[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 9



JAMAICA:

Government senator wants hanging resumed



Government Senator Matthew Samuda is calling for the resumption of hanging amid 
Jamaica's rising homicide rate.

He made the call during his contribution to the State of the Nation debate in 
the Senate this afternoon.

Jamaica ended 2017 with more than 1616 murders.

The murder tally has continued to spiral in 2018, resulting in Prime Minister 
declaring a state of public emergency in St James last month.

Citing crime statistics, Samuda said it was clear criminals have no regard for 
life and were wantonly committing murders.

He said a strong message should be sent to murderers.

Although Jamaica has retained the death penalty, it is not being carried out 
since February 1988.

This is because of the 1993 ruling by the United Kingdom-based Privy Council in 
the Pratt and Morgan case.

The Privy Council ruled then that it was inhumane and degrading to hang an 
inmate who had been on death row for more than 5 years.

With legal proceedings in such cases typically exhausting that time frame, it's 
almost impossible to have death sentences carried out in Jamaica.

(source: Jamaica Gleaner)








IRAN:

Urgent Action: 21-Year Old Man Arrested at 16 at Risk of Execution (Iran: UA 
28.18)



A 21-year old Iranian man Abolfazl Naderi is at risk of execution in Arak's 
prison, Markazi province. Abolfazl Naderi was 16 years old at the time of his 
arrest and was sentenced to death after a grossly unfair trial, based on 
"confessions" which he claims were made under torture.

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

Halt any plans to execute Abolfazl Naderi and ensure that his conviction and 
sentence are quashed and he is granted a fair retrial in accordance with the 
principles of juvenile justice, without resort to the death penalty and 
excluding statements obtained through torture or other ill-treatment or without 
the presence of a lawyer;

Conduct an impartial and transparent investigation into his allegations of 
torture and other ill-treatment and bring those responsible to justice in 
trials that meet international fair trial standards;

Amend Article 91 of the 2013 Islamic Penal Code to completely abolish, without 
any discretion by the courts or other exceptions, the use of the death penalty 
for crimes committed by people below the age of 18, in line with Iran's 
obligations under international law;

Establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the 
death penalty.

Contact these 2 officials by 22 March, 2018:

Deputy Secretary General of the High Council for Human Rights

Kazem Gharib Abadi

Esfandiar Boulevard

Tehran, Iran

H.E. Gholamali Khoshroo

Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations 
622 Third Avenue, 34th Floor

New York, NY 10017

Phone: (212) 687-2020 -- Fax: (212) 867-7086

Email: iran at un.int

Salutation: Dear Excellency

(source: Amnesty International USA)








SAUDI ARABIA----executions

Pakistani Met Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia



On Thursday Saudi Press Agency published the statement of interior minister who 
confirmed the death penalty of four Pakistanis for their crime. These Pakistani 
included Liaqat Hussein son of Ishaq Hussein, Sajid Ali son of Asqar Ali, 
Muhammd Thaqib son of Muhammad Al- Warith Ali and Faisal Muneer son of Muneer 
Hussein.

These men broke into a woman's house, raped both the mother and the son, stole 
jewellery and cash and later murdered the woman, said the interior minister of 
Saudi Arabia.

These men confessed their crime then these guilty men were executed on 
Thursday. In the beginning of the year yet 20 men have been beheaded in Saudi.

Saudi Arabia is the country where world's most people are beheaded for their 
crimes like drugs and human trafficking, rape and murder. Last year in July, a 
Pakistani was found guilty in human trafficking crime and executed in Saudi 
Arabia. Another Pakistani beheaded for drug trafficking and 5 Saudi citizens 
were also executed for the conviction of murder.

Last year 141 people were beheaded with sword in public.

(source: christiansinpakistan.com)

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

Trial begins of 4 Saudis linked to Hezbollah terror cell



The Special Criminal Court in Riyadh on Thursday began the trial of a terrorist 
cell of 4 Saudis linked to Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

The court's 1st session revealed that 3 of the cell members coordinated with a 
wanted fugitive in Iran.

