Sept. 29
CHINA:
Death penalty upheld for bus arsonist
The Higher People's Court of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on
Wednesday rejected the appeal of an arsonist who was sentenced to death by
Yinchuan Municipal Intermediate People's Court on July 3.
The court upheld the arson conviction and death sentence of Ma Yongping.
Ma set a bus on fire using a bottle of gasoline on January 5 in Helan County,
motivated by anger over a personal dispute.
The fire, which quickly burned the bus into an empty shell, killed 18 people
and left 32 injured.
(source: Shanghai Daily)
IRAN----executions
8 Prisoners Executed on Murder and Moharebeh Charges
8 prisoners sentenced to death for murder and Moharebeh (enmity against God)
charges were reportedly hanged at Karaj's Rajai Shahr Prison (Alborz province,
northern Iran) on Wednesday September 28.
According to close sources, on Thursday September 22, 11 prisoners at Rajai
Shahr were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their
executions. The execution sentences of 8 of them were reportedly carried out on
Wednesday. The other 3 prisoners were returned to their cells after their
executions were stopped by the complainants on their case files.
A close source who asked to be annonymous has confirmed the names of the
prisoners: Ali Rabizadeh, Majid Gonjehali, Adnan Anwar, Hossein Karimi,
Mohammad Jafari, Karim Hatamzadeh, Farajollah Hatami, and Mehdi Alizadeh.
According to the source, Karim Hatamzadeh was executed on Moharebeh charges
related to armed robbery, the other 7 were executed on murder charges.
Additionally, on Sunday September 25, a Baluch prisoner, Mehdi Nazari,
sentenced to death for drug related offenses, was transferred from his prison
cell to an unknown location. There has been no information on his whereabouts
or condition since then.
********************
7 Prisoners Executed for Drug Offenses
7 prisoners sentenced to death for drug related offenses were reportedly hanged
at Minab Central Prison (Hormozgan province, southern Iran). According to close
sources, the executions were carried out early morning on Tuesday September 27.
Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have been
silent about these 7 executions.
The prisoners were reportedly transferred from their wards to solitary
confinement on Sunday September 25 and were permitted to have their immediate
family members see them for the last time on Monday. The names of the prisoners
have been confirmed to Iran Human Rights by close sources as: Khodabakhsh
Balouch, Ali Balouch, Chaker Balouch, Mohammad Mohammad Zehi, Majid Nariman,
Mehdi Moradi, Mohammad Ghourchizadeh.
Iranian authorities continue carrying out executions for drug offenses, even
though last month, a top judicial official claimed that the death penalty is
not a deterrent against drug crimes. "The death penalty for drug traffickers
has not acted as a deterrent so far. We fought against many drug traffickers in
accordance to the law, but, unfortunately, the volume of drugs entering and
transiting through the country has increased," said Mohammad Bagher Olfat, who
is in charge of social assistance and crime prevention in the Iranian
Judiciary. "Normally, the drugs are sold for cheap to individuals who do not
have sufficient financial income."
(source for both: Iran Human Rights)
INDONESIA:
Leader of Indonesia gang which raped, murdered girl sentenced to death
An Indonesian court on Thursday sentenced to death the leader of a gang of men
and boys who raped and murdered a schoolgirl in a case that prompted the
president to take steps to impose harsher punishments for attacks on children.
The gang leader, Zainal, was sentenced to death in a court on Sumatra island. 4
other men were jailed for 20 years for their roles in the April attack on the
14-year-old in the western island by a group of 14 males, including eight boys.
Sexual violence against women and children is common in Indonesia but gang rape
is unusual.
The case shocked the world's fourth most populouscountry and prompted President
Joko Widodo to sign a regulation allowing for harsher punishments for child
rapists, including death and chemical castration.
The regulation is pending approval in parliament.
"Because of the sadistic nature of the crime ... the court sentences Zainal to
death," said presiding judge Henny Faridha.
The youngest member of the gang was 13 years old.
They attacked the girl as she was on her way to school. Her battered body was
found in a rubber plantation a few days later, after her parents reported her
missing.
7 gang members were earlier jailed for 10 years, while 1 was ordered into a
rehabilitation program for a year. 1 suspect is on the run, according to
police.
The victim's parents, who were in court, said the sentencing was inadequate.
"They should all get the death penalty," Yana, the victim's mother, told
reporters as she broke down in tears.
The attack was reminiscent of a 2012 fatal gang rape of a female university
student in India's capital, New Delhi, which provoked a national outcry and
soul-searching about the treatment of girls and women in Indian society.
