[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

October 10


MALAYSIA:

Why the delay in abolishing death penalty?

Today, on the 16th World Day Against the Death Penalty, Malaysians Against 
Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet) wants to remind the Malaysian government 
that it has yet to make good its promise to abolish the mandatory death penalty 
in Malaysia.

In the Pakatan Harapan manifesto, it was clearly stated that "The Pakatan 
Harapan government will revoke the following laws: Sedition Act, Prevention of 
Crime Act 1959...Mandatory Death by Hanging in all Acts..."

Currently in Malaysia, the death penalty is mandatory for about 12 offences, 
while about 20 other offences are punishable by a discretionary death penalty.

Murder and drug trafficking carry the mandatory death penalty but many of these 
mandatory death penalty offences do not even involve in death or grievous 
injuries to victims.

The effect of abolishing the mandatory death penalty will restore judicial 
discretion when it comes to sentencing. Judges will thereafter be able to 
evaluate each and every convicted person and determine what the just and fair 
sentence should be, after taking into account all factors and circumstances.

The mandatory death penalty is undemocratic as it violates the democratic 
principle of separation of powers. The legislature (Parliament) has robbed the 
judiciary of their rightful role and power when it comes to sentencing.

When a law provides for just one mandatory sentence, in this case death, judges 
on finding a person guilty of the said offence, have no choice but to sentence 
the convicted to death, even if he/she does not justly deserve to be hanged to 
death.

Many of the politicians and political parties that are now in power, previously 
in opposition, were always for the abolition of the death penalty, but now when 
in power, it is disappointing to see that they are procrastinating.

Further, it must be reminded that they are yet to make good their election 
promise to repeal all laws that provide for 'Mandatory Death by Hanging...', 
which was a decision and commitment of all the four Pakatan Harapan parties.

As reported by The Star on June 28, there are 1,267 people on death row or 2.7% 
of the prison population of about 60,000 people. 35 executions took place from 
2007 to 2017

The death penalty in Malaysia currently is provided for secular or ordinary 
laws, not in Islamic law.

As such, there is no reasonable justification for any Muslim in Malaysia to 
oppose abolition of the death penalty on the grounds that Islam allows death 
penalty for certain specified offences.

In Islam, there is a strict requirement to comply with Islamic Criminal 
Procedure and Evidential requirements. Even then, in Islam, there are ways that 
the death penalty can be avoided.

As the Acts that now provide for death penalty in Malaysia are in the secular 
law, politicians and their parties that use the argument that Islam allows for 
the death penalty to oppose the abolition, are very wrong. They need to 
demonstrate leadership, not fear.

The "best interest of the child" is certainly best served by incarceration of a 
parent, sibling or relative rather than having them hung to death by the state.

Malaysia, who has ratified the Child Rights Convention, has an obligation to do 
what is in the best interest of the child, and as such, this is yet another 
reason why the death penalty must be abolished.

The possibility of miscarriage or failure of justice in the implementation of 
the death penalty is irreversible and irreparable. This is yet another reason 
why the death penalty needs to be abolished.

We recall the words of the then minister in the prime minister's department 
Nazri Abdul Aziz, who said "No criminal justice system is perfect. You take a 
man's life and years later, you find out that another person did the crime. 
What can you do?"(as quoted in The Star on Aug 29, 2010)

In the Malaysian context today, it would have been great injustice if the 2 
convicted for the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu had been hanged, for then it 
may result in others involved escaping justice.

Likewise in other cases where perpetrators may still be at large, yet to be 
arrested, charged and tried.

Abolition of the death penalty is an ineluctable global trend as 106 countries 
had abolished the death penalty in law for all crimes by the end of 2017 while 
142 countries had abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

Malaysia, embarrassingly, is amongst the few countries who still retains the 
out-dated penalty and carry out executions.

In 2018, Malaysia, under Umno-BN, brought into effect the abolition of the 
mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking.

It has been about 5 months since the formation of the Pakatan Harapan-led 
government, but we have yet to see bills being tabled that will lead to the 
abolition of the death penalty.

Our hope is that we will see this happening in the next Parliamentary session 
or at least by the end of the year.