They were convicted of joining a Hezbollah training camp to manufacture and 
deploy C4 and TNT explosives for use in the Kingdom.

Their aim was to cause chaos, target security men, smuggle guns into Saudi 
Arabia, finance terrorism via an organized gang, and smuggle fugitives from the 
Kingdom to Iran by sea.

The prosecutor called for the death penalty. Failing that, he demanded the most 
severe punishment (imprisonment and financial penalty) for having violated 
border security and many other regulations.

Kalashnikov rifles, bullets, machine guns and money were seized. The convicts 
are banned from traveling.

(source: Arab News)








IRAQ:

Kurdistan Regional Government: Allegations of Mass Executions----Mass Grave 
Located Near Bardiya Village



New evidence suggests that between August 28 and September 3, 2017, the 
Kurdistan Regional Government's Asayish security forces from the West of the 
Tigris branch carried out mass executions of alleged Islamic State (also known 
as ISIS) fighters in their custody, which constitutes a war crime, Human Rights 
Watch said today.

The Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Peshmerga military forces detained 
the men, both foreign and Iraqi, in a school in Sahil al-Maliha, a village 70 
kilometers northwest of Mosul. Asayish forces bused them to a prison in 
Shilgia, a village 45 kilometers away, according to a now retired security 
force member, and from there they took them to 2 sites in the vicinity of the 
town of Zummar, where they executed them. Human Rights Watch located an 
apparent mass grave site where Asayish buried at least some of the bodies after 
the executions, according to the retired security force member and 6 residents 
of the neighboring village. KRG criminal justice authorities should investigate 
the apparent war crimes and prosecute those implicated up to the highest levels 
of responsibility.

"The evidence suggests that Asayish security forces conducted mass executions 
of captured ISIS suspects night after night for a week, perhaps killing scores 
or even hundreds of male detainees," said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East 
director at Human Rights Watch. "Iraqi and KRG authorities should urgently and 
transparently investigate the allegations of mass executions and hold those 
responsible to account."

Because the mass grave site is located within the flood zone of the Mosul Dam 
reservoir, it is critically important to urgently allow international forensic 
experts to conduct a detailed exhumation of the site before seasonal rains fill 
the reservoir again later this year and submerge the grave site, complicating 
the identification of bodies, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch was not able to speak with witnesses to the executions. But 
other evidence suggest that Asayish forces executed the ISIS suspects. Human 
Rights Watch spoke to a now-retired security force member, "Nadim," who was 
regularly in contact with the Asayish members who told him they participated in 
the executions. Researchers also analyzed video and photographic evidence, 
including geotagged photos of bodies and satellite imagery showing the apparent 
mass grave was created sometime between July 5 and September 3 by bulldozer, 
and interviewed residents of a neighboring village.

Nadim went to 1 of the execution sites on August 29, where he said he saw 
approximately 30 bodies hours after the 1st group of men are believed to have 
been executed. Human Rights Watch visited a mass grave site where Nadim and 
local villagers said bodies were buried on January 30, 2018, and a 2nd time on 
February 6.

Nadim said that on August 29, a friend of his in the Asayish said that he and 
other Asayish members, all part of the West of the Tigris Asayish branch, had 
taken about 80 detainees suspected of ISIS affiliation from Shilgia prison the 
night before and had executed about 50 of them outside the village of Tal Ahmed 
Agha al-Kabir, and the others outside Bardiya village, which researchers 
visited.

Nadim said that a few hours later he traveled to the site near Bardiya, which 
he located based on information from locals who told him they discovered bodies 
there. There, he counted about 30 unburied bodies, all shot in the head, and 
took 3 photographs of them and 2 short videos. Human Rights Watch reviewed the 
photos and videos and was able to confirm based on their metadata that they 
were taken on August 29, 460 meters from a mass grave which was later created. 
In total, the photos and videos show at least 20 bodies of men. The bodies did 
not have visible injuries consistent with battle wounds or suicide attacks, 
were dressed in civilian clothing, and did not appear to have their hands bound 
or eyes blindfolded.

