Aug. 25
PUERTO RICO:
Puerto Rico Needs the Death Penalty, Not Superficial Moralism
Time and time again I hear the same response to my proposals for Puerto Rico:
"you have many good ideas, but the death penalty is unacceptable."
I understand the natural fear and rational distrust of government abuse. I seek
limited government and maximum personal freedom, while maintaining a working
society.
I cannot accept, however - in the face of more than 5,000 murders in the last 6
years in Puerto Rico - that somehow the government should be unable to put to
death those who deserve to die. It is the moral thing to go with those who
murder others or who commit insurrection against the independent country, once
it is established.
All other options to curb violent crime on the island, except three, have been
tried in the last 20 years. And all three are in my proposal: the right to keep
and bear arms, an end to the drug war, and a short-cycle death penalty.
The war on drugs is the main driver of violence, with drug gangs constantly
fighting each other, killing potential witnesses, and imposing a terror regime
upon the people. The difficulty in obtaining personal weapons and the right to
use them in self defense is another. However, equally important is that those
violent criminals have absolutely no fear of government authority. None.
To do nothing is to be complicit in the deaths of hundreds of people each year.
To repeat old mistakes and refuse to take action because of an alleged moral
disagreement is equally wrong. Let us take a moment to analyze the moral
question (government should have no right to kill its citizens) and the
question of whether or not we should allow the death penalty, because there
might be a mistake.
First, let me point out (at the risk of sounding heartless) that I do not
believe in Pareto efficiency. It does not exist within the human experience.
There will always be losses; there will always be mistakes.
We do not and cannot cease to live; nor can we refuse to allow any government
of any kind just because a "mistake may happen." If that is the measure of what
is allowed or not, we might as well lie down and die, since we can be killed by
an accident in a car, in our bathtub, in our workplace, or in a myriad of other
scenarios.
There is also inconsistency in the logic against the death penalty. Do you
believe in having an armed police force, whether government or private? Do you
believe in having a standing army or reserves for national defense? Do you
believe in the right to keep and bear arms and the right of self-defense?
Why is it appropriate for government to have the power to kill on the streets
in a gun fight between police and a criminal - who, if killed, will have no
trial and no appeal - but wrong to hold a trial and execution within one year
of conviction?
If you believe in having a military and the right of a nation to defend itself,
are you not aware that civilians die in war? "Mistakes will be made" on the
battlefield, and these can only be avoided by not having an army and not
defending the country in the first place. Those mistakes, may be investigated
after the fact, but dead enemy soldiers have no trial and no appeal.
A private homeowner with a gun is in the same situation. A person may break
into his home at night to harm the family, and the homeowner may shoot him, but
what if there is a mistake and the person only wanted to use the phone? Should
we prohibit the right to keep and bear arms simply because a mistake might be
made: a homeowner, soldier, or police officer might misuse his weapon?
Instead, let us punish those who abuse their power or who commit criminal
offenses.
To say that it is immoral for government to exercise the death penalty, because
it is murder, is like saying it is immoral for government to imprison anyone.
Kidnapping and holding someone captive on a private basis is a crime too. Yet,
if a man kidnaps a child, do we not kidnap him and hold him against his will?
If you believe that the death penalty is too much power for the state to have,
then you must also consider support for armed police, the presence of a
military of any kind, the right to keep and bear arms, and the right to
self-defense. In the violent climate of Puerto Rico and Latin America, is it
not immoral to lay down your responsibility to defend your children and your
community, and allow them to die and your nation to be overrun by those who
have no compunction about using violence?
Would we not also be complicit if we do nothing in the face of such a threat?
If you support the changes I am proposing, but you hesitate or withdraw your
support for all, because of your disagreement with one, things will remain the
same. The blood you fear will continue to flow in the streets of Puerto Rico.
In a perfect world, we would need no government, no weapons, no police, no
armies, and certainly no death penalty. That is not the world I live in ... do
you?
(source: Frank Worley-Lopez, The Canal)
SOMALIA:
Somalia court sentences terror suspects to death amid int'l outcry
Mogadishu-based military court on Sunday sentenced 2 Al Shabaab suspects to
death as international outcry continues to put court justice into question,
Garowe Online reports.
