[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide----YEM., EGY., IRAN, PAKIS., ISR., MALD., CAN.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 3




YEMEN:

Huthis must quash death sentence of Baha'i prisoner of conscience



Responding to the news that Huthi authorities sentenced 52-year-old Yemeni 
prisoner of conscience Hamid Haydara to death for allegedly collaborating with 
Israel and forging official documents, Philip Luther, Amnesty International's 
Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director said:

"The Huthi authorities must immediately quash the death sentence against Hamid 
Haydara. He is a prisoner of conscience who has been tried on account of his 
conscientiously held beliefs and peaceful activities as a member of the Baha'i 
community.

"This sentence is the result of a fundamentally flawed process, including 
trumped up charges, an unfair trial and credible allegations that Hamid Haydara 
was tortured and ill-treated in custody. It is also part of a wider crackdown 
on critics, journalists, human rights defenders and members of the Baha'i 
community that is causing entire families to live in fear for their safety and 
the safety of their loved ones.

"The death penalty is a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, 
inhuman and degrading punishment. Hamid Haydara's death sentence must 
immediately be revoked and he should be immediately and unconditionally 
released and given full redress.

"The Huthi authorities must end their persecution of the Baha'i community and 
respect their right to freedom of religion - a right that is enshrined in the 
country's own constitution and international law.

Background:

Hamid Kamal Muhammad bin Haydara, has been detained in Sana'a since December 
2013.

At the moment 5 Baha'is are detained by the Huthis in Yemen, including some who 
have been subjected to enforced disappearances.

Amnesty International together with Yemeni NGO Mwatana Organization for Human 
Rights issued a public statement and wrote to relevant Sana'a-based officials 
in March 2017 to raise serious concerns regarding the basis for Hamid Haydara's 
ongoing detention as well as the deeply flawed legal proceedings in his case, 
including prolonged pre-trial detention, undue delays in his trial, allegations 
of torture and other ill-treatment in custody, lack of access to adequate 
medical treatment and lack of access to legal counsel during his 
interrogations. No response has been received yet to these letters.

(source: Amnesty International)








EGYPT:

Death penalties, death sentences, on the rise in Egypt



Egyptian authorities executed 5 people early on Tuesday who allegedly belonged 
to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group. The defendants were convicted of 
executing a terrorist attack in Kafr al-Sheikh governorate in April of 2015.

The terrorist attack left 3 students in the Egyptian Military Academy dead and 
several others were injured.

Lawyer of the defendants filed an appeal against the tentative death penalty 
that was released previously. However, the appeal was rejected by a high 
military court.

The trial of Kafr al-Sheikh terrorist incident was full of shortcomings and 
corruption, according to the Egyptian Coordination of Rights and Freedoms 
(ECRF). The rights organization stated in one of its reports that the lawyers 
of defendants filed several proofs - official reports and documents - that they 
were forcibly disappeared 70 days prior to the attack.

ECRF further added the National Security is aware of their disappearance, 
claiming that the defendants were subject to torture in order to admit their 
involvement in the incident. Additionally, the report claimed that security 
cameras in the terrorist attack's place weren't examined despite the demands of 
the lawyers.

The latest execution of a death sentence was in December when 15 people were 
executed on terrorism-related charges.

Several local and international rights groups have condemned the increasing 
death sentences in Egypt. Critics claimed that the defendants undergo unfair 
trials and give testimonies under pressure.

Besides the significant rise in the death sentence, a misdemeanor court for 
urgent matters adjourned on Tuesday the trial of 3 people to 9 January, who 
were randomly arrested on Monday for attending a court session in solidarity 
with detained activist Maheinour al-Massry.

The 3 detainees are facing charges that include illegal protesting and 
crowding.

Al-Massry is facing a 2-year prison sentence after she had been tried due to 
her participation in protests in June of 2017. The protests erupted against the 
court ruling that transferred the sovereignty over Red Sea Islands of Tiran and 
Sanafir from Egypt to Saudi Arabia.

(source: egyptianstreets.com)








IRAN:

Iran pro-government rallies amid 'death penalty' warning to anti-regime 
activists



Thousands of pro-government demonstrators have taken to the streets in cities 
across Iran after a week of anti-regime unrest over the country's economy.