Nadim said that an Asayish security member also told him that in the evening of 
August 30, and through the early hours of the following morning, he and a group 
of other Asayish members loaded between 100 and 150 men into a large 
refrigerator truck, keeping them there, in freezing temperatures, for 7 hours. 
They transported the men to the site of the previous executions near Bardiya, 
dumped the bodies of the men who had died in the truck from the cold or 
asphyxiation in a ditch, and shot and buried alongside them any who were still 
alive, he said.

Nadim's statements were partially corroborated by photographic evidence posted 
on social media and another witness statement. A photo of what appears to be 
the truck that transported the detainees surfaced on Twitter on September 2 on 
at least 2 Twitter accounts, 1 of which has been suspended. One of the tweets 
states that Kurdish Peshmerga forces executed 375 ISIS members captured since 
August 27, northwest of Tal Afar. The other states that between August 27 and 
September 1,375 ISIS fugitives from Tal Afar to Zummar and northwest 
al-A'yadhia were executed.

The photo shows a white truck and a pile of bodies underneath, in a ditch. A 
Bardiya villager also told Human Rights Watch that on an evening at the end of 
August, he saw Kurdish forces drive through the area with two large white 
refrigerator trucks.

The 2 tweets also included 2 other photos. One shows a man in what appears to 
be an Asayish uniform, his face painted over to hide his identity, standing 
over a pile of bloody bodies. The 2nd shows over 15 bloodied bodies in a pile 
in an open grave. In both photos, the hands of some of the men appear to be 
bound.

Local residents and foreign women married to ISIS suspects, who last saw their 
male relatives in custody at the Sahil al-Maliha school, raised concerns that 
some of those executed may have been children as young as 13. The family 
members of one 17-year-old showed Human Rights Watch a video of him 
surrendering to Peshmerga forces for screening alongside other foreign and 
Iraqi male suspects. The video was posted on various media outlets on August 
30. The relatives said that they have not been able to find him in any Iraqi 
detention facilities since.

Nadim said that on the days that followed, three Asayish members told him they 
were executing groups of men from Shilgia prison in the same area, temporarily 
burying them before later unearthing them and finally burying all of the bodies 
together in one mass grave using large digging equipment. The Asayish members 
told him that over 7 days, they executed between 80 and 150 people each day.

About 20 days after the last executions, Nadim's Asayish friends told him that 
a very senior security officer made a high-level visit to the Asayish office in 
Zummar, he said. He said that several senior local Asayish officers have not 
been seen in Zummar since the meeting, and his contacts in the Asayish have 
told him they have been detained. Human Rights Watch has not been able to 
verify if any officers were punished, and for what.

Human Rights Watch requested a comment from the KRG on the executions and in an 
email to Human Rights Watch on February 5, Dr. Dindar Zebari, the KRG 
coordinator for international advocacy, denied that the executions took place. 
He stated that according to the chief of the Asayish forces, Peshmerga forces 
were fighting on a 71-kilometer frontline with ISIS, as the group's members 
attempted to escape to Syria. In the process of the battle many ISIS members 
were killed, along with many Peshmerga forces, "and the corpses of the killed 
ISIS members in this fighting were probably brought in one place to be buried." 
The stretch of frontline that the response refers to is at its closest 40 
kilometers from the site where researchers found the mass grave.

This explanation does not match the state the bodies were found in - shot in 
the head, in clusters, in a solitary desert area, far from where any fighting 
had occurred - according to Nadim and 3 Bardiya villagers.

The photos posted on social media on September 2 also show the hands of some of 
the men bound. The Zummar and Bardiya areas were occupied by ISIS for less than 
1 month during late 2014, and there was no fighting there after that date, 
according to numerous security and military officers researchers interviewed.

