[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 11




PAKISTAN:

Children on death row: Why Pakistan must stop hanging juvenile 
offenders----Despite the prohibition, cases of juvenile offenders' executions 
are far from the exception.



The following is an excerpt from Justice Project Pakistan’s (JPP) book, The 
Death Penalty in Pakistan: A Critical Review, to be launched on July 11, 2019 
in Islamabad. A culmination of 10 years of JPP’s work, the book documents the 
many ways in which Pakistan's application of the death penalty intersects with 
legal, social and political realities.

It focuses on how capital punishment impacts some of the most vulnerable 
populations: juveniles, the mentally ill, persons with physical disabilities, 
low-wage migrant workers imprisoned in foreign jails and the working class.

Relying on public records for multiple JPP clients sentenced to death, nearly a 
decade of experience in the field, as well as extensive experience with 
legislation and advocacy, this book tracks the many junctures at which 
violations occur, from arrest to sentencing to execution.

****

Aftab Bahadur was arrested at the age of 15 for the murder of a woman and her 
two children. Aftab protested his innocence to the very end. The only 
eyewitness who testified against Aftab recanted his statement by claiming that 
he had been coerced by the police to provide his damning testimony. In fact, he 
admitted, that Aftab had not even been present at the scene of the crime. The 
Supreme Court of Pakistan, however, refused to consider the exculpatory 
evidence stating that a fresh appeal was untimely. Aftab Bahadur therefore, 
marched to the gallows at the age of 38 after having spent over 22 years on 
Pakistan’s death row.

He was executed on 10 June 2015.

Like 160 countries in the world, Pakistan has enacted legislation prohibiting 
the sentencing and imposition of the death penalty against juvenile offenders — 
persons who commit crimes before turning 18 years old. The Government of 
Pakistan is, additionally, a party to both the United Nations International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Convention on the Rights of 
the Child (CRC) which categorically prohibits capital punishment for juvenile 
offenders. However, despite the explicit bar, cases of juvenile offenders such 
as Aftab Bahadur are far from the exception.

As a result of a criminal justice system that violates international human 
rights standards at each stage of the judicial system, arrest, investigation, 
trial, sentencing, and punishment, the death penalty is disproportionately 
applied to the most vulnerable of Pakistan’s population — the mentally ill, 
physically disabled, and juvenile offenders. Since the moratorium was lifted, 
at least 6 juvenile offenders have been executed despite credible evidence in 
support of their juvenility.

Pakistan’s failure to protect juvenile offenders from the death penalty since 
the resumption of executions drew sharp criticism from international actors. In 
June 2015, 4United Nations experts, whilst urging the Government of Pakistan to 
halt the execution of juvenile offenders, condemned the existence of 'several 
hundred' juvenile offenders on death row as a violation of its international 
law obligations. Similarly, in June 2016, the UN Committee on the Rights of the 
Child urged the Government of Pakistan to stay the executions of all juvenile 
offenders and reopen all cases where there was even the slightest indication of 
the minority of the accused at the time of the commission of the alleged 
offence.

Pakistan enacted the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) in 2000 in order 
to bring its criminal justice system in conformity with its obligations under 
the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 2018, the JJSO was 
repealed and replaced by Juvenile Justice System Act (JJSA). The law prohibits 
executions of juveniles and makes provisions regarding separate courts, trials, 
and detention centres from judges and lawyers. However, in the 18 years that 
had passed since the JJSO came into force, it remained virtually ignored in 
practice. Firstly, the law was enacted without retrospective force – thereby 
denying its protection to juvenile offenders sentenced to death prior to its 
enactment in 2000. A Presidential Notification granted a 'special remission' 
for all juvenile offenders whose death sentences were confirmed prior to the 
JJSO on the basis of an inquiry into their juvenility. However, such inquiries 
were seldom conducted and when they were the investigation was replete with 
incompetence, inefficiency, and violations of human rights standards.

Pakistan has also consistently failed to set up juvenile courts, borstal 
institutions and provisions for effective legal aid for juveniles as provided 
under, first the JJSO and now JJSA. In a context marred with low birth 
registration and a lack of sensitisation of law enforcement and judiciary to 
juvenile delinquency, a significant number of juvenile offenders fall outside 
the few institutional safeguards actually implemented in practice. As a result, 
the juvenile justice system is rarely applied to those it is designed to 
protect, resulting in a significant number of death sentences being meted out 
to juvenile offenders. Once sentenced these juvenile offenders are denied 
effective recourse to appeals and post-conviction reliefs, even in the face of 
exonerating evidence. All of these aforementioned problems constitute 
violations of international law and taken together reveals a broken criminal 
justice system that fails to protect juvenile offenders from the most severe 
and irreversible form of punishment – the death penalty.

