[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 3




SOUTH AFRICA:

South Africans are calling for the death penalty to be reinstated – here’s what 
government says



Over 300,000 South Africans have signed a petition calling for the death 
penalty to be reinstated, in the wake of several high profile murders and acts 
of violence against women in the country.

The petition was established after the public learned that missing UCT student, 
Uyinene Mrwetyana, was raped and murdered at a Post Office in Claremont, Cape 
Town.

Citing Mrewtyana’s murder, as well as the murders of Aneen Booysen, Karabo 
Mokoena, Reeva Steenkamp and “many, many more”, the petitioner said that “we as 
a movement must find our voice to bring back the death sentence for crimes 
against women and children in the hope of saving this great country”.

Despite evidence that capital punishment does not deter crime, calls for the 
death penalty are regularly revived, particularly following a spike in violent 
crimes.

Crime statistics showed that there were 20,336 murders in South Africa between 
April 2017 and March 2018, a 7% increase from the previous year. This puts the 
country’s murder rate at close to 36 people murdered per 100,000 population – 
and 57 murders each day.

What government says

Earlier in 2019, president Cyril Ramaphosa answered voters’ questions ahead of 
the National Elections, one of which questioned the plausibility of the death 
penalty being reinstated to combat high levels of crime in South Africa.

The president said quite plainly that it is not the state’s place to take life.

“Our constitution has enshrined the right to life. This means that the state 
should not be the one to terminate a life. The surge in criminality should be 
addressed in other ways rather than ending people’s lives,” Ramaphosa said.

This sentiment has been expressed by many Constitutional law experts, who say 
that the state acts on behalf of the people, and by perpetrating brutal acts 
such as capital punishment, the entire country is implicated in that.

“To endorse the death penalty is to endorse state violence and the brutality 
that necessarily forms part of premeditating killing,” said Constitutional law 
expert, Pierre De Vos. “The death penalty thus brutalises the whole of society 
and implicates us all in the kind of violence that we wish perpetrators to be 
punished for.”

However, not all political leaders are opposed to the death penalty.

In its 2019 election manifesto, the IFP said that it wants harsher punishment 
for criminals, which includes prison terms with hard labour, as well as 
re-opening the debate on bringing back the death penalty in South Africa.

History of the death penalty in South Africa

The abolishment of the death penalty in South Africa is not simply a government 
decision – it is rooted in law, and follows a dark past of using the punishment 
in the country.

At one stage, South Africa had one of the highest execution rates globally. 
Between 1959 and 1989, South Africa executed almost 3,000 people by hanging, 
with over 1,200 in the 1980s alone. Solomon Ngobeni was the last person to be 
officially executed in South Africa in November 1989.

Following a 5 year moratorium on the death penalty between 1990 – 1995, the 
issue was finally dealt with in the constitutional case of S vs Makwanyane.

The judgement was unanimous with all 10 judges giving different reasons as to 
why the death penalty should be abolished. These included issues such as 
possible mistakes made during the investigation process, as well as the right 
to life under the Constitution.

Notably, the judgement also recognised that while the death penalty may be 
popular among members of the public, it was counter to the country’s 
Constitution.

The president of the Constitutional Court at the time, Arthur Chaskalson, said 
that it was disputed whether public opinion, properly informed of the different 
considerations, would in fact favour the death penalty.

He said that, even though the majority of South Africans might believe that the 
proper sentence for murder should be death, it is not a question of public 
will, but whether the Constitution allows such a sentence. And it does not.

Death penalty around the world

According to Amnesty International, to reinstate the death penalty would be 
going against the global trends, where cases of the death penalty being used as 
punishment for crimes are decreasing.

In its latest report on the death penalty, looking at available data for 2018, 
the group said that figures show that the death penalty is firmly in decline, 
and that effective steps are being taken across the world to end the use of 
this cruel and inhuman punishment.

It recorded at least 690 executions in 20 countries in 2018, a decrease of 31% 
compared to 2017 (at least 993). This figure excludes executions in China, 
which are believed to number in the thousands.

During the United Nations General Assembly in December, 121 countries – an 
unprecedented number – voted to support a global moratorium on the death 
penalty. Only 35 states voted against it.