According to the statement, the individuals at the school were considered 
internally displaced persons, not detainees, and were all transferred from 
there to camps for the displaced. International organizations present in the 
reception centers of the camps that the displaced families were bused to 
confirmed that no foreign adult men were among the arrivals and there were few 
Iraqi men.

KRG criminal justice authorities should investigate all alleged crimes, 
including unlawful killings, committed by any party in the conflict in a 
prompt, transparent, and effective manner, up to the highest levels of 
responsibility. Those credibly implicated should be appropriately prosecuted. 
Extrajudicial executions and torture during an armed conflict are war crimes. 
Authorities should also investigate the fate and whereabouts of the 
disappeared, Human Rights Watch said.

"There have been months of silence, but the Kurdistan Regional Government needs 
to be transparent about these deaths and punish anyone responsible for unlawful 
killings," Fakih said.

>From Sahil al-Maliha to Shilgia Prison

Human Rights Watch interviewed dozens of Iraqi families and 27 foreign women 
who said that between August 22 and 29, they and thousands of other Iraqis and 
foreigners approached Peshmerga forces near Sahil al-Maliha for screening. A 
video posted on various media outlets on August 30 shows Peshmerga forces 
lining up men, foreign and local, and gathering women and children to the side 
in a desert area.

Nadim and the families said that after the people approached, Peshmerga forces 
moved everyone to a school in Sahil al-Maliha and detained them there. The 
witnesses said the Peshmerga forces put the women, children, and elderly in 1 
of the 12 rooms in the schoolhouse, and kept the men and boys over age 12 in 
the yard.

An image posted on social media shows about 150 men sitting in the schoolyard. 
Nadim confirmed that the image was taken at the Sahil al-Maliha school. In 
addition, he showed researchers a clip of a video at the school, showing a 
group of men, several of them wounded, sitting against a wall in a yard and a 
photo of the same scene that was geotagged, verifying the date, August 29, and 
location.

Human Rights Watch reviewed the photograph and identified uniquely matching 
features in satellite imagery recorded on August 30 and 31, 2017, further 
confirming both the approximate date and precise location of the photograph. 
Human Rights Watch also found in a time series of satellite imagery recorded 
between August 23 and September 5, evidence consistent with the temporary 
detention of potentially hundreds of people within the schoolyard. It included 
the accumulation of extensive debris on the ground, heavy vehicle movement, and 
the presence of seven large passenger buses parked immediately outside the 
school on the morning of August 31.

Nadim said that once at the school, Asayish forces from the nearby town of 
Zummar carried out daily security checks on the men, and then bused groups of 
them away in large trucks each day. The families also described the daily 
security checks and the busing, which they said they observed through the 
classroom windows. Nadim said he saw Asayish forces bus some of the detainees 
first to the Asayish center in Zummar, for another round of security checks, 
and then on to another location. He said his Asayish contacts told him that 
they were busing the men from Zummar to an Asayish prison in Shilgia. They told 
him that in some instances they bused the men from the school directly to the 
Shilgia prison.

Nadim showed Human Rights Watch researchers 4 photos that he said he received 
from Asayish members on August 31. 2 of the photos show trucks arriving at a 
destination with the detainees disembarking. Nadim said he recognized the 
trucks as the same ones he saw the Asayish using at the Sahil al-Maliha school 
to transport the detainees by the writing on the sides of the trucks. The other 
2 photos show a large group of men being held in the yard of the prison, which 
Nadim said he recognized based on a previous visit to the prison.

The Shilgia prison is the largest prison facility in the area and it is under 
the same area of command as the Zummar Asayish branch.

The Mass Grave Site

Several sources, including Nadim, a Federal Police officer, and 6 Bardiya 
villagers told Human Rights Watch the location of the mass grave. On January 
30, researchers traveled to the site, where they found large piles of dirt in a 
long row, with marks of excavation equipment on the side of some of the piles. 
Human Rights Watch interviewed a shepherd next to the site who said he saw 
Kurdish security forces bury the bodies there in early September.