The irreversible nature of the violations mandates that Pakistan reinstate a 
moratorium of its application on the death penalty and launch an independent 
investigation into all death row cases particularly those marked by allegations 
of juvenility. Additionally, in order to prevent future executions of juvenile 
offenders and to ensure that they are extended the requisite protections under 
international human rights standards requires a comprehensive reform of its 
juvenile justice system starting from the determination of age at the time of 
arrest to the grant of mercy prior to execution.

(source: dawn.com)








JAPAN:

Death sentence finalized for man who killed 5 neighbors in western Japan in 
2013



The Supreme Court rejected on Thursday an appeal by a 69-year-old man convicted 
of killing 5 neighbors in Yamaguchi Prefecture in western Japan in 2013 in 
revenge for what he believed to be harassment, leading his death sentence to be 
finalized.

The decision against Kosei Homi, who was also found guilty of setting fire to 2 
of the victims' homes in a remote community, was handed down by the top court's 
No. 1 Petty Bench.

"It was a brutal crime based on a firm intent to kill, and the consequences of 
taking five people's lives are grave," Presiding Judge Atsushi Yamaguchi said 
in delivering a unanimous decision by the 5 judges.

Upholding lower court decisions, the top court acknowledged that Homi was 
mentally competent to be held fully responsible for his conduct even though he 
had been diagnosed as suffering from a type of delusional disorder at the time 
of the crime.

"Delusion affected the development of the motive, but he carried out the 
killings based on his own sense of values. The influence of delusion on his 
actions was not that significant," it said.

According to the ruling at the Yamaguchi District Court in 2015, Homi killed a 
woman and a couple, all in their 70s, by bludgeoning them in the head with a 
wooden pole before setting fire to their homes in the mountainous community of 
Shunan, in July 2013. He was also convicted of murdering 2 more elderly people.

Homi believed he had been harassed by his neighbors, and he attacked them to 
retaliate, the ruling said. The sentence was upheld at the Hiroshima High Court 
in 2016.

Homi and his lawyers had pleaded not guilty, claiming he could not be held 
criminally responsible by reason of insanity or diminished mental capacity.

(source: The Mainichi)








THAILAND:

Thai man given death sentence for horrific rape/murder of German tourist



A 23 year old Thai man has been given the death sentence by the Chonburi court 
for the brutal rape and murder of a 27 year old German tourist on the island of 
Koh Si Chang in April.

Ronakorn "Pon" Romreun will die for the crime after battering Mariam Beelte 
with wood and rocks and burying her corpse under stones in an effort at 
concealment.

The murder on April 7th shocked the small Koh Si Chang community that "Pon" was 
a part of. It also made international news around the world.

The court heard how Pon and Ms Beelte had encountered each other at the foot of 
a series of stone steps that led up to a site of the flag of Rama V on the 
holiday island.

She parked her rented motorcycle but rejected the Thai man's approach after he 
bought her flowers. He followed her as she climbed the 360 steps.

Near the top and weakened by the climb she was attacked and raped by Pon on the 
steps. He then hit her with a piece of wood. She fought back and managed to try 
and flee down the steps.

He hit her with a rock on the head that caused her to fall.

He then turned her over and repeatedly smashed her head and face with rocks 
until she was dead.

He then dragged her into the undergrowth where he covered her with rocks.

The body was soon discovered and police made a quick arrest and Pon admitted 
the crime.

He was also high on drugs at the time of the rape and murder.

The court handed down the death sentence and ordered the seizure of rocks that 
were part of the evidence presented in the case.

Thaivisa notes that Thailand carried out its first execution of a prisoner on 
death row for 9 years last June.

Teerasak Longji, 26, was killed by lethal injection at Bangkok's Bang Kwang 
prison. He had been convicted of aggravated murder.

Officials were tight lipped at the time about the execution with anti-death 
penalty activists surprised by the move.

Many prisoners sit on death row but the penalty has rarely been carried out in 
recent years with the previous execution having been carried out in 2009.

(source: ThaiVisa News)








INDIA:

India includes death penalty in child abuse law



The Indian cabinet has cleared amendments to an existing gender-neutral law 
against sexual abuse of children introducing the provision of death penalty in 
cases of aggravated sexual offences and more stringent penal provisions aimed 
at clamping down on child pornography.

The 14 amendments to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) 
Act 2012 was okayed at a meeting of the cabinet chaired by the country's Prime 
Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday evening.

The amendments will make punishment more stringent for committing sexual crimes 
against children including death penalty and also provide for levy of fines and 
imprisonment to curb child pornography,” Information and Broadcasting Minister 
Prakash Javadekar told reporters.

The amendments, first cleared by the Cabinet in 2018, were introduced as a Bill 
in the Lok Sabha in February but could not be passed because of the 
announcement of parliamentary elections, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

Among others, the amendments seek to award the death penalty in cases of 
aggravated penetrative sexual assault of children, making it gender neutral. 
The amendments also bring in a section to penalise the possession of child 
pornography with up to 3 years in jail.