Being a reformist government, Malaysia needs to make rehabilitation and second 
chances the principal considerations in sentencing.

Madpet also calls for immediate moratorium of all executions pending the 
abolition of the death penalty.

(source: This letter is written on behalf of Malaysians Against Death Penalty 
and Torture (Madpet)----malaysiakini.com)

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

Minister: Putrajaya to abolish death penalty



The Cabinet has decided to abolish the death penalty, and it will be tabled in 
the next Parliament sitting, which will begin on October 15, said Datuk Liew 
Vui Keong.

The minister in charge of law in the Prime Minister’s Department said while the 
government is studying certain cases, as of now, all executions have been 
halted.

"All death penalty will be abolished. Full stop.

"We are studying certain issues... we need to look into it and hear the views 
of all, but as it stands today, the decision is to abolish the death penalty," 
he told the media after the "Law Reform Talk" at Universiti Malaya here, today.

Liew said that with Putrajaya intending to abolish the death penalty, the 
Pardons Board will be tasked with looking into the applications of death row 
inmates.

"Our view is that executions should not be carried out we will inform the 
Pardons Board to look into the various applications for all the death row 
inmates to either commute or release them. "When commuted, they would have to 
face life imprisonment because there had been several deaths that were caused 
by the offender and so they were sentenced to death by the court," he said.

Liew added that all the paperwork for the abolishment of the law is in its 
final stages, and that the Attorney General (AG) had given the green light for 
it to be tabled in Parliament.

"All the papers are in the final stage. The AG has also indicated to us that it 
is ready to be tabled, hopefully in this (Parliamentary) session," he said.

Earlier in his opening speech, Liew said the Pakatan Harapan government is also 
mulling a repeal of the Sedition Act 1948 and other draconian laws.

(suorce: malaymail.com)








PHILIPPINES:

SWS: Majority of Filipinos favor return of death penalty



Nearly 6 in every 10 Filipinos favor the revival of capital punishment for 
heinous crimes, a campaign promise of President Rodrigo Duterte, according to 
the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released on Wednesday.

The poll from March 22 to 27 among 2,000 Filipino adults nationwide showed 59 % 
of respondents agreed that the death penalty should be restored for people 
proven in court to have committed heinous crimes, while 23 % disagreed.

This yielded a "moderate" net agreement of +26, which is the difference between 
the percentage of respondents who approved and disapproved of the proposed law.

The survey, however, emphasized that only 33 % of Filipinos wanted the death 
penalty if there were other punishment options for those who would commit 
serious crimes related to illegal drugs.

"The only exception is the crime of rape under the influence of drugs, for 
which a minority 47 % think the death penalty should apply," SWS said.

For the crimes of importation of illegal drugs, maintenance of drug dens, 
manufacture of illegal drugs, murder under the influence of drugs, sale of 
illegal drugs and working in drug dens, the demand for death penalty ranges 
from 22 to 33 %.

SWS said the demand for imprisonment, instead of death, was over 70 % for those 
found guilty of working in drug dens (78 %), sale of illegal drugs (76 %), and 
maintenance of drug dens (73 %).

This is followed by murder under the influence of drugs (69 %), importation of 
illegal drugs (68 %), and manufacture of illegal drugs (66 %).

"Demand for imprisonment as a punishment for those guilty of rape under the 
influence of drugs is 53 %," the polling firm added.

The survey used face-to-face interviews and had sampling error margins of ±2.2 
% for national percentages, and ±5 % each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, 
Visayas, and Mindanao.

(source: Manila Times)

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

De Lima calls for renewed, sustained campaign against death penalty



On the World Day Against Death Penalty, opposition Senator Leila De Lima called 
for a renewed and sustained campaign against the imposition of death penalty in 
the Philippines.

"Today, I join fellow human rights defenders and the global community in 
renewing and sustaining the campaign against the death penalty," De Lima said 
in a statement on Wednesday.

The senator asserted that a fully-functioning justice system is what deters 
criminal acts, not the imposition of the death penalty.

"What deters and resolves crimes rather is a well-oiled and thoroughly 
functioning criminal justice system, one that ensures swift and certain 
accountability for the crimes committed and the imposition of commensurate 
penalties to the wrongdoers," she said.