Human Rights Watch analyzed a time series of satellite imagery of this site 
recorded between July 5 and September 29 and identified evidence of the 
movement of earth with heavy machinery on the dry lake bed consistent with the 
construction of a large mass grave as alleged by local witnesses.

Because the site was fully submerged under the seasonal lake water in early 
July according to satellite imagery, digging could not have started until the 
water had receded later in July or August. Satellite imagery recorded on the 
morning of September 3 shows ongoing digging activity along 2 linear sections 
of raised earth, approximately 35 and 40 meters in length. Satellite imagery 
recorded on the morning of September 29 shows evidence of continued digging 
activity at the site, including extensive parallel vehicle tracks consistent 
with the use of a wheeled or tracked bulldozer to pile additional soil onto the 
2 earthen mounds.

A comparison of photographs Human Rights Watch took on January 30, 2018 with 
satellite imagery recorded on September 29, 2017 suggests the site has been 
undisturbed since.

(source: Human Rights Watch)








EGYPT:

Egypt must end death penalty: EU politicians



The European Parliament has condemned Egypt for its use of the death penalty 
and called for all planned executions to be halted pending a review of the 
cases.

Egypt is restricting "fundamental democratic rights", members of the European 
Parliament (MEPs) said in a statement on Wednesday, adding Cairo should abolish 
capital punishment.

"The European Parliament ... calls for the end to all acts of violence, 
incitement and hate speech, reminding the Egyptian government that the 
universal protection of human rights and long-term prosperity go hand in hand," 
it said.

A sharp rise in executions has taken place in Egypt since President Abdel 
Fattah el-Sisi came to power in a 2013 coup, according to figures from Cornell 
University's Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.

At least 97 people have been executed in Egypt since 2014, compared with 5 
executions between 2010-2014, it said.

UN human rights experts have expressed concern that Egyptian officials are 
using evidence obtained through torture or ill treatment, often during periods 
of enforced disappearance, to sentence prisoners to death in military courts.

On January 2, 5 men were hanged in Alexandria after being sentenced to death by 
an Egyptian military court, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human 
Rights, 4 of whom were convicted for an explosion in April 2015 that killed 3 
military personnel and wounded 2 others.

15 men convicted on "terrorism" charges over the 2013 deaths of soldiers in the 
Sinai Peninsula were executed on December 26 last year.

(source: Al Jazeera News)








LEBANON:

Death penalty demanded over killing of British Beirut embassy worker



An investigative judge has demanded the death penalty for the suspected killer 
of a British embassy worker whose body was found near Beirut 2 months ago, 
Lebanese judicial officials said.

Hanna Breidi, a type of government prosecutor, issued an indictment on Thursday 
demanding the maximum penalty for Tarek Houshi, accusing him of raping Rebecca 
Dykes before strangling her with a rope, the officials said.

They alleged that Uber driver Houshi raped and killed Ms Dykes in Beirut, then 
threw her body off a road east of the capital.

Ms Dykes was found dead on December 16 on the side of a road, strangled and 
reportedly showing signs of sexual assault.

The 30-year-old was working in Lebanon as a programme and policy manager for 
the Department for International Development.

Houshi, 29, was arrested days later.

Breidi referred Houshi to the criminal court.

(source: independent.ie)




CHINA----female gets death sentence

Nanny Sentenced to Death for Fire That Killed 4----Closely watched Hangzhou 
court case reveals concerns of China's growing middle class.



A live-in nanny was sentenced to death on Friday for starting a fire last 
summer that killed a mother and her three young children in eastern China's 
Zhejiang province.

The Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court announced the verdict on Friday in a 
trial closely watched by domestic media.

In the early morning of June 22, 2017, 35-year-old nanny Mo Huanjing set fire 
to the family's apartment by lighting a book in the living room. According to 
the court's report, she had lost 60,000 yuan ($9,500) through online gambling 
the previous night, and hoped that if she put out the blaze, the mother, Zhu 
Xiaozhen, might lend her money out of gratitude.