The amendments also include introduction of some new sections which aim at 
making punishments for crimes against children, including digital offences, 
more stringent. These include amendments to Sections 4, 5 and 6 of the POSCO 
Act to increase the punishment from 7 to 10 years, from 10 to 20 years and from 
20 to life imprisonment and death.

Amendments to Sections 14 and 15 of the Act aim to regulate child pornography, 
by proposing punishments ranging from a fine of Rs 1000 to imprisonment for up 
to seven years for storing, not deleting or reporting, and producing child 
pornography for commercial purposes.

The amendments also penalise the transmission of pornographic material to 
children and proposes a synchronising of this with the Information Technology 
Act.

An official statement termed the amendments as a “historic decision” to protect 
the children from sexual offences.

The amendments are expected to discourage the trend of child sexual abuse by 
acting as a deterrent due to strong penal provisions incorporated in the Act, 
it said adding it also “intends to protect the interest of vulnerable children 
in times of distress (natural disaster and violence) and ensures their safety 
and dignity.”

The POCSO Act, 2012 was enacted to protect children from offences of sexual 
assault, sexual harassment and pornography. The Act defines a child as any 
person below 18 years of age.

(source: The Daily Star)

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

Bhopal Court Awards Death Penalty to Man for Raping, Murdering Minor----The 
girl had gone missing after she came out of her house on June 8 to make a 
purchase. Her body was found next morning near a drain in the area.



In a speedy judgment, a Bhopal court on Thursday awarded death sentence to a 
35-year-old man for raping and killing a minor girl last month.

Special Judge (for POCSO cases) Kumudini Patel pronounced the punishment to 
Vishnu Bamora on 2 separate offences under Indian Penal Code Sections 302 
(murder) and 376-AB (raping a girl of 12-year-old and below).

The convict was also sentenced to life for the offence of unnatural sex with 
the eight-year-old girl, state prosecution cell's spokesperson Sudha Vijay 
Singh Bhadoriya told PTI.

The judge also awarded him three years' and seven years' imprisonments under 
IPC Sections 363 and 366, respectively, for kidnapping the minor and abduction 
for forced and illicit intercourse, Bhadoriya said.

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court ordered all the 
sentences to run concurrently, she said.

Bamora was pronounced guilty on the basis of reports of the DNA test conducted 
by the Bhopal and Sagar-based forensic science laboratories and taking into 
account other vital aspects, she said.

The judge examined 30 prosecution witnesses before awarding the punishment.

The girl went missing after she came out of her house in Kamla Nagar area here 
on June 8 to make a purchase. Her body was found next morning near a drain in 
the area.

Bamora was arrested from Mortakka village in Khandwa on June 10 for raping and 
smothering the minor girl.

A 108-page charge sheet was filed against him on June 12, said Bhadoriya.

(source: news18.com)

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

Government approves changes in POCSO Act, includes death penalty for sexual 
offences against children----The amendments in the Protection of Children from 
Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act also provide for fines and imprisonment to curb 
child pornography.



To combat rising cases of child sex abuse, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday 
approved amendments to strengthen the POCSO Act by including death penalty for 
aggravated sexual assault on children, besides providing stringent punishments 
for other crimes against minors, officials said.

The proposed changes in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) 
Act also provide for fines and imprisonment to curb child pornography.

The modification in the law will address the need for stringent measures 
against rising trend of child sex abuse in the country and combat the menace of 
relatively new kind of crimes, the government said, stressing that the strong 
penal provisions will act as a deterrent.

"It intends to protect the interests of vulnerable children in times of 
distress and ensures their safety and dignity. The amendment is aimed at 
establishing clarity regarding the aspects of child abuse and punishment 
thereof," it said.

The government, in a statement, said the amendments in Section-2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 
14, 15, 34,42 and 45 of the POCSO Act, 2012 are being made to address the 
aspects of child sexual abuse in an appropriate manner.

"Section-4, 5 and 6 are proposed to be amended to provide option of stringent 
punishment, including death penalty, for committing sexual assault and 
aggravated penetrative sexual assault crime on a child to protect the children 
from sexual abuse," it said.

(source: economictimes.indiatimes.com)



PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY:

Rights group denounces death sentence issued by a Gaza court



Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights denounced today a death sentence issued 
yesterday by a Gaza court against a 69-year-old resident of northern Gaza 
convicted on charges of premeditated murder.

It said this is the second death sentence issued in Gaza this year and the 16th 
since the accession of the State of Palestine to the Protocol on the abolition 
of the death penalty when President Mahmoud Abbas signed on June 7, 2018 the 
papers to accede to the second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant 
on Civil and Political Rights of 1989 on abolition of the death penalty.

