[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

October 19



SOUTHEAST ASIA:

South-East Asian countries are backing away from the death penalty----But not 
from extra-judicial killings



Malaysia is hardly known for the leniency of its punishments. Sharia (Islamic 
law) applies in some states and canings offer a violent public spectacle. Even 
so, the country's new government no longer wishes to deal in death. On October 
10th Liew Vui Keong, a minister, announced that the death penalty would be 
abolished, although the necessary legislation has yet to be introduced in 
parliament. That would leave only four countries in South-East Asia still 
conducting executions: Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. And even 
among these hold-outs, there are signs of change.

Vietnam, with a population of more than 95m, is by far the most prolific 
executioner in the region. It does not normally disclose the number of 
prisoners put to death. But last year it reported that 429 had been executed in 
a 151-week period between 2013 and 2016, a much higher number than had been 
estimated previously. Singapore, the next on the list, carried out only 8 
hangings last year.

In Singapore and elsewhere, the death penalty remains popular with voters. But 
it is less and less so with lawmakers, who are more aware of the foreign 
criticism it attracts, especially because it is sometimes used for non-violent 
crimes such as corruption and drug offences. In recent years Vietnam has 
abolished it for crimes such as producing or trading counterfeit food and 
possessing drugs. Last year Malaysia and Thailand scrapped mandatory death 
sentences for selling drugs. In Indonesia a new law under discussion in 
parliament would introduce a ten-year probation period before an execution 
occurs.

There is regression, too. Singapore imposed a moratorium in 2011 during a 
review of mandatory sentencing before resuming executions in 2014. In June 
Thailand carried out its 1st execution since 2009. In the Philippines President 
Rodrigo Duterte would like to reintroduce the death penalty, a view shared by 
many of those who voted for him. But legislation to do so has stalled in 
Congress. The new speaker of the House of Representatives, Gloria Macapagal 
Arroyo, is a former president who helped to bring about the abolition of the 
death penalty in 2006.

As encouraging as the growing ambivalence about executions is, however, the 
region suffers from enormous numbers of extra-judicial killings in which the 
authorities often participate. Myanmar has not formally executed anyone since 
1988. Yet a UN report last month said that its army had slaughtered more than 
10,000 members of a Muslim minority, the Rohingyas, in a pogrom which began 
last year.

Indonesian authorities shot dead more than 60 drug suspects last year. They 
claim, unconvincingly, that all the killings occurred in self-defence, or as 
suspects attempted to flee. In the Philippines Mr Duterte's war against drugs 
has unleashed murder on an appalling scale. Police and vigilantes have killed 
more than 20,000 suspects in around 2 years, according to human-rights groups 
and opposition politicians. For the most part the victims have been petty users 
and dealers, rather than kingpins. Mr Duterte has himself boasted on occasion 
about participating in such killings in his previous job as mayor of the city 
of Davao; at other times he has disavowed any role. But he certainly has not 
disavowed the practice.

(source: The Economist)








PAKISTAN:

Rethinking Pakistan's drug law----This mislaid focus, which allows for 
expendable 'drug mules' to be arrested and convicted rather than the actual 
kingpins, is aided by the broad-brush nature of the law

Dilawar, a 65 years-old truck driver, is apprehended one day on his way to 
Kashmir and found to be carrying 380 kilos of cannabis. He is oblivious to the 
nature of the cargo, yet is able to identify with detailed precision, the 
people who had employed him to carry it. Although apprehended, these 
individuals are only detained and then released without any charges against 
them. Dilawar on the other hand, a man who would have needed 76 years just to 
earn the money required to buy that amount of drugs, was prosecuted and 
eventually handed a sentence for life imprisonment.

Dilawar’s case is not anomalous in the record of anti-narcotics enforcement in 
the country. The regime in Pakistan is rigged against those from the poorest 
and most vulnerable strata of society. In many cases this includes women and it 
also includes under-age minors and people with learning difficulties.

A report published earlier this year by the Foundation for Fundamental rights 
relied on extensive case reviews and interviews, to reveal the iniquitous 
operations of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act of 1997 (CNSA). The 
extensive research in the report does not reveal a single case, where a 
defendant had faced the harshest penalties under the act - death or life 
imprisonment - for the organization, management or financing of drug cartels. 
All death penalties handed out under the CNSA are for possession-based 
offences.

