[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Jan 20



UGANDA:

President's misguided death penalty vow threatens a decade of progress



Responding to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's threat to "hang" death row 
prisoners as a crime deterrent after more than a decade without an execution in 
the country, Amnesty International's Death Penalty Adviser Oluwatosin Popola 
said:

"President Museveni's threat to resume executions to 'prevent crime' is 
misguided since there is no credible evidence that the death penalty is a 
deterrent to crime. Rather, it is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading 
punishment and a violation of the right to life.

"While the backlog of criminal cases in Uganda is something that needs to be 
addressed and expedited, resorting to the death penalty as some kind of 
'quick-fix' is not the answer.

"Uganda's refusal to carry out executions in recent years has been a credit to 
President Museveni, but resuming them now would destroy more than a decade of 
progress, not to mention buck the global trend towards abolition.

"Rather than talking of hanging criminals, the President must instead lead 
Uganda to fully abolishing the death penalty, just as 19 other African 
countries have done."

Background

President Museveni tweeted that "being lenient is causing people to think they 
can cause harm and get away with it".

He was also quoted as saying, "Criminals think they have a right to kill people 
and keep their heads ... I think I am going to revise [my position] a bit and 
hang a few ... If you see how they kill people, they deserve to be killed."

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty at all times - regardless of 
who is accused, the crime, guilt or innocence or method of execution.

(source: Amnesty International)








GAZA:

Gaza family executes own member for collaborating with Israel----Gazan family 
says it killed a relative after being told by Hamas he had helped Israel track 
down and kill 3 senior Hamas members.



A Gazan family said on Friday it had killed 1 of its relatives, claiming he had 
helped Israel track down and kill 3 senior Hamas terrorists, including 1 of the 
man's own kinsmen.

In a statement quoted by Yediot Aharonot, the family of Ahmed Barhoum said it 
had shot him in the city of Rafah after they were told by Hamas that he had 
provided information to Israel.

This, the statement said, guided an Israeli air strike during the 2014 Gaza war 
that targeted the Hamas terrorists.

"In light of our religious and moral commitment we have executed the 
collaborator Ahmed Barhoum after he was handed over by the resistance 
factions," the statement said.

The family said they had listened to their relative's confession and saw the 
evidence against him. The Barhoums are one of Rafah's largest families and well 
known for their closeness to Palestinian Arab terrorist groups.

Hamas issued a statement praising the Barhoum family's action as illustrating 
"its nobleness and deep affiliation with the (anti-Israel) resistance", 
according to Yediot Aharonot.

The Israeli military declined to comment.

Israel killed the 3 Hamas' senior commanders - Rafah Division commander Raed 
al-Attar, Southern Division commander Mohammed Abu Shmallah and Rafah Division 
senior commander Mohammed Barhoum - in an air strike in August of 2014.

The targeted killing was a joint operation of the Israel Security Agency (Shin 
Bet) and the IDF.

While it is unusual to hear of a family executing their own member over alleged 
"collaboration" with Israel, it is not unusual that such "spies" are executed 
in Gaza.

Hamas regularly claims to have captured "Israeli spies", and many times it 
tries them and sentences them to death.

In theory all execution orders in the Palestinian Authority's (PA) territories 
must be approved by PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in Ramallah and who 
imposed a moratorium on executions several years ago.

Hamas no longer recognizes Abbas's legitimacy, and has in the past emphatically 
declared that the death penalty in Gaza can be carried out without his consent.

In April, the group hanged 3 men accused of collaborating with Israel in the 
killing of senior Hamas commander Mazen Faqha.

(source: Israel National News)








IRAN----executions

Execution of 5 Young Prisoners and Hand Amputation of Another in 3 Days



During the nationwide uprising of the Iranian people against the detested rule 
of Velayat-e faqih, the regime's judiciary executed5 young prisoners from 
January 15 to 17. On January 17, a brutal sentence to amputate a young man's 
hand for stealing several sheeps was carried out in Mashhad Prison.

