[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 8



TAIWAN:

Father of murdered 'Little Light Bulb' tired of apologies, wants death penalty



The father of a 4-year-old girl who was brutally decapitated in broad daylight 
on the streets of Taipei two years ago, has had enough of apologies from the 
suspect and wants the judges to sentence the man to death, reported CNA.

During a court hearing over the brutal murder of a little girl on Tuesday (June 
5), the suspect, Wang Ching-yu, apologized by saying, "I'm sorry, please 
forgive me," but afterwards the father, Liu Ta-ching, told reporters that he 
refused to accept the apology and expressed his hope that the judges would 
sentence Wang to death.

On March 28, 2016, a 4-year-old girl, nicknamed "Little Light Bulb" was riding 
her bike just a few meters in front of her mother on a Taipei street, when Wang 
Ching-yu, then 33, suddenly grabbed her behind and slashing her neck with a 
knife. Her mother tried to stop Wang, but he fended her off as he decapitated 
the little girl.

Last May, judges at the Shilin District Court determined that Wang suffered 
from schizophrenia and based on provisions of the United Nations he could not 
be sentenced to death. The prosecution appealed the case to the high court and 
sentencing will be decided on July 3.

Recalling the day when he saw his daughter's body after the murder, Liu said 
that he kneeled down and lifted the white sheet covering her body and said, "I 
saw my Little Light Bulb, her eyes half open and frozen in place with an 
expression as if to say 'what happened?'"

Liu said that part of his life died when she was murdered, and as society is 
unable to deal with the risk of Wang repeating such heinous crimes, "Any 
sentence outside of the death penalty is likely to put the public at risk of 
depriving another innocent person from their right to life, which is a serious 
violation of human rights."

The mother of the little girl, Claire Wang, said that through the efforts of 
the prosecutor, judge and expert witnesses, she learned to understand why Wang 
had gone to such an extreme, and that given the current situation in society 
and government policies, there is no way for him to be permanently cured, nor 
is it possible for them to prevent him from repeating his crimes.

Claire said that no parent can imagine losing their child while walking down 
the street and she hopes that such a tragedy will never happen again. She 
expressed her hope that the court will provide basic security, esnure that he 
will never repeat his crimes, and never allow him to return to society.

Noticing that Claire was crying during the hearing, the presiding judge 
apologized to her and said the details of the crime made him shudder, but also 
said the guilt of the defendant must be proven in a court of law and the court 
does not wish to cause additional harm.

Wang's lawyer said that because his client suffered from a cognitive 
impairment, he was delusional and made a mistake, and therefore his punishment 
should include treatment for his condition. The lawyer said that the 
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International 
Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights have revealed that the death 
penalty should not be imposed on the mentally handicapped. He then expressed 
his hope that the court will reduce the punishment in accordance with these 
treaties and announce a treatment regimen.

The prosecution argues that Wang's act was brutal, appalling and therefore 
necessitates the death penalty. The lawyer for the victim's family said that 
the suspect showed no signs of remorse in the and asked the court to issue the 
death penalty.

(source: Taiwan News)








SAUDI ARABIA:

Indonesian freed from death penalty in Saudi Arabia



An Indonesian woman, Nurkoyah binti Marsan Dasan, from Karawang, West Java, has 
won an 8-year battle to escape the death penalty after she was accused of 
killing a 3-month-old child in Saudi Arabia.

According to a statement from the Indonesian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Agus 
Maftuh Abegebriel, received by Antara here on Thursday, the East Province 
Court, Saudi Arabia, overturned the death penalty for Nurkoyah.

This comes soon after 2 other Indonesians, Sumiyati and Masani, who were also 
free from the death penalty, returned to their hometown in Lombok, West Nusa 
Tenggara, on May 7, 2018.

The Indonesian Embassy said Nurkoyah was accused of "ghilah" (murder with 
sanctions) of a 3-month-old baby, Masyari bin Ahmad al-Busyail, by deliberately 
putting certain drugs and rat poison in his milk.

After going through a long and difficult trial since her arrest on May 9, 2010, 
Nurkoyah finally obtained on May 31, 2018, an assurance that the judge rejected 
the demand of "qisas" (retaliation) and "diyat" (fine) against her. The verdict 
signed by Judge Muhammad Abdullah Al-Ajjajiy was legally binding and completed 
the trial.

During the legal process, Nurkoyah received intensive assistance from the 
Indonesian Embassy, which appointed a lawyer, Mishal Al-Sharif, for her 
defence.

During the hearing, the judge rejected "had ghilah" (death penalty) and decided 
ta'zir (a kind of disciplinary punishment) with a sentence of 6 years in prison 
and 500 strokes of the whip.

That decision was based on Nurkoyah's confession at the time of the 
investigation, though she withdrew it later saying it was made under pressure.