“Slowly but steadily, global consensus is building towards ending the use of 
the death penalty. 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,” the group 
said.

At 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.

(source: businesstech.co.za)

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

#AmINext: Thousands sign petitions for death penalty, state of emergency in 
SA----By Tuesday morning, a change.org petition gained 228,603 signatures.



More than 200,000 people have signed a petition calling for the death penalty 
to be implemented in South Africa.

By Tuesday morning, a change.org petition gained 228,603 signatures. Another 
petition was launched which called on Parliament to declare gender-based 
violence a state of emergency in the country. This petition received over 
120,000 signatures.

On Monday, South Africans were outraged after learning that missing UCT student 
Uyinene Mrwetyana was raped and murdered at the Post Office in Claremont. The 
19-year-old woman’s body was found in Khayelitsha. The suspect, a Post Office 
employee, appeared in court on Monday. He was charged with her murder and rape 
after he confessed.

On the same day, a 6-year-old child was abducted in front of her school in 
Vanderbijlpark. The abductors of Amy-Lee De Jager had demanded a ransom of R2 
million. On Tuesday morning, her family confirmed that she was found unharmed.

* Kidnapped Amy-Lee De Jager (6) found unharmed

Other cases include that of a 19-year-old woman who has been identified as 
Jesse Hess. She was murdered in her Parow home. Hess’ grandfather, aged 85, was 
also murdered. Hess was only 19 and a youth leader at a local Cape Town church. 
No arrests have been made and a police investigation continues. It’s reported 
that Hess was found on her bed, while her grandfather was found tied to a 
toilet.

The murder of South African boxing champion Leighandre “Baby Lee” Jegels also 
caused outrage. On Monday, her police officer boyfriend, who was accused of her 
murder, died after he sustained critical injuries in a road accident.

On Sunday, the body of a 14-year-old girl was found in her grandmother’s 
backyard in Cape Town. No arrests were made and the investigation into her 
murder continues.

Last week activists gathered outside a Cape court where Kyle Ruiters appeared 
for the murder of Lynette Volschenk. They called for no bail after she was 
found murdered in her flat. Her body had been cut into pieces and placed in 
black bags. Ruiters was due in court again on Monday and will remain in police 
custody.

‘AM I NEXT?’

South African women have questioned whether they would be next as the list of 
women who are raped and murdered grow.

Women took to social media and shared their concerns under the hashtag 
#AmINext. Others have called for a shutdown across the country.

(source: Eyewitness News)








TURKEY:

Who Stands To Gain If Turkey Restores Death Penalty



President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently said he favored restoring the death 
penalty. It would bring back an ugly face of Turkey, both politically and 
morally.

Right-wing Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and his cabinet members Fatin Rüstü 
Zorlu and Hasan Polatkan were executed after the military coup of May 27, 1960. 
Regrets and tragedy followed.

After the military memorandum of March 12, 1971, the Turkish Parliament voted 
for left-wing prisoners Deniz Gezmis, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin Inan to be 
executions alongside the chants of "3 from us, 3 from you." Scandal and tragedy 
continued.

A total of 50 people, including a 17-year-old, were executed after the military 
coup of Sept. 12, 1980. Shame and tragedy. Tragedy and shame.

Turkish authorities have been using the death penalty as a political tool of 
intimidation for a long time, from the independence tribunals at the modern 
founding of the country to the military courts. However, our country stopped 
the practice of executions after 1984 and removed the death penalty from its 
laws in 2004.

“A judiciary that asks 'an eye for an eye' does not improve the people but 
makes them more savage.”

[Last week, amid national outrage over the murder of a woman by her ex-husband, 
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he favored restoring the death penalty.]

Those who were born after 1984 in Turkey have grown up in a country in which 
people are not executed — and not really knowing much about the 712 people 
(including 15 women) who have been executed in the history of the republic. 
People have learned how the death penalty runs counter to human rights, public 
conscience and ethics. They know it does not prevent crimes and, most 
importantly, that the death penalty offers both governments and loved ones of 
victims a dangerous kind of authority, by rationalizing revenge.

