[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 10



GLOBAL:

Death penalty in 2018: Facts and figures



Amnesty International recorded at least 690 executions in 20 countries in 2018, 
a decrease of 31% compared to 2017 (at least 993). This figure represents the 
lowest number of executions that Amnesty International has recorded in the past 
decade.

Most executions took place in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Viet Nam and Iraq – in 
that order.

China remained the world’s leading executioner – but the true extent of the use 
of the death penalty in China is unknown as this data is classified as a state 
secret; the global figure of at least 690 excludes the thousands of executions 
believed to have been carried out in China.

The authorities of Viet Nam indicated in November that 85 executions had been 
carried out during 2018, placing the country among the world’s top 5 
executioners.

Excluding China, 78% of all reported executions took place in just four 
countries – Iran, Saudi Arabia, Viet Nam and Iraq.

Botswana, Sudan, Taiwan and Thailand all resumed executions last year. Amnesty 
International did not report any executions in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Jordan, 
Kuwait, Malaysia, Palestine (State of) and United Arab Emirates (UAE), despite 
having done so in 2017.

Executions in Iran dropped from at least 507 in 2017 to at least 253 in 2018 – 
a decrease of 50%. Executions in Iraq decreased from at least 125 in 2017 to at 
least 52 in 2018, while in Pakistan, executions fell from at least 60 in 2017 
to at least 14 in 2018. Somalia halved its executions, down from 24 in 2017 to 
13 in 2018.

Burkina Faso abolished the death penalty in its new penal code in June. In 
February and July respectively, Gambia and Malaysia both declared an official 
moratorium on executions. In the US, the death penalty statute in the state of 
Washington was declared unconstitutional in October.

At the end of 2018, 106 countries (a majority of the world’s states) had 
abolished the death penalty in law for all crimes, and 142 countries (more than 
2/3) had abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

Amnesty International recorded commutations or pardons of death sentences in 29 
countries: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Botswana, China, 
Egypt, Guyana, India, Iran, Kuwait, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco/Western 
Sahara, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Saint Kitts and 
Nevis, South Korea, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, UAE, USA and Zimbabwe.

8 exonerations of prisoners under sentence of death were recorded in four 
countries: Egypt, Kuwait, Malawi and USA.

Amnesty International recorded at least 2,531 death sentences in 54 countries, 
a slight decrease from the total of 2,591 reported in 2017.

At least 19,336 people were known to be under sentence of death globally at the 
end of 2018.

The following methods of execution were used across the world in 2018: 
beheading, electrocution, hanging, lethal injection and shooting. Two new death 
sentences by stoning were known to have been imposed in Iran.

Reports from 2018 indicated seven people were executed in Iran for crimes 
committed when they were younger than 18 years of age.

At least 98 executions were known to have been carried out for drug-related 
offences in 4 countries – 14% of the global total and down from 28% in 2017. At 
least 226 of such death sentences were known to have been imposed in 14 
countries.

Death sentences were known to have been imposed after proceedings that did not 
meet international fair trial standards in countries including Bangladesh, 
Belarus, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Malaysia, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi 
Arabia, Singapore and Viet Nam.

Regional death penalty analysis

Americas

For the 10th consecutive year, the USA remained the only country to carry out 
executions in the region.

The number of executions (25) and death sentences (45) reported in the US 
slightly increased compared to 2017.

The state of Texas nearly doubled its figure compared to 2017 (from 7 to 13), 
accounting for just over 1/2 of the country’s total. Nebraska carried out its 
1st execution since 1997; South Dakota since 2012; and Tennessee since 2009.

Only 2 countries, USA and Guyana, imposed death sentences – the lowest recorded 
number since Amnesty International began keeping records in 1979.

The death penalty statute in the US state of Washington was declared 
unconstitutional in October.

Asia-Pacific

At least 136 executions in countries were known to have been carried out 
throughout the region in 2018, compared to at least 93 in 2017. This increase 
was mostly due to the rare 9 disclosure of a figure from the authorities of 
Viet Nam. It does not include the thousands of executions that Amnesty 
International believed were carried out in China.

