[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 5



BOSNIA:

Court Orders Bosnian Serb Entity to Outlaw Death Penalty



Bosnia's Constitutional Court has given the Serb-led entity, Republika Srpska, 
a deadline to remove mention of the death penalty from its laws and 
constitution – although the ruling is largely symbolic, as the entity does not 
use it.

The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has upheld an appeal filed 
by a group of Bosniak delegates in the parliament of Bosnia’s Serb-led entity, 
ordering the Republika Srpska to remove references to the death penalty from 
its laws and constitution.

Friday’s ruling is mainly symbolic, as the entity does not use the death 
penalty in practice, even though it remains in certain statues. The 
constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia’s other 
entity, does not mention the death penalty.

Presiding Judge Zlatko Knezevic gave the RS a deadline of three months to 
change its laws. The ruling comes after a group of Bosniak delegates in the RS 
assembly filed an appeal to the Constitutional Court in June.

Bosnia abolished the death penalty in 1994, a decision formalised in 1998. The 
last death sentence in Bosnia was issued by the Sarajevo District Military 
Court in March 1993, which sentenced Borislav Herak and Sretko Damjanovic to 
death for genocide. The penalty was not carried out.

The RS has a history of ignoring rulings from the state constitutional court. 
It has taken no notice of a March 29 ruling outlawing celebration of January 9 
as Day of Republika Srpska, as BIRN has previously reported.

Belarus is the only European state still using the death penalty, and carried 
out two executions in 2018. Russian law still allows for its use, but it has 
been suspended there since the late-1990s. The Council of Europe long ago made 
abolition of the death penalty a prerequisite for membership, while the 
European Union not only prohibits it among its members but actively campaigns 
against its use worldwide.

(source: balkaninsight.com)








INDIA:

President commutes 20 death sentences in 9 years



These commutations were based on the President’s exercise of powers under 
Article 72 of the Constitution after the convicts filed mercy petitions.

The President commuted death sentences to life imprisonment in at least 20 
cases over the past nine years, based on the recommendations received from the 
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

These commutations were based on the President’s exercise of powers under 
Article 72 of the Constitution after the convicts filed mercy petitions.

Separately, last week the MHA took a decision to commute the death sentence of 
Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted over the assassination of then Punjab chief 
minister Beant Singh, as a “humanitarian gesture” ahead of the 550th birth 
anniversary celebrations of Sikh founder Guru Nanak. It also decided to release 
8 other prisoners convicted for life for their involvement in Sikh militancy as 
a ‘token of goodwill’.

Beant Singh and at least 16 others were killed in an explosion outside the 
Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh in 1995.

Rajoana was sentenced to death in 2007 by a special court and he refused to 
file a mercy petition. The Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), the 
apex body of the Sikhs, filed a petition on his behalf in 2014.

BJP ally and NDA member, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), had been pressing the 
Centre to commute Rajoana’s death sentence.

“Rajoana never engaged a lawyer when the case was being heard in the court,” 
said Manjinder Singh Sirsa, an SAD leader who had recently met Home Minister 
Amit Shah regarding Rajoana’s case — the only Sikh prisoner on death row in a 
militancy related case. “To highlight the atrocities against the Sikhs, he 
refused legal assistance. After he was sentenced to death, the SGPC decided to 
file a mercy petition on his behalf,” added the SAD leader.

The ministry’s decision to release the 8 Sikh prisoners convicted under the 
repealed Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) is seen as 
a one-off gesture as it is not in consonance with the guidelines regarding the 
2018 “Cabinet decision to grant special remission to prisoners on the occasion 
of 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.”

As per the guidelines: “special remission will not be given to prisoners who 
have been convicted for an offence for which the sentence is sentence of death 
or where death sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment; cases of 
convicts involved in serious and heinous crimes like dowry death, rape, human 
trafficking and convicted under POTA, UAPA, TADA, FICN, POCSO Act, money 
laundering, FEMA, NDPS, Prevention of Corruption Act, etc.”

