Feb. 4
TRINIDAD:
British court to rule on death sentences for 2 Trinidad murderers ---- Test
case will raise question of whether court in London has authority to vary
hanging order imposed by judges in Caribbean
7 British judges will consider whether 2 convicted murderers from Trinidad
should have their death penalty sentences lifted by the privy council.
The test case, starting on Wednesday, will raise the question of whether a
court in London has legal authority to vary a hanging order imposed by judges
in the Caribbean.
Shazad Khan and Timothy Hunte killed Ramkhelawan Charran at a fish farm in
rural Trinidad in August 2003. Hunte, the gunman, shot Charran 5 times and
later also admitted snatching a pile of cash.
Both Khan, the driver, and Hunte were sentenced to go to the gallows in 2008.
Their convictions and sentence were upheld by the appeal court of Trinidad and
Tobago 2 years later.
Because of the long period that has elapsed since the death penalty was
imposed, however, neither men faces the hangman's noose.
A 1993 landmark case, Pratt and Morgan, in the privy council established that
it was inhumane treatment and illegal to keep a condemned prisoner on death row
for more then 5 years after conviction.
The issue at stake this week relates to the continuing judicial dispute between
the Caribbean and London over who should have power to commute a death
sentence.
Fewer death penalty cases reach UK judges nowadays because most of the West
Indian states that use the judicial committee of the privy council (JCPC) as a
final court of appeal have scrapped mandatory execution for murder.
Additionally, Barbados and Belize, which previously referred appeals to the
privy council, now direct them instead to the Caribbean court of justice (CCJ).
In Trinidad and Tobago, there is currently a energetic debate on the death
penalty. As the murder rate rises (28 people have already been murdered in
2015) and the country approaches a general election, the sitting government is
attempting to push through a so-called "hanging bill", which attempts to
circumvent the Pratt and Morgan decision by allowing the state to mete out the
death sentence to convicted murderers, regardless of the time it takes for the
appeal process to be exhausted.
Trinidad, where the CCJ is situated, is not a member. It remains within the
privy council's jurisdiction, a link that many West Indian politicians dismiss
as an outdated relic of the British empire.
Khan and Hunte are represented by the Death Penalty Project based at the London
law firm Simons Muirhead and Burton. Parvais Jabbar, co-executive director of
DPP argues, that if the conviction appeals fail, following previous precedents,
the privy council should commute the men's sentences to terms of imprisonment.
Lawyers for the state of Trinidad and Tobago will argue that the privy council
does not have the legal authority to dismiss the death penalties. Instead, the
men should petition the state president or apply to the high court in the
capital, Port of Spain, for the sentences to be commuted.
"The real question is who can commute the death sentence," Jabbar said. "The
JCPC has been asked by lawyers for the state to consider overturning a recent
decision which allowed a domestic court in Trinidad to commute a sentence of
death if the 5-year period has expired - a sensible and practical step.
"There is no justifiable reason to reconsider the recent ruling. However, if
the [privy council] does rule against us, it may open the door for a
reconsideration by us as to whether we should seek to reopen previous important
decisions on the mandatory death penalty decided by a narrow majority where
lives were at stake."
Because the case is considered to be of such importance, 7 justices who also
sit on the supreme court will hear the case. They are Lord Neuberger, president
of the supreme court, Lady Hale, deputy president, and Lords Mance, Clarke,
Sumption, Reed and Toulson.
(source: The Guardian)
JORDAN----executions
Jordan executes 2 in response to pilot's slaying
A government spokesman says Jordan executed 2 prisoners, hours after vowing a
harsh response to the gruesome killing of a Jordanian pilot captured by the
Islamic State extremist group.
Jordan threatened a harsh response after a video released online Tuesday showed
the pilot being burned to death.
Word of the latest 2 executions came after a Jordanian security official told
Associated Press that it would execute an al-Qaida prisoner at dawn Wednesday.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to
discuss the issue with the media.
Identities of the 2 executed prisoners in Jordanian hands were not immediately
available.
Before dawn, a convoy was seen leaving Juweideh prison where prisoner Sajida
al-Rishawi had been held. The convoy arrived at Swaqa prison, where executions
have been carried out.
The gruesome video came after a week-long drama over a possible prisoner
exchange by Jordan to win the release of Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh. Jordanian TV
reported the killing took place Jan. 3, raising questions about the
negotiations for the pilot's freedom.
Jordan agreed last week to release al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman facing execution
for her role in the 2005 hotel bombings in Jordan, but first wanted proof the
pilot was alive.
"The Jordanian response to the assassination of the hero pilot, Muath
al-Kaseasbeh, will be strong, decisive and swift," government spokesman
Mohammed al-Momani said.
Army spokesman Mamdouh al-Ameri added, "Our punishment and revenge will be as
huge as the loss of the Jordanians."
"While the military forces mourn the martyr, they emphasize his blood will not
be shed in vain," he said in a statement read on Jordanian TV.
