[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 27



IRAN:

Execution of Women, Juveniles and Foreigners in 2018



A part of the 11th Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran, by IHR, deals 
with the execution of Women, Juveniles and foreign citizens in the country.

Juvenile executions: Trends and legislative reforms

In February 2018, noting a surge in the number of juvenile offenders being 
executed in Iran, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al 
Hussein urged Iran “to abide by international law and immediately halt all 
executions of people sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were 
under eighteen.” He said that “No other State comes even remotely close to the 
total number of juveniles who have been executed in Iran over the past couple 
of decades.”[1]

Iran remains one of the few countries sentencing juveniles to death and it 
executes more juvenile offenders than any other country in the world. In 
violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which Iran has 
ratified, the Iranian authorities executed at least 6 juvenile offenders in 
2018, 1 juvenile execution more than in 2017. According to IHR’s reports, at 
least 61 juvenile offenders have been executed between 2008 and 2018 in Iran. 
Amnesty International recently reported the execution of 85 juvenile offenders 
between 2005 and 2018.[2] According to the same report, at least 80 juvenile 
offenders are on death row in Iranian prisons.

However, the actual number is significantly higher as there is no information 
about juvenile offenders in many Iranian prisons.

The international pressure on Iran’s execution of juvenile offenders increased 
during the 2000-decade. As a consequence of the criticism from the 
international community and the internal civil society, Iran made changes 
regarding juvenile offenders in the Islamic Penal Code (IPC). However, these 
changes have not led to a decrease in the number of juvenile executions. The 
new Islamic Penal Code (IPC) adopted in 2013 explicitly defines the “age of 
criminal responsibility” for children as the age of maturity under shari’a law, 
meaning that girls over 9 lunar years of age and boys over 15 lunar years of 
age are eligible for execution if convicted of “crimes against God” (such as 
apostasy) or “retribution crimes” (such as “intentional murder”).[3] Article 91 
of the IPC says that juvenile offenders under the age of 18 who commit hodoud 
or qisas offences may not be sentenced to death if the judge determines the 
offender lacked “adequate mental maturity and the ability to reason” based on 
forensic evidence.[4] This article allows judges to assess a juvenile 
offender’s mental maturity at the time of the offence and, potentially, to 
impose an alternative punishment to the death penalty on the basis of the 
outcome. In 2014, Iran’s Supreme Court confirmed that all juvenile offenders on 
death row could apply for a retrial.

However, Article 91 is vaguely worded and inconsistently and arbitrarily 
applied. In the period of 2016-2018, IHR has identified 17 identified five 
cases where the death sentences of juvenile offenders were converted based on 
Article 91. In the same period, at least 16 juvenile offenders were executed 
according to IHR reports, and several are in danger of execution. It seems that 
Article 91 has not led to a decrease in the number of juvenile executions. The 
Iranian authorities must change the law, unconditionally removing all death 
sentences for all offences committed under 18 years of age.

The UN Special Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran 
states in his report regarding Article 91: “Building upon the amendment, the 
Special Rapporteur calls upon the Government to introduce a further amendment, 
which affirming the lack of mental development of a juvenile, absolutely 
prohibits the execution of persons who were under the age of 18 years of age at 
the time of their offence.”[5]

Some facts about juvenile executions in 2018:

6 were executed (1 more than in 2017)

2 girls were among those executed- both child brides charged with murdering 
their husbands

5 juveniles had their death sentences converted based on Article 91

Juvenile offenders executed in 2018

Amir Hossein Pourjafar

Amir Hossein Pourjafar, who was charged with rape and murder when he was less 
than 16 years old, was executed at Rajai Shahr Prison on January 4, 2018. Amir 
Hossein Pourjafar’s lawyer had previously told an official medium, “Amir 
Hossein was born on December 17, 1999; so technically he wasn’t even 16 at the 
time of murder, i.e. on April 11, 2016”. The Criminal Court of Tehran issued 
the death sentence of Amir Hossain Pourjafar based on an assessment by the 
forensics which stated that the defendant was mentally mature at the time of 
crime and he was aware of the nature of the crime and the consequences of his 
action.[6]

Ali Kazemi

Ali Kazemi, a juvenile offender who committed a murder at age 15, was hanged on 
January 30, 2018, at Bushehr Central Prison.[7] The murder was reportedly 
committed 7 years ago and Ali Kazemi was 22 at the time of the execution. Ali 
Kazemi was hanged in Bushehr Central Prison (Southern Iran).