5 Al Shabaab defendants-Dahir Osman Ali, Asad Mohamud Ali, Mohamed Mahdi Ali,
Ahmed Abdirahman Mohamed and Osman Ali Malin-were arraigned in the military
court on charges of terrorism. Dahir, Asad and Mohamed were convicted of
killing traffic police officer Yusuf Hassan Adow during the holy month of
Ramadan, judges declared.
Addressing reporters in the court building, prosecutor handed out death penalty
to Dahir and absentee Asad while Mohamed was sentenced to life in prison. The
court also freed Mohamed after military body found him not guilty of the
criminal charges while Maalin was sentenced to 6 months in jail.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed concern over the mass executions being
carried out by Federal Government of Somalia???s military court, saying it has
been short of International fair trail standards.
In 2014 alone, 13 executions are said to have taken place in Mogadishu.
(source: Garowe Online)
************************
Summary executions in Somalia
Recent executions in Somalia put the quality of justice delivered by military
courts into question.
Somalia's military court sentenced 3 men to death on July 30 for alleged
membership in the armed Islamist group Al-Shaabab and involvement in attacks in
Mogadishu, the capital. 4 days later, the Somali media posted to Twitter
photographs of their limp, hooded bodies tied to poles.
Such rapid executions once again call into question the quality of justice in
Somalia's military courts. The government should try civilians before civilian
courts, respect the presumption of innocence, ensure that confessions are not
extracted under duress, and allow defendants adequate time for appeals. Sadly,
Somalia's new military court chairman, Col Abdirahman Mohamed Turyare, has
boasted of flagrant violations of these requirements under international law.
He recently told the media that his court was waging a "new war against
terrorists." Under international law, the death penalty is permitted only after
a rigorous judicial process - a fair trial in which the defendant has adequate
time to prepare a defence and appeal the sentence, among other requirements.
In March, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report detailing how Somalia's
military court proceedings "fall short of international fair trial standards".
Relatives of defendants and independent observers have very limited access to
the hearings, allowing the court to operate without oversight. A central
concern was the speed at which death sentences have been carried out. HRW
opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as an inherently cruel and
irreversible punishment. That concern is even greater given the due process
concerns we identified with the military court.
Unfortunately, these practises appear to have been getting worse in recent
months.
13 executions have taken place in Mogadishu in 2014, 9 been carried out just
since July. 11 of those executed were not members of the Somali armed forces;
the majority accused of being Al-Shabaab members or fighters. A man accused of
carrying out an attack on Maka al-Mukarama hotel in Mogadishu in November 2013
was sentenced and executed within just over 2 weeks in July.
Carrying out death sentences so rapidly prevents defendants from filing an
appeal. It also makes it less likely that the president will be able to review
the case for a possible pardon or commutation.
The military court has tried defendants for a broad range of crimes not within
its jurisdiction, notably common crimes against civilians.
Turyare told the media that parents of Al-Shabaab suspects will be arrested and
he claimed some were already in detention. "It is failure to exercise
responsibility of parent-ship. It is your responsibility as father or mother to
report to the police that your children are missing or went to terrorist
group," he said. Arresting families of suspects is a form of collective
punishment that is contrary to fundamental principles of justice.
In its recent decisions, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
has called on countries to prohibit trials of civilians before military courts
and to restrict the cases appearing before these courts to military offences
committed by military personnel. Somalia should comply with these decisions by
transferring civilian cases to civilian courts, rather than cementing an
abusive practise.
Even the outdated Somali military law doesn't grant the court such powers.
Turyare claimed that trying Al-Shabaab suspects under the military penal code
is justified, but HRW's assessment of the code found the legal basis for the
trial of civilians in the military court, including Al-Shabaab members not
taking part in hostilities, to be doubtful.
Defendants are also often held in facilities run by Somalia's national
intelligence agency, notorious for mistreatment during interrogations. Turyare
told the media that those recently executed had "confessed". International
human rights law and Somalia's provisional constitution state that no one can
be compelled to testify against themselves or to confess guilt. This basic
standard helps to protect defendants from being coerced or tortured into
confessing.
