[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 7



BELARUS:

Rights Group Says Belarus Executed Convicted Killer Last October

A Minsk-based human rights group says that more than 4 months ago Belarusian 
authorities executed a man who had been convicted of killing his own children.

The Vyasna (Spring) human rights center quoted the mother of the convicted man, 
Kiryl Kazachok, as saying that she was only informed in recent days that he was 
executed in October.

Amnesty International in January had mentioned Kazachok's case in a statement 
urging Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to abolish capital 
punishment.

Kazachok was sentenced to death in December 2016 after a court in the 
southeastern city of Homel found him guilty of killing his 17-year-old son and 
9-year-old daughter in order to punish his wife for wanting a divorce.

The court found that Kazachok was drunk when he carried out the killings.

Kazachok refused to appeal the sentence.

Belarus is the only country in Europe that carries out the death penalty.

The European Union and rights groups have for years been urging Belarus to 
declare a moratorium on the death penalty.

Activists say there are currently 5 convicted murderers on death row in 
Belarus.

In January, 2 men who initially were handed life sentences on murder charges 
were sentenced to death after a retrial in Minsk.

The EU sharply criticized Belarus at the time and repeated its call for 
Lukashenka's government to the abolish the death penalty.

According to rights organizations, more than 400 people have been sentenced to 
death in Belarus since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

(source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)








GAMBIA:

Why Gambia's progress should spur abolition of the death penalty in Africa



Not so long ago, abolition of the death penalty in Gambia seemed like a pipe 
dream.

In August 2012, under the regime of former President Yahya Jammeh, 9 prisoners 
were executed in 1 night. Not even their families or lawyers were notified 
beforehand, while the UN described the killings as "arbitrary".

Yet last month, on the 53rd anniversary of the country's independence on 18 
February, President Adama Barrow announced an official moratorium on executions 
as a step towards abolition of the death penalty.

Belatedly but resolutely, Gambia is moving away from this cruel, inhuman and 
degrading punishment. Almost 1/2 of the 18 countries in West Africa have now 
abolished the death penalty .

But not all countries are progressing on the death penalty, unfortunately some 
are taking steps backwards.

In 2016, Sierra Leone's Minister of Internal Affairs publicly ordered the 
gallows to be cleaned and affirmed his support of the death penalty, despite 
the former Attorney General making a commitment before the United Nations in 
2014 that Sierra Leone would abolish the death penalty. In 2017, a government 
white paper rejected the Constitutional Review Commission's recommendation to 
abolish the death penalty.

Cases such as this highlight the need for a push for abolition of the death 
penalty in Africa. The reasons for abolition are many. For one, there is no 
credible evidence to prove that the death penalty deters crime. Professor 
Jeffrey Fagan in a UN publication, published in 2015, stated: "Whether the 
offense is murder, a drug related crime or terrorism, the scientific evidence 
for deterrence is unreliable, inconclusive and, in many instances, simply 
wrong."

The death penalty is also often discriminatory and used disproportionately 
against the poor and minorities. Often those executed are not only those who 
committed the worst crimes, but those who are too poor to hire skilled lawyers 
to defend themselves, or those who face particularly harsh prosecutors or 
judges.

Amnesty International interviewed 107 death row prisoners out of 148 in Ghana 
between 2016 and 2017. Although 3/4 of prisoners had a lawyer at their trial, 
appointed by the underfunded Ghana Legal Aid Scheme, several prisoners said 
that their lawyers did not attend all the hearings and they did not have enough 
time to talk to them. A number said their lawyers asked for payment.

"My lawyer says he cannot work if he does not have money," one man told me. 
According to the Ghana Prison Service, only 12 death row prisoners have 
appealed since 2006. Half of these appeals had been successful. However, most 
on death row did not know about their right to appeal or how to get legal aid, 
and less than 1/4 of death row inmates had been able to appeal their cases.


A woman told me a private lawyer asked for 60 million cedi (more than 
US$12,000) to file an appeal. Another said his appeal had stalled when his 
lawyer asked for more money. The death penalty is irreversible and does not 
leave any possibility for rehabilitation of the offender. No criminal justice 
system is capable of deciding fairly, consistently and infallibly who should 
live or die. The risk of executing the innocent can never be eliminated.