Mahboubeh Mofidi

Mahboubeh Mofidi, nicknamed Newly Bride by Iranian media at the time of her 
arrest, was accused of killing her husband at the age of 17.[8] Mahbubeh Mofidi 
was charged with poisoning her husband with the help of her brother-in-law 
(victim’s brother) on December 17, 2013, a month after their marriage ceremony. 
The juvenile offender was arrested a few months after the murder when the 
result of forensic toxicology was issued. Prosecutor of Noshahr had said in an 
interview with the official media: “The woman was arrested, and she confessed 
to the murder with the help of one of her relatives. She said that she fell in 
love with her brother-in-law after her marriage and they finally decided to get 
married”. The Prosecutor continued, “The victim’s brother carried out the plan 
and provided aluminium phosphide in capsules, and his wife made him take the 
pills which resulted in his death.”

One of Mahboubeh Mofidi’s relatives on condition of anonymity told IHR that 
“Mahbubeh was the victim of fratricide. She was deceived by her husband and 
married him, but his evil brother tricked her after the marriage so that he 
could kill his brother. Mahbubeh didn’t know what exactly was inside the 
capsules and trusted her brother-in-law.”[9]

Abolfazl Chazani Sharahi

Abolfazl Chazani Sharahi, a juvenile offender charged with murder at the age of 
15, was executed on June 27 at Qom Central Prison in Iran.[10] Abolfazl Chazani 
Sharahi, son of Asghar, was born on January 19, 1999, and he was only 15 at the 
time of the crime. Abolfazl was examined by a forensic physician at the request 
of his public defender on July 20, 2014. According to the report, “The 
defendant, 15 years and 5 months old, committed murder in the winter last year 
and he is mentally mature and understands the nature of his action (murder).”An 
Iranian newspaper confirmed his execution 43 days after the sentence was 
carried out.[11] The United Nations High Commissioner for Human rights had 
strongly condemned this execution [12]

Zeinab Sekanvand

Zeinab was 17 years old when she was arrested in 2012. Charged for the 
murdering of her husband. She was executed on October 2, 2018, at Urmia 
prison.[13] The Iranian media outlets have not reported the execution so far. 
Zeinab was born on June 22, 1994, and was arrested on March 1, 2012, for the 
murder of her husband. She was sentenced to death by branch 2 of Urmia's 
criminal court. Her death sentence was confirmed by branch 8 of Iran's Supreme 
Court. Zeinab was reportedly married to a man when she was 15 years old and, 
according to sources close to her, she was abused by her husband. IHR has 
obtained parts of the text of Zeinab's court verdict. According to the 
document, Zeinab was physically abused by her husband and she filed a complaint 
with Iranian authorities. However, Iranian authorities reportedly did not 
follow up on her complaint. Zeinab Sekaanvand spent the first 2 years of her 
imprisonment in Khoy Prison (West Azerbaijan province, northwestern Iran). 
However, when she was sentenced to death, she was transferred to the women's 
ward of Urmia Central Prison. She was scheduled to be executed in October 2016 
but her death sentence was postponed.

Women

According to reports gathered by IHR, at least 5 women were executed in 2019 in 
Iran. Only 2 of the executions were announced by official sources.

All of the 5 women executed in 2018 had been sentenced to death on murder 
charges.

The surname of one of the women has not been revealed, despite the fact that 
the execution was officially announced.

Some facts about the women executed in 2018:

5 executions but only 2 announced by the authorities

2 of them were juvenile offenders

All were sentenced to death for murder charges

At least 3 were charged with murdering their husbands- 2 were child brides

Ethnic minorities

The 2018 and all the previous reports indicate that the ethnic minorities, 
especially Kurds and Baluchis are over-represented in the death penalty 
statistics. An exact differentiation of the executions based on ethnicity is 
not possible for several reasons. Usually, people who are executed in the 
ethnic regions come from these regions. However, the executions of people who 
belong to different ethnic groups are not implemented exclusively in their 
respective regions. Moreover, information about those executed doesn't always 
include their ethnicity. However, a look at the number of people in different 
ethnic regions shows that the number of executions in areas such as West 
Azerbaijan (where most of the Kurdish prisoners are held) and Baluchestan is 
higher than the average (See geographical distribution and number of executions 
per capita).