Currently some are trying to cover up these concrete facts. They try to 
popularize the death penalty by favoring American law over the European. A 
child was raped; a woman was murdered; a military coup was attempted: There is 
always someone ready to cry "death penalty!" Others try to rationalize some 
kind of public benefit of capital punishment.

But what drops when the death penalty is used is not the crime rate, but the 
rate of a nation's civilization. A judiciary that asks "an eye for an eye" does 
not improve the people but makes them more savage. Only certain politicians 
benefit from the death penalty. On one hand, they glamorize the feeling of 
revenge and exploit the sensitivities of the people; on the other hand, they 
have a powerful judicial card against their political opponents.

“ This country loses its collective mind.”

In his book The Human Rights Problem in Turkey, Bülent Tanör noted that the 
average number of executions in the years of the civil governments rule in 
Turkey was 2, while during the military regime years the average was 13.5. This 
alone is enough reason to never mention the death penalty in a country like 
Turkey, which has a deeply problematic judiciary and government.

This country loses its collective mind after any kind of political turmoil and 
then historically regrets afterward having executed people. Turkey came to its 
senses, in a way, years ago and abolished the death penalty. And now that death 
penalty campaigners propagandize it at every chance they get, it means the 
country is running low on sanity.

Especially in these days of injustice when the powerful decide what is a crime 
and what is not; and especially with a president whose conscience favors the 
death penalty.

(source: worldcrunch.com)

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

Death penalty won’t stop violence against women: Activists



Women’s rights activists have launched a campaign against proposals of bringing 
the death penalty back after recent incidents of violence against women caused 
public outrage. The campaign’s hashtag #idamçözümdegil (death penalty is not a 
solution) has been spreading on social media.

The murder of a Turkish woman by her ex-husband in front of her daughter 
sparked outrage on Aug. 23 after a video of the attack went viral online.

In the first six months of 2019, 214 women were killed by men, while 440 women 
were killed last year, according to the women’s rights group We Will Stop 
Femicides. That was up from 409 women in 2017 and 121 in 2011.

“Such incidents inflict deep wounds in our souls; every one of us gets shocked 
and society wants the assailants to be punished. But the objective of the death 
penalty should be questioned as well. The government has thrown the ball out of 
bounds following the last 6 or 7 incidents [of deadly violence against women], 
just saying that they would approve a legislation bringing the death penalty 
back. Putting death penalty on the agenda of parliament means retreating from 
modernity,” said Canan Güllü, the head of the Federation of Women Associations 
of Turkey (TKDF).

“The Turkish Penal Code includes many articles that can prevent femicides. We 
have been reminding the existence of the Law No. 6284 and the preventive 
articles of the Istanbul Convention. If these are implemented, there wouldn’t 
be so many femicides,” she added, referring to the Council of Europe convention 
on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence signed 
in 2011.

“Even if the law enforcement officers implement these laws, the judiciary fails 
to do so. We can even see decisions of good conduct abatement for assailants 
made by high courts,” said Güllü.

She also pointed to the need of a “mental transformation” regarding the social 
status of women in society and family.

“Women choose the path to divorce when they feel stuck in domestic violence, 
but they get killed on the street. We have been facing a masculinity that opens 
way to atrocity against enlightened women. In this perception, the woman’s body 
is humiliated, and women are deemed underdeveloped and the complementary, not 
essential, part of the family,” Güllü said.

Berfu Seker, one campaigner, said that they would bring forward their own 
methods of preventing violence against women.

“We have prepared cards reading that the solution is founding emergency 
response units against femicides, and state policies deterring male violence 
would prevent femicides, not death penalty,” she said.

The Turkish Parliament abolished the death penalty for crimes excluding those 
committed during times of war and related to terrorism. It was completely 
removed from the penal code in 2004.

But no death penalty sentence was approved in parliament since 1984, when 2 
left-wing militants were hanged.

“When we go back and look at the years when the death penalty was effective, 
they cannot show a single incident of anyone being executed for violence 
against women. Death penalties are implemented against unemployed, helpless 
people or refugees, whereas the privileged ones always break loose. Over and 
above, such penalties would be implemented predominantly against women unless 
sexist judiciary practices change,” said women rights activist and lawyer Hülya 
Gülbahar.

