[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

May 22




PHILIPPINES:

Home Legislative New Philippines Corrections Chief Wants Death Penalty for All 
Drug Offenses



The New Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief in the Philippines, Director 
General Ronald dela Rosa, is taking an extreme stand against drugs - extreme 
even by the standards of his country. He thinks lethal injection should be 
utilized for anyone involved in the drug trade, even low-level possessors.

"Everything pertaining to drugs, we have to end them. I also want to end the 
problem with drugs. It should be that strict when it comes to drugs," dela Rosa 
said earlier this month. When asked specifically about those caught with small 
amounts of drugs getting the death penalty, dela Rosa answered in the 
affirmative that he was on board with that.

Not only does he see death as a deterrent to drug use, but as a great way to 
clear out the riff raff from prisons in the Philippines. "Who will we guard 
here at Building 14, if those convicted go straight to lethal injection, 
right?" he asked. "You don't have to guard any more drug lords if they go 
straight to lethal injection."

Using that logic, there would be no one in jail if they all were killed, and if 
everyone was killed, there would be no one left alive to do drugs, right? The 
major flaw in this logic (the fatal flaw, if you will) is obvious: Everyone is 
dead.

You could say, "well, we won't kill everyone, we'll just stop at a certain 
point." But where is that point and who decides? This guy wants to kill anyone 
who possesses drugs. Is that an acceptable cut off point? If we did that in the 
U.S., how many would die? 10 million? 20? 50?

It probably goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: If you plan on 
possessing drugs, there are certain areas of the world to avoid at all costs, 
and the Philippines is one of those places.

Now, it could be said that my last paragraph proves the successful deterrent 
aspect of policies in the Philippines, and I won't deny that wholesale death 
does carry with it certain incentives to avoid it, namely continuing to live. 
But at what cost? How much damage will be done to the economy and to society 
itself in the Philippines?

If people are not infringing on the natural rights of anyone else, they don't 
deserve to be considered criminals by the state, and they certainly don't 
deserve to have their lives ended by the state.

(source: The Marijuana Times)








ZIMBABWE:

12 years without an execution: Is Zimbabwe ready to abolish the death penalty?



At the end of 2017, the world watched with keen interest as President Robert 
Mugabe was deposed after 37 years of ruinous rule, and replaced by Emmerson 
Mnangagwa, who promised "a new democracy".

The change of power is also significant for those interested in Zimbabwe's 
death penalty policy. Mugabe, around the time of his departure from office, had 
plans to resume executions. Advertisements were placed to recruit a hangman - a 
position that had been vacant since 2005. Mnangagwa, on the other hand, has 
been vocal in his opposition to the death penalty. Significantly, he himself 
had faced the prospect of being hanged under the government of Ian Smith, 
against which he fought during the liberation war.

Within 4 months of assuming office, Mnangagwa commuted to life imprisonment the 
death sentences of prisoners who had been on death row for more than 10 years.

I have just written a new report, "12 Years Without an Execution: Is Zimbabwe 
Ready for Abolition?" that examines Zimbabwean citizens' attitudes towards the 
death penalty. It explores what it means to be a "retentionist" or an 
"abolitionist" in a country that has not executed anyone since 2005, and the 
potential consequences of abolition.

The launch of the report forms part of a bigger project on the death penalty 
carried out by The Death Penalty Project, in partnership with Veritas (an NGO 
based in Zimbabwe) that's funded by the the Swiss Foreign Office and the UK 
Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The report indicated that Zimbabweans are 
ready to embrace abolition if the government were to exercise political 
leadership to this effect.

Trend towards abolition

Over the last 4 decades more and more countries have dropped the death penalty. 
In 1977 only 16 countries had abolished capital punishment in law or practice. 
By 2017 the figure had risen to 2/3 of the countries in the world - 142 in 
total.

The abolition of the death penalty has been boosted by the positions 
organisations like the Council of Europe and the European Union has taken. The 
Council of Europe made the abolition of the death penalty as one of its 
priorities while the European Union???s made abolition a condition of 
membership.