I worked on an appeal for the longest serving woman on death row in Sierra 
Leone. MK was arrested for killing her step-daughter in 2003, and sentenced to 
death in 2005. She did not receive legal advice or assistance from the time of 
her arrest until before her trial in 2005.

MK, who is illiterate, thumb-printed a confession which was later used during 
her trial. Granted a state-assigned defence lawyer at the beginning of the 
trial, she was able to discuss her case only 3 times and for no more than 15 
minutes each.

Upon conviction, she was not informed that she had only 21 days to appeal. 
Furthermore, her file was not sent to the President's office for further review 
as required by law.

MK was pregnant and had a miscarriage whilst in prison. A new lawyer hired by a 
local NGO AdvocAid filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal in 2008, but this 
was rejected as it was found to be too late.

In November 2010, however, the Court of Appeal agreed to hear her case again. 
In March 2011 the Court of Appeal agreed with the AdvocAid lawyers representing 
MK that the various procedural irregularities during MK's trial rendered it 
invalid. MK's conviction was overturned and she was released after 6 years on 
death row.

On 22 May 2017, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights adopted a 
resolution on the Right to Life in Africa. It urged countries that have 
established a moratorium on executions to take steps towards abolition, and 
others to immediately establish a moratorium on executions.

In West Africa, no Anglophone country has abolished the death penalty, with 
Francophone and Lusophone countries taking the lead. President Barrow's 
announcement provides hope that perhaps Gambia will be the 1st.

(source: Amnesty International)








SAUDI ARABIA:

Family fears pregnant kin arrested In Saudi Arabia could be stoned over alleged 
adultery



Relatives of a girl who has been detained in Saudi Arabia for 2 years are 
appealing for help to bring her back home. The family fears she could be 
rotting away in a Saudi prison as she awaits the death sentence for having an 
affair with a fellow employee.

Lavina Mapenzi Ngolo left for Saudi Arabia in 2014 to work as a house girl 
after she was recruited by an employment agency in Likoni, Mombasa. Before 
leaving for the Middle East, she had promised to return after two years to take 
care of her son, who was 3 years old at the time and who she left in the care 
of her sister.

According to her sister, Esther Kaidza, the last the family heard of Ms Ngolo 
was in September 2016, when a woman called to say she had been arrested after 
her employer accused her of having an affair with a driver working in the same 
compound.

"There was first an Arab-speaking caller but there was a communication barrier. 
Then a Kenyan woman called to say Lavina was in custody because of a 
relationship she had with a driver and that she was pregnant," said Ms Kaidza.

The accusations could attract the death sentence under Saudi law.

The family reported the matter to Kenya's Foreign Affairs ministry but has not 
received any feedback.

"We sent relatives to the ministry immediately we received the report. We were 
promised action but we have not heard from Government since then,??? said 
Kaidza.

The family is now appealing to Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma to 
intervene. Scanty information There is scanty information about Ngolo's last 
known address in Saudi Arabia.

Her employer and recruitment agent cannot be traced.

"We have no details of the town, employer or recruitment agent. We are afraid 
for her life," said her brother, Katana Baya.

He said the last report the family got from Saudi Arabia was that Ngolo could 
have been sentenced by a Saudi court. The penalty for her alleged crime is 
still unknown.

Fred Kombo, a Kenyan resident in Dubai, said the distressed family had 
approached him for help but there were no details to facilitate a search.

"The recruitment agent who got her the job has since gone under and none of her 
contacts can be reached," said Mr Kombo.

He said Ngolo's family was right to fear for her life, especially if she was 
charged under Saudi's strict morality laws.

"If both (Ngolo and her boyfriend) were reported to the Saudi police for having 
an affair out of wedlock, they would have been promptly charged with the grave 
offence of adultery that attracts death by stoning," said Kombo.

(source: standardmedia.co.ke)



PAKISTAN:

Presidential pardon for Asia Bibi not in the cards says her defence counsel



Asia Bibi's defence counsel Advocate Saif-ul-Malook, has expressed hopelessness 
for clemency. He said that Asia Bibi might not get Presidential Pardon, during 
a DW interview; he also portrayed the sensitivity of the matter. Asia Bibi is a 
Pakistani Christian woman who has been on death row since 2010. Her appeal 
against capital punishment is pending with the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Blasphemy case against Asia Bibi

In 2016, Asia Bibi's husband Ashiq Masih had written a letter to the President 
of Pakistan urging for a Presidential Pardon for his imprisoned wife. He 
requested the President to grant him permission to move his wife to France. 
Asia Bibi is currently behind the bars, as she has been since 2009.