She also recalled that assailants committing crimes of torture against children 
or kin should be given a jail time between 3 and 8 years.

(source: Ece Celik, Hurriyet Daily News)








PAKISTAN:

Indian diplomat meets spy Jadhav for 2 hours



Despite tension with New Delhi over Kashmir issue running high, Pakistan on 
Monday provided consular access to serving Indian naval commander and 
intelligence operative Kulbhushan Jadhav by arranging his meeting with the 
official in charge of India’s High Commission Gaurav Ahluwalia in line with 
Vienna Convention and the July 17 verdict of the International Court of Justice 
(ICJ).

“The consular access was provided at 1200 hours and lasted for two hours in the 
presence of officials of the government of Pakistan,” says an official 
statement issued by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs after the meeting held at an undisclosed location.

“On the Indian request, there was no restriction on the language of 
communication,” added the statement.

However, in order to ensure transparency and in line with standard operating 
procedures, and as conveyed to the Indian side in advance, “the access was 
recorded”, the spokesperson stated.

FO says there was no bar on language of communication during consular access

“As a responsible member of the international community and in line with our 
international commitments, Pakistan has provided unimpeded and uninterrupted 
consular access to India to Commander Jadhav,” the statement concludes.

Foreign Office spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal through his official account on 
Twitter had announced on Sunday that Pakistan would grant consular access to 
Jadhav, the serving officer of Indian Navy and a Research and Analysis Wing 
(RAW) operative, in line with Vienna Convention and the ICJ verdict.

The Indian spy had been arrested in a counter-intelligence operation in 
Balochistan on charges of espionage and terrorism. He was later awarded death 
sentence.

However, New Delhi alleged that Pakistan was pressurising Jadhav to “parrot a 
false narrative” to help its case.

In a statement issued hours after the meeting, the official spokesperson for 
the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Raveesh Kumar, said: “While we await a 
comprehensive report, it was clear that Shri Jadhav appeared to be under 
extreme pressure to parrot a false narrative to bolster Pakistan’s untenable 
claims.

“We will decide a further course of action after receiving a detailed report 
from our charge d’ affaires and determining the extent of conformity to the ICJ 
directives.”

India’s official statement indicates that Jadhav stuck to his earlier 
confessional statement during his meeting with Mr Ahluwalia on Monday afternoon 
though there was no official word from Pakistan’s FO about the content of the 
conversation.

According to Mr Kumar, the consular access was part of the “binding 
obligations” of Pakistan as ordered by the ICJ to ensure effective review and 
reconsideration of the conviction and sentence awarded to Jadhav through a 
“farcical” process.

Mr Kumar said the Indian external affairs minister also briefed Jadhav’s mother 
over the latest developments.

“The (Indian) government remains committed to continue to work towards ensuring 
that Shri Jadhav receives justice at the earliest and returns safely to India,” 
he concluded.

Mr Ahluwalia, who had been posted as deputy high commissioner in Islamabad, has 
been in charge of the Indian HC after Pakistan’s last month decision to 
downgrade its diplomatic ties with India in response to New Delhi’s move to 
annex occupied Kashmir.

The decision had been made by the National Security Committee (NSC) on Aug 8, 
three days after India announced revocation of Article 370 of its constitution 
that gave occupied Kashmir an autonomous status and legislated to split the 
held valley into Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Shortly after the NSC meeting, an FO statement said New Delhi had been asked to 
withdraw High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria from Islamabad. Pakistan’s High 
Commissioner-designate Moinul Haq, who was expected to travel to India on Aug 
16 for assuming charge of his office, was also stopped from proceeding to New 
Delhi.

A military court had awarded death sentence to Kulbhushan Jadhav on April 10, 
2017, following his confession that he had mounted operations for RAW to 
conduct terrorist activities on Pakistani soil. Later in June 2017, the Indian 
spy filed a mercy petition against death penalty, in which he again confessed 
to his involvement in terrorist activities.

