[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 14



JAPAN:

Pope may meet Japanese man seeking retrial over death sentence



Arrangements are being made for a meeting between Pope Francis and Iwao 
Hakamada, who is seeking a retrial for his conviction in a 1966 quadruple 
homicide, during the pontiff’s visit to Japan in late November, it was learned 
Saturday.

The meeting may be held just before or after a Mass planned at the Tokyo Dome, 
according to supporters of Hakamada, 83, whose death sentence was suspended in 
2014.

It is still uncertain, however, whether the meeting will become a reality due 
in part to Hakamada’s health problems, the supporters said.

The pope opposes the death penalty, and any remarks he may make about Japan’s 
system of capital punishment are expected to attract attention.

According to supporters, Hakamada’s lawyers and others sent a letter to the 
pope last year, expressing hope for a meeting.

Hakamada was arrested and indicted in 1966 over the murder of 4 people in the 
same family in Shizuoka Prefecture. His death sentence was finalized in 1980.

In 2014, about 48 years after the arrest, he was released from prison after 
Shizuoka District Court granted a retrial to him. But the Tokyo High Court 
overrode the decision in 2018.

The suspension of the death sentence and imprisonment was maintained, but 
Hakamada’s side has appealed to the Supreme Court.

(source: japantimes.co.jp)








VIETNAM:

Vietnamese drug trafficker arrested



Border guards of Vietnam's central Thanh Hoa province have detained a local man 
for trafficking 7 cakes of heroin and 56,000 pills of synthetic drug, Vietnam 
News Agency reported on Friday.

The 55-year-old man from the province's Quan Son district was caught red-handed 
transporting the illicit drugs on a national road in the mountainous district 
on Thursday.

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.

In a partial dissent, however, Judge Marsha Berzon wrote that Ramirez should be 
allowed to pursue his claim that he should not receive the death penalty 
because he is intellectually disabled.

Gabrielsen agreed, saying Berzon’s dissent could be the basis of a future 
appeal.

“I think she hit it right on the head,” he said. “I think she was absolutely on 
the money.”

(source: xinhuanet.com)








SAUDI ARABIA:

130 executed in Saudi Arabia in 2019, most of whom were bin Salman’s opponents



An international human rights organisation has revealed that the Saudi 
authorities have executed more than 130 people since the beginning of this 
year, most of whom were opponents of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

In a report presented at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Anti Death 
Penalty Project organisation announced that six of the executed opponents were 
children at the time of their arrest.

(sourceL Middle East Monitor)








IRAN:

Iran vs the 21st century: 85 children on death row



Simmering tensions in the Persian Gulf, resumed uranium enrichment programs, 
and supporting proxy military operations in Syria’s civil conflict and Yemen 
headline the current impasse between the West and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Add the diplomatic deadlock in the wake of the United States pulling out of the 
so-called Iran nuclear Deal, and there’s serious cause for concern over 
Teheran’s next moves.

Now as the UN General Assembly approaches, there’s guarded optimism over a 
possible meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Donald Trump on 
the sidelines of the world gathering. Such an encounter could “break the ice” 
for further discussions.

The U.S. has toughened economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic, including 
its once lucrative petroleum sector. Yet it’s Iran’s mullahs who stand to gain 
should there be some sort of revised “deal” over their proscribed nuclear 
capacity. Stifling sanctions have crippled Teheran’s standing.

But beyond the geopolitical and the diplomatic assessments, there is one lens 
which is rarely applied to viewing Iran: the sordid human rights situation 
inside the country of 83 million people where a corrupt and loathsome regime 
has instilled a reign of fear, intolerance and stupidity in the fabled land of 
Persia.

A recent United Nations human rights report on the Islamic Republic of Iran 
underscores a situation “marked by the ongoing targeting of human rights 
lawyers and defenders, trade unionists, peaceful protesters and journalists.” 
The UN High Commissioner on Human Rights “continued to receive reports of 
torture, arbitrary detention and trials that failed to adhere to international 
standards.”