The state-run Somali National Television has contributed to undermining the
defendants' chances of a fair trial by broadcasting interviews with them during
their detention and trial, describing their alleged involvement in attacks.
This shows governmental disregard for the presumption of innocence.
Amid these swift executions, Somalia has called on Kenya to extradite to
Mogadishu an alleged Al-Shabaab journalist who is reportedly under arrest in
Kenya. While Kenya still has the death penalty on its books, it has not
executed anyone in decades, and should not return anyone to Somalia who surely
will not receive a fair trial.
The Somali government should reform its courts before making requests for
extradition. The president should impose a moratorium on the death penalty, and
his government should work to ensure that all national courts, civilian and
military, respect fair trial standards. Without serious improvements in the
quality of trials, the injustices of the past will continue.
As one Somali defence lawyer told me: "I believe that all human beings,
including Al-Shabaab suspects, have the right to fair trial." Wise words that
the head of the military court and the Somali authorities should hear if they
hope to rebuild people's trust in their justice system.
(source: Laetitia Bader is an Africa researcher at Human Rights
Watch----Midnimo.com)
IRAN----executions
More prisoners hanged in public
The Iranian regime henchman continued hanging in public of prisoners in cities
across the country to further intensify climate of fear among the public.
On Sunday morning a man was hanged in public in city of Sari (northern Iran)
and another man was also hanged in public in city of Borazjan.
Meanwhile on Monday, the authorities in the main prison in city of Bandar Abbas
(southern Iran) transferred a group of 5 men were transferred to solitary
confinement to await their execution.
The prisoners Edris Hassan Zadeh,35, Sajad Rezapour, 25, Mansour Hetdari, 33,
Mohammad Balouch, 55, and Mehdi Hashemi, 26, are expected to be executed as
early as Tuesday.
Mohammad Balouch is a Pakistani citizen. Mehdi Hashemi has been in prison since
10 years ago.
Since Hassan Rouhani has assumed office as the president of the Iranian regime,
there has been a rise in human rights violations in Iran. Some 800 have been
executed in Iran during the past year in Iran, including many in public.
(source: NCR-Iran)
*********************
Death Row prisoners family seeking help from Human Rights Organisation
Afshari family is seeking help from Human Rights Organisations to save their
children. They have 2 sons on the death row and the 3rd one sentenced to
imprisonment for political activities.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Afshari
Family sent a letter to HRANA seeking help and attention of all Human Rights
Organisations for their sons Habibolah Afshari, Ali Afshari and Jafar Afshari.
They are specially worried about their sons' death sentence to be executed.
Habibolah Afshari and Ali Afshari- who are brothers- were sentenced to death in
January 2012 by Islamic Revolutionary Court, while they were kept at Oromiyeh
Prison. They are accused of being member of Anti-Islamic Regime party and "War
against God and state". In addition, Jafar Afshari ??? the 3rd brother- was
sentenced to 5 years imprisonment in exile on similar charges. All 3 brothers
are in exile at Oromiyeh Prison at the moment.
(source: Human Rights Activists News Agency)
GAZA----executions
Gaza crisis: Hamas executes 4 suspected Israeli spies
Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, continued with its executions of
"collaborators", killing 4 more Palestinians suspected of spying for Israel.
Masked Hamas militants fatally shot the Palestinians in the courtyard of a
mosque in the Jabaliya refugee camp on charges of spying for the enemy
yesterday. Hamas-affiliated Al-Majd website quoted security sources as saying
that the 4 were executed in a "revolutionary" way after "legal measures were
completed".
The website has warned that future collaborators would be dealt with in the
field to create deterrence. The Islamist faction declined to release the names
or pictures of the executed for the sake of social stability, fearing backlash
against their families. The executions raise the total number of Palestinian
"suspects" paraded to their deaths to 25; 18 of them were executed on Friday
and 3 on Thursday.
Hamas has warned that Israel will "pay the price" for killing 3 top leaders of
its military wing - the Qassam Brigades. Earlier, the Palestinian Authority
(PA), which controls the West Bank, denounced the executions of alleged
collaborators, calling them "extrajudicial".