De Lima reminded that the right to life is the most fundamental of all rights 
which is "inherent, inalienable, universal and non-derogable."

"It is a right that belongs to us all regardless of race, color, sex, gender 
identity and expression, religion, political or other opinion, national or 
social origin, birth or other statuses," she said.

De Lima said that as a human rights defender and legislator, she has pushed for 
the introduction of the penalty of qualified reclusion perpetua in criminal 
laws to ensure restorative justice instead of punitive measures.

"I was pushing for the introduction into Philippine criminal laws the penalty 
of qualified reclusion perpetua, to ensure that, even in extraordinarily 
heinous crimes, our policy direction looks at restorative justice over punitive 
or retributive measures, while equally aware and conscious of the need to bring 
to justice perpetrators of the most egregious offenses," she said.

De Lima cited several international institutions that have opposed the 
imposition of death penalty and have come up with policies that ensure the 
protection of human rights.

Among which are the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs 
and Security Policy, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the 
Organization of American States and the Inter-American Commission on Human 
Rights.

"These firm and unequivocal efforts to move away from the death penalty are the 
outcome of rights-based developments in law and in science that point to the 
flaw in the typical argument that the imposition of death penalty is a key 
deterrent to the commission of heinous crimes," she said.

(source: Philippine Inquirer)








PAKISTAN:

Irreversible penalty



On World Day Against the Death Penalty, the question once again arises: should 
the state - consisting of human beings, prone to human error - make decisions 
on who gets to live or die?

There are philosophical arguments in support for and against the death penalty 
and intrinsic to these are themes of social order, punishment and retribution.

But what about justice?

When emotions and paranoia run high, humans are less likely to be convinced by 
the lucidity of an argument. But justice has to remain impartial; it cannot be 
swayed by popular sentiment. And it cannot be rushed to cover up its systemic 
failings.

Pakistan is one of 57 countries that retains the death penalty law.

Since 2004, we have sentenced 4,500 people to death by hanging.

In 2008, a moratorium on the death penalty was imposed. No executions occurred 
between 2009 and 2013 (barring one in 2012).

But in the aftermath of the APS attack in 2014, when 132 schoolchildren and 
nine others were brutally murdered, the moratorium was lifted and military 
courts were propped up.

Few challenged the decision. The country was hurting. Blood had to be repaid in 
blood.

Since the lifting of the moratorium, Pakistan has carried out 465 executions.

True, the death penalty gives citizens living in chaotic times a superficial 
sense of security; it also satiates the darker aspects of human nature 
(revenge, scapegoating, and the element of 'purifying' society of 'anti-social' 
elements).

But it is also evident there can be no trial in which courts guarantee flawless 
prosecution or ensure complete absence of arbitrariness.

And it is the poor who are largely made victims of a faulty justice system.

Unable to cover legal fees, they are at the mercy of state-appointed lawyers. 
It is also common practice for investigative officers, on a tight budget, to 
write reports in favour of whoever pays them well. Mental illnesses are rarely 
factored in.

The vast majority of admissions of guilt are through confessions, which can be 
extracted through torture.

Despite all these faults and more than enough reasons for doubt, we continue to 
have on the statute books the highest form of punishment for 27 offences, 
ranging from (alleged) murder to (alleged) treason to (alleged) blasphemy.

Death is irreversible. Let's not create more victims in the process of 
'justice'.

Perhaps both state and society should also reflect on the circumstances, and 
their own role, in creating criminals.

(source: dawn.com)

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

Nadeem Nusrat demands immediate release of Asiya Bibi



South Asia Minorities Alliance Foundation (SAMAF) chairman Nadeem Nusrat urged 
Pakistan's Supreme Court to drop unfounded blasphemy charges against death row 
convict Asiya Bibi, and ordered her immediate release.

The Mohajir leader, in a statement, said that for years, Bibi has been kept in 
prison under charges that clearly lack credibility and mock the norms of 
justice. She has already suffered enough and there is no reason to keep her in 
prison, he added.

Nusrat's statement comes a day after Pakistan's Supreme Court reserved its 
judgement on the blasphemy case lodged against Bibi, the only woman in Pakistan 
to be facing a death penalty for blasphemy.

