as the country observed the 4th anniversary of 
the December 2014 massacre of more than 150 people, mostly children, at an 
army-run public school in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

The militant attack outraged Pakistanis and prompted the then parliament to 
permit the military to try civilians linked to terrorist groups or 
organizations instigating violence in the name of religion.

717 cases

The military courts have since received the cases of 717 people accused of 
terrorism from the civilian administration and concluded trials for 546 of 
them.,P> “Out of 310 sentenced to death, 56 terrorists have been executed after 
completion of legal process beyond military courts’ decisions, which included 
their appeal in superior civil courts and rejection of their mercy petition 
both by the army chief and the president of Pakistan,” the army said in its 
statement Sunday.

It added that executions of remaining 254 are pending completion of legal 
process in the civilian courts. It said that 234 people were awarded “rigorous 
imprisonment” of varied duration ranging from life imprisonment to a minimum 
duration of 5 years, and 2 accused were acquitted.

“Those who have been awarded death penalty included masterminds, executors and 
abettors/ facilitators, inter alia, of major terrorist incidents” in Pakistan, 
the military noted.

Convicts are allowed to challenge the sentences awarded by the military 
tribunals in Pakistani civilian courts, though none has been overturned to 
date.

Military courts under fire

Human rights groups remain critical of Pakistan’s military courts, saying the 
trials are not open to the public and do not meet international standards of 
justice.

Lawyers and families in appeal proceedings in civilian courts have questioned 
evidence in some cases and alleged their relatives were coerced into 
confession.

The Pakistan army and civilian officials reject the charges and maintain the 
legislation allowing the trials binds the special tribunals to conduct “fair 
and transparent” hearings.

Political parties have backed the military courts, noting Pakistan’s regular 
judicial system does not offer protection to witnesses. Moreover, judges and 
attorneys prosecuting suspected hardcore militants have complained of receiving 
death threats, or have come under attack.

Judicial reforms urged

Critics have long urged successive governments to carry out much needed 
judicial reforms to strengthen the civilian justice system in Pakistan.

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), advocating for justice and human 
rights, has denounced the military trials in Pakistan.

“The secret military trials of civilians charged with terrorism-related 
offenses are a continuing breach of Pakistan’s international human rights 
obligations,” the ICJ said in a recent statement.

“Pakistan should end the role of military courts in such cases, and instead 
strengthen the ability of ordinary courts and law enforcement to ensure 
investigations and trials that are both fair and effective, in line with its 
domestic law and international human rights obligations,” it said.

Intensified military operations since the school attack have also killed 
thousands of militants mainly linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, 
commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the 
massacre of schoolchildren.

(source: voanews.com)








INDIA:

Delhi: At fast-track court 304, four convictions in 2 years----On January 2, 
2013, court number 304 was designated as a fast-track court to ensure swift 
justice in cases of sexual offences against women.



The court is presided over by a woman judge, and disposes of around 10 cases 
per month. It has held accused guilty in four cases in the last 2 years.

“Zero tolerance towards sexual harassment” is written on a notice board outside 
court number 304 at Saket district court complex, which had 6 years ago ordered 
the hanging of four adult convicts for raping and murdering a 23-year-old woman 
on December 16, 2012.

The death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court, which stated that they had 
committed a “barbaric crime” that had “shaken society’s conscience”.

On January 2, 2013, court number 304 was designated as a fast-track court to 
ensure swift justice in cases of sexual offences against women.

So far, the December 16 case is the only one in which it has handed out death 
penalty. In January 2017, it had awarded life term to a domestic help for 
allegedly raping and murdering an 82-year-old woman, but the Delhi High Court 
acquitted the man, saying medical and forensic evidence ruled out sexual 
assault.

The court is presided over by a woman judge, and disposes of around 10 cases 
per month. It has held accused guilty in 4 cases in the last 2 years.

A court staff said: “The rest have been acquitted for lack of evidence or 
because victims turned hostile.”He said that around 200 cases are pending in 
the court at the moment.

(source: indianexpress.com)