Feb. 21
TURKEY:
Should Turkey reinstate the death penalty?
Last week, the people of Turkey were emotionally shaken by the attempted rape
and murder by a minibus driver of a 20-year-old university student named
Ozgecan Aslan. Ozgecan's horrific death sparked nationwide protests concerning
violence against women and calls for the reinstatement of the capital
punishment in Turkey, which was abolished in 2004.
There are many reasons why what happened to Ozgecan sparked such highly
poignant responses. She was an angelic, lively young woman, a successful and
genuinely beautiful university student who was simply trying to go home on the
night of her killing.
The prime suspect, Suphi Altindoken, a minibus driver, tried to rape her; and
is accused of killing her for resisting, dismembering and burning her body in
an attempt to destroy any evidence. Altindoken's father and one friend stand
accused of helping him dispose of the body. In front of the courthouse, the
suspects were almost lynched and still to this date, no lawyer has come forward
to defend the trio.
"Those who are in favor of the death penalty claim the punishment will be a
deterrent for such cases in the future. However, the statistical data suggests
otherwise.
In this emotive environment, Ozgecan's death also started a nationwide debate
on the reinstatement of capital punishment. Even some politicians like Aysenur
Islam, the Family and Social Policies Minister of Turkey, expressed support for
the reinstatement of the death sentences for such cases as a deterrent.
Capital punishment in Turkey
Judicial killing has not been carried out in Turkey since 1986, even though it
was abolished in 2000 in principle and in 2004 Turkey permanently abolished the
death penalty in perpetuity to ratify to the European Convention on Human
Rights after Ankara's candidacy for EU membership was initiated. Turkey thus
became the 1st Muslim majority country to abolish the death penalty. What
happened to Ozgecan is evil and revenge is tempting, but this is when we must
be most measured and reflective about 2nd and 3rd tier effects of making law by
emotion.
Statistically ineffective
Those who are in favor of the death penalty claim the punishment will be a
deterrent for such cases in the future. However, the statistical data suggests
otherwise. The death penalty was ranked last when police chiefs were asked to
name one issue as "the most important for reducing violent crime," with only 1
% listing it as the best way to reduce violence. The death penalty came in
behind needing more police officers; reducing drug abuse; a better economy and
more jobs and longer prison sentences. Almost 6 in 10 police chiefs (57%)
agreed that the death penalty does little to prevent violent crimes because the
perpetrators rarely consider the consequences when engaged in such violence.
The purpose of law enforcement
If the basis for law enforcement is to prevent crime and create a safe
environment for citizens, life in prison without the possibility of parole also
guarantees no future crimes. If we are after a moral society where human rights
are held in high esteem, clearly capital punishment is against the Fifth
Article of the International Declaration of Human Rights. Organizations such as
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are working against the death
penalty across the world. As a result, it is no longer practiced in most
developed societies.
Moral ground
Most importantly, capital punishment is, when all is said and done, state
sanctioned murder; it is the practice of taking the life of a human being
willfully and with intent. Seeking comfort through actions that we would
normally qualify as crimes or atrocities (i.e. murder) eliminates the
possibility of social reconciliation in society. How can we give permission for
someone to kill another because that person committed a crime and even pay for
this "service?"
In democracies, if "we the people" are the "state" then when the "state" kills,
don't we all become participants? We do not torture prisoners as it is
considered inhumane treatment of persons under captivity; in the same manner,
executing prisoners is the ultimate in inhumane treatment to persons under
captivity.
PKK and capital punishment
On another note, if Turkey is going to discuss reinstating the death penalty,
the discussion would also likely involve the PKK terrorist leader Abdullah
Ocalan, who is directly responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of
people. Contrary to popular propaganda, Abdullah Ocalan was not sentenced to
life imprisonment because he is a political prisoner: It was because he is a
proven mass murderer.
Since the Turkish government's reconciliation talks with Kurdish groups are
still on the table, the state of Ocalan and his ilk should be a concern
regarding reinstating capital punishment. Let's not forget that Ocalan had
already been sentenced to death in 1999 after being nabbed by Turkish Special
Forces in Kenya but his sentence was commuted to life in prison after the
abolition of death penalty.