Advocate Saif-ul-Malook said that she is fine, "I can assure you that she is 
being treated well. I visit her quite often. She has no complaints against the 
prison officials, who are all women." He said that he is hopeful for date for a 
final hearing on her appeal case.

Asia Bibi appeared before the Supreme Court in October 2016, but the hearing 
was postponed because one of the judges Justice Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman withdrew 
on the pretext he had also been part of the bench hearing the case of Salman 
Taseer's murder. He said that Asia Bibi's case was not of much priority for the 
apex court.

Talking about the likelihood of a Presidential Pardon for his client he said: 
"I don't think so. The opposition from a large section of the Pakistani society 
is so immense that I don't think that Bibi would get a presidential pardon. 
According to the country's constitution, the president acts on the prime 
minister's advice, and I don't think any civilian premier in Pakistan can 
afford to make such a request to the president."

He said that the international pressure has not effectually had any impact on 
the case, but support from the international community encourages Asia Bibi. 
"You feel strong when your work is appreciated and supported. When I tell Bibi 
that so many countries want to grant her citizenship, it gives her courage and 
makes her forget that she has been imprisoned for 9 long years," he told DW.

Asia Bibi was accused of committing blasphemy by her co-workers back in 2009. 
Later on, in 2010, a court in district Nankana awarded her capital punishment, 
which was later challenged by Asia's defense counsel and was upheld by a 
2-member bench of Lahore High Court in 2014. Her appeal case is currently 
pending with the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

(source: christianpakistan.com)

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

Death sentence proposed for false blasphemy accusers



A Senate committee Tuesday proposed anyone falsely accusing someone of 
blasphemy should be subjected to the same level of punishment as a person 
convicted of blasphemy .

The Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights drafted proposals after several 
reports about the alleged misuse of blasphemy law in the country.

"Anyone falsely accusing someone of blasphemy should be subjected to the same 
punishment as a person convicted of blasphemy." the committee said in draft 
recommendations.

Blasphemy laws were introduced by former military dictator Ziaul Haq in 1980s 
and the maximum punishment under the laws is death. The laws do not provide 
punishment for false accusation, but it is given in Pakistan Penal Code, which 
is maximum 6-month imprisonment or a fine of Rs 1,000.

The committee also suggested a person interested in getting a blasphemy case 
registered at a police station should have to bring 2 witnesses in support of 
his charges.

Earlier, the Islamabad High Court in October had suggested parliament to 
enhance punishment for those misusing the blasphemy laws.

The Interior Ministry last month submitted a draft of proposed amendments which 
recommended that punishments for a false accusation of blasphemy should be the 
same as the punishment for whom he actually commits blasphemy.

The committee also forwarded 3 recommendations to Council of Islamic Ideology 
(CII) for their comments on misuse of blasphemy law.

The Senate committee also proposed simplifying the procedure for filing mercy 
petitions against death penalties with the President aimed at providing relief 
on humanitarian grounds.

The committee also asked for forming an executive committee with the 
representation of all stakeholders, including National Commission for Human 
Rights, Ministry of Law and Justice and Ministry of Human Rights, to see the 
complaints before sending those to the President.

The committee which met here with Senator Nasreen Jalil in the chair 
recommended that a person who forwards the application on behalf of the 
sentenced person should clearly define the reasons on which the plea has been 
filed.

An official of National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) briefed the 
committee that the applications are prepared by the police officials, but the 
relevant documents, including medical and judicial records to support the 
request, are not being annexed, which results in rejection of the plea.

The committee was further informed that in case of rejection, law gives the 
provision that another plea could be filed within 7 days on fresh grounds, 
adding that the causes of refusal are not usually mentioned in the order, which 
create problems for the applicant.