However, before Pakistani authorities could make a final decision, the ICJ, 
after being approached by India, ordered a stay in his execution through an 
interim order.

In its final verdict, the ICJ asked Pakistan to provide consular access to 
Jadhav under Vienna Convention and rejected India’s request for his acquittal, 
release and return.

Following the verdict, the FO had announced that as a responsible state, 
Pakistan would grant consular access to Jadhav in accordance with the country’s 
laws, for which modalities were being worked out. It said Jadhav had been 
informed of his rights under Article 36, Paragraph 1(b) of the Vienna 
Convention on Consular Relations.

In its verdict that followed proceedings lasting about two years, the UN’s top 
court did not accept India’s contention that Jadhav was entitled to ‘restitutio 
in integrum’ (restoration to original position) and turned down its request to 
annul the decision of the Pakistani military court. Instead it ruled that 
Pakistan by means of its own choosing could undergo an effective review and 
reconsideration of the sentence awarded to Jadhav.

The ICJ said that even though it had found Pakistan in violation of Article 36 
of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), “it is not the 
conviction and sentence of Mr Jadhav which are to be regarded as a violation of 
Article 36 of the Vienna Convention”.

The most, the ICJ said, it could do was to order Pakistan to cease violation of 
Article 36 and review the case in light of how that violation might have 
affected the case outcome. “The court notes that Pakistan acknowledges that the 
appropriate remedy in the present case would be effective review and 
reconsideration of the conviction and sentence,” it observed.

(source: dawn.com)








BANGLADESH:

2 drug dealers sentenced to death in Kushtia----The 2 convicted, Rubel, 21 and 
Bhangan Mandal, 22, were present when the verdict was read out



A Kushtia courthas handed down the death penalty to 2 drug dealers in a case 
filed under the Narcotics Control Act.

Kushtia District and Sessions Judge Arup Kumar Goswami handed down the verdict 
around 11pm on Monday.

The 2 convicted, Rubel, 21 and Bhangan Mandal, 22, were present when the 
verdict was read out.

Mizanur Rahman, Deputy Director of the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC), 
and his team conducted a drive in Mohammadpur village of Daulatpur on October 
19, 2017, according to the case statement. They they arrested the two convicted 
for possessing 800 grams of heroin.

Later, Tareque Masud, inspector of Kushtia DNC, filed a case against the 2 at 
Daulatpur police station.

Public Prosecutor Advocate Anup Kumar Nandi of Kushtia District and Sessions 
Judges’ Court said, acting on the charge sheet submitted on January 27, 2018, 
the court handed down the verdict. He also added that the grave crime was 
proved beyond reasonable doubt after a long trial.

(source: The Dhaka Tribune)




THAILAND:

Myanmar calls Thai king to pardon migrant ‘killers’



Myanmar says it will continue to support the process of seeking a royal pardon 
for 2 migrant workers whose death sentences were upheld by Thailand’s Supreme 
Court last week.

Burmese citizens Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun were sentenced to death for the 
murders of 2 British tourists, Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, on 
Koh Tao in 2014.

The convictions were based on flawed evidence, according to numerous observers.

Thein Swe, Myanmar’s minister of labour and immigration, said he would continue 
co-operating with the Thai authorities to secure a pardon.

He said: “A royal pardon from the king is the only option left, and civil 
society groups in Thailand are also working on it. The government will continue 
supporting in any way it can. The ministry is also helping the labour attache 
and the ambassador in Thailand.”

The minister added that MPs had sent letters to the Thai authorities.

Thailand-based labour rights groups have urged the Thai government to take the 
initiative in seeking a royal pardon.

Both prisoners have consistently denied the charges and claim the Thai police 
coerced them into making confessions.

Andy Hall, a migrant rights specialist who has worked on the case, said: “After 
having seen so much of the evidence presented in court … I consider that the 
death penalty sentence and conviction … should instead have been reversed and 
quashed by the Supreme Court.”

He added that the conviction failed to comply with “accepted criminal burden of 
proof requirements needed to be satisfied to impose such a conviction, 
particularly as concerns international DNA and forensics standards”.

Hall said the DNA and forensic evidence was “fundamentally flawed” and 
“unreliable”.

