[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 3



SURINAME:

Guyanese suspect charged in high seas mass murder



Using a special clause in Guyanese law allowing prosecutors to indict someone 
for a piracy attack in another country, local police have charged a fisherman 
with murder committed in the neighboring Caribbean Community nation of Suriname 
late last month that killed 15 of 20 crewmen.

Nakool Manohar called "Fyah," 39, is alleged by police to have been the 
mastermind of an April 27 murderous attack on boats fishing off the Surinamese 
coast as revenge for the murder of one of his brothers in Suriname.

Divisional Commander Lyndon Alves Thursday said Manohar made his 1st court 
appearance at a border town magistrate's court near his home late Wednesday and 
will return for a 2nd hearing on June 13. He was slapped with 1 count of murder 
but was already on remand for 2 alleged high seas piracy attacks near Suriname 
in 2015 and 2016. He was not required to enter a plea.

He could get the death penalty on both charges if found guilty.

The men were allegedly attacked by crews under the control of Manohar while 
fishing in 5 boats off the Surinamese coast. Not much in terms of fish catch, 
engines and equipment were taken from the men, leaving investigators and 
prosecutors to think along the lines of murder rather than the normal high seas 
pirate attack which is common between CARICOM's 2 largest nations. Dozens of 
fishermen have been either killed or robbed in waters between the 2 nations in 
recent decades and dozens of attackers are serving extended sentences in both 
nations.

Commander Alves said Guyanese police invoked a special clause in "the anti 
piracy act to charge him with a crime in another country. All the people we 
interviewed pointed a finger at him. All can't simply be wrong and more charges 
are coming."

5 of the 20 fishermen either made it to shore or were rescued by passing 
vessels.

Some of those rescued named Manohar as the mastermind, as their attackers had 
allegedly told them why their boats were being attacked just after dusk on 
April 27.

Survivors say some of their colleagues were bound hand and feet with boat 
batteries, anchors and other heavy equipment and dumped overboard. Police say 
this might well explain why the majority of bodies have not washed ashore in 
either of the 2 countries.

Suriname's fishing industry is dominated by crews from Guyana. Most of them 
live and work there illegally but talks between the 2 governments in the wake 
of the attacks will result in the status of most of them be regularized.

(source: Caribbena Life News)






i

PAKISTAN:

Zulfikar's case


The death on Thursday of Zulfikar Ali, a Pakistani suffering from liver cancer 
and diabetes and who had been languishing in Indonesian prisons since 2004, 
serves as a reminder of the miscarriage of justice he suffered. Zulfikar was 
given the death penalty for drug trafficking even though ample evidence existed 
to suggest he was innocent. He was never caught with any drugs and was only 
arrested after an Indian national who was found in possession of heroin named 
Zulfikar as his accomplice. Later, however, that person claimed a false 
confession was beaten out of him by the police. Zulfikar also said that his own 
confession was the result of torture and that the police had asked for a bribe 
to set him free. Leading up to his trial, Zulfikar was denied consular access 
even though this is a bedrock principle of international law; he was not 
allowed a lawyer till a month after his arrest. Despite there being more than 
enough doubt to make a conviction impossible, Zulfikar was given the death 
penalty. Even his terminal illness was not enough to get him mercy. Earlier 
this year, Indonesian President Joko Widodo had said during a visit to Pakistan 
that he would look into Zulfikar's release on humanitarian grounds but that 
never transpired.

There is no reason to doubt the commitment of the then government in Pakistan 
to Zulfikar's cause. It did what it could to ensure he had legal representation 
and was able to eventually able to get him access to embassy officials. The 
government also paid a portion of his medical bills since the Indonesian 
government does not pay for the medical treatment of prisoners. But Pakistan 
should not give up the fight even now. It is essential that his name be 
formally cleared. We may also want to think about the scores of convicts who 
are on death row here but whose guilt is in doubt and whose trials did not meet 
the minimum standards of justice. There have been horror stories of people on 
death row who have been executed by mistake even though they still had appeals 
pending. A true commitment to justice requires we call out not just foreign 
countries that mistreat our nationals but to examine our own shortcomings as 
well.

(source: Editorial, The News)








INDIA:

Prez rejects his 1st mercy plea of convict who burnt to death 7 of family over 
buffalo theft case



President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected his 1st mercy petition of a death-row 
convict who had burned alive 7 members of a family, including 5 children, over 
a case of buffalo theft.

The case pertains to gruesome killing of Vijendra Mahto and 6 of his family 
members by Jagat Rai in Raghopur block of Bihar's Vaishali district in 2006.

Mahto had lodged a case of theft of his buffalo in September 2005 in which Rai, 
Wazir Rai and Ajay Rai were named as accused.

The accused (now convicts) were pressuring Mahto to withdraw the case.

Rai had set on fire Mahto's house that resulted in the death of latter's wife 
and 5 children. Mahto, who had sustained serious burn injuries then, died after 
few months.

After being convicted for the crime and being awarded the death penalty by the 
local court, the high court and the Supreme Court in 2013 too gave their nod 
for the hanging. Rai's mercy plea was then sent to the president's secretariat.

The office of the president had sought the Home Ministry's views which gave its 
recommendation on July 12 last year.