Bibi, a Christian woman, was allegedly involved in an argument with three 
Muslim women after they refused to drink from a cup that she had touched, 
according to Al Jazeera. The three women later claimed that Bibi, in an ensuing 
argument, insulted Prophet Muhammed, a charge that carries capital punishment 
in Pakistan. In 2010, a court in Sheikhupura sentenced her to death by hanging. 
Since then, several appeals against the death sentence have not been able to 
give Bibi a relief. Last year, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar 
declined to hear her case.

Meanwhile, the SAMAF chairman, who also heads the Voice of Karachi, added that 
it is a common knowledge that blasphemy charges in Pakistan are routinely used 
against the country's religious minorities and Asiya Bibi's case is no 
exception. "In most cases, the real reasons behind blasphemy charges are very 
different and have nothing to do with the charges levelled against the accused 
persons," said Nusrat.

He further added that Pakistan's own military establishment has been fanning 
religious extremism in the country for decades, which has not only emboldened 
religious extremists but also made it "very convenient for anyone to accuse 
members of religious minorities of blasphemy."

Such reckless policies of the military establishment, Nusrat said, have created 
an environment of hatred and intolerance where not just religious minorities, 
but every peace-loving, secular-minded individual seems to be under threat.

"The killing of former Punjab Governor Salman Taseer is just one example of 
this growing madness where religious and ethnic minorities have become a 
hostage to religious extremist forces and standing up to them is becoming 
increasingly dangerous," he added.

Apart from demanding the release of Bibi, the SAMAF chairman also urged 
Pakistani lawmakers to amend the current blasphemy laws, stating that the 
present laws allow religious extremists to conveniently accuse members of 
religious minorities of unfounded blasphemy charges.

(source: newkerala.com)








BANGLADESH:

Bangladesh court hands life sentence to acting opposition party chief over 2004 
blasts



A Bangladesh court on Wednesday sentenced Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman 
of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to life in jail, and 19 
more to death, over a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2004, 
lawyers said.

The opposition is in disarray ahead of general elections set for December, with 
Rahman trying to run its campaign from exile in London after his mother and 
party leader, former premier Khaleda Zia, was jailed on corruption charges in 
February.

(source: Reuters)

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

Tarique deserves death penalty: Law Minister



Expressing satisfaction over the verdict in the cases regarding August 21, 2004 
grenade attack, Law Minister Anisul Huq said Tarique Rahman was the main hero 
(mastermind) behind the attack and he deserves death penalty, reports BSS.

Asked about whether he is satisfied with the verdict, he said at his 
secretariat office, "We are satisfied with the verdict. But the main hero 
(mastermind) behind the attack was Begum Khaleda Zia's eldest son Tarique 
Rahman and he deserves death penalty."

"But, he (Tarique) was given life imprisonment. After through scrutiny of the 
verdict, we will file appeal with the higher court for enhancement of his 
punishment," he continued.

Coming down heavily on BNP for not believing in rule of law, he said, "The 
Awami League government under the dynamic leadership of Sheikh Hasina has been 
relentlessly working to establish the rule of law with holding trail of all the 
cases. But, the BNP has destroyed the rule of law with not holding trial in 
such cases."

Referring to the verdict in the August 21, 2004 grenade attack, the law 
minister said, "I have so far knew the court sentenced death penalty to 19 
people (including then BNP's state minister Lutfuzzaman Babar and deputy 
minister Abdus Salam Pintu) and life term imprisonment to 19 others (including 
BNP's acting chairperson Tarique Rahman and political adviser of former prime 
minister Begum Khaleda Zia)."

"It was quite satisfactory as all of the accused of the cases had been 
sentenced in the verdict," he added.

(source: theindependentbd.com)

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

'They hanged me from ceiling fan and beat me,' says grenade attack case 
'scapegoat’ Joj Mia



Md Jalal alias Joj Mia became a household name for all the wrong reasons - he 
was implicated in an incident he had nothing to do with. He was tagged 'top 
terrorist' and spent a long time in jail.

Joj Mia from a village in Noakhali's Senbagh was made a 'scapegoat' in the 
investigation into the grenade attack targeting Sheikh Hasina on an Awami 
League rally in Dhaka around 1 1/2 decades ago.