A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “This 
was in response to the long pending demands on release of Sikh prisoners raised 
by various sections of the Sikh community.”

Process on to commute Rajoana sentence: MHA

Under the special remission, 2,035 prisoners were released in 3 phases — 
October 2, 2018, April 6 and October 2 this year. In the 3rd phase, 611 
prisoners were released, the ministry said.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee had commuted the death sentence in at least 
four cases and rejected mercy petitions in 14 cases including that of the 26/11 
Mumbai attacks convict Ajmal Kasab and the 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub 
Memon. President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected one mercy petition in his current 
tenure.

The Central Information Commission (CIC) in a 2018 order had said that “grant 
of remission is an exercise of a statutory power under CrPC.”

The CIC’s order said: “It acknowledges the power of the Executive to grant 
remission to convicted persons after due consideration by the appropriate 
Government. As per the criminal jurisprudence, a crime besides being a personal 
wrong against the victim is also a wrong against the society at large. That is 
why, the prosecution in such penal offences is led by the State on behalf of 
the Society at large.”

(source: The Hindu)

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

29-year-old awarded death penalty for ‘extreme depravity’



(see: 
https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/crime/29-year-old-awarded-death-penalty-for-extreme-depravity/articleshow/71450542.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst)

(source: Mumbai Mirror)








PAKISTAN:

Capital punishment and the cracks in Pakistan’s judicial system



Up until very recently, Pakistan had the world’s largest population on death 
row. China has since taken over this dubious honour, but Pakistan remains 
second in line with the United States trailing closely behind. Right now, in 
Pakistan, a whopping 6000 people are awaiting execution. The question then 
becomes: Who are we hanging? And why?

If a recent article in The Economist is anything to go by, the answer is that 
Pakistan is hanging far too many innocent people. Of course, this injustice and 
incompetence are not exclusive to our country. For example, in the United 
States, where I currently live, the criminal justice system is notorious for 
failing to conduct fair trials and for disproportionately targeting racial and 
ethnic minorities.

Unlike a life sentence, the obvious problem with a death sentence is that it is 
irreversible. No financial compensation or formal apology issued after-the-fact 
can bring back the dead. After all, the family of the wrongfully convicted has 
not only lost their standing in society, they’ve most probably also lost their 
primary breadwinner.

This is why it’s so important to have plenty of legal and judicial safeguards 
in place, something which Pakistan currently lacks.

Indeed, it is common for trial courts to frequently rely on shoddy, 
circumstantial evidence. It is also common for judges to allow unreliable 
eyewitnesses to testify. For instance, trial courts will frequently hear cases 
in which the star witness or the eyewitnesses to an alleged crime are actually 
biased. This includes someone with a personal, vested interest in the outcome 
of the trial, or someone who has a personal problem with the accused.

Equally problematic is the way the Supreme Court of Pakistan treats mental 
illness despite the fact that the country’s Penal Code expressly forbids 
criminally punishing a person with diminished mental capacity. In a decision 
taken in 2016 during the Imdad Ali murder case, the Supreme Court held that 
schizophrenia was not a mental illness, thereby opening the door for mentally 
incompetent individuals to be sent to their deaths.

It is also not unheard of for executions to be carried out while the accused 
has a pending appeal. Consider the case of the Ghulam brothers. They were 
convicted of murder in 2002 and 14 years later, they were both acquitted by the 
Supreme Court. But when the time came to release them from jail, it was too 
late as both the brothers had been executed a year ago while their appeal was 
still pending.

Recently, Prime Minister Imran Khan called to expand the death penalty laws to 
include people convicted of child abuse. While I agree that a person convicted 
of such a crime should be treated as harshly as possible, I still think the 
death sentence is far too serious a punishment to be handed out without first 
making sure that stringent safeguards are in place to protect the rights of all 
parties involved, including the accused.