Al-Mezan condemned issuing death sentences in the Gaza Strip, particularly 
since Palestine has joined the Protocol on the abolition of the death penalty, 
stressing the need to find other, more effective penalties to stop serious 
crimes since the death penalty has proved ineffective in reducing crimes.

It called for putting an end to issuing death sentences and to cancel it in 
total.

(source: wafa.ps)








TAIWAN:

Taiwan court confirms death sentence for arsonist who killed 6----1st death 
sentence in 2 years, no appeals possible



The Supreme Court on Wednesday (July 10) confirmed the death penalty against a 
man who committed arson on Lunar New Year’s Eve, killing 6 people including 
both his parents, and injuring 4.

Weng Jen-hsien harbored a long-time grudge against his parents and brother, so 
he waited until a total of 16 relatives and friends had gathered to celebrate 
Lunar New Year’s Eve on February 7, 2016, at the family home in Longtan, 
Taoyuan City, before setting light to gasoline inside the house, the Central 
News Agency reported.

During the fire, 6 people perished, including both his parents and a nurse, and 
4 more were left with injuries.

Both the district and the high court sentenced Weng to death, but the 1st time 
the case came in front of the Supreme Court, it sent it back to the high court, 
which once again ruled that the arsonist needed to be kept away from society 
for ever, confirming the death sentence.

This time, the Supreme Court agreed, leaving no room for appeals. Wednesday’s 
verdict was the 1st death sentence in exactly 2 years, according to CNA. Some 
members of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party have advocated the abolition 
of capital punishment, but public opinion in Taiwan has long been opposed to 
any change.

(source: Taiwan News)








MOROCCO:

Morocco trial nears end for 24 suspects in killing of Scandinavian 
hikers----Prosecutors have called for the death penalty for the 3 main 
extremist suspects



The trial of the suspected extremist killers of 2 Scandinavian women hikers 
beheaded in Morocco's High Atlas mountains last December neared its close on 
Thursday as lawyers prepared to deliver their final arguments.

Prosecutors have called for the death penalty for the 3 main militant suspects 
behind the "bloodthirsty" murder of the young Scandinavians.

The maximum sentence was sought for 25-year-old suspected ringleader Abdessamad 
Ejjoud and 2 radicalised Moroccans, although the country has had a de facto 
freeze on executions since 1993.

Petitions on social media have called for their execution.

The 3 admitted to killing Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and 
28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland.

The prosecution has called for jail terms of between 15 years and life for the 
21 other defendants on trial since May 2 before an anti-terror court in Sale, 
near Rabat.

The life sentence has been sought for Abderrahim Khayali, a 33-year-old 
plumber, who had accompanied the three assailants but left the scene before the 
murders.

The prosecution called for 20 years in jail for Kevin Zoller Guervos, a 
Spanish-Swiss convert to Islam.

All but three of those on trial had said they were supporters of ISIS, 
according to the prosecution, although ISIS itself has never claimed 
responsibility for the murders.

The 3 killers of the girls were "bloodthirsty monsters", the prosecution said, 
pointing out that an autopsy report had found 23 injuries on Jespersen's 
decapitated body and 7 on that of Ueland.

Ejjoud, an underground imam, had confessed to beheading 1 of the girls and 
Younes Ouaziyad, a 27-year-old carpenter, the other, while Rachid Afatti, 33, 
had videoed the murders on his mobile.

The defence team said it would call for the judge to take into account 
extenuating circumstance.

"We will appeal for mitigating circumstances on account of their precarious 
social conditions and psychological disequilibrium," Hafida Mekessaou told AFP.

Khalid Elfataoui, representing Jespersen's family, said she would read out a 
"devastating" letter received from the Danish woman's family and demand 
compensation of 10 million dirhams (just over $1 million) on their behalf.

The Norwegian woman's family has declined to take part in the trial.

Jespersen's lawyers have accused authorities of having failed to monitor the 
activities of some of the suspects before the 2 women camped in an isolated 
mountain area had their throats slit.

The brutal killings could have been spared had authorities heeded information 
on the behaviour of street vendor Ejjoud, they said.

The alleged ringleader who had been convicted for trying to join ISIS in Syria 
was released early from prison in 2015 and went on to meet former inmates and 
other individuals without checks by authorities, attorney Khaled El Fataoui 
said.

He alleged police had been informed of the activities of the group of men from 
an underprivileged background but failed to act.

Lawyer Houssine Raji added the suspects met in Koranic schools run by cleric 
Mohamed Al Maghraoui, which had been shut in 2010 under a court decision but 
ordered reopened in 2012 by the justice minister.

Investigators have said the "cell" was inspired by IS ideology, but Morocco's 
anti-terror chief insisted the accused had no contact with the militant group 
in conflict zones.

(source: thenational.ae)