The employer, Khalid Al-Busyail, then filed a lawsuit of qisas (death sentence) 
against Nurkoyah. The judge of the Dammam District Court rejected the death 
sentence because Nurkoyah denied the allegations and the employer was unable to 
present other evidence to substantiate the claim.

After the qisas demand against her was rejected, Nurkoyah had hoped to be 
released. The Embassy immediately took steps to repatriate Nurkoyah, but her 
employer, Khalid Al-Busyail, again filed diyat (ransom) on charges of 
negligence leading to his son's death.

On April 3, 2018, the Judge rejected the diyat charge on the principle of "non 
bis in idem", which prohibits trying an accused more than once for the same 
act. The judge provided an opportunity for the employer to file within 30 days 
i'tiradh (expostulation) of the decision, but he did not before the deadline 
ended.

Thus, on May 31, the Court stipulated that the legal ruling in Nurkoyah's case 
had been enforced. On June 2, the Indonesian Embassy formally received a copy 
of the Dammam General Court's decision in Nurkoyah's case.

The Embassy then followed up by starting the process of returning Nurkoyah to 
Indonesia. It has been in touch with the lawyers while continuing to monitor 
the condition of Nurkoyah who is in Dammam prison. Nurkoyah will return to 
Indonesia immediately after an exit permit and other documents are issued by 
the Saudi Arabian authorities.

(source: Antara News)








IRAN:

Telegram Channel Admin Could Get Death Penalty For "Insulting the Prophet"



Weakened by his hunger strike, prisoner of conscience Hamidreza Amini was 
transferred to a hospital in hand and ankle cuffs but was returned to prison 
before the treatment was completed.

Hamidreza Amini could face the death penalty if he is convicted of "insulting 
the Prophet" for the content of his Telegram app channel, a source close to the 
prisoner of conscience told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on June 
5, 2018.

In addition to "insulting the prophet," Amini is due to go trial on June 25, 
2018, for the charges of "insulting the supreme leader," "acting against 
national security," "propaganda against the state" and "disturbing public 
opinion," said the source who requested anonymity due to the sensitivities in 
Iran around speaking to foreign media.

"Hamidreza had created a Telegram channel where anyone could post her/his 
views," the source told CHRI. "The IRGC held him responsible for everything 
others had written and when he told the investigator that he did not write 
those things, he was told that his channel and related groups had been shut 
down and therefore the IRGC could accuse him of anything they want."

"First of all, anyone is free to express his or her views and that's what 
Hamidreza and the people in his group did," the source said. "But most of the 
things he has been accused of, including 'insulting the prophet,' were written 
by others... He is being prosecuted for what 3,000 people did."

Based on Article 262 of Iran's Islamic Penal Code, "Anyone who swears at or 
commits qazf [slander] against the Great Prophet [of Islam] (peace be upon him) 
or any of the Great Prophets, shall be considered as Sab ul-nabi [a person who 
swears at the Prophet], and shall be sentenced to the death penalty."

A 47-year-old mobile phone repairman, Amini was arrested by the Islamic 
Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) Intelligence Organization in Tehran on 
December 2, 2017, for allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammad and Shia Muslim 
imams on his Telegram channel, which he managed under the pseudonym, 
"Ariyobarzan."

After his arrest, Amini was held in solitary confinement in Evin Prison's Ward 
2-A where he was interrogated without access to legal counsel.

In late February 2018, he was moved to the Great Tehran Penitentiary in 
Fashafouyeh, 20 miles south of Tehran, without a court order. However, he was 
returned to Evin Prison on June 3 after going on hunger strike to protest his 
condition, according to the source.

The source added that Amini was hospitalized for the effects of the hunger 
strike but transferred back to the prison before the treatment was completed.

(source: Iran Human Rights)








MAURITANIA:

UN Urges Mauritania to Repeal Anti-Blasphemy Law



A group of UN human rights experts* have urged Mauritanian authorities to 
reconsider the adoption of an amendment to the Penal Code which would mandate 
the death penalty for blasphemy and apostasy, a provision which would gravely 
violate international law.

Article 306 of the Penal Code, as revised, provides that any Muslim guilty of 
apostasy or blasphemy will be sentenced to death upon arrest without 
possibility of clemency based on repentance. The previous article imposed the 
death penalty for apostasy and blasphemy but required prison terms in cases of 
repentance. The revision was adopted by Parliament on 27 April 2018 and is 
pending promulgation.

"We are outraged that, while international law prohibits the criminalization of 
apostasy and blasphemy, Mauritanian authorities have decided to enshrine the 
death penalty for those who express their rights to freedom of expression, 
religion and belief," the experts said.