In other words, we should not be calling for or celebrating the expansion of 
Pakistan’s death penalty laws, when we haven’t even begun to tackle the issues 
of all the accused currently on death row, especially since many will not see a 
fair day in court, with a dedicated competent lawyer, and will never appear 
before an unbiased jury or judge.

Naturally, the question then arises: if not capital punishment, then what is 
the alternative? Ironically, Pakistan’s Supreme Court has essentially answered 
this question for us. According to the Supreme Court, the death penalty should 
be a last-resort punishment reserved for the most horrendous crimes, most 
crimes that result in serious injury or death. Instead, the Supreme Court 
recommends lengthier sentences, like a life sentence with or without the 
possibility of parole.

But, as so frequently happens, lower courts haven’t been very consistent in 
actually following the Supreme Court’s precedent. As a result, we continue to 
see the death penalty being awarded for ‘low-level’ crimes like drug 
offensives. To me, this is nothing short of a massive miscarriage of justice.

Ultimately, the question boils down to what we mean when we say justice must be 
served. And, in order to answer this question, we have to first accept that 
justice looks and means something different to all of us.

Take my own household as an example; I am strictly against capital punishment. 
Whereas my husband thinks capital punishment is the proper punishment for 
crimes like murder or rape. Similar differences exist between my lawyer 
colleagues and me. While I believe that a death sentence is the ultimate denial 
of human rights, I know plenty of like-minded, social justice-oriented lawyers 
who think capital punishment is a good way to deter future crime.

In other words, we can agree to disagree on what justice looks like, but that 
shouldn’t mean that we stop seeking and demanding justice. Nor does this mean 
that our pursuit for proper justice should be limited to serving the interests 
of the lucky few with deep pockets, well-connected families and fancy lawyers. 
Indeed, our pursuit of proper justice should be extended to anyone who comes 
into contact with the criminal justice system. Because the loss of even 1 
innocent life is 1 too many.

(source: Maria Kari, tribune.com.pk)








MALAYSIA:

UN human rights chief supports M’sian govt moratorium on death penalty, urges 
withdrawal of stifling laws including Sedition Act



The United Nations’ (UN) 7th High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle 
Bachelet on Sat (5 Oct) expressed her support for the Malaysian government’s 
moratorium on the death penalty, and welcomes its establishment of a special 
task force on alternative forms of punishment.

Speaking to reporters at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Bachelet said: 
“I encourage the Government to sustain the current moratorium on the death 
penalty, and welcome the announcement last month that a special taskforce will 
be set up to examine alternative forms of punishment to the mandatory death 
penalty.”

She added that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights “stands 
ready to share evidence-based experience from other countries – both those who 
retain the death penalty and those who have abolished it”.

De facto Law Minister Liew Vui Keong announced the formation of the special 
task force last month, which he said was based on a Cabinet decision made in 
Aug.

The task force will be led by a former Chief Justice, and will comprise a 
former Federal Court judge, a former official from the Attorney-General’s 
Chambers, a former official of the Prisons Department, representatives of the 
Bar Council and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), 
academicians, and members of civil society.

Bachelet today also urged the Malaysian government to “roll back” legislation 
“which for a long time impeded freedom of expression and public debate” such as 
the Sedition Act, the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, the Peaceful 
Assembly Act and the Official Secrets Act.

“I also welcome the steps to establish a new independent police complaints 
commission which will be an important step towards addressing long-standing 
problems of torture, ill-treatment and deaths in custody, as well as steps to 
upgrade some of the more antiquated prisons.

“I encourage the Government to follow up, in a transparent manner, on the 
important recommendations made by the Institutional Reforms Committee,” she 
added.

“Leaving no one behind” means identifying and “meaningfully” addressing plight 
of the most vulnerable groups: UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet

Referring to the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which 
“emphasizes a holistic approach to achieving sustainable development for all 
and leaving no one behind through its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”, 
Bachelet said that “the SDG imperative to leave no one behind means it is 
essential to identify and meaningfully address the situation of the most 
vulnerable, and to target affirmative action policies on the basis of need, 
using good, disaggregated data to identify the situation of specific 
communities”.

