[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 24




PAKISTAN:

Petition in LHC seeks public execution of Zainab's murderer



The father of Zainab Amin, a 6-year-old child whose rape and murder by Imran 
Ali in January 2018 had sparked national outrage, has filed a petition in the 
Lahore High Court (LHC) demanding that his daughter's killer be hanged 
publicly.

Zainab's murder: the state must not succumb to mob mentality

The petition states that a public execution will "give [a] clear message of 
deterrence to everybody" and that "the murderer of Zainab should be given 
exemplary punishment so as to avoid any such tragedy in the future."

The petition further says that according to Article 22 of the Anti-Terrorism 
Act (ATA), the government can carry out public executions if it is likely to 
create a deterrent effect.

Zainab, whose body was recovered from a trash heap in Kasur, had been 
kidnapped, raped and killed earlier this year. The incident had spawned the 
#JusticeForZainab campaign online and also resulted in an increased debate on 
and media reporting of child abuse cases.

On February 17, the accused Imran was found guilty by an Anti-Terrorism Court 
and was subsequently awarded 4 counts of the death penalty, 1 life term, a 
7-year jail term and Rs4.1 million in fines.

In the aftermath of the verdict, a debate had taken place in the Senate and the 
Council of Islamic Ideology on whether public execution could be justified in 
certain cases. The lawmakers had eventually opposed the idea.

(source: dawn.com)








INDIA:

Indian woman arrested for poisoning food



Indian police have arrested a 28-year-old woman for allegedly poisoning food 
that led to the deaths of at least 5 people and hospitalization of 120 others 
in the western state of Maharashtra.

The horrific incident took place at Mahad village in the state's Raigad 
district, some 75 km from capital Mumbai, earlier this week.

"After 5 days of intense probe, we arrested housewife Pragya Survase on charges 
of mixing insecticide in food that was served to guests at one of her 
relative's house-warming party in Mahad village Monday," a senior police 
official said Saturday.

Local media reports said that Survase had committed the crime of killing her 
husband, her parents-in-law and their relatives to take revenge against them as 
they had time and again taunted her for her dark complexion and also criticised 
her cooking.

Police zeroed in on Survase after forensic analysis of food samples served at 
the party confirmed presence of insecticide, traces of which were also found 
near her relative's house. During questioning of all family members, she 
fumbled and later broke down, police said.

"Survase has confessed to the crime citing marital, family disputes," local 
police chief Anil Paraskar told the media.

Survase has been charged with murder, attempt to murder and conspiracy charges 
under the Indian Penal Code as some of her victims included children aged 7 
years, and she faces a maximum of death penalty.

"Further investigation is on," Paraskar added.

(source: xinhuanet.com)

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

Facing death penalty, Dalit case convict dies of heart attack



A 55-year-old convict in the 2013 Sonai murder case, in which 3 Dalit men were 
killed in Ahmednagar district, died following a heart attack today, an official 
said.

Popat Darandale was sentenced to death along with 5 other accused in the 
sensational case by a court in Nashik in January this year.

Darandale had been lodged in the Nashik Road Central Jail. 2 days ago, he was 
admitted to the Nashik Civil Hospital for treatment to a heart-related ailment.

At around 6.15 am, he suffered a heart attack and died, jail superintendent 
Rajkumar Sali told PTI this evening.

After conducting a post-mortem, Darandale's body will be handed over to his 
relatives, he said.

3 Dalit men were brutally killed in Sonai village on January 1, 2013, and their 
mutilated body parts were found in a septic tank.

Darandale and 5 others were arrested for the crime. The 6 were convicted on 
various charges, including murder and criminal conspiracy, and awarded the 
death penalty by the trial court on January 20.

According to the police, the killings were prompted by an inter-caste love 
affair between Sachin Gharu (24), one of the victims, and a girl from the 
Maratha community.

(source: Press Trust of India)








SOUTH KOREA:

Korea moving to abolish death penalty



Heated debate is expected after the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) 
said it will recommend President Moon Jae-in declare a moratorium on the death 
penalty in December. A senior official at the oversight agency said last week 
that joint, working-level discussions with the Ministry of Justice will soon be 
under way to help President Moon to deliver the declaration Dec. 10, on the 
70th anniversary of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Day. A moratorium 
refers to any suspension of activity. Countries that pass a moratorium on 
judicial executions publicly make it clear that they will not put a person to 
death in a government-sanctioned punishment. The move, the official said, is 
part of efforts to facilitate the agency's initiative to enhance human rights, 
in line with policy goals presented during a President-chaired debriefing last 
December. The President at the time asked the agency recommend opinions in line 
with international standards and criteria on human rights issues including the 
death penalty and the abolishment of the law that punishes conscientious 
objectors who refuse to serve in the military on religious grounds.

The UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which incorporated 
values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN General 
Assembly, made it clear that "nothing ... should be invoked to delay or to 
prevent the abolition of capital punishment by any State Party to the ... 
Covenant." Korea is among 160 other countries that have already either 
eliminated capital punishment or do not practice it. 61 convicted criminals are 
serving prison term after being sentenced to death, but no execution has been 
carried out here over the past 2 decades since December 1997. The international 
community including Amnesty International considers a country where no 
execution was carried out over 10 years a virtually death penalty-free region. 
Publication by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), a 
UN body, places particular focus on the political leadership required to move 
away from capital punishment. Cheong Wa Dae said declaring the moratorium will 
be reviewed upon submission of the NHRC-drafted recommendation.

Supporters' claim

Supporters of the abolishment claim the death penalty undermines human dignity, 
denies opportunity to reverse wrongful, erroneous convictions and is not a 
useful deterrent to crimes evidenced by a lack of statistical evidence. The 
OHCHR, whose mandate seeks to promote and protect all human rights, advocates 
for the universal abolition of the death penalty, urging the international 
community to acknowledge the failure of capital punishment as a means to exact 
justice. Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the taking of life is 
"too irreversible for one human being to inflict it on another." He urged that 
people continue to argue strongly against the death penalty because it is 
unjust and incompatible with fundamental human rights.

Execution of 8 people convicted on charges of National Security Law violation 
in 1975 is the most well-known case that illustrates "unacceptable risk of 
executing innocent people" in Korea. The eight in what is widely known as the 
"Inhyukdang incident," were arrested for alleged involvement in what 
then-military, authoritarian regime under Park Chung-hee deemed as organized 
efforts to overthrow his government with the help of North Korea, a crime 
punishable under the National Security Law. They were executed only 18 hours 
after the sentencing in an unusually swift elimination of politically dissident 
voices, as the newly established regime under Park sought to initiate and 
perpetuate the fear-inducing rule only about a year after taking power via 
military coup in 1974. The Seoul Central District Court posthumously acquitted 
them in a retrial 2007.

Pushback inevitable

However, such a politically motivated execution in the past is highly unlikely 
to recur in Korea, a country ruled by democracy with elected leaders subject to 
accountability in regularly held elections. Currently, public sentiment is not 
entirely for the abolition, primarily due to a sense of seeking revenge and 
retribution against committers of violent crimes such as sex offenders and 
serial killers. The public largely remains against spending taxpayers' money to 
keep "savages" alive. According to a survey conducted by Real Meter of 511 
people, more than 1/2, or 52.8 % said they were in favor of the death penalty. 
Less than 1/3, or 32.6 %, said they were against the execution. According to a 
separate survey by a local daily newspaper of 1,000 people, nearly 2/3, or 66 % 
said they were against the death penalty abolition. Of those aged between 19 
and 29, over 70 % said they were against the abolishment.

Many people demanded death penalty be imposed on Cho Doo-soon, who was 
convicted of raping an 8-year-old school girl, which left her with permanent 
damage to multiple organs. Despite the severity of the crime, he was only 
sentenced to a 12-year prison term in 2008, after a judge recognized his claim 
that he was intoxicated at the time of the incident and therefore unable to 
make rational decisions. His scheduled released in 2020 is a main concern for 
parents with young girls and the public at large.

Public outrage was just as fierce against Yoo Young-chul, a serial killer who 
infamously said he "would have killed up to a hundred people" had he not been 
apprehended. The then 34-year-old was sentenced to death in June 2005 and has 
since been serving prison term for killing 20 people mostly women and elderly 
in Seoul between 2003 and 2004. The man tried to justify his actions by 
switching blame onto the rich and women, saying "I hope this incident would 
serve as a cautionary tale that rich people should get their act together and 
that women should not be promiscuous." Many of his victims were prostitutes 
whom he called to his home. Kim told police that he ate the organs of his 
victims.

The most recent case involves a man Lee Young-hak who was sentenced to death in 
January for killing and discarding the body of a girl, a friend of her 
daughter. Lee asked his 11-year-old daughter to invite the victim for a 
sleepover. He then drugged, sexually harassed and killed her. The daughter was 
sentenced to prison term for helping the father discard of the body.

Balance required

The ministry plans to hold public hearings in September, conduct 6-month study 
on possible alternative punishment to replace capital punishment. Further 
in-depth review followed by public consensus will precede revision to the 
status quo. "Abolishing the death penalty should be determined with great 
caution after fully reviewing both the positive and negative impact it would 
have on the criminal justice system," the ministry said. This would require a 
review of its earlier rejection to follow UN recommendation on the abolishment 
of death penalty early this year. It was 1 of the 2 UN recommendations the 
ministry rejected alongside the abolishment of National Security Law, which the 
ministry claimed should remain for the country to achieve peaceful 
reunification as well as to improve human rights of North Korean people. Other 
than the 2, the ministry said it would follow 85 other recommendations, adding 
the remaining 130 are under review with plans to establish an institutional 
framework for their implementation.

(source: Korea Times)