Thailand resumed executions for the 1st time since 2009.

Japan more than tripled its annual figure (from 4 to 15), after the hanging of 
13 men involved in a high-profile case, which saw a deadly Sarin chemical 
attack on the Tokyo underground in 1995.

Singapore reported 13 executions, the 1st time since 2003 that its execution 
total reached a double-digit figure.

Pakistan reported a drop of 77% drop in executions, from 60 in 2017 to at least 
14 in 2018.

Malaysia announced a moratorium on executions and a review of its death penalty 
laws.

At least 1,100 new death sentences across 17 countries were known to have been 
imposed, a slight increase from the total of 1,037 recorded the previous year.

Europe and Central Asia

At least 4 executions were recorded in Belarus in 2018, compared to 2 in 2017. 
The last time another country in the region carried out executions was in 2005.

Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Tajikistan continued to observe 
moratoriums on executions.

Middle East and North Africa

The number of executions recorded by Amnesty International in the Middle East 
and North Africa region dropped by 41%, from 847 in 2017 to 501 in 2018, the 
lowest number of executions recorded in the region.

5 countries – Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen – were known to have 
carried out executions, a 50% drop in executing countries.

Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq remained the top executing countries in the region, 
carrying out at least 454 recorded executions between them, 91% of the total 
number in the whole of the region.

There were 1,170 recorded death sentences in 2018, marking an 89% increase 
compared to 2017, when 619 death sentences were recorded. Egypt imposed the 
highest number of confirmed death sentences in the region with at least 717 
people sentenced to death compared to at least 402 in 2017.

Sub-Saharan Africa

4 countries – Botswana, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan – carried out executions 
in 2018.

A drop in recorded executions in Somalia drove an overall decrease in the 
region, from 28 in 2017 to 24 in 2018, despite an alarming increase in 
executions in South Sudan.

Recorded death sentences reduced from at least 878 in 2017 to at least 212 in 
2018.

The number of countries that imposed death sentences increased to 17 from 15 
recorded in 2017.

Burkina Faso abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes only, and Gambia 
established a moratorium on executions and ratified an international treaty 
committing it to abolishing the death penalty.

(source: Amnesty International)

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

Amnesty: Lowest number of prisoners executed in 2018----Human rights 
organisation warns against complacency and said more needed to be done to 
abolish death penalty.



At least 690 prisoners were executed in 20 countries in 2018, marking a 31 % 
fall from at least 993 from the previous year, according to Amnesty 
International that reported the fewest deaths by capital punishment in at least 
a decade.

A total of 2,531 death sentences were also imposed in 54 countries last year, 
decreasing from 2,591 recorded worldwide in 2017 according to a report 
published on Wednesday by the UK-based rights group that hailed the significant 
decline in global executions.

As in previous years, China, where figures believed to be in the thousands are 
classified as a state secret, remained the most prolific executor, Amnesty 
said, followed by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Iraq - accounting for 78 % of 
total reported executions.

"It's very encouraging that known executions were the lowest at the end of 
2018, but it is challenging to define clear reasons for the decreases and 
whether these reductions will be sustained in the coming years," Oluwatosin 
Popoola, Amnesty International adviser on the death penalty, told Al Jazeera.

Executions in Iran dropped by 50 % in 2018 following amendments to drug 
legislation that increased the minimum amounts of drugs for death penalty 
offences. The change meant executions were put on hold while cases were 
reviewed.

Iraq, which executed at least 52 people, and Pakistan, which put more than 14 
to death, also showed a downward trend. Meanwhile, Somalia almost halved its 
executions from 24 in 2017 to 13 last year.

Amnesty's report comes after London-based NGO Harm Reduction International 
(HRI) revealed a drop of 68 percent in executions worldwide for drug crimes 
from 288 to 91 in 2018.

Popoola said that "while the global figures of executions undoubtedly tell a 
positive story for 2018, there were also concerning developments which show 
that it's not yet time to lift the pressure".

"The death penalty continued to be used in many cases against international law 
and standards in the absence of a fair trial and for non-lethal crimes such as 
drug-related offences," he said.