Iranian media reported the rallies, which are thought to be an attempt to calm 
nerves following a week of anti-government protests that led to clashes which 
killed at least 21 people.

The protests, which started on Thursday and are the largest since Iran's 
disputed presidential election in 2009, were sparked by the nation's weak 
economy and rise in food prices.

Hundreds of activists were soon arrested as the unrest spread to cities and 
towns in almost every province.

According to reports, the head of Tehran's Revolutionary Court warned that 
detained protesters could face the death penalty.

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Mousa Ghazanfarabadi as saying 
potential charges could include "moharebeh" - or waging war against God.

Iran's Press TV said the pro-government rallies were to "protest the violence 
that has taken place over the last few nights in cities".

Pictures emerging from the country showed demonstrators waving Iranian flags 
and photos of President Hassan Rouhani.

Others waved banners emblazoned with the words "down with USA" after President 
Donald Trump hailed anti-government protesters and tweeted: "The people of Iran 
are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime."

The demonstrations come after the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali 
Khamenei put the wave of unrest down to meddling by "enemies of Iran".

He said: "Look at the recent days' incidents.

"All those who are at odds with the Islamic Republic have utilised various 
means, including money, weapons, politics and (the) intelligence apparatus, to 
create problems for the Islamic system, the Islamic Republic and the Islamic 
Revolution."

He said he would elaborate on his comments in the coming days as he avoided 
identifying specific countries.

The unrest has seen Tehran shut down messaging app Telegram and photo-sharing 
platform Instagram to try to clamp down on the protests.

They join Facebook and Twitter in being banned in the country.

(source: Sky News)








PAKISTAN:

PHC reserves verdict on request for stay order against execution



A single-member Peshawar High Court bench on Tuesday reserved its order on a 
condemned prisoner's application for stay order against his execution until 
decision on his petition seeking directives from the court to the government to 
introduce a mode of execution, which is not painful, instead of hanging to 
death.

Gul Wali languishing in the death cell of the Haripur Central Prison recently 
filed a petition requesting the court to declare the mode of hanging to death 
as un-Islamic and unconstitutional as it was painful and against human values.

Earlier, an identical petition was filed by another condemned prisoner, Jan 
Bahadur, in July last year, which has been pending with the court.

The court had stayed his execution.

Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan heard arguments of former deputy attorney general 
Mohammad Khursheed Khan, lawyer for the petitioner, on the application seeking 
interim relief of staying the execution of the petitioner until the final 
disposal of his main petition.

Khursheed Khan contended that all appeals of the petitioner had already been 
rejected by the superior courts and he might be hanged anytime if his execution 
was not stayed by the court.

He contended that the main petition would become meaningless if his execution 
was not stopped forthwith.

The lawyer said his client was charged in a murder case in Islamabad on June 1, 
1995, and was sentenced to death by a trial court on Feb 23, 1997.

He said the appeal of the petitioner was dismissed by the Lahore High Court's 
Rawalpindi bench on Nov 14, 2002, and subsequently by the Supreme Court Jan 28, 
2011.

The lawyer added that the review petition of his client was also rejected by 
the apex court May 24, 2011.

He said the country's president had also rejected his clemency petition Jul 28, 
2011.

The lawyer said that in the earlier petition of another condemned prisoner Jan 
Bahadur, the high court had issued a stay order whereby the authorities were 
restrained from hanging him.

He stated that Section 368 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) provides: "When 
any person is sentenced to death, the sentence shall direct that he be hanged 
by the neck till he is dead."

The petitioner requested the court to issue directives for ending the execution 
of death row prisoners through hanging calling it 'cruel, painful, un-Islamic 
and inhuman'.

He added that the court might issue directive that such mode of execution 
should be adopted which was not painful.

The respondents in the petition are the provincial home secretary, 
superintendent of Haripur Central Prison, provincial law secretary, secretary 
to Council of Islamic Ideology, and district and sessions judge, Islamabad.

The petitioner said there were nine modes of carrying out death penalties, 
which included death by hanging, through firing squad, shooting on head, 
through lethal injection, beheading, stoning to death, gas chamber, through 
electric chair, and pushing from unknown height.