(source: Reuters)
PHILIPPINES:
The Philippines should not reinstate the death penalty, even for Peter Scully
There have been calls to reintroduce the death penalty in the Philippines as
the trial of alleged Australian child sex abuser Peter Scully takes place and
horrific details of the crimes he is accused of emerge.
The abolition of the death penalty in south-east Asia isn't so much a movement
that has swept through the region as a fragile mosaic. In the countries that
don't execute the line is held - but tenuously. And in some countries where
they do execute, there's the sense that it could turn. There are unofficial
moratoriums or death sentences handed out that don't lead directly to the
gallows, just lifetimes in jail.
Japan has the death penalty and it's use is shrouded in secrecy, but the Japan
Federation of Bar Associations, whose membership includes 37,000 lawyers, said
it would declare its opposition to the death penalty at a meeting in early
October due to growing concern over miscarriages of justice.
Thailand continues to regularly sentence people to death, however executions
are rare, with no lawful executions since 2009.
Malaysia and Singapore still execute.
Executions have been on hold in Vietnam because the government cannot acquire
the drugs used for lethal injection (pharmaceutical companies that manufacturer
the drugs have refused to supply their medicines for such means).
Indonesia has the death penalty. After a lengthy informal moratorium under
former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the killings resumed again in 2014.
After Ferdinand Marcos was deposed in 1986, the Philippines abolished the death
penalty via a newly drafted constitution. But there was a "get out" clause
allowing congress to reinstate it "hereafter" for "heinous crimes".
The 1st country in Asia to abolish the death penalty, the Philippines played an
important role in the region, signalling a move away from pre-modern forms of
punishment. Abolitionists hoped the removal of the death penalty in the region
would act as a sort of nudge or cause a domino effect.
In the absence of a nudge, abolition of the death penalty could be posited as
an entry into a trading bloc or partnership. Having capital punishment on your
statute books is a barrier to entering the EU, for example. Turkey abolished
the death penalty in a bid to qualify for membership, although there has been
talk of bringing it back following the July coup attempt.
It can easily be assumed that progress towards enlightenment is linear. We
abolish capital punishment and we don't go back. We don't go back even when the
mob and the media are begging for it.
If you accept, as I do, that the abolition of the death penalty is a move
towards a more enlightened, humane, civilised and less barbaric society, then
opposition to the death penalty must occur regardless of individual cases that
grip and even sicken the public imagination. Which brings us to the case of
alleged Australian paedophile, Peter Scully.
Reading an account of the crimes he is accused of (he is pleading not guilty),
it would be hard not to lapse into fantasies of revenge if he's found guilty -
to want him to be made to suffer horribly and even more; that he be eradicated,
dissolved, removed from the world. Murder is murder. Child abuse is stealing
someone's life from them. What other punishment could be fitting? And yet ...
Nietzsche's warning that "he who fights with monsters might take care lest he
thereby become a monster" is true here.
And more. Bringing back a flawed system to kill a rotten individual means that
we dispense with the individual but are stuck with the system.
This is a system - as the United States is finding out more and more with
advanced DNA technology - that executes the wrong people, or executes poorly -
many long minutes between the 1st dose of the drug, or the 1st wave of the
shock and the prisoner pleading for death, then finally the death.
Even if all goes "well", it is possibly the most cruel and unusual punishment
to have the time and date of your death fixed by the state. You know when you
will die and by what means, and each minute of waiting until that moment must
of course be filled with terror and dread.
But it need not be this way. Christopher Hitchens wrote:
"... it is possible to eliminate the execution of the innocent, simply by
joining the association of countries that have dispensed with the death
penalty."
Those in the international community who have been appalled by the spate of
extrajudicial killing by the Duterte government in the Philippines must surely
also be appalled by talk of reintroducing capital punishment. This is frontier
justice not just at night, on the borders, but brought right into the daylight
and given the centre seat in the justice system.
(source: The Guardian)
PAKISTAN:
Pakistan Says It 'May Limit' Death Penality, Amid Fears for Mentally Ill
Prisoner
Pakistan says it is seeking ways to limit the scope of the death penalty, amid
fears for a mentally ill prisoner who faces hanging as early as next week.
Speaking on Monday at an event at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the
first secretary of Pakistan's Permanent Mission to the UN said the government
was examining the country's penal code to determine whether the death penalty
could be "narrowed", saying: "We are looking at the option of enhancing the
duration of life sentence instead of awarding death sentences." She added:
"Pakistan remains fully committed to promoting and protecting the human rights
of all our citizens."