The mercy petition (of Mahto) was rejected by the president on April 23, 2018, 
according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique.

This is the 1st mercy plea decided by Kovind after he became the president in 
July last year.

There is no other mercy petition pending with the president's secretariat.

Under Article 72 of the Constitution, The president shall have the power to 
grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, 
remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence where the 
sentence is a sentence of death.

(source: indiatoday.in)

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

Death Penalty for Rape: Criminal Law Ordinance, 2018 challenged in Delhi High 
Court



The amendments to Indian Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure introduced 
by way of Criminal Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018 imposing death penalty for 
rape of a woman below 12 years of age, have been challenged in the Delhi High 
Court.

The petition has been filed by NGO ApneAap Women Worldwide an anti-sex 
trafficking organisation working in brothels, Red light districts and 
caste-ghettos.

The matter was heard yesterday by a Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal 
and Justice C Hari Shankar which issued notice to the Central government.

Advocates Kirti Singh, Tara Narula and Siddharth Mehta appeared in the matter.

The Central government had introduced amendments to Indian Penal Code and Code 
of Criminal Procedure after the Kathua and Unnao rapes.

The following amendments, inter alia, have been challenged in the petition:

The increase in mandatory punishment for rape under Section 376 IPC from 7 to 
10 years.

The addition of sub-section (3) to Section 376 IPC which distinguishes rape of 
a woman under the age of 16 years and prescribes a minimum mandatory sentence 
of 20 years for the same.

The insertion of Section 376AB after Section 376A IPC which distinguishes rape 
of a woman under the age of 12 years punishable with rigorous imprisonment for 
a term not less than 20 years or with death.

The insertion of Section 376DA after Section 376D IPC which prescribes 
mandatory imprisonment for life and fine in the case of gang rape of a woman 
under the age of 16.

The further insertion of Section 376 DB in IPC which prescribes mandatory 
imprisonment for life and fine or death sentence in the case of gang rape of a 
woman under the age of 12.

Amendment to Section 173(1A) CrPC which earlier provided that investigation in 
relation to rape of a child may be completed within 3 months. After the 
amendment, the said period has been shortened to 2 months. The petitioner has 
also contended that the amendment has advertently or inadvertently made the 
provision gender-specific in that rape of minor males are excluded from the 
ambit of the section.

Section 438 of CrPC has been amended to deny the benefit of anticipatory bail 
to a person accused of rape/gang rape of woman less than 16 years.

It is the petitioner's contention that the ordinance has been hastily drafted 
in the wake of public outrage following Kathua and Unnao rapes.

Rather than addressing the issue at hand, the ordinance has extended death 
sentence to cases other than murder. It is the petitioner's case that the 
amendments will adversely impact and prejudice victims of rape and are 
discriminatory towards boys who are victims of rape.

Further, the petition has submitted that the ordinance carves out distinctions 
between classes of rape victims on the basis of age which indicates that it is 
knee-jerk reaction since there are other vulnerable categories of persons like 
pregnant women, elderly, differently-abled and homeless.

The ordinance is not based on any scientific or empirical research and is a 
populist measure that does not address core issues of implementation, speedy 
action, protection and rehabilitation of victims, access to justice etc, the 
petition states.

The petitioner has also cited the fact that the Justice Verma Commission had, 
in 2013, considered and rejected death penalty as deterrent for rape.

"the misplaced reliance on death sentence as deterrent is an example of 
oversimplified and draconian approach by this Ordinance, especially when the 
same had been considered and rejected by Justice Verma commission in 2013. It 
fails to recognise the fact that it is the certainty of punishment and not 
severity of punishment which acts as deterrent."

The Court issued notice to the Centre yesterday and posted the matter for 
hearing on July 31.

(source: barandbench.com)








NIGERIA:

Illicit drugs: Lecturer suggests death penalty for traffickers



A lecturer, Dr Bala Muhammad, has suggested death penalty for drug traffickers 
in the country in order to curb the rising spate of drug addiction among 
youths.

Muhammad of the Bayero University, Kano, made this call on Saturday at a 
Special Ramadan lecture organised by the Islamic Forum of Nigeria at the 
university.

He said drug trade in Nigeria had reached an alarming level, leaving Nigerian 
youths more vulnerable to self-destruction.

Muhammad, therefore, suggested that the panacea to deal with the situation was 
capital punishment for drug traders.

He urged communities to charge their representatives in the National Assembly 
to come up with a legislation that would ensure severe punishment for people 
charged with drug offence.

Another lecturer from the university, Bashir Adamu in his presentation, said 
drug abuse was caused mainly by the weakness of faith among youths.He also 
listed peer pressure as one of the main causes of drug addiction among youths.

According to him, some parents have been contributing to the rise in drug use, 
due to negligence and less attention to their families, especially the 
children.

Adamu also blamed the increase in drug abuse and addiction by women on domestic 
violence.

He, therefore, called for a collective responsibility in the fight against the 
menace of drugs.

NAN reports that the special lecture, entitled: "Drug Abuse Menace; Ways Out," 
was organised to address drug trade, addiction and abuse in Nigeria.

(source: New Telegraph)