Amnesty found increases in executions in Japan, Singapore, South Sudan, Belarus 
and the United States.

Methods of recorded executions included beheading in Saudi Arabia, 
electrocution in the US, and hanging, lethal injection and shooting in other 
countries.

Calls for reform in Pakistan

Following a 77 % decline in executions, Pakistan was not ranked among the top 
five executing countries for the first time in four years.

While the "dramatic decrease in executions is heartening to see", Pakistan was 
"far from structural reform", according to Sarah Belal, executive director of 
rights group Justice Project Pakistan (JPP).

"This drop in executions cannot be taken as a correction to Pakistan's 
abhorrent history of handing out death sentences and executing the mentally 
ill, juveniles and those wrongfully convicted," said Belal.

According to Amnesty's report, at least 250 people were sentenced to death in 
Pakistan - a 25 % increase from 2017.

With more than 4,600 awaiting execution, according to data received by JPP, 
Pakistan has one of the world's largest death row population.

In a high profile case last year, Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman, was acquitted 
of blasphemy and released from prison after 8 years on death row.

The Supreme Court verdict in October sparked days of protests by far-right 
religious groups, death threats and chaos across the country.

JPP's Belal said the landmark case not only sets a good precedent, but is also 
an "indictment of Pakistan's disproportionate use of the death penalty against 
the most vulnerable".

Pakistani protesters burn a poster image of Christian woman Aasia Bibi in 
Hyderabad, Pakistan [File: Pervez Masih/AP]

She said her organisation is working with the new government to reform the 
process of filing a mercy petition and reducing the number of offenses 
punishable by death - currently at 33 - among other things.

'Closer to abolition'

Meanwhile, steps towards abolition were taken by many countries last year, 
Amnesty said.

In June, Burkina Faso abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes, while 
both The Gambia and Malaysia declared an official moratorium on executions.

No executions were reported in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, 
Palestine and the United Arab Emirates.

In December, a record high of 121 countries at the United Nations General 
Assembly voted in favour of establishing a moratorium on executions with a view 
to abolish the punishment.

Like 2017, the total number of countries that had abolished the death penalty 
in law for all crimes stood at 106 by the end of the year.

"Only a minority of countries in the world actively use the death penalty 
today, so we are closer to the complete and global abolition of the death 
penalty, more than ever before," added Amnesty's Popoola.

But with more than 19,000 prisoners still on death row around the world, 
Popoola said more was needed to end the "ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading 
punishment which has no place in the 21st century".

"We cannot afford to rest on our laurels, but continue to call on countries 
that use the death penalty to abolish this punishment."

(source: aljazeera.com)

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

Global Executions Fell By Nearly 1/3 Last Year - New Report



Global executions fell dramatically by almost a third (31%) last year to the 
lowest figure for at least a decade, Amnesty International said in its annual 
global review of the death penalty.

The findings - contained in a new 54-page Amnesty report, Death Sentences and 
Executions 2018 - also show that there was a 50% drop in executions in Iran 
(where use of the death penalty is rife) following a change to its anti-drugs 
laws Iraq, Pakistan and Somalia also saw significant reductions in executions.

As a result, overall in 2018 execution figures fell globally from 993 (the 
known minimum figure) in 2017, to at least 690 (again, the known minimum 
figure) in 2018.

However, these statistics do not include China - the world's largest 
executioner where thousands are believed to be put to death every year - 
because the Chinese authorities refuse to release information on capital 
punishment and all data is classified as a state secret.

Amnesty's report - which comes amid a global outcry over Brunei's introduction 
of a penal code allowing death-by-stoning for same-sex sexual acts - shows that 
there were executions in 20 countries during 2018:

China (believed to be 1,000s), Iran (253+), Saudi Arabia (149), Vietnam (85+), 
Iraq (52+), Egypt (43+), USA (25), Japan (15), Pakistan (14+), Singapore (13), 
Somalia (13), South Sudan (7+), Belarus (4+), Yemen (4+), Afghanistan (3), 
Botswana (2), Sudan (2), Taiwan (1), Thailand (1), North Korea (an unknown 
number). Many countries do not release official information on capital 
punishment and several countries are thought to have executed many more than 
the minimum figures compiled here (indicated by a "+" symbol).