Iran’s use and abuse of the death penalty causes particular concern among human 
rights monitors. The High Commissioner received information “that at least 253 
people were executed in 2018, a significant decrease from estimated figures in 
2017, when there were at least 437.”

Significantly at least 38 of these executions were for the offenses of 
“spreading corruption on earth,” and “waging war against God.”

Equally, “The Secretary-General continues to be deeply concerned by the 
continued sentencing to death of children and alleged child offenders in Iran.” 
At least 85 children were on death row as of May 2019, “with some at risk of 
imminent execution.” The survey laments the regime’s prohibition of free trade 
unions; “the creation of trade unions is prohibited, with the exception of 
Government-sanctioned Islamic labour councils.”

Media freedoms in Iran are virtually nonexistent. The independent media monitor 
group Reporters Without Borders ranks Iran near the bottom of the list as 170 
out of 179 countries.

The State Supreme Council of Cyberspace (talk about an Orwellian term!) 
monitors the Internet. The UN report adds moreover that the “High Commission on 
Human Rights has continued to receive reports of the arbitrary arrest, 
detention and harassment of journalists, writers and media workers. In 2018, 28 
journalists were reportedly detained.”

Naturally the status of women and minorities remains troubling. The report 
cites deep concern “over the ongoing repression of women human rights defenders 
who object to compulsory veiling and by the response of the authorities to 
protests against compulsory veiling.”

Discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities in law and practice 
continues whether they be Christian converts, Sunni Moslems or members of the 
Bahai faith.

What the report illustrates is a clear and consistent pattern of oppression 
which has characterized the Islamic Republic since 1979. This should come as no 
surprise for a government whose civil, political and religious rights are often 
framed through a narrow theocratic lens.

Naturally the West Europeans (especially Britain, France and Germany) not to 
mention Russia, want a diplomatic fig leaf behind which they can resume 
lucrative business deals with Iran.

Let’s be frank, it’s all about trade and that goes for the USA too, which 
during the Obama Administration was poised to sell Teheran over $20 billion of 
Boeing commercial aircraft.

And left-wing solons throughout Europe and the USA moreover continue to 
rationalize the Iranian ruler’s behavior as having “matured” since the 1979 
revolution.

Teheran’s brazenly arrogant but corrupt regime still has not squared the 
circle; namely how to get away with circumventing the nuclear “deal” reached 
with the Obama Administration in 2015, but nevertheless, beat the crippling 
economic sanctions which both Obama and Trump slapped on the Islamic Republic.

Iran’s continuing geopolitical danger extends beyond its shadowy nuclear 
program; primarily threats to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Arab Gulf sheikdoms. It 
fuels conflict in Syria and Yemen.

As the Wall Street Journal opined, “If Iran really wants sanctions lifted, then 
it will have to act like a normal nation, not a revolutionary state.”

(source: John J. Metzler is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic 
and defense issues----World Tribune)








SUDAN:

Sudan junta drops death penalty against rebel leaders



Sudan’s ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) has cancelled the death 
penalty that was issued against Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North 
(SPLM-N) leader Malik Agar, his deputy Yasir Arman, and 15 others in 2014.

The TMC said in a statement on Thursday that the decision to abolish the death 
penalty came as part of measures to achieve peace in Sudan, confirmed by the 
Constitutional Declaration agreed on by the junta and the Forces for Freedom 
and Change a week ago.

In March 2014, after a 9-months trial, a special court in Singa, capital of 
Sennar, sentenced 17 members of the SPLM-N to death by hanging in absentia. 
Forty-six other detainees were sentenced to life imprisonment, while 31 were 
acquitted.

Those sentenced were among about 100 detainees who faced trial for their 
alleged involvement in the outbreak of the war in Blue Nile state in September 
2011.

Following the ousting of President Omar Al Bashir in a military coup on April 
11, the SPLM-N faction under the leadership of Malik Agar, decided to send a 
delegation to Khartoum. On May 26, Yasir Arman arrived in the Sudanese capital.

The stated goal of his visit was “to go to Khartoum, reach a just peace, 
linking between peace, democracy, and citizenship without discrimination and 
social justice”.