Reports by Reuters and Agence France-Presse, citing unnamed sources, said
Jordan planned to execute al-Rishawai, the Iraqi prisoner, by dawn Wednesday in
Jordan. The government didn't immediately confirm the reports.
The video marks the 1st time a high-profile hostage of the Islamic State has
been killed by fire, according to IntelCenter, which monitors extremist
websites. In the past, hostages have been beheaded or shot.
"It shows how the group is continually evolving its methods to gain the maximum
exposure for its actions," IntelCenter said in a statement.
Jordan's King Abdullah II, in Washington on a previously scheduled trip, called
for his nation to unite. "It's the duty of all of us to stand united and show
the real values of Jordanians in the face of these hardships," he said on
Jordanian TV from Washington.
The king went to the White House on Tuesday evening and met with President
Obama. He then was cutting short his U.S. visit, the official Petra news agency
said.
Obama earlier said the video, if authentic, was more evidence of the group's
"viciousness and barbarity" and called the group's ideology "bankrupt."
"And it, I think, will redouble the vigilance and determination on the part of
a global coalition to make sure that they are degraded and ultimately
defeated," Obama told reporters.
Al-Kaseasbeh was captured by the Islamic State - also known as ISIL or ISIS -
in December after his aircraft crashed over Syria. He is the 1st, and so far
only, foreign military pilot to be captured since a U.S.-led coalition began
airstrikes on the militants last year.
In Jordan, a tense situation was developing as protests erupted in Amman and
the pilot's home village of Ai on Tuesday night. Hundreds of demonstrators took
to the streets, chanting against Abdullah. "There is no god but God and the
martyr is beloved by God," protesters were heard chanting.
(source: USA Today)
************************
Jordan: Just Do It
Jordan will likely face criticism for executing five terrorists in retaliation
for the Islamic State's incineration of one of its pilots. It shouldn't. The
ugly reality is that Jordan's response is the only appropriate one.
The global war on terror seems to be taking a new seriousness, given the
unprecedented barbarism of the Islamic State's latest terror act.
Just days after brutally beheading 2 Japanese citizens, IS has released a video
showing the burning death of a 26-year-old Jordanian pilot placed in a cage
with an encircling trail of gasoline.
The repulsive video - probably shot in January, shortly after the pilot was
captured the month before - was the terrorist group's most advanced propaganda
effort yet, with cameras positioned at different angles to follow the gas-lit
flames as they encircled and then consumed the innocent man.
The message sent was one of contempt for Jordan's offer to swap prisoners to
save the man and evinced a special cruelty for a state that they intend to
overrun.
There's no other way to deal with such a threat than with the hardest response
possible.
Tragically, the friendly, pro-West Jordan is in no position to retaliate
militarily or economically like the West. It's a poor country, awash in
refugees from Syria, and its only nearby friend is Israel. President Obama's
assurances of "solidarity" in the face of this barbarism ring pretty hollow.
The IS knows this. That's why it subjects the country to special cruelties. It
knows that Jordan is all alone out there, facing a mortal threat. And Jordan
knows it, too.
That's why Jordan's swift move to execute multiple terrorists - by some reports
a thousand, but at least 2 - is the only act of retaliation that qualifies as
commensurate.
No human rights lawyers, no Gitmo 4-choice menus, no Froot Loops, no choice of
Qurans, no costume robes and no terrorist-approved mullahs. Jordan is simply
getting rid of murderous enemies who kill without conscience and terrorize its
people.
Just a serious response to a serious threat. Someone in that country knows that
the only way for a small state to deal with monsters is to confront and destroy
them, just as Jordan's pre-Islamic-era hero, St. George, slew the dragon.
(source: Editorial, Investor's Business Daily)
**************************
Killing of Jordanian pilot 'abhorrent' but 'revenge executions' not the answer
The vicious summary killing of a Jordanian pilot who was burned alive by the
armed group that calls itself the Islamic State (IS) is an atrocious attack
against humanity, said Amnesty International, but responding with executions is
not the answer.
The video showing Muath al-Kasasbeh being burned alive in a cage has sent
shockwaves across the world. This morning at dawn the Jordanian authorities
executed Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karbouli, 2 Iraqis linked to al-Qa'ida,
in apparent revenge for his killing.
"The abhorrent killing of Muath al-Kasasbeh is a war crime and an all-out
attack on the most basic principles of humanity," said Philip Luther, Director
of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme.
"The Jordanian authorities are rightly horrified by this utterly reprehensible
killing but the response should never be to resort to the death penalty, which
itself is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. The death
penalty should also not be used as a tool for revenge. The IS's gruesome
tactics must not be allowed to fuel a bloody cycle of reprisal executions."
Under international humanitarian law holding hostages is a war crime and all
detainees should be treated humanely by their captors.
"The killing of Muath al-Kasasbeh while he was trapped in a cage in such a
brutal and orchestrated manner shows the savagery that a group like the IS is
capable of," said Philip Luther.