The methods of execution were: beheading (Saudi Arabia), electric chair (USA), 
lethal injection (China, Thailand, USA, Vietnam), shooting (Belarus, China, 
North Korea, Somalia, Taiwan, Yemen), and hanging (Afghanistan, Botswana, 
Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Pakistan, Singapore, South Sudan, Sudan).

Despite a significant decrease in the number of executions it carried out, the 
figures show that Iran still accounted for more than a third of the known 
executions recorded globally last year. Meanwhile, Amnesty documented increases 
in executions in Belarus, Japan, Singapore, South Sudan and the USA. Thailand 
carried out its first execution since 2009, while Sri Lanka's President 
Maithripala Sirisena declared he would resume executions after more than 40 
years, posting an advert seeking executioners in February this year.

Amnesty is also concerned about a sharp spike in the number of death sentences 
imposed in some countries during 2018. In Iraq, the number quadrupled from at 
least 65 in 2017 to at least 271 last year. In Egypt, the number of death 
sentences handed down rose by more than 75%, from at least 402 in 2017, to at 
least 717 in 2018. This rise can be attributed to the Egyptian authorities' 
appalling track record of handing out mass death sentences after grossly unfair 
trials, often based on "confessions" obtained under torture and after flawed 
police investigations.

However, 2018's figures show that the death penalty overall is in long-term 
decline. For example, Burkina Faso adopted a new penal code that effectively 
abolished the death penalty last June. Also last year, Gambia and Malaysia both 
declared an official moratorium on executions, while in the US, the death 
penalty statute in the state of Washington was declared unconstitutional in 
October.

In all, at the end of 2018, 106 countries had abolished the death penalty in 
law for all crimes while as many as 142 were "abolitionist" (having formally or 
informally abolished it). During the UN General Assembly in December, 121 
countries - an unprecedented number - voted to support a global moratorium on 
the death penalty. Only 35 states voted against.

Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty International's Secretary General, said:

"The dramatic global fall in executions proves that even the most unlikely 
countries are starting to change their ways and realise the death penalty is 
not the answer.

"This is a hopeful indication that it's only a matter of time before this cruel 
punishment is consigned to history, where it belongs.

"The positive news of 2018 has been marred by a small number of states who are 
shamefully determined to buck the trend.

"Japan, Singapore and South Sudan reported their highest levels of executions 
in years, and Thailand resumed executions after almost a decade - but these 
countries now form a dwindling minority. To all the countries that still resort 
to the death penalty, I challenge you to act boldly and put a stop to this 
abhorrent punishment now.

"Amnesty has been campaigning to stop executions around the world for more than 
40 years - but with more than 19,000 people still languishing on death row 
worldwide, the struggle is far from over."

Cases

Noura Hussein, a young Sudanese woman, was sentenced to death in May 2018 for 
killing the man she was forced to marry as he tried to rape her. After global 
outrage, including major campaigning efforts from Amnesty, her death sentence 
was overturned and she was instead given a 5-year prison sentence. Noura told 
Amnesty:

"I was in absolute shock when the judge told me I had been sentenced to death. 
I hadn't done anything to deserve to die. I couldn't believe the level of 
injustice - especially on women. I'd never imagined being executed before that 
moment. The first thing that came to my mind was, 'How do people feel when they 
are executed? What do they do?'. My case was especially hard as at the time of 
sentencing, my family had disowned me. I was alone dealing with the shock."

H? Duy H?i, convicted of theft and murder in Vietnam after he says he was 
tortured into signing a "confession", was sentenced to death in 2008. He 
remains on death row and at risk of execution. The stress of a pending death 
sentence has had a hugely detrimental impact on his family. His mother, Nguy?n 
Th? Loan, told Amnesty:

"It has been 11 years since he was arrested and our family was torn apart. I 
can no longer bear this pain. Just thinking about my son suffering behind bars 
hurts me so much. I would like the international community to help reunite my 
family. You are my only hope."

