July 5




AFGHANISTAN:

Farkhunda mob killing: Family's lawyer calls Afghan court "corrupt" for death sentence U-turn----Attorney Kimberley Motley has claimed the family of a 27-year old woman beaten to death in March knew nothing about a 'secret' hearing to overturn the death sentences of 4 men found guilty of her killing


The lawyer who represented Farkhunda's family in court has spoken of her outrage over the decision to overturn the death sentences of four men convicted of killing her.

The 27-year old was beaten to death in March this year in a vicious mob killing in Kabul.

Kimberley Motley told the Telegraph that the decision was 'shocking' and had been handled in a 'corrupt manner.'

"I think it's ridiculous that the court would be so blatant in defying due process and the laws of Afghanistan," she said.

"It's shocking that it's been handled in such a corrupt manner. The first trial was so open and transparent, it makes no sense".

49 people were brought to trial in a case that made headlines around the world. Farkhunda was beaten, run over with a car and set on fire as a crowd chanted "God is greatest" and filmed the incident on their mobile phones and posted it on social media. The footage was later used as evidence in court.

She had been wrongly accused of burning a copy of the Koran.

(source: rawa.org)






PHILIPPINES:

Death penalty sought for child sexual abuse


A lawmaker on Sunday reiterated his call to impose the death penalty on those who sexually abuse children.

The government "should seriously address" the problem of pedophilia and child exploitation and sexual abuse by supporting the move to reimpose the death penalty, Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian of Valenzuela City (Metro Manila) said in a statement.

"It's about time that Congress reexamine the death penalty in light of reports on the gravity of pedophilia operations in the country. Convicted pedophiles deserve the death penalty because of their dastardly acts against Filipino children," he added.

Gatchalian made the pitch after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) reportedly nabbed a 73-year-old Belgian in Bohol for allegedly molesting 25 Filipina girls.

He said "arrested pedophiles" in the past were able to post bail and continue with their activities because of loopholes in existing laws and corruption in the judicial system.

The lawmaker cited the case of British Douglas Slade who, according to the lawmaker, has been repeatedly arrested for taking nude photos and molesting underaged boys in the Philippines.

"Slade is a notorious pedophile with a history of arrests. He repeatedly had child sex charges against him dropped and was caught on camera in an ITV documentary in 1995 boasting that he could avoid conviction by bribing prosecutors and the families of victims," Gatchalian said.

(source: Manila Times)






EGYPT:

Death penalty for attackers of public facilities: draft amendment


The State Council has approved draft amendments to toughen the penalty imposed on those who attack power, natural gas or petroleum plants to reach the death penalty, according to news reports Saturday.

The amended article in the recently approved anti-terrorism draft law stipulates that those who deliberately destroy electricity, petroleum and natural gas networks or seize facilities that belong to the said services will be jailed for at least 10 years.

Life in prison is a penalty possible for thosewho use force or violence in committing the said crimes, prevent experts from fixing the damages, or caused the suspension of petroleum, electricity or natural gas supply.

The assailant might face execution if the crime resulted in death. Tools used in the crime will be seized per a court warrant, and assailants will bear the repairing expenses.

The counter-terrorism draft law was approved by the cabinet Wednesday; the same day militants launched simultaneous attacks on several North Sinai checkpoints.The cabinet said in a statement that the anti-terrorism legislation would provide "rapid and just deterrence" against terrorism, according to Reuters.

The amendments in the new law include "acceleration in court procedures of terrorism-related crimes through shrinking the litigation period, enhancing the jurisdiction of police officers and prosecutors involved in terror crimes along with facilitating access to bank accounts of suspects," Ibrahim el-Heneidy, Transitional Justice Minister and head of the committee tasked with making the legal amendments told Youm7.

Attacks targeting electricity utilities, power transformers and transmission towers have been frequent since the 2013 ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. Such attacks have inflicted huge losses on the government and caused temporary blackouts in different governorates.

Natural gas pipelines have also beenargeted since the January 25 Revolution in 2011, especially the Arish gas pipeline that feeds Jordan and Israel. In May, the gas line was attacked for the30th time.

(source: Cairo Post)






SUDAN:

Christian pastors to face trial in Sudan, lawyer arrested


2 South Sudanese pastors in Sudan will face trial for espionage and their lawyer has been arrested.

A judge ruled on July 2 that Rev Yat Michael and Rev David Yein Reith's trial will continue, meaning that they could face the death penalty or life imprisonment if found guilty. A day earlier, July 1, their chief counsel - Mohaned Mustafa - was also arrested, along with Pastor Hafez of the Khartoum Bahri Evangelical Church where Michael spoke out against the persecution of Christians in Sudan.

According to the American Centre for Law and Justice (ACLJ), the church is involved in an ongoing land dispute with the government, and Hafez and Mustafa are accused of obstructing a public servant during the course of his duty. They have been released on bail, but will face trial in court.

Michael was arrested on 14 December 2014, and Reith in January of this year. They were both detained without charges, and without access to a lawyer or their families, until March 1. They are now being held on six charges including espionage, "offending Islamic beliefs" and undermining the constitutional system.