In spite of the death penalty, Arman was not subjected to any harassment at his 
arrival at Khartoum airport. Yet, he soon received 6 letters; 5 by Lt Gen 
Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’, Deputy chairman of the TMC, and one by the chairman of 
the junta, Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, demanding he leave Sudan.

The rebel leader was detained on June 5. 5 days later, he was deported to the 
South Sudanese capital of Juba, together with SPLM-N secretary-general Ismail 
Khamis and spokesman Mubarak Ardol.

(source: dabangasudan.org)








NIGERIA:

2,742 Inmates Awaiting Execution As Govs Decline To Sign Warrants



The controller general, Nigeria Correctional Service ( NCS), Ahmed Jafa’aru 
yesterday revealed that Nigeria now has 2,742 inmates on death row.

Jafa’aru made the revelation while briefing newsmen about the key provisions of 
the Nigeria Correctional Service Act which was recently assented to by 
President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said, “As of Monday, September 2, the service had 2,742 inmates on death 
row. We are compiling their list and I am sure a good number of them have 
exhausted their appeal and are waiting for the approving authority to either 
approve their execution or commute them to life sentence. The law also talks 
about rejection of lunatics. Right now, we have 13 lunatics in our Enugu 
facility.”

While stating that the new Act has brought succour and hope to inmates on death 
row the CG explained that previously, this category of inmates live under the 
suspense and mental torture of death which the appropriate authorities would 
neither sign nor easily commute to life imprisonment.

He said, “ Section 12 subsection 2 (c) of the NCS Act now provides that where 
an inmate sentenced to death has exhausted all legal procedures for appeal and 
a period of 10 years has elapsed without the execution of the sentence, the 
Chief Judge may commute the sentence of death to life imprisonment.”

The CG who expressed optimism that the approving authorities are working to 
either approve their execution or to commute them to life sentence noted that 
the Nigeria Correctional Service Act was more than a mere change of 
nomenclature.

While also revealing that there are at present 13 lunatics in its Correctional 
facility in Enugu, the Nigeria Correctional Service boss said that with the new 
law, the service now has the power to reject mentally unstable suspects.

He said the new bill also has provision for the building of new facilities to 
cater for female inmates as opposed to the present situation where a section of 
a given facility is carved out to serve as women wing.

Speaking on overcrowding, he said the new Act now provides a statutory 
procedure for rejecting inmates on account of lack of space.

He said, “ Sect. 12 (4) of the Act states; where the Custodial Centre has 
exceeded its capacity, the State Controller shall within a period not exceeding 
1 week, notify the: Chief Judge of the State; the Attorney General of the 
State; Prerogative of Mercy Committee; State Criminal Justice Committee; and 
any other relevant body.”

According to him, “To further humanize incarceration, the NCS Act, 2019 now 
forbids the use of correctional facilities for indiscriminate dumping of 
persons without due regard to their state of health or age. Section 13 
subsection (3) states; ‘A Superintendent shall refuse to admit persons brought 
in: with severe bodily injury; Who is: mentally unstable, or in an unconscious 
state of mind, or underage.”

He said, “Subsection (5) of the Act has addressed the age long challenge of 
stigmatization as trained offenders who demonstrate high level of penitence can 
now be issued with a certificate by the chairman of the Board on the 
recommendation of the CGC. This enables him to engage and compete for social 
recognition without the toga of ‘ex-convict’.”

Recall that the Nigerian Correctional Service has repeatedly blamed state 
governors for the high number of condemned inmates in prisons across the 
country.

It said that the governors were unwilling to sign the death warrants for the 
execution of the inmates on death row in various prison formations , hence, the 
hike in the number.

The NCS Controller General, Ahmed Jafa’aru has consistently said, “The problem 
of condemned prisoners is still a very big challenge to NPS and we have been 
appealing to the relevant authorities expecially to the state Chief Executives 
(governors).

“As you know, when someone gets to his last bus stop and is condemned to death 
and he has exhausted his appeal to the Supreme Court, the only opportunity he 
has to escape death is the governor commuting his death sentence to a term of 
imprisonment or sign the death warrant for this person to take his last 
breath.”

(source: leadership.ng)