(source: allafrica.com)








AFRICA:

Death Penalty In Sub-Saharan Africa By Oluwatosin Popoola



The use of the death penalty – the world’s ultimate cruel punishment – has 
decreased in sub-Saharan Africa according to a recent report released by 
Amnesty International. This is good news for sub-Saharan Africa and an 
indication that the region continues to turn against the death penalty.

Of the 29 countries in sub-Saharan Africa that still retain the death penalty 
in law, only four – Botswana, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan – carried out 
executions in 2018. Although Botswana and Sudan resumed executions last year, 
having not carried out any in 2017, the overall number of known executions in 
the region went down from 28 in 2017 to 24 in 2018. This drop was mainly due to 
Somalia, which usually carried out the highest number of executions in 
sub-Saharan Africa, executing less people last year than it did in 2017.

The presence of these 4 countries on the list of executing countries in the 
region is not surprising as they are notorious adherents to the death penalty 
and have consistently implemented death sentences in the last decade. Of 
particular concern is the surge in executions in South Sudan, last year the 
country executed 7 people – the highest number since gaining independence in 
2011 – and has already surpassed this grim record by executing 8 people in the 
first 3 months of 2019 alone.

Although 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa imposed death sentences in 2018, 
eight of these are abolitionist in practice because they have not executed 
anyone during the last 10 years and are believed to have a policy or 
established practice of not carrying out executions.

At the end of last year, at least 4,241 people were known to be on death row 
across sub-Saharan Africa; each individual with their own story, and a reminder 
that thousands of people are at imminent risk of their lives being taken away 
by the state. One such individual is 17-year-old Magai Matiop Ngong who, in 
2017, was convicted in South Sudan for murder, a crime he claims was an 
accident, following a trial in which he was not represented by a lawyer. During 
his trial Magai told the judge he was just 15 years old, but this was 
disregarded, and despite a strict prohibition against the use of the death 
penalty against minors under both South Sudanese law and the UN Convention on 
the Rights of the Child, he was sentenced to death.

As Magai languishes in Juba Central Prison waiting for the outcome of his 
appeal, he reflects: ‘The feeling is not good at all because no one likes to 
die. To be informed that you are going to die, I am not happy for that. My hope 
is to be out and to continue with my school.’

While South Sudan’s growing use of the death penalty puts dozens of people like 
Magai at risk of execution, other countries such as Burkina Faso and Gambia 
have chosen to take a different path.

In Burkina Faso, the death penalty was deleted from a new Penal Code that 
became law in June; this effectively abolished the death penalty for ordinary 
crimes only as the death penalty remains in the country’s military law for 
exceptional crimes. In addition, a provision expressly outlawing the death 
penalty has been included in a new draft constitution which may be adopted this 
year.

Also, President Adama Barrow of Gambia continued to entrench his commitment to 
rid his country of the death penalty. In February 2018, he announced the 
establishment of an official moratorium on executions. In September, Gambia 
became the 86th State Party to the Second Optional Protocol to the 
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition 
of the death penalty; an international treaty which commits Gambia not to carry 
out executions and take necessary measures to abolish the death penalty.

4 decades ago no country in sub-Saharan Africa had abolished the ultimate cruel 
punishment for all crimes. Today, 20 countries in the region have done so. It 
is hoped that before too long Burkina Faso and Gambia will join these 
countries, and others will follow. Despite a minority of countries holding the 
region back, Sub-Saharan Africa is on course to completely abolish the death 
penalty, the trajectory may be slow, but, it is steady.

(source: Oluwatosin Popoola, Amnesty International’s Advocate/Adviser on death 
penalty, based in London----saharareporters.com)








ASIA:

Death penalty: as world executes fewer prisoners, Singapore, Vietnam and 
Thailand are killing more



Globally, the number of executions has hit its lowest level in a decade, having 
fallen to 690 last year from 993 in 2017, according to the human rights 
watchdog’s 2018 death penalty report. While Southeast Asia as a region is 
broadly in line with that trend – with 7 of the 10 Asean (Association of 
Southeast Asian Nations) members carrying out no executions last year – the 
other 3 states are carrying out more.