Such affirmative action policies, she said, encompass upholding the rights of 
indigenous people “including their land rights, through meaningful 
consultation”, the need for “gender equality and to prevent violence against 
women and end harmful practices, including female circumcision” as per the UN 
Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women, and 
ensuring that individuals are “not subjected to violence because of their 
sexual orientation or gender identity”.

Speaking both as High Commissioner and as a former Head of State herself, 
however, Bachelet acknowledged “the complexity and hurdles” faced by the 
Malaysian government in creating and implementing certain law reforms, 
particularly given Malaysia’s diverse multi-ethnic, multi-religious and 
multi-cultural society with differing interests among groups.

“Malaysia is a diverse, multi-ethnic and multi-religious society with parallel 
legal systems and a federal system in which states have considerable powers and 
diverging approaches. There are strong aspirations for positive change but 
concerns about how the changes will affect the interests of different sectors 
of society.

“My meetings with civil society working on a wide spectrum of economic, social, 
cultural and political rights revealed very committed and well-informed groups 
that have high expectations for the Government to deliver on its human rights 
commitments and obligations.

“This is as it should be, and I encourage the Government to work together with 
civil society actors, religious leaders and local and state leaders in making 
the case for advancement of human rights for all Malaysians,” she urged.

Bachelet also emphasised the importance of protecting human rights defenders 
from “harassment or threats in relation to their important work”.

Touching on the Malaysian Parliament’s move to lower the voting age from 21 to 
18 via the tabling of the Constitution (Amendment) 2019 Bill in Jul, Bachelet 
called upon the youth of Malaysia to “engage with political and policy-making 
processes, to hold their State institutions accountable and ensure decisions 
are made through meaningful consultation”.

The Bill, which was introduced for its 1st reading early last month by Youth 
and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, will amend Clause 1 of 
Article 119 of the Federal Constitution if it is passed.

As a result, the voting age will be lowered from 21 to 18.

“With this amendment, more Malaysian citizens would be entitled to vote and 
elect a government through an election, which is in line with a progressive 
democratic system,” according to the Bill.

A 2/3 majority of 148 votes will be required in order for the amendment to be 
passed, The Star Online noted.

Other countries in the Asean region that have lowered their voting age to 18 
include the Philippines, Thailand, and Cambodia. Indonesia’s minimum voting age 
is 17.

Bachelet’s visit to Kuala Lumpur marked the 1st ever visit to Malaysia by a 
Human Rights Commissioner, during which she met with Prime Minister Mahathir 
Mohamad on Fri (5 Oct). Other Malaysian government ministers, as well as 
SUHAKAM and other civil society organisations, were also present during the 
meeting yesterday.

Prior to her appointment as the UN Human Rights Commissioner, Bachelet served 
as the President of Chile from 2006 to 2010, before being re-elected for a 
second term from 2014 to 2018.

(source: theonlinecitizen.com)








VIETNAM:

6 Lao drug traffickers arrested in Vietnam



Border guard forces of Vietnam's central Ha Tinh province have detained 6 Lao 
drug smugglers, seizing 30 cakes of heroin, 45 kg of crystal methamphetamine 
and 6,000 pills of amphetamine.

2 detainees aged 25 and 29 were caught red-handed transporting the drug in 
Huong Son district on Friday evening, Vietnam News Agency reported on Saturday.

Expanding investigation, the authorities arrested their 4 accomplices. The men 
confessed that they had transported the drug from Laos to Vietnam for 
distribution.

According to the Vietnamese law, those convicted of smuggling over 600 grams of 
heroin or more than 2.5 kg of methamphetamine are punishable by death. Making 
or trading 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal drugs also faces 
death penalty.

(source: xinhuanet.com)








SRI LANKA:

Man gets death sentence for murder of married couple



An individual found guilty over the murder of a married couple in Udugama 7 
years ago, has been sentenced to death by the Galle High Court.

The 34-year-old suspect had been charged with the shooting and killing of a man 
and his wife at Udalamatta, Udugama in 2012.