One of those executed by the Jordanian authorities today was Sajida al-Rishawi,
who was on death row for her role in the 2005 bombing in Amman that killed 60
people. Her lawyer's request for her to undergo psychiatric assessment to
assess her mental fitness to stand trial was refused by the court.
According to a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, following his
visit to Jordan in 2006, she was tortured during interrogation over a
month-long period in the custody of Jordan???s General Intelligence Department
(GID).
Ziad Karbouli, the 2nd person executed this morning, was convicted on charges
of belonging to an illegal organization, possessing explosives leading to death
of a person and murder. His lawyer told Amnesty International that he had been
forced to confess under duress.
After an 8-year halt in executions, Jordan resumed its use of the death penalty
in December 2014 when it carried out the executions of 11 men. Amnesty
International is calling on Jordan to immediately establish an official
moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.
Muath al-Kasasbeh, a fighter pilot in the Jordanian air force, was captured
when his plane came down near al-Raqqa, Syria, during a mission against the IS
in December 2014.
The IS has killed dozens of its captives in the past year including in the past
month the Japanese journalist Kenji Goto and a 2nd Japanese hostage, Haruna
Yukawa.
Amnesty International calls on the IS to cease summary killings, abductions and
hostage taking.
(source: Amnesty International)
IRAN----executions
5 Prisoners Hanged in Iran
4 prisoners convicted of drug-related charges were hanged in the prison of
Rasht (Northern Iran) reported the official website of the Iranian Judiciary in
Gilan Province. The prisoners were identified as "A. M." (42) charged with
trafficking of 5750 grams of crystal (methamphetamin), "Y. Gh" (41) for buying
5750 grams of crystal, "H. T." (37) for participation in buying 3300 grams of
crystal and "S. Gh." (29) for possession and trafficking of 5750 grams of
crystal, said the report.
The executions were carried out on Saturday January 31.
The Iranian daily newspaper reported that a 21 year old man was hanged in the
prison of Mashhad (Northeastern Iran) Monday morning 2. February. The man who
was not identified by name, was convicted of stubbing a 20 year old man under a
fight at a wedding party 2 years ago. He was sentenced to qesas (retribution in
kind).
(source: Iran Human Rights)
PAKISTAN----executions
Convicted for murder: 2 LeJ militants hanged in Karachi prison
2 Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) militants convicted for the murder of a doctor were
hanged at the Karachi Central Jail on Tuesday, in the latest executions since
the government lifted a moratorium on death penalty last year.
Attaullah, alias Qasim, and Mohammad Azam were convicted of killing Dr Ali Raza
on sectarian grounds in 2001 at the busy Soldier Bazaar area in Karachi. Both
men, who belonged to LeJ, a banned militant outfit, were arrested in 2004 and
tried in an anti-terrorism court, which later handed down the death sentence.
According to prison officials, the death row inmates were hanged at 6.30 in the
morning amid tight security. The roads outside the Karachi central prison were
closed to traffic overnight as a security measure before the executions.
Hours after the executions, jail officials confirmed that the bodies of both
men were handed over to their family members.
Nearly 2 dozen people have been hanged since the government reinstated capital
punishment in terror cases amid public outrage over the Dec 16 at the Army
Public School in Peshawar that left 150 people, mostly children, dead.
(source: Express Tribune)
*********************
Hundreds Rally as Mumtaz Qadri Appeals Sentence
The defense team of Salmaan Taseer's killer includes 2 judges and he has
attracted support from extremist groups.
Mumtaz Qadri appealed on Tuesday against his death sentence for murdering
Salmaan Taseer, as hundreds rallied outside the court to show support.
Qadri was sentenced for killing Taseer outside an upmarket coffee shop in
Islamabad in 2011. The former bodyguard has admitted shooting Taseer, saying he
objected to the politician's calls to reform strict blasphemy laws, which can
carry the death penalty.
Around 300 of Qadri's supporters chanted slogans calling for his release as a
2-judge bench at Islamabad High Court began hearing the appeal.
Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistan, and Qadri???s actions have
made him a "hero" to many conservatives eager to drown out any calls to soften
the legislation.
At his original trial, Qadri was showered with rose petals by some lawyers. His
current appeal team features 2 judges, including the former chief justice of
the Lahore High Court.
Outside the court, protesters wearing shirts with the logo of religious
movement Pakistan Sunni Tehreek shouted "The lock of the prison will break,
Qadri will be released!" and "Be ashamed, release Qadri!"
Malik Muhammad Safeer, Qadri's brother, urged his release. "My brother has done
nothing wrong. He is happy and satisfied in the prison and always prays to God.
Salmaan Taseer was killed because he committed blasphemy," he claimed.
Defense lawyers said they expect the appeal to be decided within weeks.
Pakistan lifted a moratorium on executions in terror cases in December after
Taliban gunmen massacred 150 people at a school. But executing someone
convicted of murdering a "blasphemer" would risk a backlash from hardline
religious groups. After Qadri was convicted in 2011, dozens of furious lawyers
ransacked the courtroom of the judge who had sentenced him to death.
(source: Newsweek Pakistan)
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