Ostensibly, the CNSA was implemented to control the "production and processing" 
of narcotics in addition to their trafficking. However, under the CNSA regime 
the focus has remained on making individual seizures of narcotics, rather than 
on building more complex investigations targeting senior traffickers and the 
disruption of criminal networks. This mislaid focus, which allows for 
expendable 'drug mules' to be arrested and convicted rather than the actual 
kingpins, is aided by the broad-brush nature of the law.

Such a focus on outputs instead of outcomes under the CNSA regime is the reason 
that more than 6.7 million Pakistanis remain dependent on or addicted to drugs 
according to UNODC. Despite these seizures and arrests, the flow of drugs 
through the country has not been significantly impacted

In the first place, the CNSA presumes that accused parties found carrying drugs 
are guilty under the Act. Section 29 particularly shifts the criminal burden of 
proof onto the accused so that he or she has to account satisfactorily for 
possession of a prohibited substance, failing which they are found to be 
guilty. In most cases testimonies from independent witnesses (those who are not 
on the ANF's payroll) are not taken into account. Given the inability in most 
cases to pay for good legal representation, the accused has very little 
capacity to overcome this presumption of guilt. By making possession almost a 
strict liability offence, the quantum of punishment is solely determined by 
reference to the quantity of narcotics found on the person. Few, if any 
mitigating factors are considered.

Overall, the framework is itself flawed: from acts ranging from simple 
possession of drugs to management or financing of a cartel, courts can hand 
down the death penalty or life imprisonment. Given the low standard of proof 
required for convictions on possession, these account for the high success rate 
that the ANF counts for 'drug busts' in this country. Returning to the case of 
Dilawar above, it is clear that all the parties who organized, financed and 
managed this consignment of drugs remain at large. The life sentence awarded to 
Dilawar reflects the cumulative harm that such a large quantity of drugs would 
be ascertained to have if released into society; however, is it fair that 
Dilawar be the one from whom retribution is sought?

In many cases, carriers and transporters are often coerced, tricked or driven 
by deplorable socioeconomic circumstances into drug trafficking. Beyond the 
relatively small sums that they may in cases be paid, they cannot be understood 
to have financial stakes in the drug trade. The cartels that do have a stake 
continue to flourish in conditions of relative impunity. Yet, even when 
identified, kingpins go free and the drug trade continues on.

At a function held in December 2017, the Anti-Narcotics Force congratulated 
itself for burning roughly 136 Metric Tons of drugs during its continuous 
'Anti-Drug Drives' in major cities in 2017. In his presentation DG ANF cited 
sizable amounts of various types of harmful drugs being seized. He reportedly 
lauded the enforcement authorities for "successfully" convicting 96 % of the 
people caught for drug trafficking. Research, however, indicates that these 
statistics can be misleading as indicators of success.

At a function held in December 2017, the Anti-Narcotics Force congratulated 
itself for burning roughly 136 Metric Tons of drugs during its continuous 
'Anti-Drug Drives' in major cities in 2017

Such a focus on outputs instead of outcomes under the CNSA regime is the reason 
that more than 6.7 million Pakistanis remain dependent on or addicted to drugs 
according to UNODC. Despite these seizures and arrests, the flow of drugs 
through the country has not been significantly impacted.

Unless reforms are introduced to make the statute fairer and more effective, 
and standards of justice in the CNSA courts are improved, the CNSA regime will 
continue to fall short of achieving its objectives and this figure will only go 
higher.

The FFR report suggests some solutions. These include a reworking of the 
statute to allow for more proportionate sentencing reflective of the severity 
of the offense committed, the willingness of the offenders to cooperate and 
identify kingpins, a co-consideration of the type and quantity of drug being 
carried. Given that it's proven utterly ineffective in deterring couriers or 
cartel leaders, the inclusion of the death penalty as punishment in this 
statute needs to be reconsidered.

Instead, a combination of financial and custodial penalties targeting the 
assets and liberty of the traffickers (particularly the senior ones) can be 
more effective as punishment. Focus needs to be redirected towards senior 
traffickers and on dismantling organised drug trafficking networks rather than 
intercepting 'mules' who can be easily replaced.

(source: Op-Ed; Ifrah, Hassan; The writer is Manager Communications at 
Foundation for Fundamental Rights (FFR), Islamabad----The Daily Times)








TAIWAN:

EU disappointed over execution of death row inmate in Taiwan



The European Union (EU) was "very disappointed" over the Tsai Ing-wen 
administration's execution of a death row inmate in late August and rejects its 
logic that the death penalty was carried out because capital punishment has yet 
to be abolished in Taiwan, the top EU envoy to Taiwan said Friday.