Delivering the verdict yesterday after a long dragged out trial, the Galle High 
Court sentenced to accused to death.

The death penalty was reportedly given to a 34-year-old resident of Udalamatta.

(source: adaderana.lk)



TAIWAN:

Death penalty must be enforced where necessary: premier



Death sentences that have been handed to people in cases in which no further 
appeals are possible ought to be enforced, Premier Su Tseng-chang said 
yesterday, adding that he “never protects bad guys.”

The premier made the remarks during an interpellation when Chinese Nationalist 
Party (KMT) Legislator Shen Chih-hwei asked Su whether he would execute any of 
the 40 inmates on death row by the end of this year.

“Since the death penalty is stipulated in the law, it should be enforced where 
necessary. Even the 2 covenants [the International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and 
Cultural Rights] say that the death penalty may be enforced in cases where it 
is unavoidable,” Su said.

However, Shen said that since he took office more than 8 months ago, not 1 
death row inmate has been executed.

Su replied that the decision of whether to execute convicts lies with Minister 
of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang.

Tsai said that the government’s position on the death penalty is to gradually 
abolish it, and the ministry would carefully review each case when deliberating 
whether to enforce the death penalty.

Tsai’s response drew criticism from Shen, who said that the Democratic 
Progressive Party administration has been ambivalent on the matter and is 
“wasting taxpayers’ money feeding death row inmates” and “protecting bad guys 
instead of good guys.”

In response, Su said: “I never protect bad guys, nor have I given any orders to 
stop the execution of death row inmates.”

Shen then cited a driving under the influence (DUI) case in Taichung last year 
that involved a repeat offender who had been diagnosed with stage-4 cancer.

Even though he killed 2 people while driving drunk, he would not receive a 
death sentence, Shen said.

She asked Su whether his remark that “drunk driving equals intentional murder” 
and that the government has “zero tolerance” for drunk driving still stands.

Su said that zero tolerance against drunk driving has always been his stance, 
adding that the Cabinet submitted proposals stiffen penalties for DUI in the 
Criminal Code and the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (??????????), 
which were passed by the Legislative Yuan.

However, Shen said the strictest punishment a repeat DUI offender can receive 
under those amendments is life imprisonment.

(source: Taipei Times)








NIGERIA:

7 Condemned Inmates, 18 others get pardons in Ondo



The Ondo State government has pardoned 18 inmates across the various prison 
facilities in the state.

It also commuted to life imprisonment 7 convicts on death row.

The prisoners serving various jail terms were granted prerogative of mercy by 
the state government in the spirit of the commemoration of the country’s 59th 
Independence anniversary.

According to the state government in a statement issued by the Deputy Chief 
Press Secretary to the State Government, Mr Babatope Okeowo, the move was based 
on the advice of the State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy.

Exercising his powers as the Acting Governor of the state, the Deputy Governor, 
Mr Agboola Ajayi in a letter to the Controller of Nigerian Correctional 
Services said the 7 inmates who have been convicted and sentenced to death by 
hanging and are awaiting execution should no longer be executed.

The 18 inmates who were set free by the prerogative of mercy, have been in 
prison for various offences and have shown remorse during their stay in the 
correctional facilities.

(source: dailypost.ng)








SOMALIA:

Somali military court sentences soldier to death for killing



A military court in Mogadishu has sentence army officer to death on Wednesday.

Private officer, Omar Abdulkadir Sheikh Nur was found guilty of killing police 
officer, Jamal Abukar Jinow.

The court found that the killing happened on March 22 in Waberi district after 
the diseased tried to intervene alleged robbery with violence by the suspect.

The case was submitted to the court-martial in July before the prosecution 
started.

Exhibit including an AK 47 used in the crime plus eyewitness was produced in 
the court during the hearing before a medical record of the deceased from the 
health department.

The court sentenced ex-soldier, Omar Abdulkadir Sheikh Nur to death for his 
actions, he can appeal within the next 30 days.