There's also been an increase in the number of states in the US that have 
abolished the death penalty or placed a moratorium on executions. Public 
support for the death penalty has declined in the country: in 1994 80% of 
Americans supported the death penalty. By 2017 the number had dropped to 55%.

There is progress in sub-Saharan Africa too. In 2016 the Constitutional Court 
of Benin ruled that all laws providing for the death penalty were void and 
death sentences could no longer be imposed. In the same year, Guinea abolished 
the death penalty for ordinary crimes.

Now Zimbabwe appears primed to join the trend towards abolition.

Zimbabwe: a de facto abolitionist

Zimbabwe is often referred to as a de facto abolitionist. This is because it 
hasn't carried out an execution in more than 12 years. And under the country's 
new constitution adopted in 2013 it restricted the scope of the death penalty. 
Changes included abolishing the mandatory death sentence for murder without 
extenuating circumstances. It also banned the execution of offenders over 70 
years of age, and those who were younger than 21 (from 18) when they committed 
offences carrying the death sentence.

While the new Constitution restricted the scope of the death penalty, the 
policymakers felt that the Zimbabwean public was not ready to embrace complete 
abolition.

What we found

In our survey, 61% supported the retention of the death penalty. But 80% of 
them said that if the government took leadership in abolishing the death 
penalty, they would accept it as government policy.

In addition, it was clear from the responses that support for the death penalty 
in Zimbabwe is symbolic - 83% of respondents weren't even aware that the 
country hadn't carried out any executions for more than a decade. And, 45% of 
respondents didn't know the method of execution (hanging).

Too often, surveys on the death penalty concentrate exclusively on the 
punishment, forgetting that it is one of the many policies to control crime. In 
our survey, respondents were asked to rank a range of policies to tackle 
violent crime, which included the death penalty.

Both those who wanted to retain the death penalty, and those in favour of 
abolishing it considered moral education and reducing poverty to be more 
effective than the use of the death penalty.

No barrier

Public opinion has been cited as one of the reasons Zimbabwe is not ready to 
abolish the death penalty. But the findings in our report should serve to 
assure Zimbabwean policy makers that public opinion don't need to pose a 
barrier to abolition. Indeed, the findings suggest that the Zimbabwean public 
is ready to accept abolition, should the government decide to move away from 
the death penalty in law - and in practice.

(source: The Conversation)








IRAQ:

Iraqi court sentences Belgian militant to death for terrorism training



An Iraqi court Tuesday sentenced Abu Hamza, a Belgian member of the Islamic 
State (IS) militant group, over charges of training children for IS and attacks 
against Iraqi forces, a judicial spokesman said.

"The Central Criminal Court in Baghdad issued a verdict of death penalty by 
hanging for the terrorist Tariq Jadaoun, known as Abu Hamza al-Belgiki in 
Arabic, or (Belgian Abu Hamza)," Abdul Sattar al-Biraqdar, spokesman for Iraq's 
Supreme Judicial Council, said in a statement.

The court's verdict was issued in accordance with the anti-terrorism law, 
Biraqdar said.

He said the convict is a Belgian national, but of Moroccan origin and was one 
of the most wanted foreign terrorists who fought in Syria and Iraq in the ranks 
of the terrorist organization of Daesh (IS group).

After the Iraqi forces defeated the IS in Iraq late in 2017, hundreds of IS 
loyalists were killed or captured, while many others are still at large in 
hideouts in Iraq or abroad.

The increase in executions in Iraq has sparked calls for abolishing capital 
punishment from the UN, the European Union and some international human rights 
groups, citing the lack of transparency in Iraqi courts.

Death penalty in Iraq was suspended on June 10, 2003, but was reinstated from 
Aug. 8, 2004.

(source: xinhuanet.com)

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

'They deserve no mercy': Iraq deals briskly with accused 'women of Isis'----A 
Baghdad court has sentenced more than 40 foreign women to death after 10-minute 
hearings



In a small holding room in a Baghdad court, French citizen Djamila Boutoutao 
cradled her 2-year-old daughter and begged for help.

Boutoutao, 29, is accused of being a member of Islamic State. Whispering in her 
native tongue within earshot of other accused Isis members - all foreigners 
like her - she said life had become unbearable.