Lee Hung-chi, 39, who was convicted of murder in 2014, was executed in 
Kaohsiung on Aug. 31. It was the 1st execution since President Tsai took office 
on May 20, 2016.

Asked to comment on the execution, Madeleine Majorenko, head of the European 
Economic and Trade Office (EETO), the EU's representative office in Taiwan, 
told reporters that it came as a surprise and people in the EU were "very 
disappointed" over the move.

Majorenko said she talked with Taiwan officials after the execution and was 
told that the sentence was carried out because "we have that (death penalty) in 
our law, we must obey the law, which means we must execute somebody."

"We don't accept that logic. Just because it says in the law that you can 
execute somebody because it's on your statute book, that doesn't mean we 
believe you have to do it," she noted.

She said she was also told that it is still the long-term objective of the 
government to abolish the death penalty. "But they don't feel the time is now 
(to abolish death penalty)," Majorenko said.

The EU representative said she understands that opinion polls in Taiwan show 
over 80 % support for capital punishment.

However, she pointed out that her office commissioned a survey undertaken by 
Taiwan's top research institute Academia Sinica several years ago, the results 
of which showed that if one offers an alternative to the death penalty, support 
to abolish capital punishment increases to around 50 %.

The EETO head said the execution will not affect the possible signing of a 
Bilateral Investment Agreement (BIA) with Taiwan when asked to comment if the 2 
are connected.

"I think I can safely say it will not affect the progress of our discussions on 
the agreement."

She noted that there is a "huge element of disappointment" in Brussels at the 
execution, but added "it's not our way of engaging with partners to hold one 
thing hostage in order to deal with another issue."

However, she also said no recent progress has been made in bilateral BIA talks.

(source: focustaiwan.tw)








CHINA/JAPAN:

Italian priest backs anti-death penalty bid----But representatives of the 
Japanese and Chinese governments refused to accept a petition



An Italian-born priest and others have attempted to lodge a petition seeking 
the abolition of the death penalty with representatives of the governments of 
both Japan and China.

The petition was taken to the Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong and the 
main liaison office there of the mainland Chinese government.

On the Oct. 10 'World Day against the Death Penalty', Father Franco Mella of 
the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, did so along with fellow Hong 
Kong activists opposed to capital punishment.

The petitioners sang, shouted slogans and submitted the petition, which 
personnel at both locations refused to accept.

The group expressed dissatisfaction with the officials being unwilling to pass 
on the petition to their respective governments.

Born in Milan, Father Mella arrived in Hong Kong in the 1970s and then spent 
some 20 years in China.

He has devoted his life to fighting for the rights of the disadvantaged.

Japan is one of the only developed countries in the world that has maintained 
the death penalty.

In July, the wealthy island nation executed 13 people who had been found guilty 
of involvement in acts of terrorism by the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, 
including a 1995 sarin poison gas attack on Tokyo's subway.

Some prisoners were notified only immediately before their execution took place 
and even the families of the condemned were not advised in advance.

China in 2017 was the nation that carried out the largest number of executions 
in the world, followed by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan.

Hong Kong has had an 'Abolish the Death Penalty Group' for 20 years.

Father Mella, who is a member, said some crimes resulting in executions 
world-wide could not be considered heinous.

And the priest told ucanews.com that the death penalty was cruel and did not 
effectively prevent crimes from happening.

"The national crime rates of countries that abolished the death penalty have 
not seen rapid growth," he said.

(source: ucanews.com)



MALAYSIA:

Briton murdered in Langkawi, wife arrested



A British man has been stabbed to death in Langkawi, and his wife has been 
arrested on suspicion of murder, police said yesterday.

John William Jones, 62, was found on the floor of his house with a stab wound 
to the chest, local police chief Mohamad Iqbal Ibrahim told AFP.

His British wife, whose identity was not disclosed, has been detained and is 
suspected of having murdered him following a row, he said.

The pair had lived on Langkawi for the past 11 years, Iqbal said.

"The couple were believed to have engaged in an argument. The wife then took a 
knife from the kitchen and stabbed her husband in the chest," he said.

A 30cm knife was found on the floor of the couple's bedroom covered in blood 
stains, he said.

