[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 17



CUBA:

Cuba without Condemned to Death and against its Application



Cuba expressed today in the context of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of 
human rights its rejection of the death penalty and the disposition to 
eliminate from its legislation that sanction that has not been applied since 
2003.

When intervening in the exercise of the UPR, one of the main mechanisms of the 
Human Rights Council, the vice president of the Supreme Court of Cuba, Oscar 
Silvera, also pointed out that there is no condemned to this punishment, which 
has never been imposed on women or minors.

Silvera stated that the Penal Code establishes the death penalty among its 
sanctions, exceptionally for cases of very serious crimes, and mentioned the 
will to eliminate it when the conditions propitiate it.

We have been forced to this, with strict adherence to legality, judicial 
guarantees and the right to self-defense, to prevent and confront terrorist 
activities and crimes against the lives of its citizens, he pointed out.

According to the Cuban government, the terrorism executed against the Caribbean 
country has left more than 5,000 victims, among them nearly 3,500 fatalities, 
in actions framed in the regime change promoted and financed from the United 
States.

In the process of the UPR, several nations recognized the moratorium of Cuba in 
the application of the maximum penalty, and some of them requested its total 
elimination.

(source: Prensa Latina)








SUDAN:

Lawyer for Sudanese teen who killed her rapist facing intimidation



5 days after a 19-year-old Sudanese woman was sentenced to death for killing 
the man she was forced to marry, her lawyer was barred from holding a news 
conference amid an intensifying campaign of intimidation, activists told CNN. 
Noura Hussein was imprisoned in Omdurman, Sudan, last year after fatally 
stabbing her husband, who she says raped her as his relatives held her down.

On Wednesday, Sudanese security forces came to the office of Hussein's lead 
attorney, Adil Mohamed Al-Imam, just hours before he was due to brief the media 
on the latest developments in the case, activists said.

"The National Intelligence Security Services 'NISS' banned the press conference 
and ordered Noura's defense team to cancel it," Nahid Gabralla, director of 
SEEMA, a non-governmental organization working with victims and survivors of 
gender-based violence in the capital, Khartoum, said in a statement.

Women's rights activist Amal Habani, coordinator of No Oppression Against Women 
Initiative Sudan, also confirmed that security forces came to Al-Imam's office 
Wednesday morning. Both Habani and and Gabralla were in touch with Al-Imam on 
Wednesday.

The Sudanese government has not responded to CNN requests for comment on the 
lawyer or the underlying case.

Activists and local journalists say it's the latest effort to prevent the media 
from reporting on the case and to intimidate Hussein's defense team. Her case 
has shone a spotlight on the issues of forced marriage and marital rape in 
Sudan, where the legal age of marriage is only 10 and marital rape is legal.

Her lawyers have until May 25 to appeal.

Activist: Hussein 'is still strong'

Gabralla last saw Hussein 2 days ago when she visited her at the women's prison 
in Omdurman.

"This is the first time I saw her after the sentence. She was wearing a long 
dress and shackles," Gabralla told CNN. "It is very hard for her. She was 
crying, but she is still strong and happy that people are supporting her case."

In Omdurman women's prison, a tight-knit sisterhood has formed around Hussein. 
Activists who have visited her there say that other inmates have rallied around 
her.

A group of activists trying to visit Hussein in prison were turned away on 
Tuesday, Amnesty International's Sudan researcher, Ahmed Elzobier, told CNN.

"There is a lot of pressure on the government, now that the EU, UN Women, and 
other agencies have issued a very strong statement," Elzobier said. "But 
unusually they (Sudanese government) have not issued a response. They're 
keeping their heads down amid all the exposure."

The European Union Delegation issued a statement on Hussein's case on Tuesday 
underlining their opposition to the death penalty and forced marriage. Amnesty 
International is petitioning for the Sudanese government to repeal the death 
penalty against Hussein, and allow her a retrial.

The harrowing details of Hussein's case have set social media and WhatsApp 
ablaze in Sudan. And in recent days the case has captured international 
attention with the hashtags #JusticeforNoura and #SaveNoura. Thousands of 
people have shared a change.org petition.