"This revision will further muzzle the right to freedom of expression in 
Mauritania and set the stage for incitement to discrimination, hostility or 
violence against persons on the basis of religion or belief. There is an 
additional risk that article 306 will be applied in a discriminatory manner to 
different faiths. Moreover, the revised article advances a fundamentalist 
agenda which puts human rights gravely at risk and encourages extremists.

"For those States that haven't abolished the death penalty, it can only be 
imposed for the most serious crimes involving intentional killing," they said, 
adding that the mandatory death penalty constituted a direct violation of the 
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and constituted an 
arbitrary deprivation of life.

The experts urged the Mauritanian authorities not to promulgate the revised 
article 306 of the Penal Code and instead to review it so as to bring it in 
line with international standards of human rights law.

*The UN experts: Mr. David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and 
protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Ms. Agnes 
Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary 
executions; Mr. Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or 
belief; Ms. Karima Bennoune, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural 
rights.

Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the 
Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent 
experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council's 
independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific 
country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special 
Procedures' experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not 
receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or 
organization and serve in their individual capacity.

(source: scoop.co.nz)








KENYA:

Death penalty won't deter graft



The sky-high levels of corruption in Kenya are angering many people, 
particularly because of the impunity with which it is committed. In 2017, 
Transparency International ranked Kenya high among the most corrupt countries 
in the world. The crackdown on National Youth Service officials following the 
disappearance of Sh9 billion from the agency illustrates how serious the 
concerns about corruption are.

Indeed, corruption is a major problem which the government needs to tackle 
urgently because of the negative impact it has at every level of society. In 
response to this problem, Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu (Jubilee) in an 
article in the Star on Wednesday declared his intention to introduce a bill in 
Parliament that seeks to introduce the death penalty for corruption. He argued 
that corruption needs to be made a capital offence because its effect could be 
worse than those of murder, treason and robbery with violence.

Wambugu claimed that corruption can be seriously dealt with by sentencing 
people to death, implying that the death penalty is a solution to corruption. 
This is wrong. There is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters 
corruption - or any other crime.

Studies have consistently failed to find convincing evidence that the death 
penalty deters crime more effectively than other lawful punishments. In fact, 
authoritative studies conducted for the United Nations around the world have 
repeatedly found that the death penalty has no greater deterrent effect on 
crime than imprisonment.

Kenya has used the death penalty for murder and violent robbery for many years, 
yet both crimes remain prevalent. In fact, most death sentences imposed in 
Kenya are for these 2 crimes.

Until 2009, when former President Kibaki commuted the death sentences of more 
than 4,000 death row prisoners, Kenya had the largest known number of people 
sentenced to death in Africa. In 2016, it assumed that infamous position again 
as the number of death row prisoners reached 2,747, before President Uhuru 
Kenyatta commuted the death sentences. The ever-growing death row population in 
Kenya shows that the death penalty does not work as a solution to crime.

For Parliament to make corruption a capital crime will breach Kenya's 
obligations under international human rights law.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Kenya became 
a party in 1972, permits countries that have not abolished the death penalty to 
use the punishment only for the 'most serious crimes', which involve 
intentional killing. Corruption does not meet this threshold.

The death penalty is a violation of the right to life as declared in the 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and 
degrading punishment. Everyone has the right to life regardless of the nature 
or circumstances of the crime they have committed. This does not mean that 
people guilty of corruption should not face justice, and punishment. They 
absolutely should; the government has a range of options other than the death 
penalty it can legally use, including prison terms.

The government should immediately take steps to address the root causes of 
corruption and other crimes by ensuring that the Directorate of Criminal 
Investigation and Director of Public Prosecutions are well funded, trained and 
equipped to deal with crime. Proper investigations into alleged crimes, timely 
arrests of suspects and effective prosecution will go a long way towards 
reducing corruption.

The world is moving away from the use of the death penalty. Amnesty 
International's recent death penalty report shows there has been a decline in 
the global use of the death penalty with positive steps noted across 
sub-Saharan Africa in 2017.

Kenya has made good strides against the death penalty. It has not carried out 
an execution in 30 years, 2 Presidents have commuted the death sentences of 
entire death row populations in the last 10 years, and recently the Supreme 
Court declared that the mandatory use of the death penalty for murder 
unconstitutional.

Resorting to the death penalty for corruption goes against this positive trend 
and will entrench Kenya amongst a minority of countries that hold on to the 
death penalty.

Imposing the death penalty on the scourge of corruption is a knee-jerk reaction 
to appear tough on crime. Recourse to the death penalty is in reality a symptom 
of failure in governance. Rather than expanding the scope of the death penalty, 
Parliament should abolish it.

(source: Olutatosin Popoola, Amnesty International's advocate/adviser on the 
death penalty----the-star.co.ke)