[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 12



SRI LANKA:

Sri Lanka to reinstate death penalty in anti-drug war 'inspired' by 
Philippines' Duterte



Sri Lanka is going to reinstate capital punishment for drug dealers who 
coordinate criminal activities from behind bars, as it draws inspiration from 
the brutal anti-drug campaign led by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.

"From now on, we will hang drug offenders without commuting their death 
sentences," Rajitha Senaratne, government spokesman, announced on Wednesday.

Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena has told the government, which 
earlier had unanimously backed the reinstatement of capital punishment, that he 
"was ready to sign the death warrants," the spokesman said.

The last execution in Sri Lanka took place back in 1976 and since then all 
death sentences in the country have been commuted to life in prison as 
successive presidents refused to sign death warrants.

"Although there are certain opinions regarding capital punishment in a Buddhist 
society, if a large number of criminal acts spread in such a society despite 
religious sermons, it will be necessary to take some timely actions to control 
crime," the President's Media Division cited Sirisena as saying.

There are currently 19 drug offenders in Sri Lanka, whose death sentences had 
been commuted to life, Senaratne said, adding that some of them continue 
coordinating trafficking from detention. Earlier this week, 1 of those drug 
dealers organized the smuggling of over 100 kilograms of heroin into the 
country.

The government spokesman has called the uncompromising war on drugs led by 
Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines an example for Sri Lanka, saying that 
Colombo will also be using the military to curb trafficking.

"We were told that the Philippines has been successful in deploying the army 
and dealing with this problem. We will try to replicate their success," 
Senaratne promised, as cited by AFP.

The Philippine authorities have acknowledged that 4,200 drug suspects, who were 
resisting law enforcement, were eliminated in the country since July 2016. But 
critics call the killings unlawful and claim that the death toll was far 
greater.

Amnesty International has, meanwhile, said that Sri Lanka is heading in the 
"wrong direction" and urged the country to abandon its plans. "Sri Lanka has 
been a leader in the region, with an enviable record of shunning this cruel and 
irreversible punishment at a time when many other countries persisted with it," 
Dinushika Dissanayake, the watchdog's Deputy Director for South Asia, said in a 
statement. "By resuming executions after more than 40 years, Sri Lanka will do 
immense damage to its reputation."

(source: rt.com)

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

Amnesty urges Sri Lanka to withdraw death penalty plans



Amnesty International on Wednesday called on Sri Lanka to withdraw its plans to 
implement the death penalty for drug trafficking offences.

This week the country's ministry of Buddhasasana announced that the cabinet had 
decided to implement it, and to include 19 prisoners currently on death row.

"By resuming executions after more than 40 years, Sri Lanka will do immense 
damage to its reputation. The government must immediately halt plans to carry 
out any executions, commute all death sentences, and establish an official 
moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty as a first step towards 
its full abolition," Amnesty International's South Asian Deputy Director 
Dinushika Dissanayake said.

"Executing people for drug-related crimes is a violation of international law - 
which says the death penalty can only be imposed in countries that are yet to 
abolish it for the "most serious crimes".

(source: Tamil Guardian)








IRAN----executions

2 Executions in Northern Iran Followed by an Act of Revenge



Last week 2 prisoners were secretly executed at Gorgan Prison on murder 
charges. 1 of the executions was followed by an act of revenge by the family of 
the prisoners on the victim's relatives.

According to a close source, on the morning of Saturday, June 30, 2 prisoners 
were executed at Gorgan Prison. the prisoners were sentenced to death on murder 
charges. 1 of the prisoners was identified as Vahid who was convicted of murder 
during a street fight. On Thursday, July 5, Vahid's relatives invaded the 
plaintiffs' house in Ghal'e-Hasan and caused damage to their property on an act 
of revenge.

On Friday, July 6, IRNA website mentioned the invasion of the prisoner's family 
and quoted colonel Mohammad Shirazi, Chief of Police, "Yesterday (Thursday) the 
murderer's family invaded the house of the victim's family with a group of 
people and set fire to their house and car."

Many experts had earlier warned that implementation of Qisas leads to spread 
hate and hostility in a society.

The execution of these prisoners 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.

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

Prisoner Executed in Northern Iran



A prisoner was executed in a city in Mazandaran Province on murder charges.

According to ILNA news agency, a prisoner identified as A. M., son of Seyyed 
Ne'mat, was executed in Mazandaran Province. The prisoner was sentenced to 
death on murder charges.

