[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 17



IRAN----execution

Man Hanged at Tabriz Central Prison



A prisoner was hanged at Tabriz prison for a murder charge last Tuesday.

According to IHR sources, a prisoner was hanged at Tabriz Central Prison on the 
morning of Tuesday, March 12. IHR could identify the prisoner as Eslam Farsi, 
42.

Kurdistan Human Rights Network website has also reported that the prisoner was 
arrested and sentenced to death 15 years ago for murdering his wife.

The aforementioned execution has not been reported by Iranian media so far.

According to the Iran Human Rights statistic department, the majority of 
executions in 2017 and 2018 in Iran was for murder charges. At least 188 
prisoners were executed for murder charges in 2018. Only 33% of executions were 
announced by Iranian authorities in 2018.

There is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results 
in issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and 
intent.

(source: Iran Human Rights)

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Iran Had No Legal Reason to Detain Eco Activists



It has been over 400 days since a group of 9 environmental activists were 
arrested and charged with espionage in Iran. Now, one has died under suspicious 
circumstances in prison and 8 are facing trumped-up national security charges, 
some of which result in the death penalty.

Back in February 2018, Iranian-Canadian professor Kavous Seyed-Emami, the 
founder of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF), was declared to 
have committed suicide by the authorities, who refused to allow an independent 
investigation and barred his wife Maryam Mombini, also a Canadian citizen, from 
leaving the country. Mombini has never been given a reason for this ban.

Seyed-Emami’s 8 colleagues remain behind bars, without access to lawyers of 
their own choosing, and suffering from very poor health, including Morad 
Tahbaz, who has cancer and is not receiving medication and treatment despite 
promises from officials.

This is despite the fact that the brother of defendant Amir Hossein Khaleghi 
determined, following extensive studying of the case and the indictment, that 
their lawyers have concluded that all 8 are innocent and must be released.

Four are charged with “corruption on earth”, which can carry the death penalty, 
3 were charged with espionage, and one was accused of “cooperating and 
collusion with a hostile country.

Katayoun Rajabi, the sister of defendant Sam Rajabi, said that the families 
remained hopeful that their loved ones would be released, but advised that the 
so called judiciary does not care about justice. She said that none of those 
arrested had done anything wrong, reminding us that while two of them had 
confessed under torture, they retracted their statements in front of the judge.

Rajabi said: “As we know, forced confessions are not legally valid and since 
[Niloofar] Bayani declared in court that she had been forced to confess, then 
there is nothing in the case to support charges against these detainees.”

Yet still, the 8 remain in prison and Rajabi does not think that the recent 
appointment of Ebrahim Raeesi, known for his role in sentencing thousands of 
dissidents to death in the 1988 massacre, as head of the Judiciary will help 
matters.

Rajabi, who lives in Germany, said that the families of the defendants are 
actively trying to raise awareness and lobby officials, but the government is 
often ignoring them. She noted that her letters to President Hassan Rouhani and 
member of Iranian parliament Mahmoud Sadeghi “received no answer”, so she has 
contacted United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran Javaid 
Rehman and Germany’s Green Party representative on foreign affairs Omid 
Nouripour who have both promised to act in this case.

(source: iranfocus.com)








MALAYSIA:

Death penalty has no place in modern legal system



The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) is disappointed by the 
government’s decision to abolish the mandatory death penalty only rather than a 
total abolition of the death penalty across all laws as originally announced 
following a cabinet meeting in October and during the Universal Periodic Review 
in Geneva last year.

Although a good first step, a discretionary death penalty is still a barrier in 
the upholding of human dignity and the right to life.

Suhakam is of the view that the death penalty is not an effective nor even the 
best crime prevention mechanism within the system of justice. There is no 
credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than a 
prison term.

Furthermore, no justice system throughout the world is fool-proof. There always 
remains the possibility that an innocent person is on death row due to any 
number of reasons, which range from an inadequate defence to a misapplication 
of forensic science.

The Innocence Project in the US has exonerated 364 death row inmates alone 
through DNA evidence over 25 years. How many people in Malaysia would be freed 
from death row if something similar were applied here? Capital punishment is 
irreversible. Once someone has been executed, there exists no way to remedy 
their death in the event of a miscarriage of justice.

As of October 2018, 1,279 people were on death row in Malaysia, about three 
percent of the prison population of about 60,000 people. The majority of death 
row inmates are incarcerated on drugs offences. Thirty-five executions took 
place from 2007 to 2017.