NCHR member Muhammad Shafiq stated 27 cases of death penalty are still pending. 
Discussing the Juvenile cases, the committee was informed that under the latest 
legislation, age of the child should be determined at the time of the filing of 
a case to avoid any complication at a later stage. The committee was informed 
that a new law has been passed by the National Assembly, which will soon be 
tabled in the Senate.

The committee also recommended the cases of around 40 accused apprehended in 
the Youhanabad church incident in Lahore 3 years ago should be transferred from 
anti-terrorism court to other routine courts.

The meeting was attended by senators Farhat Ullah Baber, Mufti Abdus Sattar, 
Muhammad Mohsin Khan Leghari and Mir Kabir Ahmed Muhammad Shahi, officials of 
Punjab police, representative of National Commission for Human Rights and 
officials of ministries of human rights and law and justice.

(source: The Nation)

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

Senate body for simplifying procedure for filing death penalty mercy petition



A Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights on Tuesday recommended to 
simplify the procedure for filing mercy petitions against death penalties with 
the President, aimed at providing relief on humanitarian grounds.

The panel also asked for forming an executive committee with the representation 
of all stakeholders, including National Commission for Human Rights, Ministry 
of Law and Justice and Ministry of Human Rights to see the complaints before 
sending those to the President.

The committee also forwarded 3 recommendations to Council of Islamic Ideology 
(CII) for their comments on misuse of blasphemy law.

The committee also recommended that the cases of around 40 accused in the 2015 
Youhanabad Church bombing case in Lahore, should be transferred from 
Anti-Terrorist Court to other routine courts.

The committee was attended by Senators Farhat Ullah Baber, Mufti Abdul Sattar, 
Mohammad Mohsin Khan Leghari and Mir Kabir Ahmad Mohammad Shahi, officials of 
Punjab police, representative of National Commission for Human Rights and 
official of Ministries of Human Rights and Law and Justice.

The committee which met here under the chairmanship of Senator Nasreen Jalil 
recommended that "the provincial government who forwarded the application on 
behalf of the sentenced person should clearly define the reasons on which the 
plea has been filed".

An official of National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), briefed the 
committee that the applications were prepared by the police officials but the 
relevant documents, including medical and judicial records, to support the 
request were not being annexed, which result in refusal of the plea.

The committee was further informed that in case of rejection, law gives the 
provision that another plea could be filed within seven days on fresh grounds, 
adding that since the causes of refusal were not usually mentioned in the 
order, hence creating problems for the applicant.

Mohammad Shafiq, member NCHR, stated that 27 cases of death penalty were still 
pending.

Discussing the juvenile cases, the committee was informed that under the latest 
legislation, age of the child should be determined at the time of filing of 
case to avoid any complication later. The committee was informed that a new law 
has been passed by the national assembly which will soon be tabled in the 
Senate.

(source: Gulf News)



EGYPT:

Egyptian Prosecutors Seek Death Sentence for Photographer



Prosecutors have requested a death sentence for Mahmoud Abou Zeid, an Egyptian 
photojournalist known as Shawkan who has been held for 4 1/2 years. Reporters 
Without Borders (RSF) condemns the complete disproportionality of the proposed 
sentence and reiterates its call for his immediate and unconditional release

The photojournalist Mahmoud Abou Zeid, alias Shawkan is one of the more than 
700 defendants in a political mass trial in Cairo for whom the "maximum 
penalty" - death by hanging - was requested by the prosecution on 3 March.

Arrested in connection with an anti-government protest in Cairo's Rabaa 
al-Adawiya Square in August 2013, they are all accused indiscriminately of 
charges that include murder, attempted murder and membership of a banned 
organization (the Muslim Brotherhood).

"Seeking the death penalty for a photographer who simply covered an opposition 
demonstration is a political punishment, not an act of justice," RSF said. 
"Shawkan's only crime was trying to do his job as a photographer. He must be 
freed at once."

Shawkan was arrested on 14 August 2013 while on assignment for the British 
photo agency Demotix, covering the use of force by the security forces to break 
up the Rabaa al-Adawiya Square protest by supporters of deposed President 
Mohamed Morsi. His detention is regarded as arbitrary by the UN Working Group 
on Arbitrary Detention.

Egypt is ranked 161st out of 180 countries in RSF's World Press Freedom Index.