The men maintain they have not committed any crime. Michael recently told CBN news from his prison cell that he didn't know why he had been arrested: "We just go to to out ministry training in our church".

Their next hearing has been scheduled for July 14, and Mustafa will only be allowed about 15 minutes with his clients to brief them ahead of the meeting. "Sudanese law grants sole discretion for visitation rights at the prison to the prison directorate, who in this case has previously denied requests for access," said the ACLJ.

The pastors have also been denied regular visits from relatives, which is illegal under the Sudanese constitution. "This is meant to put more psychological pressures and warfare on the arrested pastors," a legal representative told World Watch Monitor.

"The serious criminal charges against Michael and Yen have been levied solely on the basis of their religious convictions and outspoken criticism of the ruling party, and as such, that their continued detention and criminal proceedings are discriminatory and in violation of constitutional and international legal guarantees of equality," a statement from the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies said.

Yat Michael has told the Sudanese authorities: "I am a pastor. I must speak the Word of God."

"There is also speculation that the trial of the two men is intended to send a message to other Christian leaders in Sudan to refrain from criticising the treatment of Christian minorities in Sudan and the policies of the ruling party".

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide said, "We are disappointed to learn that the judge has decided to uphold the extreme and unwarranted charges against Rev Michael and Rev Reith. We continue to call for their immediate and unconditional release. The ongoing restrictions on their legal and family visits are not only distressing for the pastors and their families, but also constitute yet another hurdle for their legal team to overcome and a violation of fair trial principles, as articulated by Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Sudan is a party.

"Moreover, the harassment and assault on Pastor Hafez is wholly unacceptable, and typifies an ongoing, discriminatory policy targeting religious and ethnic minorities that is officially sanctioned. The international community, and in particular the African Union, must impress upon Sudan its obligation to protect and promote freedom of religion or belief and the right to a fair trial."

(source: Christian Today)






ETHIOPIA:

UN demands release of British activist jailed in Ethiopia amid torture fears ---- The Foreign Office has pushed for consular access to Andargachew Tsige with no tangible results, since the British citizen was abducted in Ethiopia a year ago

The UN has demanded the immediate release of a Briton held on death row in Ethiopia for more than a year, an intervention that campaigners say exposes Britain' poor diplomacy towards the case.

Experts from the UN Human Rights Council have advised Ethiopia to pay Andargachew Tsige "adequate compensation" before sending him home to London, an abrupt hardening of its position on the case at a time when Britain pursues a softly, softly approach with no tangible reward.

Internal Foreign Office emails, disclosed for the 1st time, reveal that even before Tsige was kidnapped and jailed in an unknown location in June 2014, British officials had voiced fears at "the real risk of torture if [Tsige is] returned to Ethiopia???, along with "fair trial concerns".

An 8-page judgment from the UNHRC's working group on arbitrary detention handed to Ethiopia suggests such fears have been realised, saying that there is "reliable evidence on a possible situation of physical abuse and mistreatment which could amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment."

Tsige, 60, a father of 3 from London, and known to friends as Andy, was arrested in Yemen's main airport while in transit and forcibly removed to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

He is prominent in Ethiopian politics, having been leader of opposition party Ginbot 7, which has called for democracy, free elections and civil rights. The government has accused him of being a terrorist and in 2009 he was tried in his absence and sentenced to death.

Foreign secretary Philip Hammond has refused to demand his urgent release, preferring to push for consular access, a request rejected by Ethiopia. Tsige's partner, Yemi Hailemariam, also a British national, who lives in London with their children, has spoken to him just once by telephone since his abduction.

Another internal government email from the UK ambassador to Ethiopia to Laurence Robertson MP, who heads the all-party parliamentary group on Ethiopia, describes the Ethiopians as "obdurate".

Hammond recently attempted to harden up the UK's position on Tsige, calling for rapid progress in the case, but campaigners say this remains significantly short of what is required. Another recent Foreign Office statement made no mention of Tsige, but welcomed the "generally peaceful environment" of the recent Ethiopian elections, which saw the government locking up political opponents and journalists.

Maya Foa, head of the death penalty team at legal charity Reprieve, said: "Despite the injustices that have been - and continue to be - committed against this British national, the foreign secretary refuses to ask for Andy's release and his return back home to his family in Britain.

"The UN is right to be taking action and demanding Andy's immediate release from his unlawful detention. The UK's refusal to do the same is an unacceptable abdication of responsibility to one of its citizens."

Kevin Laue of the human rights organisation Redress, which helps torture survivors, said: "The UK government should be outraged by this behaviour and should be responding in the strongest possible terms." A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The foreign secretary has raised this case with the Ethiopian foreign minister on 13 separate occasions, most recently on 29 April 2015. The minister for Africa raised this again on 11 June. We will continue to lobby at all levels, conveying our concern over Andargachew Tsige being detained without regular consular visits and access to a lawyer."

(source: The Guardian)

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