Advocacy group Harm Reduction International lists Malaysia among six countries 
with a "high" rate of applying the death penalty in drugs cases, the others 
being China, Iran, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. However, according to a 
United Nations resolution of the Economic and Security Council in 1984, capital 
punishment may be imposed for only the most serious crimes, which excludes 
drugs offences.

Today, 106 countries have abolished the death penalty in recognition that it is 
cruel and inhumane, and that it does not rehabilitate criminals nor address 
root causes within society which may lead to the enactment of serious crimes.

Suhakam would like to reiterate its position that the death penalty has no 
place in a modern legal system as it violates the right to life which happens 
to be the most basic of all “human rights for all”.

Malaysia is a country that respects the sanctity of life and the right to life 
is guaranteed in the Federal Constitution.

We, therefore, urge the government to take concurrent steps towards total 
abolition of the death penalty and move 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).

More engagement is also required by the government and relevant stakeholders 
with civil society in order to address key areas of opposition to the 
abolishment of the death penalty and other punishments deemed to be cruel and 
unusual in order to uphold international human rights standards.

(source: Letter to the Editor; RAZALI ISMAIL is chairperson of Human Rights 
Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam)----malaysiakini.com)

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

Suhakam dismayed by govt’s decision to maintain death penalty



The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) today expressed 
disappointment with Putrajaya’s decision to abolish the mandatory death penalty 
instead of doing away with the punishment altogether as previously promised.

“Although a good first step, a discretionary death penalty is still a barrier 
to upholding human dignity and the right to life,” its chairman, Razali Ismail, 
said in a statement.

Razali said there was always the possibility of an innocent person being on 
death row due to several reasons, including an inadequate defence and a 
misapplication of forensic science.

Citing a US-based initiative that has exonerated more than 300 death row 
inmates through DNA evidence, Razali wondered how many people in Malaysia would 
be freed from death row if a similar initiative was undertaken in the country.

“Capital punishment is irreversible. Once someone has been executed, there 
exists no way to remedy their death in the event of a miscarriage of justice.”

Razali went on to reiterate Suhakam’s position that the death penalty has no 
place in a modern legal system as it violates the right to life, which is the 
most basic of all human rights.

He then urged the government to take concurrent steps towards total abolition 
of the death penalty and move 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).

Earlier this week, it was reported that the government plans to abolish the 
mandatory death penalty and replace it with discretionary death sentences for 
11 offences under 2 acts.

Rights group Lawyers for Liberty slammed the move as “shocking, unprincipled 
and embarrassing” and described it as a “complete U-turn” from the announcement 
made by the Cabinet last October, in which it decided on a total abolition of 
the death penalty and gave a public undertaking to this effect.

(source: Free Malaysia Today)

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

DAP can't have human rights and death penalty, says lawyer



Lawyer Latheekfa Koya today lashed out at DAP several leaders for caving in to 
calls to retain the death penalty.

Latheefa took DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng to task for issuing a 
statement today on his party's commitment to human rights, despite supporting 
the death penalty.

"Words are cheap! Human rights? Isn't it true that key DAP leaders did not 
support abolition of death penalty – the ultimate denial of human rights?

"As a result, the government did a U-turn on abolishing it after promising to 
do so in Oct 2018," the lawyer said on Twitter.

Latheefa also criticised Kepang assemblyperson Dr Ko Chung Sen for refuting 
claims that DAP walked back its opposition to capital punishment.

"Not surprised by this obscure DAP Adun's fanatical support for hanging people. 
I understand that DAP stalwarts/top leaders did not support abolition, leading 
to the U-turn by the government.

"They were worried about backlash from Chinese voters, who some claim support 
the death penalty," she tweeted.

Ko argued yesterday that Pakatan Harapan did not renege on its pledge to 
abolish capital punishment because it was never listed in its election 
manifesto, which only promised to abolish the mandatory death penalty.

Legislative changes affecting 11 laws are expected to be passed by Parliament 
soon.

According to Latheefa, however, DAP should make their stand clear and not 
"hide" behind cabinet decisions.

"If DAP argues hanging people is a deterrent punishment – then they have no 
moral standing to object to PAS' hudud bill, because PAS relies on the same 
justification!" she wrote.

(source: malaysiakini.com)