Forced to marry at 15, Hussein ran away from home and sought refuge with her 
aunt for three years. She was tricked into returning by her father, who handed 
her over to her husband's family.

After Hussein refused to consummate the marriage, her husband's relatives held 
her down while he raped her. "His brother and two cousins tried to reason with 
her, when she refused she was slapped and ordered into the room. One held her 
chest and head, the others held her legs," Al-Imam, her lawyer, told CNN last 
week.

A day later her husband tried to rape her again, and she stabbed him to death. 
When she went to her parents for support, they turned her in to the police.

Al-Imam said last week that the case has challenged societal expectations in 
Sudan that wives should submit to their husbands.

But it has also highlighted gaps in Sudan's national law, Elzobier said. "The 
good thing about this case is it brings up a lot of laws that need to change -- 
specifically rape and child marriage laws."

Gabralla agreed: "In my work I've seen other cases like this. The suffering of 
Sudanese women is happening all the time. But the case of Noura is different. 
She stood for her rights."

(source: CNN)








INDIA:

Jammu and Kashmir Governor approves ordinance on death penalty to child 
rapists----Committing rape on a woman under sixteen years of age has been made 
punishable with rigorous imprisonment for 20 years and may extend to life 
sentence, which shall mean remainder of that person's natural life



Jammu and Kashmir Governor approves ordinance on death penalty to child 
rapistsJK Governor approves ordinance on death penalty to child rapists 
Governor N. N. Vohra has promulgated the Jammu and Kashmir Criminal Law 
(Amendment) Ordinance, 2018 and the Jammu and Kashmir Protection of Children 
from Sexual Violence Ordinance, 2018.

In view of the surge in violence against women in general and sexual violence 
in particular in various parts of the country, including the State of J&K, need 
was felt to carry out certain amendments in the Criminal Laws (the Ranbir Penal 
Code, Samvat, 1989; the Code of Criminal Procedure, Samvat, 1989; and the 
Evidence Act, Samvat, 1977) on the analogy of the amendments made in the 
Central Criminal Law in 2018, said an official spokesman.

The Jammu and Kashmir Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018 seeks to amend: 
(i) the Ranbir Penal Code, Samvat, 1989; (ii) the Code of Criminal Procedure 
Samvat 1989; and (iii) the Evidence Act, Samvat, 1977.

The salient features of the aforesaid Ordinance include:

Committing rape on a woman under 16 years of age has been made punishable with 
rigorous imprisonment for 20 years and may extend to life sentence, which shall 
mean remainder of that person's natural life

Committing rape on a woman under 12 years of age has been made punishable with 
death sentence

Gang Rape on a woman under 16 years of age has been made punishable with 
imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that 
person's natural life

Gang Rape on woman under 12 years of age has been made punishable with death 
sentence

Investigation in such cases is to be completed within a period of 2 months

Trial to be completed within six months and reasons for any delay shall need to 
be communicated to the High Court

It has been provided that no Bail shall be granted without hearing the Public 
Prosecutor.

The salient features of the Jammu and Kashmir Protection of Children from 
Sexual Violence Ordinance, 2018 are:

It is a comprehensive Legislation which, inter-alia, provides for protection of 
Children from offenses of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography 
with due regard for safeguarding the interest of the child and the well being 
of a child at every stage of the judicial process

It provides for alternative punishment for an act or omission constituting an 
offence under the Ordinance and also under various provisions of the State 
Penal Code relating to sexual assault.

The Ordinance contains provisions relating to child friendly procedures and 
reporting, recording of evidence, investigation and trial of offences

It also provides for provisions relating to establishment of Special Courts for 
speedy trial of such offences

It makes it mandatory for the educational institutions to ensure safety and 
protection of children and not to expose them to any kind of sexual abuse.

"While according approval to the aforesaid two Ordinances the Governor has 
advised stringent enforcement by the Home Department which should establish a 
system for regular monitoring of all cases registered under these Ordinances," 
said the spokesman.

(source: Greater Kashmir)