Local media reported the victim's body was discovered early yesterday after 
neighbours alerted police.

Under current laws, the wife will be sentenced to death by hanging if she is 
found guilty of murdering her husband. Murder carries a mandatory death 
sentence in Malaysia.

The government recently pledged to abolish the death penalty for all crimes but 
lawmakers still have to approve the changes.

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

Congrats on 2 recent cabinet decisions, Putrajaya!



The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) takes note of and 
congratulates the government on the 2 cabinet decisions recently and sees them 
as part of the process of the phasing in of transformative democracy and 
rights-based reforms in Malaysia.

First is the government's decision that has been taken note of internationally, 
to fully abolish the death penalty, that has been traditionally seen as a 
sensitive political issue. The government's position is in line with United 
Nations General Assembly resolutions calling for a phasing out of capital 
punishment, further affirming that Malaysia will soon fully guarantee the 
fundamental right to life.

The death penalty has no place in a modern legal system given that there is no 
conclusive evidence of the deterrent value of the death penalty and Suhakam 
advises that a legal or de facto moratorium on the use of the death penalty be 
observed pending the abolition.

Second is the decision to put in place a moratorium on the use of the Sedition 
Act 1948 pending its repeal.

Suhakam believes the government is now in a position to take concurrent steps 
towards ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or 
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Uncat) as promoting human rights and 
democracy must be seen as a priority for Malaysia.

(source: Letter, malaysiakini.com)








FIJI:

Ro Filipe for death penalty



Social Democratic Liberal Party candidate Ro Filipe Tuisawau says he will 
pursue death penalty for child rapists and murderers if their party comes into 
Government after the 2018 General Election.

He said the lack of moral leadership in Fiji showed that the nation had started 
to deteriorate.

"The rape situation is one of the worst in the world," he claimed.

"I will pursue death penalty for child rape and murder. Physical and chemical 
castration of rapists is a must.

"This must be immediately implemented. Rapists must be whipped every week," Ro 
Filipe said.

Ro Filipe said a new constitution was needed to be formulated and validated by 
the people.

The Rewa chief, who is contesting the 2018 polls, is a former student of Queen 
Victoria School and has a Bachelor of Arts and Graduate Certificate in 
Education from the University of the South Pacific.

Ro Filipe also attained a Masters of Business Administration from Massey 
University, New Zealand and graduate certificate in Migration Law from 
Australian National University.

For 30 years, he worked for the USP, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Air 
Terminal Services and the South Pacific Tourism Organisation.

Ro Filipe was also a director of Airports Fiji Ltd and is a director of Rewa 
Provincial Holdings Fiji Ltd.

He is married with 5 children.

(source: fijitimes.com)








IRAN----executions

Iran executes 7 in past week, three of them Kurds



Iranian officials in 5 different prisons carried out the death sentences of 7 
prisoners in the past week as the country continues to dominate total execution 
numbers internationally. Among those executed were 3 Kurds, a human rights 
watchdog reported on Wednesday.

Mawloud Sha-Husseini, from Kurdistan Province's city of Divandarreh 
(Diwandara), was arrested in 2014 on charges of dealing drugs and shortly after 
was convicted and handed a death sentence. Now 29, he has been awaiting the 
completion of his sentence for the past 4 years and on Tuesday it was carried 
out in Isfahan Central Prison, said Iran Human Rights Monitor.

On Sunday, Aslan Shirani, 33, another Kurdish prisoner from the city of West 
Azerbaijan's Miandoab city and held in Maragha Prison in East Azerbaijan, was 
also executed. He was convicted of "premeditated murder" in 2015.

3 days afterward, in Ilam Central Prison, another Kurdish prisoner named Kurosh 
Behzadian, whose age and place of birth is unclear, was hanged till death 6 
years after he was sentenced on the same charges.

2 other Iranian nationals, Behrooz Ansari-Lanjan and Ayoub Jahandar, were 
executed in Isfahan Central Prison and South Khorasan's Ferdaws prison, 
respectively.

Earlier in the week, local reports indicated the hanging of 2 other prisoners, 
Saleh Mota’ahil, 38, and Yar-Ali Nouri, 40, who were held in Chaharmahal and 
Bakhtiari Province's Shahr-e Kord prison.