Once an accused in the cases over the attack, Joj Mia is the witness now.

bdnews24.com spoke to Joj Mia, now working as a driver at a hospital in Dhaka, 
on Oct 5 ahead of Wednesday's verdict in the cases over the attack.

"I want maximum penalty for those who framed me and those who killed people in 
the grenade attack," he said.

BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman, now acting as the party chief from 
exile, and 37 other defendants face up to death penalty and 11 government 
officials maximum 7 years in jail if the court finds them guilty of the charges 
under the Bangladesh Penal Code and the Explosives Act.

The first 3 investigation officers of the case -- CID special superintendent 
Ruhul Amin, and 2 ex-CID ASPs Munshi Atiqur Rahman and Abdur Rashid - are also 
among the accused now.

The 3 investigation officers are accused of attempts to divert the 
investigation by showing Joj Mia as the attacker.

CID's assistant police superintendent Fazlul Kabir pressed charges against 22 
people in June, 2008 -- during the caretaker government -- although the 
investigation made no progress during the BNP-Jamaat government.

After the Awami League came back to power in 2009, investigator Akanda filed a 
supplementary charge-sheet accusing 30 more including Tarique, and the 3 
investigators.

Joj Mia recounted how his 'confession' was taken through torture after he was 
arrested on June 9, 2005.

Joj Mia, who ran a CD and poster business on the pavement in Dhaka's Gulistan, 
was at home in Noakhali at the time of the attack and his arrest as well.

He said he had taken part in the Awami League's protest programmes against the 
attack after seeing the news on TV.

He believes a local leader of the BNP selected him as the 'scapegoat' and 
handed him to the police.

Initially, he knew that he had been arrested on drugs offence charges, but 
later CID's Rashid brought him to Dhaka and officials threatened him at the CID 
office to make a confession that he had carried out the grenade attack.

Investigators Rashid, Ruhul Amin and Atiqur pressed him for the confession, Joj 
Mia said.

He was remanded for around 30 days in phases. The officials initially wanted to 
know who were involved in the attack and later they started pushing him for the 
confession, he said.

"There were days when I was hanged from ceiling fan. They hit me on my toes," 
said Joj Mia, who still carries the scars of the torture.

He alleged the CID officials also threatened him with death in so-called 
crossfire.

"I agreed at one stage considering my mother and sister's safety," he said.

Joj Mia said the police officials made him memorise the confessional statement 
with details of the attack. They also showed him videos of the area and the 
incident to make it clear to him, he said.

Rashid was present and corrected him when a magistrate recorded his statement, 
Joj Mia said.

He said he had to name top criminals like Subrata Bain and Molla Masud, who he 
had not known.

"The CID officials asked me to say that these 'Big Brothers' had ordered me to 
carry out the attack for Tk 5,000. Later, I met one of them ('Big Brothers') in 
jail and he asked me why I had took his name!" Joj Mia said.

He said his family was given money on a monthly basis through the CID as a 
reward for his 'confession'.

The media first unearthed the truth after his mother spoke out. He was later 
released.

Asked about his family, he gave both good and bad news. His mother died some 
days ago from a kidney disease and he could not arrange her treatment due to 
lack of money, Joj Mia said.

His sister's marriage is getting delayed for his involvement in the Aug 21 
cases, he said.

And Joj Mia and his wife are expecting a child now, said the man with beaming 
smile.

(source: bdnews24.com)








INDIA:

Death for child rapists ineffective and too expensive, says policy paper



The infamous gang-rape and murder of a woman in New Delhi in 2012 sparked 
national protests and led to stringent punishments for perpetrators of rape. 
Almost 6 years after this incident, the rape and murder of an 8-year-old in 
Kathua and the sexual assault on a teen in Unnao, shocked the country and 
outraged people took to the streets, demanding death penalty for child rapists.

Driven in part by public sentiments, Indian parliament recently passed a law 
prescribing death penalty for the rape of children younger than 12 years. While 
this legislation is based on ideology that severe punishments will deter the 
commission of child rapes, a policy paper released by the Center for 
Criminology & Public Policy recently, suggests that expanding death penalty to 
child rapists is ineffective as a deterrent and is more expensive than other 
sentencing measures.