He contended that in the past, the mode of execution in all states of USA was 
through hanging but later, the use of electric chair was devised, which was 
considered less painful.

The petitioner however said in 1921, the State of Nevada introduced gas chamber 
for carrying out death penalty.

He said in over 30 states of the USA, the mode of execution was now through 
lethal injection, which is considered more humane and less painful.

He stated that through that mode 3 injections were administered to a death row 
prisoner- the 1st injection turns a prisoner unconscious; the 2nd makes his 
body paralysed and the 3rd one stops his heart functioning.

The petitioner said in 28 countries, prisoners were executed by the firing 
squad, whereas in 22 countries, prisoners were killed by shooting in head.

He added that the colonial rulers had introduced death by hanging through CrPC 
in 1898 and that after creation of Pakistan, the same mode was adopted.

(source: dawn.com)








ISRAEL:

Minister Steinitz comes out against death penalty for terrorists



Energy Ministry Minister Yuval Steinitz on Wednesday came out against Defense 
Minister Avigdor Lieberman's bill proposal to impose the death penalty on 
terrorists.

"It's the worst thing Israel can do to itself," he said during a government 
meeting on the topic. "The damage to the State of Israel could be massive. 
We're playing into the hands of our worst enemies."

(source: ynetnews.com)








MALDIVES:

'Death penalty talk only a campaign ploy', Maldives opposition alleges



Incumbent president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom won't enforce the death penalty 
in the Maldives, a senior opposition lawmaker alleged Tuesday accusing the 
president of using it as a campaign ploy to garner votes in the upcoming 
presidential elections slated for next year.

Since taking office in 2013, president Yameen has been pushing to enforce the 
death penalty after ending the de facto moratorium that has been in place in 
the country for over 6 decades.

In June last year, capital punishment regulations were amended to allow for 
hanging in addition to lethal injections as methods of execution.

The government has already set-up an execution chamber in the country's main 
prison in Maafushi island and had announced plans for a second.

President Yameen had in August said the government would implement the death 
penalty in September, which however is yet to materialize.

Opposition Jumhoory Party (JP) deputy leader Abdulla Riyaz on Twitter accused 
the president of using talks of enforcing the death penalty to influence some 
voters.

"By the time this term ends in 2018, president Yameen won't enforce the death 
penalty," the Kibindhoo MP alleged.

There are currently 3 convicts on death row who have been sentenced. They are 
Hussain Humam convicted of murdering Dr Afrasheem Ali, Ahmed Murrath convicted 
of murdering Ahmed Najeeb and Mohamed Nabeel convicted of murdering Abdulla 
Farhad.

Amnesty International has recently accused the government of looking to enforce 
the death penalty to divert attention from the ongoing political turmoil in the 
archipelago.

"For more than 60 years, the Maldives led the way in the region by shunning 
this cruel and irreversible punishment. Now, when most of the world has rid 
itself of the death penalty, the country risks being on the wrong side of 
history and earning global notoriety for reviving its use," said Biraj Patnaik, 
Amnesty International???s South Asia Director.

(source: avas.my)








CANADA:

Canada should bring back capital punishment----Death by lethal injection should 
be put to a national referendum



A 7 1/2 year jail stretch for Justin Carte's murder of Raphael Bussieres in 
downtown Victoria is a textbook example of why we need the death penalty 
returned in Canada.

Death by lethal injection should be put to a national referendum as rising 
murder rates, sadly, cross all provincial borders, income levels and social 
strata. Being high on dope - Carte's defence - is no excuse for killing anyone. 
The approximate $90,000 a year we taxpayers will now spend keeping killer Carte 
behind bars would be far better spent on schools, hospitals and many other 
urgent needs in B.C.

This tragic case is also way I, and many other Canadians, have lost faith in 
our justice system. Meanwhile, I'll sure think twice before traveling to 
Victoria where killers could snuff me for no reason. My sincere condolences to 
Raphael Bussieres's grieving family.

Peter W. Rusland

Duncan

(source: Letter to the Editor, Cowichan Valley Citizen)