According to Amnesty International, among the 23 countries that carried out 
death sentences in 2017, "Iran executed at least 507 people." At least 31 of 
those executions were public, and 5 of those executed were under 18 years old. 
These numbers account for more than 1/2 of all recorded executions in 2017.

>From March through September, Iran has hanged over 40 Iranian Kurds and 
sentenced just under a dozen other activists to death, as reported by Hengaw, a 
group that writes on human rights violations involving Kurds in Iran.

Other cases that garnered international attention in recent weeks were that of 
Ramin Hussein Panahi and 2 cousins Loghman and Zaniar Moradi who were all 
executed on Sept. 08.

(source: kurdistan24.net)








ZIMBABWE:

Hangman Position Remains Vacant Since 2006 Despite High Unemployment Rate



Despite the high unemployment in Zimbabwe, no one wants to take the job of 
Executioner.

Despite the high level of unemployment in Zimbabwe which has seen citizens 
scramble for any kind of job available, no one seems interested in applying for 
the position of executioner - a position that has remained vacant since the 
country's last hangman retired in 2006.

No one has been officially executed in the country since 2005, according to 
reports in the African nation, leaving 81 unsure when they will be hanged.

Dozens of criminals are languishing on Death Row in Zimbabwe unsure when they 
will die - because the country has no executioner.

According to the Zimbabwean Death Penalty Database , the official method of 
executing prisoners is hanging.

A recent report in New Zimbabwe reveals that the Justice Ministry have 
continued to advertise for the post, but no executioner has been appointed.

However, there has been increased calls on the issue as both local and 
international advocates continue to mount pressure on the Zimbabwean government 
to abolished death penalty in the country.

Critics fear that the inmates on death row are living in unspeakable conditions 
which is as a result of the fact that they are 'already dead' as far as the 
government is concerned; a claim that was vehemently denied by the Prisons 
Deputy Commissioner - Human Resources; Ms. Fadzayi Mupure say that Death Row 
inmates live in the same conditions as other prisoners.

Earlier this year President Emmerson Mnangagwa commuted the sentences of 16 
inmates.

He has been a vocal opponent of the death penalty, and a report published in 
The Conversation found that 80% of people said they would accept it if the 
government abolished the death penalty.

Nursery paedophile Vanessa George's ex-husband fears what she'll do next if she 
wins parole next month.

Zimbabwean law states that women, and people aged under 21 and over 70 cannot 
be hanged.

Earlier this year Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for Southern 
Africa, Muleya Mwananyanda, said: "President Emmerson Mnangagwa's has taken a 
very progressive step in deciding to spare the prisoners from the hangman's 
noose.

"His action is commendable, but he must build on this positive momentum by 
ensuring that Zimbabwe abolishes the death penalty completely.

“Countries around the world, including in sub-Saharan Africa, are moving away 
from using the death penalty.

"There is no credible evidence that the death penalty has a greater deterrent 
effect on crime than imprisonment."

(source: The African Exponent)








NIGERIA:

Gov. Okowa adds voice to end death penalty in Nigeria



Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta on Thursday added his voice to the call to end 
death sentences in the country.

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta on Thursday added his voice to the call to end 
death sentences in the country.

The governor made the call when he received members of the Presidential 
Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy led by William Alo.

He said that Nigeria remained a major player in the International community and 
should join the rest of the world in moving away from death sentences.

He called on the Federal Government to improve on the prison facilities across 
the country in spite of the its overcrowded nature.

He said: "We need to ask ourselves if death sentence is still relevant in our 
society.

"In many states, many Governors are not ready to sign the death warrant, why 
are they not signing the death warrant.

"We need to evolve measures that will make Nigerian Prisons to be truly 
reformatory centres, so that ex-convicts can be better citizens.

"There is no doubt that most of our prisons are crowded, even in Delta, there 
is the need to have reforms that will change the mind of the prisoners for them 
to be useful to the society.

"I pray that the committee keeps this advocacy on what to do to carry out 
reforms to make prisoners come out as better persons.

"We need to make them see life differently and acquire skills to live better 
life after imprisonment.

"We need to have a total rethink to carry out a total reformation of prisoners 
because if we reform their lives and does not provide skills, many of them will 
return to their old ways."

Earlier, Alo said that the team was on advocacy visit to prisons in the state 
to assess the inmates and see ways of reforming on them.

He said that it was important to have suggestions on how to improve on the 
services in the Nigerian Prisons.

(source: theeagleonline.com)