In addition, prisons in the ethnic regions of Iran have a high percentage of 
unannounced or secret executions

As in the last 4 years, most of the executions conducted in the ethnic regions 
of Iran in 2018 were not announced by official Iranian media. Specifically, 27 
of the 50 executions IHR has managed to confirm in the provinces of East and 
West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Baluchestan, were not announced by official 
Iranian sources.

On the other hand, the absolute majority of all executions for political 
affiliation belong to the ethnic groups, particularly the Kurds (see the 
section about Moharebeh, page xx). An overview of the IHR reports between 2010 
and 2018 shows that among the 118 people who have been executed for affiliation 
with banned political and militant groups, there were 65 Kurds (55%), 29 
Baluchis (25%) and 15 Arabs (13%). It is important to notice that most of those 
executed among the ethnic groups were Sunni Muslims.

There are several reasons for the overrepresentation of ethnic groups among 
those executed. more opposition among people against the authorities leading to 
increased need of the authorities to use violence and create fear, presence of 
militant groups in these areas making it easier for the authorities to issue 
death sentences under the pretext of fighting terrorism, there is less 
visibility from the media and rights groups on the situation in certain ethnic 
regions. Besides poverty, poor socio-economic situation and the lawlessness and 
arbitrariness present in the Iranian Judiciary are even more serious in the 
ethnic regions.

In 2018, IHR received reports about possible execution of several Ahwazi Arab 
prisoners in the prison of Ahwaz. Further investigations confirmed that at 
least four prisoners were killed, but could not confirm whether these prisoners 
were executed or were killed under torture. Therefore, these four prisoners 
have not been included in the present report.[14]

Foreign citizens

In 2018, IHR reported about the executions of 16 foreign citizens. Most of them 
being Afghan citizens. The actual number is higher than reported here. 
Following protests by the Afghan civil society and some parliamentarians in 
2012-2013, Iranian authorities often don’t announce the execution of Afghans. 
The same is probably true for other foreign citizens as the issue can raise 
international sensitivity. In 2016, 3 Turkish citizens were executed for 
drug-related charges. None of the executions were announced and despite knowing 
about the cases, the Turkish government didn’t show any public reactions to the 
executions. It is not known to what extent the death row foreign citizens in 
Iran receive consular support from their respective authorities.

Some facts about the foreign citizens who were executed in 2018 in Iran:

16 executions were reported

14 Afghan citizens were among the reported executions

1 Pakistani citizen executed

1 Iraqi citizen was among those executed

All reported executions were based on murder charges

According to IHR’s estimates, the number of foreign citizens, especially 
Afghans and Pakistanis executed are much higher than reported here. IHR is 
investigating about the number of foreign citizens on the death row in Iran. 
This issue will be addressed further in a future report.

(source: Iran Human Rights)








BRUNEI:

Brunei Darussalam: Heinous punishments to become law next week



Cruel and inhuman punishments such as death by stoning for same-sex sexual acts 
and amputation for robbery will come into effect in Brunei Darussalam next 
week, Amnesty International said today.

“Pending provisions in Brunei’s Penal Code would allow stoning and amputation 
as punishments – including for children, to name only their most heinous 
aspects,” said Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Brunei Researcher at Amnesty International.

“Brunei must immediately halt its plans to implement these vicious punishments, 
and revise its Penal Code in compliance with its human rights obligations. The 
international community must urgently condemn Brunei’s move to put these cruel 
penalties into practice.”

These punishments are provided for in newly-implemented sections of the Brunei 
Darussalam Syariah Penal Code that are due to come into force on 3 April 2019, 
according to a discreet notice on the Attorney General’s website.

“To legalize such cruel and inhuman penalties is appalling of itself. Some of 
the potential ‘offences’ should not even be deemed crimes at all, including 
consensual sex between adults of the same gender,” said Rachel Chhoa-Howard. 
“These abusive provisions received widespread condemnation when plans were 
first discussed 5 years ago.”

Amnesty expressed grave concerns over the Penal Code when the code’s first 
phase was implemented in April 2014.

“Brunei’s Penal Code is a deeply flawed piece of legislation containing a range 
of provisions that violate human rights,” said Rachel Chhoa-Howard. “As well as 
imposing cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments, it blatantly restricts the 
rights to freedom of expression, religion, and belief, and codifies 
discrimination against women and girls.”

