[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

October 21




IRAN----execution

Man Hanged at Zahedan Prison



A prisoner was executed at Zahedan Central Prison on rape charges this morning.

According to the IHR sources, Mehdi Mirshekar, 31, was in prison for 6 years 
before the execution. He was convicted to death on rape charges and his 
execution was carried out on the morning of Saturday, October 20.

According to HRANA, Mehdi Mirshekar was transferred to the solitary confinement 
of Zahedan Central Prison on Monday, October 15, 2018.

The Iranian media outlets have not published news related to the execution so 
far.

(source: Iran Human Rights)








MALAYSIA:

Wee: Don't bulldoze death penalty abolition



Wee Ka Siong has called into questioned what he claims is Putrajaya's hastiness 
in pushing through the abolition of the death penalty.

The MCA deputy president said the government should at least allow a 
parliamentary select committee to vet the proposal first.

"I have proposed to the government to set up a parliamentary select committee 
to look into the abolition of death penalty, which was then echoed by Dewan 
Rakyat deputy speaker Nga Kor Ming.

"But Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Liew Vui Keong is now saying 
that the government would not do so, as the Cabinet had already made a decision 
to put an end to capital punishment.

"I hope that the government can respect the role of Parliament in this 
instance. After all, abolishing the death penalty requires amendments to 8 
legislations, covering 32 offences," he said in a statement last night.

Wee questioned if the hastiness was to allow the extradition of convicted 
murder Sirul Azhar Umar from Australia, which has refused to comply because the 
country does not support the death penalty.

Sirul, a former bodyguard to former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, was 
convicted of murdering Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

"Between extraditing Sirul and an in-depth evaluation of abolishing the death 
penalty, which one is more important?

"There should be more effort put into discussing whether abolishing the death 
penalty is suitable for Malaysia at this stage," he said.

Wee also questioned the proposal to set up a victim compensation fund.

"How does the government plan to sustain this fund then? Will it cut other 
expenses or introduce new taxes? If so, which expenses will be affected?" he 
asked.

(source:: malaysiakini.com)








PAKISTAN:

Road to abolition



10 years ago, in 2008, Pakistan took a much-needed step towards abolition of 
the death penalty by establishing a moratorium on executions. Less than six 
years later, that moratorium was lifted as a knee-jerk reaction to the 
increasing threat of terrorism.

In the 4 years since then, Pakistan has become one of the world's top 
executioners. We boast one of the largest death row populations in the world: 
nearly 4,700 people, according to the most recent official government figures, 
are currently waiting to be executed by the state and to join the almost 500 
others who have been executed since December 2014. While there has been a 
notable reduction in the number of prisoners on death row over the past several 
years, we still sentence 1 person to death each day, on average.

These are statistics that Pakistan should be ashamed of. Throughout the world, 
countries are gradually moving towards abolition, some by maintaining 
moratoriums and others through reducing the number of offences that are 
punishable by death and putting in place protections for the most vulnerable. 
Yet in Pakistan, we keep missing the train to abolition.

We have seen the number of crimes punishable by death increase over time, and 
the system through which executions are handed down continues to be riddled 
with travesties of justice. We cling to the idea that capital punishment is an 
effective deterrent - when all reliable studies on the matter say it is not.

Despite a reduction in death row prisoners, we still sentence one person to 
death each day, on average.

We say the death penalty is to combat terrorism, yet the vast majority of 
people on death row have not been convicted of terrorism charges.

Yes, we are far from being the only country in the world that still applies the 
death penalty; in fact, some 56 countries fully retain the death penalty. But 
just 4 countries - Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia - were responsible for 
84 per cent of all officially recorded executions carried out worldwide in 
2017. (There are no official figures for certain countries, including China.)

Perhaps most tragically, Pakistan belongs to a small club of countries that 
execute minors and people with mental and intellectual disabilities.

For the former, our laws prohibiting the application of the death penalty to 
juveniles are summarily disregarded, while for the second, we inexplicably have 
not been able to adopt laws that would enable diagnoses and adequately consider 
the degree of criminal culpability.

The absence of adequate laws is compounded by severe violations of fair trial 
standards: civilians are routinely tried and convicted by military tribunals, 
and people who cannot afford decent legal counsel see their rights trampled 
upon. Indeed, it is the poor who generally find themselves the victims of a 
justice system that is faulty to a large degree.

A case in point: in October 2016, the Supreme Court acquitted 2 brothers - 
Ghulam Sarwar and Ghulam Qadir - who had been convicted of murder in 2005. The 
conviction was upheld by the Lahore High Court in 2010. But by the time the 
Supreme Court heard the case, and overturned the conviction, the 2 men had 
already been executed. This case, like so many others, can only tell us one 
thing: the death penalty must be abolished.

On Pakistan’s overcrowded death row, inmates who should not have been there in 
the first place are faced with conditions that can only be described as 
horrendous: up to 8 people crammed in tiny 2x3 metre cells, contagious diseases 
that spread like wildfire, and the uncertainty of when it will all end. None of 
this contributes to decreasing the threat of terrorism.

Prime Minister Imran Khan and his new government have a unique opportunity to 
revisit Pakistan's laws imposing capital punishment and to prove that they are 
committed to addressing some of Pakistan's most egregious human rights abuses. 
Even small steps would be welcome: pledging to stop the imposition of capital 
punishment on children and those with mental illness, for example, would send a 
message that the government is finally willing to step up and protect the most 
vulnerable amongst us, as is its duty.

When the end of the moratorium on executions was announced 4 years ago, the 
then-chair of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Zohra Yusuf, said that 
it was a clear indication that the authorities were “going after vengeance 
rather than justice." As we take stock of the past several years, the statement 
has proven itself to be true. It is now high time to consider how we can get 
back on the road to abolition - one I am convinced leads to justice.

(source: Nehdi Hasan; The writer is chair of the Human Rights Commission of 
Pakistan----dawn.com)