"I'm going mad here," said Boutoutao, a small bespectacled woman with a deadpan 
stare. "I'm facing a death sentence or life in prison. No one tells me 
anything, not the ambassador, not people in prison."

Guards moved closer as Boutoutao continued. So did her fellow accused - all 
from central Asia or Turkey, who had all lost husbands and, in some cases, 
children as the Islamic State collapsed in Iraq last year.

"Don't let them take my daughter away," she pleaded. "I am willing to offer 
money if you can contact my parents. Please get me out of here."

With that, the short conversation was shut down and Boutoutao returned to a 
corner, waiting for the judge in the adjoining room to summon her. There were 
no French officials present, and nothing at all to connect her to her former 
life in Lille. If convicted of joining the terrorist group, she faces life in a 
central Baghdad jail, or death by hanging.

All the 15 women in court last week had been widowed by the war that eventually 
ousted Isis from much of Iraq, killing tens of thousands of its members and 
replacing its promises of an Islamic utopia with a crushing defeat. The women 
here had in some cases willingly joined the group, travelling alone from Europe 
and central Asia, or with their partners, to what they believed to be a 
promised land.

More than 40,000 foreigners from 110 countries are estimated to have travelled 
to Iraq and Syria to join the jihadist group. Of those, around 1,900 are 
believed to have been French citizens, and around 800 were British.

Boutoutao arrived in Iraq in 2014, with her husband, Mohammed Nassereddine and 
2 children. He was killed in Mosul in 2016 as was her son, Abdullah, one year 
later. She was captured by the Kurdish peshmerga in northern Iraq and 
eventually sent to Baghdad, where the fortified court in the centre of the 
capital has become a focal point of the post-Isis era.

Up to 1,000 women accused of belonging to Isis were rounded up from the ruins 
of Iraq's towns and cities and are now being held in Baghdad to face a 
reckoning from a society and government that remains deeply scarred by the past 
4 years, with much of their anger directed at foreign fighters and their 
families. Up to 820 infants accompany the women, with some others yet to be 
born.

The proceedings had a sense of urgency, and so did the 10-minute hearings in 
Baghdad's central criminal court that have summarily dispensed with the accused 
foreign women, sentencing more than 40 to death, and dozens more to life in 
prison since the so-called caliphate crumbled.

Foreigners in particular, often carrying babies, are processed with an 
uncompromising efficiency rarely seen in other parts of Iraq's judicial system. 
In mopping up the aftermath of Isis, the court system has taken on the role of 
bringing the country towards a closure. As Iraqis try to stitch their torn 
social fabric back together, a stark resentment remains towards the jihadists 
whose rampage took a toll on a national psyche that was yet to recover from 
sanctions, invasion and civil war.

France and other European countries remain hostile to those of their citizens 
who are now facing Iraqi courts, insisting they should face local justice 
abroad. The French government has shown some leniency towards children orphaned 
by the fighting, but none towards adults who made decisions to join the group.

Earlier this year, the defence minister Florence Parly said those who did make 
it back to France would be "held to account for their acts". French officials 
have told their counterparts in the region, however, that those who failed to 
escape can expect no comfort.

With Isis now all but ousted from Iraq's lands, there is little talk of 
reconciliation. Asked what he would say to the leader of Isis, Abu Bakr 
al-Baghdadi if he was put in front of him, Sheikh Qais al-Khazali, the leader 
of one of Iraq's most feared Shia paramilitary groups, Asa'ib ahl al-Haq, said: 
"I would tell him he failed. He wasn't good enough. He was nothing and he is 
beneath us all."

Mustafa Rashid, a car dealer in east Baghdad was similarly scathing about the 
foreign prisoners. "Be damned with them," he said. "They deserve no mercy. The 
women too."

In the same court a day earlier, an Iraqi woman had been cleared of all charges 
and released after successfully mounting a defence that her brother had forced 
her to join Isis. While some Iraqi women, and large numbers of men, have been 
sentenced to death for their roles in the terrorist group's rampage, only a 
small number of foreign women have received any concession.