(source: allafrica.com)

*********

Egypt parliament votes in favour of death penalty for using explosive materials 
in terrorist crimes



Egypt's parliament passed on Tuesday legislative amendments imposing the death 
penalty for using explosive materials in terrorist operations.

Both opposition and majority MPs agreed that the amendments are necessary to 
help the state win its battle against terrorist movements - particularly in 
North Sinai.

The government-drafted amendments of Egypt's penal code (law no.58/1937) were 
approved first by parliament's Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee 
in a morning meeting.

Head of the committee Bahaaeddin Abu Shoqa said the amendments to Article 102 
of the penal code go in line with the state's strategy to toughen penalties on 
terrorism-related crimes.

"The new amendments address a wave of new crimes; that is the use of explosive 
materials by terrorist groups to cause as much damage as possible," said Abu 
Shoqa.

The MP said that the amendments also aim to impose penalties on those who do 
not report the illegal possession of explosive materials before they are used 
in terrorist attacks.

Abu Shoqa argued that the amendments come at a crucial time to serve the army 
and police's comprehensive campaign - dubbed Operation Sinai 2018 - against 
terrorist groups in North Sinai.

"We know that terrorists in this part of Egypt were able to acquire huge 
quantities of highly explosive materials that have led to killing tens of army 
and police personnel," said Abu Shoqa.

The 1st paragraph of the amended Article 102 of the penal code now states that 
"those who acquire, possess, import or manufacture bombs or explosive materials 
or the like without getting a prior licence will be sentenced to life 
imprisonment, and are to face the death penalty if the bombs and explosive 
materials are used for terrorism-related purposes."

The article says that the "interior minister will issue a decree outlining the 
materials that could be used in manufacturing bombs or explosives."

Family indictment

The 4th paragraph of the article received mixed reactions from MPs. It states 
that anyone "who knows about those who acquired explosives or bombs illegally 
and fail to report this to the concerned authorities in advance will be 
sentenced to prison."

The government and the State Council decided to exempt spouses who fail to 
report these crimes. Leftist MPs including Diaaeddin Dawoud said that such a 
provision would cause familial divisions and great rifts within families.

Other MPs, however, insisted that the article should cover spouses.

"It will be very difficult for wives or husbands of terrorists to report the 
latter's criminal intentions to authorities," said Dawoud.

Abu Shoqa, however, said that since the main objective of the amendments is to 
toughen penalties on these types of crimes to prevent terrorist acts, it would 
be illogical to exempt spouses from punishment.

"I want to point out that all members of the legislative and constitutional 
affairs committee have agreed that the new tough penalties should cover all 
those who [fail to report these crimes]... even if they are wives and husbands 
of the criminals," said Abu Shoqa.

Independent MP Mohamed Abu Hamed said that "in many terrorist crimes that have 
caused great and wide-scale damage, wives and parents of those who committed 
these crimes claimed that they had not known of the intentions of their 
husbands or sons beforehand, but prosecutors later found out that they had 
known in advance but refused to report them."

Abu Hamed argued that "as a result, we should view this amendment as a 
deterrent that aims to prevent some young people who join extremist groups from 
carrying out terrorist crimes."

Parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Al said that although "in some tribal communities, 
such as in Upper Egypt, this issue will be a very sensitive one," penalties 
should still be imposed on family members who knew of the crime.

"As we have seen in recent years, many have used explosives and bombs to cause 
wide-scale damage and kill as many people as possible, and ?we have seen that 
relatives of most of these terrorists and criminals played a role in covering 
up their crimes," said Abdel-Aal, "so as a deterrent measure I see that it will 
be important to stiffen penalties to include close relatives to force families 
to report these crimes and thwart such dreadful attacks."

Abu Shoqa said that "the last paragraph of the amended Article 102 gives 
authorities the right to sequestrate means of transport, tools, lands, and 
buildings or any other things used to carry out these crimes."

"This is another deterrent measure, because it was discovered that most 
terrorists and terrorist movements were using desert farms or secluded 
buildings to hide weapons, bombs and explosives," said Abu Shoqa.

Speaker Abdel-Aal said that it is good that both opposition and majority MPs 
have voted in favour of the amendments.

"It is good that when the matter comes to supreme national interests, all agree 
to put these interests above any partisan or political considerations," said 
Abdel-Aal.

(source: Ahram Online)