"Death penalty regime escapes the decisive cost-benefit analysis, because it is 
used by the government to distinguish itself by the toughness of their position 
- rather than its effectiveness. Before expanding death penalty to child 
rapists, the government should have carried out a scientific assessment to 
check whether it acted as deterrent for sexual crimes". - R Rochin Chandra, 
Director, CCPP

The policy paper, which was prepared in consultation with several experts, 
including legal researchers, police officers, advocates, child and adolescent 
psychiatrists, and rehabilitation consultants, highlighted the need for 
stricter implementation of laws, and diversion of public expenditure into child 
sexual-abuse prevention programs.

Director of the Center and policy paper's author, R Rochin Chandra, said, 
"Death penalty is not only a facile solution to the problem of child rape but 
its excessive cost of implementation interferes with a spectrum of preventive 
programs that have been demonstrated to work well".

In its paper, the Udaipur-based think-tank stated that endorsing death penalty 
for child rapists was a 'fiscally irresponsible decision' and its application 
will disproportionately affect the child victims, adding to the alarmingly low 
rates of conviction.

Emphasizing that execution of death penalty is shrinking the budget for crime 
prevention programs, Chandra, who has been offering consultancy to state's CID 
Crime Branch, said the state police forces run several innovative programs 
under its public-police outreach projects, which are aimed at solving the 
problems of crime faced by citizens.

For example, recently, Ahmedabad City Police in association with academic 
criminologists at Raksha Shakti University launched a policing program where 
they used crime victimization data to understand the conditions that promoted 
sexual violence against children and subsequently developed a community-based 
intervention model to provide prevention education and awareness around the 
issue of child sexual abuse".

"But because of government's heavy reliance on death penalty, the budget for 
such innovative and workable programs is shrinking", Chandra added.

Key arguments against death penalty

Prison economics overlooked

On how execution of death penalty increased the cost of prison management, the 
policy paper said: "the government will have to bear the expenses of locking up 
death row convicts, while also paying a team of judges, defense lawyers and 
prosecutors for many years - often decades - to debate whether a sentence of 
death should be imposed on them. This makes capital punishment more costly than 
its closest alternative - life imprisonment without parole."

Death penalty will serve differential justice

Pointing out that jurisprudence is always prospective not retrospective, the 
policy paper revealed that: "death penalty might satisfy public demand for 
justice to child victims, but it will cause gross injustice to child survivors, 
whose wrong doers would still be tried under old legislations".

"The decision to provide death penalty for child rape was a knee-jerk reaction 
by the government. It will only serve differential justice, where the rape of 
certain children would be treated more seriously than the rape of another", 
added Chandra.

Legal process is rigorous for death penalty

The paper mentioned that during 2004-2015, about 1300 prisoners were put on 
death row, but of those, only 4 cases resulted in execution. "These figures 
show that legal process for death penalty is significantly longer and more 
complex than for life imprisonment, and applying such punishment for child rape 
will only result in more acquittals than convictions", the position paper said.

Rapists will kill their victims

On what makes death penalty counter-productive, the paper said: "the threat to 
death will encourage the rapists to kill their victim in order to cover up the 
crime and eliminate the prime witness".

Death Penalty will have a silencing effect on victims

Highlighting that most of the perpetrators of child sexual abuse are 'family 
members' or 'someone 'known' (as per the 2016 NCRB 'Crime in India' data), the 
paper argued that, "death penalty will put the child in a loyalty conflict, due 
to which she will not reveal the abuse".

It also added that expansion of death penalty to child rapists will seriously 
reduce the reporting of crime.

Death Penalty - a hollow claim of deterrence

The paper argued that death penalty for child rape is not an effective 
instrument of deterrence.

"Even after executing Nirbhaya convicts and bringing severe punishments under 
substantive as well as juvenile laws, there has been a considerable rise in 
child rape cases in the entire country, explaining the ineffectiveness of death 
penalty as a deterrent", Chandra said,adding that, "certainty and swiftness of 
punishment will have greater deterrent effect than severity of punishment".

(source: uidaipurtimes.com)