Vietnam is the region’s most prolific executioner. It carried executed 85 
people in 2018, more than any other Asean member. It also handed down 122 death 
sentences, meaning it now has more than 600 prisoners on death row. Meanwhile, 
Thailand carried out its first hanging since 2009 and Singapore hanged 13 
people – its most since 2003. The Thailand execution was of a murderer; in 
Singapore most of the executions were of drug offenders. Vietnam, which uses 
lethal injections, executed people for a variety of offences, including murder, 
drug crimes and national security violations.

Malaysian calls fall on deaf ears as Singapore executes drug trafficker Prabu 
Pathmanathan

Amnesty International’s secretary general Kumi Naidoo said despite the fall in 
executions worldwide some states were “shamefully determined to buck the 
trend”.

Singaporean anti-death penalty activist Kirsten Han said the global trend made 
it even “more disappointing” that Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam were “still 
clinging on to this archaic, cruel punishment”.

“In 2018 we have seen more executions in Singapore than for a long time, even 
though there is a lack of evidence that it’s more effective at deterring crime 
than any other punishment,” she said.

And Amnesty International Malaysia’s executive director Shamini Darshni 
Kaliemuthu said that despite the global trend, campaigners still had their work 
cut out. She pointed out that the Philippines, which abolished the death 
penalty in 2006, was now looking to restore it.

Philippines’ Duterte wants to revive the death penalty for retribution

“Efforts should be intensified, not lessened. Countries that are pushing for 
the death penalty are using political populism to retain or reintroduce it, 
despite research proving that it is not an effective deterrent. Politicians and 
leaders use the death penalty to show they want to be tough on crime, despite 
it not impacting the crime rate.”

Her view was echoed by legal adviser and human rights activist Michelle 
Yesudas, who said that despite the progress it was disheartening to see some 
nations “taking a hardline stance on retribution and executions”. “As Singapore 
chalks up increased executions, Brunei, an abolitionist country in practice for 
more than 20 years has now included stoning to death as punishment and the 
Philippines is considering the reinstatement of the death penalty. These moves 
ride on a wave of anti-crime rhetoric and the false idea that the death penalty 
is a deterrent and these narratives must be countered.”

For anti-death penalty campaigners, one of the highlights of last year was a 
commitment by Malaysia to do away with capital punishment.

However, the former Malaysian representative to the Asean Intergovernmental 
Commission on Human Rights, Edmund Bon, noted that so far no other Asean nation 
had shown signs of following its lead.

Last May, Malaysian voters unseated the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition in 
favour of the more progressive Pakatan Harapan, which set about a series of 
legal reforms including a moratorium on the death penalty. The government, 
however, has not yet decided what will happen to the 1,275 prisoners already on 
death row.

Globally, China remains the world’s most prolific executioner. Amnesty 
International’s report said it believed the number of executions to be in the 
thousands, but it could not give an exact figure as the data was a classified 
state secret.

Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, and Iraq accounted for 78 per cent of the 690 
executions in 2018. At least 98 of the executions were for drug-related 
offences.

There were 136 executions in the Asia-Pacific, up from 93 in 2017, although 
this increase was attributed mainly to Vietnam disclosing a figure – something 
it rarely does.

By the end of 2018, 106 countries had abolished the death penalty in law for 
all crimes and 142 countries had abolished the death penalty in law or 
practice.

In October last year, Singapore hanged Prabu Pathmanathan, who was convicted of 
drug trafficking despite appeals from the Malaysian government.

Human rights groups claimed that sentence was carried out in breach of due 
process.

In 2016, Singapore executed another Malaysian, Kho Jabing, for killing a 
construction worker. In the same year, law and home affairs minister K. 
Shanmugam slammed activists for “romanticising individuals involved in the drug 
trade”.

The minister said capital punishment would remain part of Singapore’s 
comprehensive anti-drug framework that includes rehabilitating users.

More recently, Singapore hanged Malaysian Michael anak Garing, who was 
convicted of murder in 2015.

(source: South China Morning Post)