2 prisoners of 30 and 33 years old were hanged on January 17, 2018 in the Karaj 
Central Prison. The day before, 2 other young people who 19 and 20 at the time 
of their arrest were executed in Mashhad. On Monday, January 15, a 27-year-old 
prisoner was hanged in Babol prison.

Meanwhile, Abolfazl Chezani, who was arrested at age 15, is now on the verge of 
execution in Qom prison after serving 4 years of imprisonment.

The purpose of these executions is to exacerbate the atmosphere of intimidation 
of young people who have suffered from oppression, poverty and unemployment, 
and who in recent weeks have shaken the pillars of the clerical regime with 
their uprising. The response of the people, especially the youth of Iran, to 
this brutality is the continuation of the uprising until the overthrow of the 
corrupt and oppressive clerical regime.

The Iranian Resistance calls on all the international human rights 
organizations and bodies to take urgent and effective measure to combat 
arbitrary executions and brutal sentences.

(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran)

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

2 Prisoners Executed In Central Iran



2 prisoners, each charged with rape, were hanged at Karaj Central Prison.

According to Iran Newspaper, on the morning of Wednesday, January 17, 2 
prisoners were executed at Karaj Central Prison. The prisoners were sentenced 
to death on the charge of rape.

The prisoners were identified as Sina, 30, and a 33-year-old man.

Karaj Central Prison, also called Karaj Central Penetiary, is close to 
Ghezelhesar Prison. The prisoners from Alborz Province are kept in Karaj 
Central Prison.

(source: Iran Human Rights)

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

Urgent Action: Teen Arrested At 14 Still At Risk Of Execution (Iran: UA 10.18)



Iranian teenager Abolfazl Chezani Sharahi remains at risk of execution after 
his execution scheduled for 17 January was postponed. He was 14 years old at 
the time of the crime of which he was convicted. Since 2014, he has been 
subjected to the anguish of being transferred to solitary confinement in 
preparation for his execution 4 times.

TAKE ACTION

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

Cancel any plans to execute Abolfazl Chezani Sharahi and ensure that his death 
sentence is commuted without delay;

Immediately establish an official moratorium on executions of all juvenile 
offenders and commute their death sentences without delay;

Amend Article 91 of the 2013 Islamic Penal Code to completely abolish the use 
of the death penalty for crimes committed by individuals below the age of 18, 
in line with Iran's human rights obligations under the International Covenant 
on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Contact these 2 officials by 2 March, 2018:

Deputy Secretary General of the High Council for Human Rights

Kazem Gharib Abadi

Esfandiar Boulevard,

  Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Salutation: Dear Excellency

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 I Fax: (212) 867-7086

Email: iran at un.int

Salutation: Dear Excellency

(source: Amnesty Internantional USA)








SAUDI ARABIA:

Saudi twins on trial for killing mother on Daesh order



Their mother had become aware of their inclination for Daesh and had warned 
them.

The Saudi twin brothers, Khaled and Saleh, who are accused of killing their 
mother in Riyadh stood trial at the Specialized Criminal Court on Tuesday.

The brothers killed their mother and even tried to murder their father and 
brother on the orders of the militant organisation, Daesh, according to reports 
in Arab News. The murder was committed on June 2016 in Riyadh's Al-Hamra area.

They stand accused of killing their mother, attacking their father, brother 
with an intent to kill them and stealing a car to escape. During the session, 
the public prosecution asked for the death penalty against the twins.

Their mother had become aware of their inclination for Daesh and was persuading 
them to change their paths. She also threatened to expose them to the security 
authorities. This threat drew them to kill their own mother.

The murder was committed after the brothers called her into a storeroom and 
stabbed her. Their little sister survived their angst by locking herself in a 
room.

The publication also reported the twins were outstanding performers in their 
academics.

(source: Khaleej Times)