"In the minds of Iraqis and the judiciary and the government, by virtue of the 
fact that you are foreign and chose to live in Isis territory there is a level 
of agency in what you did and more culpability," said Belkis Wille, the senior 
researcher for Iraq for Human Rights Watch. "It is not the same in the case of 
Iraqi women, where very specific evidence is often lessening sentences. If you 
buy a plane ticket, cross a border and make your choices, you are far more 
exposed."

The Baghdad courtroom was bustling with men who were shuffled into a dock in 
the centre of the room. A group of 12 were sentenced to death by hanging, then 
escorted back to cells. Next it was Zahraa Abdel Wahab Al Kaja's turn. Just 
turned 17 years old, and originally from Tajikistan, she also cradled a baby, 
whom she had dressed in a hijab, and seemed disorientated.

"I was brought to Syria about five years ago with my mum and dad," she said. 
"They married me to a Turkish man. He was good to me. This is his child. We 
settled in Iraq. My father and husband died. I am now imprisoned with my mother 
and daughter. I want to go back home, even though my country is no good. I 
didn't wear hijab back home. Isis is good, it taught me how to cover myself."

More women came and went: a Turk, a Russian, and two from Kyrgyzstan. In each 
case 1 of 3 judges asked several curt questions, then ordered the accused woman 
from the room. A prosecutor then made a short statement, and a defence lawyer 
read from a brief. Outside, one of the state-appointed defenders said he had 
not spoken with his client, and had only seen a summary of the investigation 
notes.

Human Rights Watch said that, despite its urging over the past two years, there 
had been no sign of lawyers playing a more proactive role, or the judiciary 
seeking more substantive evidence for prosecutions. Justice instead depended 
heavily on instinct, an official said during a break. "I've worked here for 10 
years and I can tell who's innocent with one look in their eyes. I can tell you 
horror stories and I can share moments of magic."

Guards who bring the women from a nearby prison said most were unrepentant. "An 
Isis prisoner once asked me for something which I couldn't provide and she 
called me an infidel."

What to do with the children is a more vexing question for Iraqi authorities. 
Some infants chewed on apples while their mothers waited for their hearings. 
Others were passed around the women who each took turns at calming them.

"They will grow up to be just like [their mothers]," said one of the guards. 
"No, it's a sin to say that," said another. "All children are innocent."

"Maybe," came the reply. "But let's finish with this quickly. There are still 
so many of them."

(source: The Guardian)








SAUDI ARABIA:

Detained Saudi women's rights activists could face death penalty - 
report----Charges of treason and conspiracy against the state could lead to 
capital punishment, legal experts warn



7 detained Saudi women's rights activists, who campaigned for the ban on women 
driving to be lifted, may face the death penalty, newspaper Okaz reported on 
Sunday.

According to Saudi lawyers and judges, the prominent women's rights activists, 
who were arrested last week and branded as "traitors" by government-aligned 
media outlets, may by sentenced to death should investigations result in the 
charge of treason and conspiracy against the state.

A Saudi activist, who did not wish to be named due to fears for their own 
safety, told Middle East Eye: "What we are seeing is that there is no tolerance 
of any kind for any type of [activist] activity.

"It is meant to send a clear message to the people that no one is supposed to 
speak on public affairs, nobody is supposed to be part of any engagement in 
society other than the state."

A Saudi government statement said that the seven had been arrested for offering 
financial support to enemies abroad and suspicious contact with foreign 
entities. The statement also accused them of working together in "an organised 
manner to violate religious and national values", without naming the detainees.

Rights groups have called on the authorities to release the detainees. 6 of 
them have been identified as Eman al-Nafjan, Lujain al-Hathloul, Aziza 
al-Yousef, Aisha al-Manea, Ibrahim Modeimigh and Mohammed al-Rabea.

The activists, both women and men, have campaigned for a woman's right to 
drive, which the conservative kingdom is set to grant from next month after 
banning it for decades.

Progress stalled

The decision to lift the ban was hailed by many as proof of a new progressive 
trend in the country under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman 
(MBS), who has presented himself as a reformist. At the same time, MBS has been 
at the helm of a crackdown on dissent, which has seen scores imprisoned, 
tortured and stripped of their assets.