Background

Brunei Darussalam has signed but not yet ratified the Convention against 
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and has 
rejected all recommendations to this effect in its human rights review at the 
UN in 2014.

Under international human rights law, corporal punishment in all its forms, 
such as stoning, amputation or whipping, constitutes torture or other cruel, 
inhuman or degrading punishment, which is prohibited in all circumstances.

Acts of torture and other ill-treatment are absolutely proscribed in the main 
international human rights instruments, most of which Brunei has not signed or 
ratified. In addition, this prohibition is also recognized as a peremptory rule 
of customary international law, meaning that every state is bound by it even if 
they are not party to a relevant human rights treaty. All acts of torture 
constitute crimes under international law.

While Brunei retains the death penalty in law, it is abolitionist in practice. 
One new death sentence was imposed in 2017, for a drug related offence.

(source: Amnesty International)








UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

Man sentenced to death for killing mother and stabbing children at Fujairah 
home



A neighbour who murdered an Emirati mother and stabbed her 2 children and the 
family's maid in a frenzied knife attack has been sentenced to death.

The Pakistani man, 25, broke into the family's home in Fujairah before 
repeatedly stabbing Suzan Al Qudat, 39, after he woke her while entering the 
property.

He then stabbed the victim's daughter, who was 11 at the time, 9 times and her 
9-year-old brother 5 times before attacking the maid.

The horrifying event took place on March 23, 2017.

The 3 children, Natalie Al Mansoori and her brother Hamad, received treatment 
for their injuries at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi.

They were visited during their stay in hospital by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, 
Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and 
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential 
Affairs.

The children were told of their mother's death by their father, Ibrahim Al 
Mansoori.

Mr Al Mansoori said at the time that the visit from the two UAE rulers had 
lifted the family's spirits during their darkest hour.

“The visit by Sheikh Mohamed and Sheikh Mansour had a positive impact on the 
children as well as me,” he said.

“It has relieved our grief and this is what we always expect from our Rulers, 
who are with all citizens every time and in all happy and sad situations.”

Police in Fujairah arrested the killer within 30 minutes of being alerted to 
the shocking crime.

Officers found the mother dead when they arrived at the house. Her children and 
the maid were bleeding heavily.

During questioning, the murderer said he had set out to burgle the family home.

He denied in Fujairah Criminal Court that he intended to kill Ms Al Qudat.

He was convicted of premeditated murder, attempted murder and attempted theft 
by the court, and given the death penalty.

(source: thenational.ae)



ETHIOPIA/CHINA:

Ethiopian Woman in Chinese Prison Gains International Attention



An Ethiopian woman by the name Nazrawit Abera, 27, is currently in Chinese 
prison awaiting trial, which, if convicted, can lead into a death sentence.



She was arrested at Beijing airport in China in late December last year with 5 
shampoo bottles containing drugs, specifically cocaine, in her luggage.

Nazrawit Abera is currently detained in Southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on 
drug trafficking charges, which, if convicted, can get the death penalty, 
according to Chinese law.

So far, she is in detention center and prosecutors are yet to file formal 
charges against her andbring her to trial.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia said the government is following 
the situation of Nazrawit Abera closely, according to the FBC report.

Nebiat Getachew, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told FBC 
today that the government through its consulate in Guangzhou is monitoring 
Nazrawit’s situation. Consulate personnel have already visited her 3 times so 
far.

She and her family strenuously deny that she ever intended to import drugs into 
the country. She insists that she travlled to China for business opportunities, 
and the bottles discovered in her luggage via the advanced high tech sensors at 
the airport were put by a friend who had planned to accompany her but cancelled 
at the last minute.

She was taken away on December 22, 2018, and since that day, her family haven’t 
heard from her. In the past, Chinese courts have delivered death sentences for 
lesser crimes, which is terrifying to the families and friends of Nazrawit.

Nazrawit is a civil engineer by training. She completed her university studies 
at age 23. For a while she was working for construction firms. Family and 
friends describe her as very studious and truly independent.

Nazrawit's situation has garnered worldwide attention having been profiled in 
various international media outlets. Several groups and international 
organizations have also started petitions to help save her life.

(source: exega.com)








INDIA:

HC begins hearing of acid attack convict’s death penalty confirmation



The Bombay High Court on Monday began hearing the Maharashtra government’s plea 
seeking confirmation of the death sentence given to Ankur Panwar, the convict 
in the Preeti Rathi acid attack case.