The PA President's office condemned Hamas for failing to abide by existing
legal procedures for dealing with the cases. Although collaboration with Israel
is punishable by death in the Palestinian legal code, President Mahmoud Abbas
has maintained a moratorium on the death penalty since 2005.
Amnesty International called on Hamas to halt the campaign of summary
executions of suspected collaborators. The Palestinian death toll in Gaza has
now reached 2,102, including about 500 children, with more than 10,550 injured
during the 47-day conflict. In Israel, 68 people have died.
UN agencies have said that 70 % of those killed in Gaza are civilians,
including women and children.
(source: Firstpost.com)
*********************
B'Tselem Condemns Hamas Execution of 'Collaborators'----Condemnations of Hamas
executions spans political spectrum as leftist group adds its voice, says death
penalty always 'immoral'.
Left-wing NGO B'Tselem released a statement condemning the execution of more
than 20 people in Gaza by Hamas in a matter of days.
The men were publicly executed for being "collaborators", a term used to
describe anyone thought to have cooperated with Israel.
The killings followed the assassination of three senior Hamas leaders on
Thursday in an Israeli Air Force strike, which is said to have seriously shaken
the Islamist terror group and triggered something of a witch hunt to discover
how Israel had obtained precise information on their whereabouts at a time of
war.
B'Tselem claimed that according to the data available to them, since last
Thursday (21 August) - the same day the Hamas leaders were killed - 25 people
had been executed by Hamas, seven of whom were shot publicly in Gaza City's
central square.
It is unclear what kind of a trial, if any, the accused received.
In a statement released Sunday, B'Tselem said the "current circumstances
prevailing in the Gaza Strip" prevented it from carrying out a full
investigation, including the precise number of victims or their identities.
In any event, the statement continued, "International humanitarian law totally
forbids any state or organization from executing people without a trial... Acts
like these are a severe violation of international law."
The statement went on to condemn the death penalty as "immoral" under any
circumstances, and called on Hamas to use other methods to punish wrongdoers.
B'Tselem's statement follows calls by a right-wing NGO for the US to take
action over the spate of killings.
The Legal Forum for Israel submitted a letter to Washington's Ambassador to
Israel, requesting "that your government act to put an end to the wave of
executions in Gaza."
(source: Israel National News)
*****************************
Gaza: Halt Executions ---- 25 Alleged Collaborators Summarily Executed in 72
Hours
Amid all the carnage in Gaza, it's abhorrent that Hamas officials are adding to
it by permitting, if not ordering, the summary execution of Palestinians deemed
to be collaborators. Hamas authorities need to stop these extrajudicial
killings.
Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip should urgently act to stop executions of
Palestinians accused of providing information to the Israeli military and
appropriately punish those behind the executions, Human Rights Watch said
today. News reports said unidentified gunmen believed to be acting on
instructions from Hamas executed 3 people on August 21, 2014, 18 people on
August 22, and 4 people on August 23.
Hamas officials told journalists that local courts had tried and sentenced some
of the men to death for "collaborating with the enemy" but gave no details and
did not release their names, ostensibly to protect their families. Gunmen
carried out executions in an empty park and in a public square in Gaza City,
and near a mosque in Jabalya, not at the Interior Ministry location where local
regulations authorize carrying out judicial executions.
"Amid all the carnage in Gaza, it's abhorrent that Hamas officials are adding
to it by permitting, if not ordering, the summary execution of Palestinians
deemed to be collaborators," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North
Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Hamas authorities need to stop these
extrajudicial killings."
Hamas and its armed wing, the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, have not
officially taken responsibility for the killings. However, a statement on a
Hamas-affiliated website, Al Rai, said that, "The current circumstances forced
us to take such decisions." The statement did not elaborate. Earlier on August
21, Israeli airstrikes killed three senior members of the Qassam Brigades, and
targeted the home of Mohammed Deif, the leader of the armed group, whom Israel
has unsuccessfully targeted in multiple attacks over the years."
Another Hamas-affiliated website, Al Majd, reported that the "resistance" had
killed 3 alleged collaborators and arrested 7 others on August 21. Citing a
"security source," the website claimed the victims had been tried by
"revolutionary procedures," but did not provide further information.