(source: radioshabelle.com)








CAMEROON:

Cameroon president says dropping prosecution against 'some' political rivals



Cameroon's President Paul Biya on Friday announced he had ordered prosecutions 
to be dropped against "some" opposition leaders, including a number from the 
main Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC) led by his jailed rival Maurice 
Kamto.

The move is the latest in a series of concessions from the 86-year-old leader, 
who is under intense international pressure over a sweeping crackdown on the 
opposition.

He is also attempting to ease surging tensions in separatist anglophone 
regions, with talks on the turmoil wrapping up Friday.

"I have ordered the discontinuance of proceedings pending before Military 
Tribunals against some officials and militants of political parties in 
particular the (MRC)," he said on his official Twitter account in English.

In French, he added that it affected those "arrested and detained for acts 
committed in contesting the results of the recent presidential elections".

He did not specify whether the decision would affect Kamto, Cameroon's main 
opposition leader who unsuccessfully claimed victory in elections last year.

Kamto went on trial with 88 others in a military court in September on charges 
of insurrection, hostility to the motherland and rebellion -- crimes which 
could carry the death penalty. Their next hearing was scheduled for October 8.

His party also was not able to confirm details.

"I do not know if Maurice Kamto is involved or not," said senior MRC official 
Emmanuel Simh.

Kamto was arrested in late January after months of peaceful opposition protests 
over the results of the October 2018 election won by Biya, who has been in 
power for 37 years.

The crackdown on Kamto and the opposition has caused outrage among rights 
groups and many western governments.

- Multiple crises -

Biya's shock announcement came on the closing day of crunch talks aimed at 
easing a bloody crisis in Cameroon's anglophone regions, which were shunned by 
the main separatist leaders.

2 areas in western Cameroon -- the Northwest Region and Southwest Region -- 
are home to most of the country's anglophones, who account for about 1/5 of a 
population that is overwhelmingly French-speaking.

2 years ago, decades of resentment at perceived discrimination boiled over into 
an armed campaign for independence that has met with a brutal crackdown.

The president on Thursday announced the release of more than 330 people 
detained in connection with the anglophone crisis.

In a statement on Friday, the president's office said Biya "reaffirms his 
determination to tirelessly continue his efforts in the search for the ways and 
means for a peaceful resolution of the different crises that may confront our 
country".

Delegates at the talks on the anglophone crisis on Thursday adopted a 
resolution recommending "special status" for the English-speaking areas "aimed 
at strengthening the autonomy of administrative areas".

Biya has so far opposed attempts to give up centralised control.

If he backs the forum's proposal, it would mean more fiscal autonomy, the 
election of regional governors by locals instead of people named by the federal 
government and the re-establishment of traditional chiefs in the two regions.

But several separatists said they were unimpressed.

Ebenezer Akwanga, a prominent leader, said the people of self-described 
Ambazonia -- the country the separatists want to carve out of Cameroon -- did 
not "need a special status."

"We don't want to be a part of Cameroon," he said. "Ambazonia is marching to 
freedom and nothing can stop us."

The International Crisis Group has estimated that nearly 3,000 people have been 
killed in violence committed by both sides and more than half a million people 
have fled their homes.

At least 1,000 people have been detained over the past 2 years.

(source: france24.com)








ZAMBIA:

Death penalty for rapists----“My heart would be at ease if all rapists could 
get death penalties.”



EDITOR – It is more than enough now, rapists getting away [and] some getting 
lighter sentences. This breaks my heart and makes me scared as I am also 
female.

The rate of women being sexually abused is increasing day by day in South 
Africa and that shows how arrogant and damaged men in our country are. This 
does not only affect people who have done wrong but we end up looking at every 
male and not trusting any one of them.

My heart would be at ease if all rapists could get death penalties, no one 
amongst them deserves a second change. You cannot rape a person by mistake. It 
is enough now!

Nontokozo Hlongwa

Durban Central

(source: Leter to the Editor, Berea Mail)