These points bring us to the question: "What can be done to prevent future
Ozgecan Aslan cases?" As a voice of reason, Ozgecan's father also thinks
capital punishment is no use for the slain. He said in an interview; "[The
death penalty] may return to dissuade, but it is not a solution ... People
should learn to control themselves instead." Nobody is born a felon, but they
can be influenced and educated to become one. It is nurture, not nature that is
to blame. We can raise the bar of public security through various measures, but
first of all, we need to educate our youth to respect human dignity, the
sanctity of life and to understand our origin in Divine creation. If we spend
all our time and resources seeking vengeance rather than rooting out the
reasons and ideas that create criminality, we will end up in a society full of
mourning families on both sides.
(source: Ceylan Ozbudak is a Turkish political analyst, television presenter,
and executive director of Building Bridges, an Istanbul-based NGO. As a
representative of Harun Yahya organization, she frequently cites quotations
from the author in her writings. She can be followed on Twitter via
@ceylanozbudak----Al Arabiya)
PAKISTAN:
President rejects 6 clemency pleas
President Mamnoon Hussain turned down on Friday clemency appeals of 6 prisoners
on death row, who are likely to be executed over the next couple of days,
sources in the Presidency told Dawn. All 6 prisoners are from Sindh.
Sources say the president's decision has been conveyed to the Sindh Home
Department, which has directed the inspector general for prisons to carry out
the executions.
The prisoners whose appeals have been turned down include Achar alias Bhai
Khan, Abdul Aziz, Bashir Ahmed, Mohammad Faisal, Mohammad Afzal and Munawwar
Ali. All 6 are said to have been convicted in various terrorism cases.
The president has already rejected 17 mercy pleas from criminals awarded the
death penalty since last December.
The decision regarding the rejection of 6 men's appeals was not officially made
public. Sources said it had been decided at the top level that such decisions
would not be announced officially due to security concerns.
"The summary regarding the appeals of 6 convicts was initiated by the interior
ministry and received by the Presidency through the Prime Minister Office.
After the president's decision, the summary was sent back through same channels
for execution," the source said.
President Mamnoon, he said, would back all executive orders aimed at
eliminating terrorists and had decided that no mercy appeal by any convicted
terrorist would be accepted.
On Dec 17, 2014, President Mamnoon approved the abolition of a moratorium on
the death penalty after the attack on Peshawar's Army Public School, which
claimed the lives of 148 people, including 135 schoolchildren.
In the wake of the move, several executions have already been carried out in
different parts of the country.
(source: Dawn)
BANGLADESH:
Kamaruzzaman to file review petition
Death row convict Muhammad Kamaruzzaman today asked his counsels to file a
review petition with the Supreme Court challenging its verdict that upheld the
Jamaat-e-Islami leader's death penalty in a war crimes case.
If the apex court rejects the appeal, then Kamaruzzaman will decide whether he
will seek presidential mercy, advocate Mohammad Shishir Manir, a counsel for
Kamaruzzaman, told The Daily Star after meeting him at the gate of Dhaka
Central Jail in the morning.
The 4 other counsels who met Kamaruzzaman at the jail gate are Tajul Islam,
Ehsan A Siddiq, Moshiul Alam and Matiur Rahman Akand.
Earlier, the 5 lawyers went to the jail and talked to him for 31 minutes from
10:37am.
Manir said their client is mentally and physically well and is not worried at
the SC judgment that upheld the verdict of International Crimes Tribunal-2
sentencing him to death for his crimes against humanity during the country's
Liberation War in 1971.
Claiming himself innocent, Kamaruzzaman told his lawyer that he was not
involved in any kind of offences leveled against him, Manir said.
The defence will file the review petition in 15 days from February 19, the day
when Kamaruzzaman was informed about the release of full text of the apex court
verdict, said the lawyer.
"Kamaruzzaman hopes that he will be acquitted if he gets justice as he is
innocent," said another counsel Tajul Islam told The Daily Star.
The lawyers met with the Jamaat leader 2 days after ICT-2 issued an execution
of death warrant against him in a war crimes case.
The tribunal issued the warrant after receiving the full text of the Supreme
Court verdict that upheld the death penalty of Kamaruzzaman for his crimes
against humanity during 1971.
Assistant secretary general of Jamaat, Kamaruzzaman was handed capital
punishment for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in
1971.
Copies of the death warrant, wrapped in red cloth, were sent to Dhaka district
magistrate, prison authorities and secretaries to the ministries of home and
law, said Mustafizur Rahman, registrar at the tribunal.
The prison authorities later on the day read out the death warrant to the
condemned war criminal.
On May 9, 2013, the tribunal-2 found Kamaruzzaman guilty of 5 out of the 7
charges brought against him and sentenced him to death on 2 charges - life term
on 2 and 10 years' jail on another. He was acquitted of 2 counts of war crimes.