On June 2, Hamas had formally withdrawn from its role governing Gaza with the
creation of a "technocratic" unity Palestinian government, consisting largely
of officials from the rival Fatah political faction. However, Hamas continues
to exercise de facto authority in Gaza. Hamas's failure to investigate or
prosecute anyone for public executions in the past, including executions for
which its armed wing claimed responsibility in 2012, has, at the least, created
an enabling environment for such gross abuses.
On the morning of August 22, 11 people whom Hamas officials later described as
alleged collaborators were executed in al-Katiba Park, near al-Azhar University
in Gaza City, according to news reports. A Gaza-based journalist told Human
Rights Watch that the park was empty of other people at the time. The
Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported that 2 of those executed were
women. Unnamed security officials in Gaza told journalists that local courts
had convicted some of the 11 people, news reports said.
Several hours later, hooded gunmen in black clothing without identifiable
markings executed another seven men whom the gunmen had lined up against a wall
outside the Omari mosque in Gaza City, before a large crowd, a local journalist
and news reports said. Accounts from witnesses reported in the media said that
the names of the men executed were not given. Photographs published in the
media show the victims with their heads covered and their hands tied.
Human Rights Watch viewed a printed notice stating that the "ruling of
revolutionary justice was handed down" against the men killed outside the
mosque. It was signed by "the Palestinian Resistance," not by any official
body, suggesting that Hamas may not have carried out these executions. However,
Al Majd website said that "revolutionary military trials" had convicted the 7
men. The website also stated: "The resistance has begun an operation called
'Strangling the Necks,' targeting collaborators who aid the [Israeli]
occupation" and "kill our people."
On August 23, hooded gunmen shot to death 4 men near the wall of a mosque in
Jabalya refugee camp, north of Gaza City, according to Palestinian news
reports.
Under the 1979 Revolutionary Penal Code of the Palestinian Liberation
Organization, conveying information to the enemy to aid its military forces is
punishable by death. In past cases, Gaza military courts have convicted
defendants of collaboration and sentenced them to death after unfair trials,
including cases based almost entirely on confessions that lawyers and family
members said were coerced. Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all
circumstances as an inherently cruel and irreversible punishment. Death
sentences imposed under processes, if any, that are so compromised are
particularly outrageous.
Human Rights Watch is aware of reports that gunmen have executed or shot and
maimed other alleged collaborators in Rafah and in Gaza City since July 7, when
Israeli forces began a military offensive in Gaza.
Hamas authorities have never brought anyone to justice for killing alleged
collaborators. In November 2012, gunmen from the Qassam Brigades killed 7 men
in a Gaza City street, claiming the men were informants. Hamas officials
falsely claimed that 6 of the men had been caught "red handed" during
hostilities that month. In fact all 7 men had been in prison for months or
years before the hostilities. During and after the last major ground offensive
by Israeli forces into Gaza, from December 2008 to January 2009, gunmen killed
32 people in Gaza, and maimed others by shooting them in the legs, including
men whom Hamas officials described as collaborators.
"Hamas authorities should immediately investigate and take appropriate action
against all those responsible for these killings and prevent future killings
from taking place," Whitson said. "Spying and treason are serious crimes in any
jurisdiction, but Hamas leaders should make it clear that death sentences are
not the answer, let alone these summary executions."
(source: Human Rights Watch)
INDONESIA:
College Students Face Possible Death Penalty for Selling Drugs
2 college students are facing a maximum penalty of death for allegedly
distributing illegal drugs in a West Jakarta night club, the anti-drug body
said on Monday.
The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) arrested Cye, 26, and Angelo, 27, for
allegedly selling drugs at the nightclub where they both work. Cye is a waiter
while Angelo does public relations for the club.
BNN spokesman Sumirat Dwiyanto, said the pair started to sell drugs after
meeting a Malaysian customer who suggested the scheme.
"Their involvement started with an offer by Cye's guest, who is a Malaysian.
They agreed to split the profit: 65 % for the guest as a distributor and 35 %
for Cye [as a reseller]," Sumirat said.