But the fire quickly grew out of control, and Mo fled from the 18th-floor 
residence, leaving Zhu and the children - a 7-year-old girl and 2 boys aged 4 
and 10 - behind. All 4 died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

"Mo Huanjing deliberately started a fire in the high-rise apartment in the 
early morning that led to 4 deaths and significant property losses," the 
court's report said. "The criminal motivation is despicable; the results are 
extremely severe and have seriously damaged public security and caused social 
harm."

The family had hired Mo, who comes from southern China's Guangdong province, 
through an agency in September 2016. Between March 2017 and the date of the 
fire, Mo pawned jewelry and watches stolen from the family for more than 
180,000 yuan, and had also borrowed 114,000 yuan from Zhu, but lost all the 
money through gambling. According to her mobile phone records, Mo had searched 
fire-starting techniques and "Will arson lead to prison?" online before 
committing the crime.

The tragic case attracted attention nationwide as it highlights some of the 
core concerns of China's growing upper middle class, such as increasing demand 
for domestic help - typically migrant workers - and inadequate fire safety 
management.

The family's apartment was one of the most expensive in Hangzhou, the capital 
of Zhejiang, with a market value of more than 20 million yuan. Yet firefighting 
infrastructure at the compound appeared to be lacking: After Zhu called the 
police, it took more than 2 hours for firefighters to find them. Investigation 
later revealed that the compound's water pressure was insufficient, and that 
there was no suitable parking for fire engines that could reach the top floors.

Mo's defense lawyer argued that the property management company's negligence 
was partly to blame for the fatalities, and the court's report also 
acknowledged that the compound's poor emergency management had resulted in a 
prolonged rescue time.

The victims' grieving husband and father, Lin Shengbin, has also become a 
social media advocate for improved fire safety. "If the disaster had not 
happened, I might never have discovered that our lives and happiness were so 
vulnerable," he wrote in an open letter on Jan. 31. "We are living in an 
extremely fragile emergency response system, with safety measures that are full 
of loopholes."

In addition to the death penalty, the court sentenced Mo to 5 years in prison 
and a 50,000-yuan fine for theft.

After Friday's verdict was announced, Lin posted on his Weibo microblog "Wife 
and Kids in Heaven" that "the devil has finally received punishment by law, 
death penalty." He added that he plans to file civil lawsuits against the other 
parties responsible.

(source: sixthtone.com)








PAPUA NEW GUINEA:

8 on death row in PNG, no decision yet on execution date: Corrrection Services 
Commissioner



8 men on death row in Papua New Guinea - including 1 still at large after 
escaping from Bomana prison - will have to wait longer for a decision on their 
execution, it has been revealed.

Correction Services Commissioner Michael Waipo told The National that while the 
legal requirements in relation to the execution of the death penalty in the 
country were in order, the capacities needed to execute it remained the 
problem.

"It's a long process in relation to death row," Waipo said. "You need to have 
facilities, followed by the training of our staff who will be responsible (for 
carrying out the execution).

"The law part of it is in order. It is only the infrastructure, the set-up and 
the capacity building of the staff to be able to deliver this arrangements 
which is lacking."

Waipo said it would require the assistance of those (from overseas 
institutions) who had the experience in carrying out the death penalty, 
especially the execution of people on death row.

"Maybe they can guide us in the standard operating procedures," he said. Waipo 
said the Correctional Services would be making a submission to Government on 
the matter which would include "the scope of work and the cost".

Waipo told The National that out of the 12 prisoners on death row in February 
2015, 2 had died in custody and 2 were recently acquitted by the Supreme Court 
in Port Moresby last December.

Father and son Selman and Misialis Amos were acquitted by the Supreme Court on 
Dec 11 of the murder charges against them, citing errors by the trial judge who 
convicted them.

Both have since rejoined their families in ENB and New Ireland.