The report was published on July 5 and the prisoner seems to have been executed 
on the same day. However, the report didn't specify the date of the execution. 
Moreover, there are some ambiguities about the execution site, since the title 
of the report mentions Qaemshahr Prison, but later in the text, Sari Prison is 
stated as the execution site.

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 for both: Iran Human Rights)








SUDAN:

Religious teacher faces death penalty for defending human rights



The government of Sudan has intensified its attempts to silence Matar Younis 
Ali Hussein, a visually impaired religious teacher who faces the death penalty 
for nothing more than criticising the government's repression in Darfur and 
standing up for human rights, said Amnesty International ahead of a court 
hearing on 12 July.

Matar Younis, aged 48, could face the death penalty or life imprisonment if 
found guilty of trumped up charges of allegedly 'waging war against the State' 
and 'undermining the constitutional system'. He has also been charged with 
'espionage'.

"The Sudanese authorities have continuously shown contempt for the human rights 
of the people of Darfur. Matar Younis has been one of the few voices for 
victims in Darfur who has consistently, fearlessly and publicly asked the 
government to change its harmful policies and protect the displaced people of 
Darfur. He should not be criminalized for standing up for human rights," said 
Seif Magango, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn 
and the Great Lakes.

"The Sudanese authorities must drop all charges against Matar Younis and 
release him immediately and unconditionally. Amnesty International recognizes 
Matar Younis as a Prisoner of Conscience. It is absurd that this courageous man 
who dared to criticize the continuous human rights violations against the 
people in his region could face the death penalty."

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

Urgent Action Update: DETAINED RELIGIOUS TEACHER FACES DEATH PENALTY (Sudan: UA 
70.18)



Matar Younis Ali Hussein, a religious teacher who has a visual disability, has 
been formally charged with three offences under the 1991 Penal Code. Two of the 
offences put him at risk of facing the death penalty or life imprisonment in 
Sudan. Matar Younis was arrested on 1 April apparently because of his criticism 
of the government's policy in Darfur. He remains at risk of torture and other 
ill-treatment while in detention.

TAKE ACTION

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

Calling on the Sudanese authorities to drop the charges and release Matar 
Younis Ali Hussein immediately and unconditionally, as he has been detained 
solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression;

Calling on them to ensure that, pending his release, Matar Younis Ali Hussein 
is granted regular access to his family and a lawyer of his choice;

Urging them to ensure that, pending his release, he is not subjected to torture 
and other ill-treatment;

Calling on them to release all other detainees in Sudan who are detained solely 
for the peaceful exercise of their human rights.

Contact these two officials by 22 August, 2018:

President

HE Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir

Office of the President

People's Palace

PO Box 281

Khartoum, Sudan

Salutation: Dear President

Ambassador Maowia Osman Khalid

Embassy of the Republic of Sudan

2210 Massachusetts Ave. NW,

Washington, DC 20008

Phone: 202 338 8565 I Fax: 1 202 667 2406

Email: sudanembassydc at sudanembassy.org

Salutation: Dear Ambassador

(source for both: Amnesty International)








FRANCE:

Guillotine sold to French millionaire collector



A guillotine has fetched 8,008 euros (7080 pounds) at a controversial auction 
in Paris.

The 150-year-old replica of a device used for executions was bought on 
Wednesday by a French millionaire and collector of bizarre objects.

France's auction watchdog was opposed to the sale, despite the auction house 
insisting that the 3m (10ft) instrument in question had never been used.

The guillotine was last used to behead a convict in 1977. France abolished the 
death penalty in 1981.

The replica, which has a few dents on the blade, was once on display at a 
museum of torture in Paris. It was part of a bankruptcy sale of a jazz club 
that took over the museum's premises.

"They should not be selling this guillotine," a spokesperson for the French 
auction regulators told the Parisien newspaper.

"Objects like the clothes of people who were deported to the (Nazi death) camps 
and instruments of torture are sensitive."

However, the auction watchdog was unable to block the auction, which lasted 
only 2 minutes. Industrialist Christophe Fevrier doubled the starting price of 
4,000 euros (3,535 pounds).

Real guillotines have been put to auction in the past. One sold for 220,000 
euros in Paris in 2011. Another, initially valued at 40,000 euros, failed to 
sell in the western city of Nantes in 2014.

The guillotine was first used during the French Revolution, with 16,000 people 
beheaded between 1793 and 1794, most notably King Louis XVI and Queen Marie 
Antoinette.

(source: BBC News)