He had challenged this verdict with the SC, which on November 3 last year
upheld the death penalty for the mass killing at Sohagpur in Sherpur on July
25, 1971.
(source: The Daily Star)
LIBERIA:
Independent National Commission On Human Rights Chairperson Wants Death Penalty
For Rapists
The Chairperson of the Independent National Commission on Human Rights Cllr.
Gladys Johnson has attributed the increase in rape cases to the lack of
prosecution in the country. Cllr. Johnson said during the earlier stages of
rape crimes in the country there was high level of women participations in anti
rape campaign which made the crusade a nationwide concern.
Gladys Johnson noted that the momentum to fight the crime later declined as a
result of the release of rape suspects in the society. She described rape as a
war that has been brought against children by men in the society stressing the
country needs to rise up and bring to an end such terrible act.
Cllr. Johnson said as Chairperson of the Independent National Commission on
Human Rights, she finds it difficult to advocate for the abolition of death
sentences when in fact older men are raping and killing children.
She wants those who are involved in what she described as a satanic act of
killing another human to be sentenced to death. The Chairperson of the INHCR
made the remarks recently when she served as keynote speaker at programs
marking the public findings of the DIALOGUE forum on the ongoing Constitution
Review exercise of Liberia, organized by the Liberia Media for Democratic
Initiative.
Gladys Johnson is at the same time urging Liberians to be careful about their
opinion of the revision of the Constitution. She said for 25 years, governance
and constitutional reform have remained the missing link to addressing
Liberia's corrosive governance challenges, post conflict stability, peace
building and democracy.
In 2011, the 1st post-war referendum conducted ended in a complete
disappointment, the government's entire propositions were defeated during the
nationwide polls. The defeat offered a critical re-think at the overall
revision of the Liberian Constitution. In August 2012, President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf commissioned a 5 member Constitution Revision Committee CRC headed by
former Chief Justice Gloria Musu Scott to review the 26 year old Liberian
Constitution.
It is this gap the project the DIALOGUE; Taking the Constitutional Review
Process to the people for their participation and ownership seeks to address.
But speaking at the program, the Legal Analyst of the Liberia Media for
Democratic Initiative LMDI Zeo Mensah stressed the need for Liberians to focus
on issues that should be included in the Constitution.
Mr. Mensah said spotlighting issues that are currently in the Constitution is a
single facet of the revision process of any law.
The LMDI Legal Analyst also expressed the hope that the Constitution Review
Committee will give consideration to important issues in order to promote good
Governance.
(source: hintsnewsnetwork.com)
KENYA:
Man Gets Death for Poll Violence Murder After Appealing Life Imprisonment
Sentence
A man who appealed a life sentence for a murder charge during the 2008 PEV has
now been given the death penalty.
Peter Rutto, 26, was found guilty of murdering Kamau Thiong'o at Kamura village
in Timboroa county.
Witnesses told the court in 2012 that Rutto attacked Thiong'o, 67, with a panga
when he fell after being struck with an arrow.
Nakuru Court of Appeal judges Roselyn Nambuye, Philomena Mwilu and Gatembu
Kairu said Rutto's sentence was just.
They said he and other attackers were present when Thiong'o was killed, and
that the evidence against him was sufficient.
(source: All Africa News)
IRAN----executions
5 Prisoners Hanged in Iran, More Executions in Coming Days
On Tuesday 17th February, 2 prisoners in Iranshahr prison and on Wednesday 18th
February, 3 prisoners in Rajai Shahr prison in karaj were executed by hanging.
Also, 12 prisoners in Central Prison of Urmia, Central Prison of Bandar Abbas
and Shahab in Kerman were transferred to solitary confinements to be executed.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA),
on Tuesday morning, 17th February, 2 prisoners who were charged with drug
related crime, were executed by hanging in the prison of Iranshahr.
Also, on Wednesday morning, 18th February, 3 prisoners charged with murder,
were executed by hanging in Rajai Shahr prison, in Karaj.
1 of them was an Afghani citizen, who had been transferred from Ghezel Hesar
prison, Afghani prisoners' ward, to Rajai Shahr prison, in Karaj and was
executed there.
The 2 other prisoners who were executed in Rajai Shahr prison, in Karaj, were
named Mohammad Nadi and Mojtaba Shokohi.
On Wednesday, 5 prisoners in Shahab prison, in Kerman, with drug related
crimes, were transferred to solitary confinements until their execution
sentences would be carried out.