The 2 who died while in custody were:

*Gregory Kiapkot, 41, from Lokanai in New Ireland, convicted of murder and sea 
piracy; and

*Martin Pigit, 39, from New Ireland, also convicted of murder and sea piracy. 
The prisoner who escaped from Bomana about 3 years ago and still on the run is 
Ambrose Lati, 49, from Wabag. He was convicted in 2009 for murder.

The remaining 7 on death row are either at the Kerevat prison in ENB or at 
Bomana in Port Moresby. They are:

*Peter Taul, 39, from Pilapila, ENB

*Tobung Paraide, 43, from Pilapila, ENB;

*Bochea Agena, 44, from the Duke of York Islands, ENB;

*Kenny Wesley, 38, from the Duke of York Islands, ENB;

*Sedoki Lota, 21, convicted of wilful murder in 2007 and detained at Bomana 
Prison.

*Ben Simakot, 30, from Yangkok in West Sepik, convicted for murder and detained 
at Bomana Prison;

*Mark Poroli, 33, from Koroba in Southern Highlands, convicted for wilful 
murder and detained at Bomana Prison.

(source: onepng.com)








INDONESIA:

Indonesian MP wants to introduce the death penalty for LGBTI people

An Indonesian politician has grabbed headlines in that country after saying he 
believed LGBTI people should be sentenced to death or at least life in prison.

Muslim Ayub is a member of the Islamist National Mandate Party (PAN) and made 
the controversial comments earlier this week.

Ayub was asked about the debate in the House of Representatives around proposed 
amendments to the Criminal Code (KUHP).

Last week a House Commission set up to review the KUHP submitted its proposed 
amendments, one of which included criminalizing same-sex relations.

But Ayub and his party, PAN, want to take things further and impose harsh 
punishments on LGBTI people.

He told JurnaliaIndonesia that intense negotiations around the criminalization 
of LGBTI people had occurred, but his party was not happy with them.

'We were not satisfied. We want a death sentence or a lifetime jail sentence to 
have a deterrent effect on the LGBT (community),' he said.

Ayub who is known to make controversial comments represents the Aceh province, 
which follow Islamic Sharia Law. It is the only province in Indonesia where it 
is illegal to be gay.

Ayub also wanted to impose penalties on people for 'promoting LGBTI' behavior.

Will the law pass?

Observers expected the KUHP amendments to pass the House of Representatives by 
February 14, but it looks like that will be delayed as MPs debate a number of 
amendments.

Ayub's colleague in PAN, Hanafi Rais, said the debate around criminalizing 
homosexuality was all but agreed upon by most Indonesian political parties.

'It's almost final now, regarding the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and 
transgender] issue,' he told media last week.

The debate around the LGBTI community comes during a crackdown on the LGBTI 
community who have faced increasing persecution in the last 2 years.

Only last week the Indonesian Health Ministry declared homosexuality a mental 
disorder.

(source: Gay Star News)








AUSTRALIA:

Boxer says death penalty would 'deter' people from being gay



A former boxer suggested today that the death penalty would make people 
'reconsider' being gay.

Anthony Mundine made the comment in an interview this week after he left the 
Australian 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here' jungle.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, he said: 'If we were to live in a society, 
just like in Aboriginal culture, that homosexuality is forbidden and you do it 
and the consequences are capital punishment or death, you think you are going 
to do it?'

He later made another comment stating gay people 'shouldn't be allowed on 
television' because they were influencing young children.

The former boxer was later branded a 'vile human' by gay former NRL player 
Casey Conway on Twitter.

He said: 'Anthony Mundine is a vile human and his comments should be condemned.

'Using our culture as a basis for his harmful opinions is disgraceful.

'Women and LGBTI people are your equal Anthony, you're not better than anyone. 
Educate yourself.'

Also in the interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mundine discussed LGBT 
equality.

He suggested that paedophiles 'would eventually want their own rights' because 
people are 'pushing gay rights so much'.

(source: Metro.co.uk)