Samah Hadid, Amnesty's Middle East director of campaigns, said on Monday: 
"Despite international outcry and calls for the release of these activists, 
they still remain detained for their peaceful human rights work."

"It is clear that underneath all the PR hype and spin, Crown Prince Mohammed 
bin Salman's reforms exclude human rights activism... We continue to call for 
the immediate and unconditional release of all activists still being detained 
solely for their human rights work."

'Underneath all the PR hype and spin, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's 
reforms exclude human rights activism'- Samah Hadid, Amnesty International

A hashtag has begun circulating on social media accusing the detainees of being 
'agents of embassies', along with an image of the activists with the word 
'traitor' stamped over their heads - language repeatedly used in connection 
with them in the Saudi media.

"The kind of reporting we see in the national media inside Saudi Arabia is 
aimed to quiet dissent inside, and to incite terror inside anyone who was 
inspired by these women," the anonymous activist said.

Human rights groups questioned Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's reform 
agenda on Saturday following the arrests.

"Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's 'reform campaign' has been a frenzy of fear 
for genuine Saudi reformers who dare to advocate publicly for human rights or 
women's empowerment," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human 
Rights Watch.

"The message is clear that anyone expressing skepticism about the crown 
prince's rights agenda faces time in jail."

The anonymous activist believes now is a particularly dangerous time for 
outspoken Saudis, and said the authorities' crackdown reveals MBS' apparent 
reformist instincts are hollow.

"Why are you [MbS] shutting out anyone who wants to be part of this reformative 
approach? Unless of course it???s not really reformative..." the activist said.

Death penalty

Saudi Arabia has carried out nearly 600 executions since the beginning of 2014, 
according to Human Rights Watch.

The group has documented several cases in which Saudi courts have given out 
death sentences following "unfair trials".

While the kingdom has ratified the Arab Charter on Human Rights, which requires 
that the death penalty only be used for the "most serious crimes" and in 
exceptional circumstances, Saudi Arabia applies the death penalty to a number 
of offenses, including nonviolent drug offences and sorcery.

"It's bad enough that Saudi Arabia executes so many people, but many of them 
have not committed a violent crime," Whitson said in an April report on 48 
people executed since January. Half of those executed were charged with 
nonviolent drug offences.

Saudi Arabia has one of the highest execution rates in the world.

According to the anti-death penalty rights group Reprieve, Saudi Arabia's 
execution rate has doubled since Mohammed bin Salman was appointed crown prince 
in 2017.

The group said in March that 133 executions have taken place in the 8 months 
since his appointment last June, compared with 67 in the 8 months before.

It said several of those on death row in Saudi Arabia were convicted of crimes 
while still children.

'Mohammed bin Salman is one of the most brutal leaders in the kingdom's recent 
history'- Maya Foa, Reprieve

Maya Foa, the group's director, said: "The doubling of executions under the new 
crown prince reveals that, beneath his glossy public image, Mohammed bin Salman 
is one of the most brutal leaders in the kingdom's recent history.

"Protesters, including some who were children at the time, have had the death 
penalty confirmed despite allegations of torture and forced confessions."

(source: middleeasteye.net)








IRAN----execution

Prisoner Hanged in Isfahan



A prisoner was hanged at Isfahan Central Prison on murder charges last week.

According to IHR sources, on the morning of Sunday, May 13, a prisoner was 
hanged at Isfahan Central Prison. The prisoner, identified as Jafar Firouzkhani 
from Hashtrud city, was sentenced to death on murder charges.

A close source told IHR, "Jafar Firouzkhani was arrested and sentenced to death 
on the charge of murdering a car dealer in Najafabad, Isfahan in 2014." He also 
added, "The defendant murdered the victim over the financial dispute. He was 
unable to win the consent of the plaintiffs."

The prisoner was transferred to Isfahan Central Prison from Najafabad Prison a 
few days before his execution.

The execution of this prisoner has not been announced by the state-run media so 
far.

According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 240 of the 
517 execution sentences in 2017 were implemented due to murder charges. There 
is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in 
issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and 
intent.