These 5 prisoners were named; Hossein Arab, Ghader Goltapeh, Behrooz Khoda
bandehlo, Rahmatollah Barahooei and Azizollah Barahooei.
In Central Prison of Bandar Abbas also a prisoner, who was accused with murder,
identified as Reza Sharifi, was transferred to solitary confinement after
serving 11 years in prison, until he would be executed.
(source: HRANA)
**********************
2 Kurdish Political Prisoners Executed
A France-based organisation, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network claims that it
has confirmed reports that brothers Ali and Habib Afshari have been executed.
They were arrested in late 2010/early 2011 on charges of 'waging enmity against
God' through 'propaganda activities' and 'membership in a dissident group'.
In efforts to protest against the unjust charges and verdict, the brothers went
on several hunger strikes.
At the same time in Iran, Amnesty International says the whereabouts of
22-year-old Kurdish political prisoner Saman Naseem are unknown. The young Kurd
was sentenced to death in April 2013 on charges of "enmity against God" and
"corruption on earth" due to alleged membership of the Kurdish armed opposition
group Party For Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK). His execution had been planned
to February 19 which triggered a massive campaign to revoke his death sentence.
In a recently published letter claimed to be by Saman Naseem, he said "I was 17
in the summer of 2011 when the Islamic Revolutionary Guards arrested me. They
immediately began to savagely torture me. They seemed to really enjoy torturing
me."
Human rights organisations including Amnesty International and thousands of
Twitter users called on President Hassan Rouhani and Ayatollah Khamenei to halt
the execution and grant Saman Naseem a fair trial.
Saman Naseem was sentenced to death despite the fact that Iran has ratified
both the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, which strictly prohibit the use of the
death penalty against people who were below 18 years of age at the time of the
crime.
As many as 127 people have been executed so far in 2015 but the real number may
be higher as Iranian authorities do not disclose actual figures to the public.
(source: Kurdishrights.org)
*******************
Iranian Resistance condemns execution of 2 political prisoners
The Iranian Resistance strongly condemns the execution of 2 political prisoner
brothers, Razgar (Habibullah) and Ali Afshari, 26 and 34 years old, who were
hanged at dawn on Thursday, February 19 in Orumiyeh, offers its condolences to
their families and the public in Kurdistan, especially the young combatants in
this region.
There is no doubt that the martyrdom of the young people of this territory by
the religious fascism ruling Iran only doubles the will of the Iranian people
to overthrow this inhuman regime.
The Iranian Resistance calls on the UN Secretary General, the Security Council
and all human rights organizations to condemn these brutal executions and to
take binding measures against brutal and systematic violation of human rights,
and especially to save the lives of other political prisoners facing execution.
Afshari brothers, from the city of Mahabad (in Iranian Kurdistan), were
arrested in early 2011 along with two other brothers, Jaafar and Vali, and were
tortured for months and were sentenced to death in the clerical regime's sham
courts under the fabricated charge of "Moharebeh" (waging war against God).
Ali Afshari, who was injured during the arrest by the suppressive forces'
bullet, was in critical condition due to infection of his wounds, but the
henchmen refused to provide minimum medical treatments.
They were among the hunger striking political prisoners in Orumiyeh prison and
for this reason were threatened by the regime's henchmen that if they continued
their strike, their death sentences would be carried out.
Jaafar and Vali, the 2 other members of the Afshari family are still in prison.
(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran)
************************
Top court revokes death sentence for forest ranger
Iran's Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence issued to a Dena Forest
Ranger and returned the matter to a different branch of the penal court for
review. The sentence had been confirmed 3 times at the Kohgilouyeh and
Boyerahmad court.
In July of 2010, 3 forest rangers heard gun shots in the mountains of Dena
National Parks, which turned out to be from a poacher. The rangers approached
the poacher, later identified as Mohammad Payehgozar, and during the
confrontation Payehgozar was killed by a gunshot. Gholamhossein Khaledi, 1 of
the rangers, was charged with 1st degree murder.
Khaledi was sentenced to death without regard for the legal provisions allowing
rangers to carry and use firearms in the course of their duties.
The Supreme Court has overturned the sentence and referred the matter to a
different branch in view of the original court's error despite 3 attempts at
review.
The sentence had been highly criticized by environmental groups, who said it
has seriously demoralized rangers, who are already engaged in the highly
hazardous work of protecting endangered Iranian wildlife.
(source: Radio Zamaneh)
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