Panwar (25) was sentenced to death by a special court, the 1st instance of 
death penalty being awarded by a court in the country in a case of acid attack.

Rathi, a 23-year-old nurse, who was to join the Indian Navy hospital in the 
city, succumbed to injuries following an acid attack in May 2015 by Panwar, who 
was stalking her.

On May 2, 2015, as Rathi got off at Bandra Terminus here from a train coming 
from Delhi, Panwar flung a bottle containing sulphuric acid on her face.

Rathi lost her vision and sustained severe injuries in the attack and died on 
June 1 due to multiple organ failure in the Bombay Hospital.

On Monday, Panwar argued, through his counsels, in the high court that he 
should not have been given the death penalty since the prosecution in the case 
did not have a reliable case.

He argued that while the prosecution relied mainly on the statements of eye 
witnesses and some relatives of the victim, it was apparent that some of these 
statements were incorrect and had been “tailor made” to suit the prosecution’s 
case.

The defence team alleged that police had also failed to take any fingerprints 
from the bottle which held the acid, and therefore, had no forensic evidence 
linking Panwar to the crime.

The arguments in the case are likely to continue on Tuesday.

As per the prosecution, Panwar, who had followed Rathi to Mumbai from Delhi on 
the same train, had attacked her as he was jealous of her success, and because 
she had rejected his marriage proposal.

Police had initially arrested one Pawan Kumar Gahalon, Rathi’s neighbour in 
Delhi, but he was let off as evidence against him could not be found.

The case was transferred to the Mumbai Crime Branch following an order of the 
Bombay High Court.

The Crime Branch arrested Panwar relying primarily on statements of eye 
witnesses, including those of Rathi’s father, her uncle, and two other 
passengers.

All 4 witnesses had also sustained injuries in the attack.

(source: afternoonvoice.com)








PHILIPPINES:

VACC TO CATHOLIC BISHOPS:----‘Don’t meddle in death penalty debate’



THE VOLUNTEERS Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) told Catholic bishops not to 
meddle with the issue of the reimposition of the death penalty, insisting that 
it was the job of Congress.

This was after the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) 
claimed that the death penalty was not the solution to the problem of illegal 
drugs in the country.

“Don’t meddle with the death penalty issue and let Congress do [its] job,” the 
VACC said in a statement.

The CBCP on Monday urged the government to first look at other aspects of the 
criminal justice system before the reimposition of the death penalty for drug 
smugglers.

“The penalty is the last stage in the criminal justice system… so why do they 
want to [first make changes]with the penalty?” Rudy Diamante, executive 
secretary of CBCP Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care, said in an 
interview.

“It (the death penalty) has never been effective and they know that…They know 
very well deep in their hearts, it is not the solution. Killing has never been 
the solution,” he added.

But the VACC insisted that the capital punishment was the best deterrent to 
heinous crimes.

“You should remember that the VACC is primarily composed of surviving victims 
of heinous crimes and the immediate family members of victims murdered through 
heinous crimes. The VACC believes that since there is no clear substitute that 
would effectively give justice for the life or lives taken by these 
perpetrators of heinous crimes, then the re-imposition of the Death Penalty is 
the closest thing for getting justice for the victims of heinous crimes,” the 
VACC said.

“The death penalty is not only for drug-related crimes but also for other 
heinous crimes,” the anti-crime group added.

Citing information from local and international anti-illegal drug enforcers, 
the VACC said the Philippines was “now the most active transshipment point of 
illegal drugs mainly due to the fact of the absence of the death penalty.”

“To date, there are 56 countries in the world that have the Death Penalty in 
their justice and penal system,” it said.

The VACC has been urging President Rodrigo Duterte to reinstate the death 
penalty, noting the “rampant killings” in the country.

Lawmakers and Duterte see death penalty as a deterrent to crimes, but the 
Commission on Human Rights argues that capital punishment does not lower crime 
rates.

A bill reinstating the death penalty has made it past the 3rd and final reading 
at the House of Representatives. At the Senate, it has yet to be tackled at the 
committee level.

The 1987 Constitution abolished the death penalty but allowed Congress to bring 
it back for heinous crimes. It was brought back under the administration of 
President Fidel Ramos and abolished again under President Gloria 
Macapagal-Arroyo.

(source: The Manila Times)