The BNN spokesman said Cye and the Malaysian, identified as A.G. planned to
distribute 515 ecstasy pills in several clubs in Jakarta. Sumirat said the
drugs were in a package sent from the Netherlands.
"On Thursday officers arrested Angelo, who came to pick up the package at a
post office in West Jakarta, the investigation then led to Cye," he said.
"BNN is still tracing down where exactly the drugs came from. We will work with
the Dutch police ... We will also cooperate with Malaysian police to arrest the
Malaysian who offered the drugs to Cye,??? Sumirat said.
The spokesman said both Indonesian suspects were registered as students; Cye in
Jakarta and Angelo in Bandung. Police have conducted tests and concluded that
both were drug users.
Sumirat said Cye and Angelo would be charged with violating articles 112, 113
and 114 of the 2009 narcotics law.
"The maximum sentence is life in prison, or death," he said.
(source: The Jakarta Globe)
INDIA:
Should death penalty go? Law panel begins review
Almost half a century after it said the time was not right to abolish the death
penalty, the Law Commission of India has embarked on an exercise to take a
relook at the issue. The Law Commission has issued a public consultation paper
on capital punishment with a detailed questionnaire open to the public to send
in their views on the issue.
The move comes close on the heels of the Supreme Court commuting the death
sentence of 19 persons after their mercy pleas were rejected since January this
year. In one of the cases, the apex court referred to the conundrum and
observed that "perhaps the Law Commission of India can resolve the issue by
examining whether death penalty is a deterrent punishment or is retributive
justice or serves an incapitative goal".
Interestingly, the Bombay high court is hearing a last-ditch attempt by 2
Kolhapur women to save themselves from the noose after their mercy pleas were
rejected by the President - they will be the 1st women to be hanged in
independent India. Renuka Shinde and her sister, Seema Gavit, were sentenced to
death for kidnapping 13 children and killing nine of them in the 1990s.
Besides inviting the views of the public, the commission said it was also
planning to collect data related to the death penalty from various trial
courts, high courts and the apex court. It will also engage law schools to
conduct research on the issue. "People have begun to speculate about the end
goal of keeping a penalty such as death sentence on the statute book," said the
commission, adding, "In recent years, the Supreme Court has admitted that the
question of death penalty is not free from the subjective element and is
sometimes unduly influenced by public opinion. In this context it is imperative
that a deeper study be conducted to highlight whether the process of awarding
capital sentence is fraught with subjectivity and caprice."
For almost eight years between 2004 and 2012, no executions were carried out
till the moratorium was broken with the hangings of 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kazab
and Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru. Critics of the death penalty have
pointed to the falling crime rates during this period to tackle the argument
that capital punishment acts as a deterrent.
According to the government only 54 persons have been executed since
Independence. The National Crime Records Bureau's report reveals that between
2001 and 2011, an average of 132 death sentences were handed down each year by
trial courts across the country. The Supreme Court during the same period,
however, confirmed only 3-4 death sentences each year.
Under the Indian Penal Code, crimes that are punishable with a death sentence
include treason, abetment of mutiny, perjury resulting in the conviction and
death of an innocent person, murder, kidnapping for ransom and dacoity with
murder. Following the Nirbhaya case, Parliament changed the law to make a
second charge of rape punishable with the death penalty. The Criminal Procedure
Code requires special reasons to be given for awarding capital punishment and
in 1980 the apex court had set the "rarest of rare" criteria in such cases.
According to law experts, each legal challenge to the death penalty has failed,
with the SC quoting the 1967 report of the Law Commission which had said:
"Having regard, however, to the conditions in India, to the variety of social
upbringing of its inhabitants, to the disparity in the level of morality and
education in the country, to the vastness of its area, to the diversity of its
population and to the paramount need for maintaining law and order in the
country at the present juncture, India cannot risk the experiment of abolition
of capital punishment."
Advocate Yug Chaudhry said that the Law Commission's report commands great
respect both in Parliament and in courts. "Convicts are being executed in our
names, and if one is opposed to this there will be few more opportune moments
to do so than the commission's public consultation," he said. Chaudhry is
representing the two Kolhapur women convicts before the high court.
(source: The Times of India)
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