(source: Iran Human Rights)








KENYA:

Why Kenya's proposal to execute convicted poachers is a bad idea



Wildlife poaching in Kenya may soon be a capital offence, punishable by death. 
The proposal has surfaced because people believe existing penalties aren't 
stringent enough, and because of the huge burden that poaching places on the 
country. Poaching threatens wildlife populations - most worryingly elephants 
and rhinos. The loss of wildlife threatens one of the pillars of Kenya's 
tourism industry, and therefore its economy, as well as the survival of some 
species.

Poaching is also a security risk as it presents challenges to the military and 
police, which can be outgunned by poachers and their criminal allies.

Currently, a conviction of wildlife crime in Kenya, involving endangered and 
threatened species, attracts the country's severest punishment: a life sentence 
or fine of not less than 20-million shillings, about USD$200 000.

But the death penalty proposal is informed by a quick fix mentality that's not 
equipped to solve the complex problem of wildlife poaching. It's ill-advised 
for at least 3 reasons. First, it goes against the global trend away from using 
the death penalty. Second, poachers are already willing to risk their lives, so 
it won't work as a deterrent. And finally, rather than putting in new laws, the 
government should address what's wrong with the current laws which offer 
sufficient penalties.

A bad idea

The reliance on the death penalty is declining both globally and locally. It's 
seen as undermining human dignity and is an obstacle to protecting human 
rights.

There's also been a shift in thinking in Kenya. While the death penalty is 
still on the books, there hasn't been an execution in nearly 30 years. There 
have also been cases where Kenya's court of appeal has ruled that mandatory 
death sentences are unconstitutional and presidents have commuted death 
sentences to life imprisonment.

Secondly, Kenya has a shoot to kill policy for tackling poaching which dates 
back to 1989. This has been largely ineffective. If poachers are already 
willing to take risks, then the death penalty won't deter them.

Finally, the 2013 Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, which increased 
penalties for wildlife crime, has only been in force for about 5 years. This 
isn't enough time to gauge its effectiveness.

The real focus should be on existing laws. Rather than putting in new laws, the 
government should address what may be wrong with them, including the penalties 
they carry.

Several factors could explain why they may not be successful. These include: 
lax enforcement, under resourced government agencies such as the Kenya Wildlife 
Service, corruption and prolonged election periods which used wildlife rangers 
for security in parts of the country.

Way forward

It is only prudent that the Kenyan government reconsider the death penalty 
proposal. In seeking a solution it should consider the following suggestions.

Firstly, the economic empowerment of conservation area communities by ensuring 
that wildlife conservation works for them. While tourism contributes 
significantly to the country's economy, communities who share their lands with 
wildlife often continue to live in poverty. They also bear the brunt of 
human-wildlife conflict including the loss of life, injuries from attacks and 
loss of property. Poaching will become undesirable if tourism delivers 
benefits.

Secondly, ensure that relevant government agencies, such as the Kenya Wildlife 
Services and Kenya Police, are well resourced and accountable. With a 
financially struggling Wildlife Service and corrupt police service, it is 
foolhardy to expect that the country's wildlife laws will be enforced properly.

Thirdly, new national institutions, like the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies 
Association, should be given more decision-making authority to ensure community 
voices aren't silenced. Their effective involvement would mean real empowerment 
for communities and would ensure community buy-in on policies. This is an 
integral step in ensuring wildlife security.

Lastly, relevant government agencies should also try and collaborate with 
global actors in building a wildlife crime busting network. Past experience 
shows this is an effective strategy in addressing poaching. For example, the 
collaboration between the Kenya Wildlife Service and the International Criminal 
Police Organisation (INTERPOL) led to the arrest of a suspected poaching boss, 
Feizal Ali Mohammed, accused of trafficking large quantities of ivory.

Ultimately, tackling Kenya's poaching problem requires a multi-layered, 
comprehensive approach which involves all stakeholders including government, 
non-governmental organisations, local and global communities and ensures the 
protection of human rights and dignity. An approach that involves the death 
penalty as a quick fix for convicted poachers doesn't fit this bill.

(source: Jeremiah Ogonda Asaka, Lecturer in Global Studies, Middle Tennessee 
State University----Mail & Guardian)