The case has highlighted wider issues surrounding migrant workers in Thailand.

Millions of workers from Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos work in Thailand’s 
low-skilled sectors, where they are vulnerable to exploitation and often face 
modern slavery.

Thailand last year launched an overhaul of the registration process for 
migrants, granting them the same labour rights as Thais, including access to 
free health care, pension contributions and child allowances.

The military-run government aims to ensure 2 million legitimate migrant workers 
are re-registered. Workers earning as little as Bt10,000 (US$326) per month are 
expected to pay for the process.

The visas, work permits and health checks required for the new agreement cost 
about Bt6,700.

(source: aseaneconomist.com)








SINGAPORE:

Man charged with killing elderly female flatmate in Toa Payoh



An elderly man who allegedly killed his 79-year-old flatmate appeared in court 
yesterday via video link from Central Police Division.

Pak Kian Huat, alias Pek Kiah Huat, 82, was charged with murdering Madam Lim 
Soi Moy in a Housing Board unit on the 21st storey of Block 191 Lorong 4 Toa 
Payoh.

The police had received a call about the case at around 3.40am on Sunday and 
officers found Madam Lim motionless in the unit.

She was later pronounced dead by paramedics.

Neighbours told The Straits Times that Pak and Madam Lim were not married to 
each other but had lived in the same flat for more than 20 years.

They described Madam Lim as a friendly person who looked younger than her age, 
and said they had never heard any arguments or quarrels coming from the unit.

Retiree Goh Leng Sim, who lives in the unit below their flat, said Madam Lim 
worked at a McDonald's outlet at Safra Toa Payoh and had 2 sons and 2 
daughters.

The 86-year-old said that although they rarely spoke, she had bumped into Madam 
Lim when the latter was going out to exercise in the morning. ST visited the 
McDonald's outlet and confirmed that Madam Lim worked there from 2013, but had 
resigned a few months ago.

A former colleague, who declined to be named, said the staff called Madam Lim 
"Ah Ma" and were very fond of her, adding: "She always treated the younger ones 
like her own grandchildren."

Chinese-language daily Lianhe Wanbao reported that police officers had cordoned 
off the flat on Sunday morning and were seen gathering evidence inside the 
unit, including personal items such as a pillow and pillowcase.

Blood-stained footprints were seen on the floor inside the unit and there were 
drops of blood on the ground outside the flat as well.

Pak's case has been adjourned to next Monday.

Offenders convicted of murder will face the death penalty.

(source: straitstimes.com)








VIETNAM:

2 Vietnam former ministers face death penalty over bribe charges



2 former Vietnamese information ministers have been charged with corruption, 
state media reported Tuesday, a charge which in the country carries the death 
sentence.

Nguyen Bac Son, who served as information minister from 2011-2016, was charged 
with "violating the regulations on management and use of public investment 
capital" and "taking bribes," state media reported.

Truong Minh Tuan, who served first as Son's deputy and then replaced him in the 
role until he was suspended last July, was charged with the same crimes. Son 
admitted receiving a 3-million-dollar bribe as a kickback for facilitating a 
now-cancelled deal in which the mobile carrier MobiFone acquired a 95 % stake 
in pay TV firm AVG, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported, citing police.

Son, at the time information minister, approved the acquisition without 
approval from the prime minister's office. Tuan, who as his deputy signed off 
on the decision, admitted receiving a 200,000-dollar bribe from AVG former 
chairman Nhat Vu, the Tuoi Tre report said.

The deal was found to have caused a 307-million-dollar hole in Vietnam's 
budget. Former MobiFone chairman Le Nam Tra, who was arrested in July last year 
and charged with violating regulations of state capital management, admitted 
receiving a 2.5-million-dollar bribe from Vu, the police run newspaper Cong An 
Nhan Dan reported.

Vu was arrested in April for allegedly offering bribes, the Ministry of Public 
Security said in a statement. Vietnam has seen a corruption crackdown in the 
past year under the leadership of Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu 
Trong. Major players in state-owned enterprises, including oil executives, have 
been convicted.

(source: m.gulf-times.com)