Pakistan has executed some 419 people since the lifting of a moratorium on the
death penalty in December 2014, making it one of the world's most prolific
executing states. Research last year by Reuters and human rights organization
Reprieve found that - despite a claim by the Pakistani government to be
targeting 'terrorists' - fewer than 1 in 6 of those prisoners who had been
hanged could be linked to militancy.
Among those currently facing execution is Imdad Ali, a former electrician who
is severely mentally ill. Yesterday, Pakistan's Supreme Court dismissed an
appeal by Mr Ali to stop his hanging, which had been scheduled to take place
last week. Ruling that Imdad's execution could go ahead, the Court said that a
large proportion of prisoners in Pakistan suffer from mental illness and that
they "cannot let everyone go." He could now be hanged as early as next week,
despite a prison medical report from earlier this month describing him as
"insane."
The execution of mentally ill people is prohibited under Pakistani and
international law. Yesterday, several UN human rights experts urged Pakistan to
halt Mr Ali's execution, while Amnesty International and the Asian Human Rights
Commission have also called for the hanging to be stopped.
Commenting, Harriet McCulloch, deputy director of the death penalty team at
Reprieve, said: "While it's encouraging to hear that Pakistan's government may
finally be turning away from its recent shameful spree of executions, the
authorities must act now to prevent another illegal hanging. Imdad Ali could be
executed within days, despite the government's own doctors having declared him
'insane' - his hanging would be a grave breach of Pakistani and international
law. If Pakistan's leaders are serious about scaling back the death penalty,
they must start right away, and call off Imdad's execution."
(source: commondreams.org)
**************
Help Halt Execution Of Person With Mental Disability (Pakistan: UA 222/16)
Imdad Ali, a death row prisoner with a mental disability, is at imminent risk
of execution. He was convicted of the murder of a religious teacher in 2002. In
2012, he was diagnosed with "paranoid schizophrenia". International law clearly
prohibits the use of the death penalty against people with mental or
intellectual disabilities.
Imdad Ali was arrested for the murder of a religious teacher in 2001 and
convicted in 2002 under 302(b) of the Pakistan Penal Code. In 2012, he was
diagnosed with "paranoid schizophrenia". Dr. Naeemullah Leghari, the head of
psychiatry at Nishtar Hospital in Multan who examined Imdad Ali, described his
condition in a medical report as "a chronic and disabling psychiatric illness"
that "impairs the person's rational thinking and decision-making capabilities."
In 2015 the Pakistani Supreme Court rejected Imdad Ali's appeal, ruling that
there was no evidence of his mental disability. However, the Supreme Court's
judgment shows that Imdad Ali's state-appointed lawyer had not included the
2012 medical report diagnosing him with paranoid schizophrenia as evidence.
This oversight raises fair trial concerns.
Imdad Ali has been issued 2 execution warrants since 2015. The latest execution
was scheduled for 20 September 2016, but he was given a stay at the last minute
so the Supreme Court could consider whether his execution warrant should be
suspended on grounds of his mental disability. On Tuesday 27 September, the
Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. Imdad Ali can now face imminent execution.
He remains on death row in Vehari, Punjab province.
After the Supreme Court verdict Imdad Ali's lawyers submitted a mercy petition
to Pakistan's President Mamnoon Hussain, who has the direct authority to
commute his death sentence.
1) TAKE ACTION
--Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:
--Urging the authorities to immediately grant Imdad Ali clemency and commute
his death sentence, reminding them that international law clearly prohibits the
use of the death penalty against people with mental or intellectual
disabilities;
--Urging them to re-establish the official moratorium on all executions in the
country as a first step towards the abolition of the death penalty, in line
with 5 UN General Assembly resolutions adopted since 2007;
--Calling on them to ensure that any measures taken to combat crime do not
violate Pakistan's obligations under international human rights law and that
all safeguards guaranteeing the rights of those facing the death penalty are
respected.
Contact these 2 officials by 7 October, 2016:
President of Pakistan
Honourable Mr Mamnoon Hussain President's Secretariat
Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: +92 51 920 8479
Twitter: @Mamnoon_hussain
Salutation: Your Excellency
H.E. Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani, Embassy of The Islamic Republic of Pakistan
3517 International Ct NW, Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 686 1534 -- Phone: 1 202 243 6500 Ext. 2000 & 2001 -- Email:
ambassa...@embassyofpakistanusa.org
Salutation: Dear Ambassador
(source: Amnesty International USA)
BANGLADESH:
Rapist gets death penalty in Kovai ---- He was also handed down another 3
counts of life imprisonment for other related charges.
The Mahila Court here on Wednesday awarded death sentence to a construction
labourer from Tirunelveli district, after he was found guilty of raping and
murdering a 24-year-old college professor in Karamadai in 2014. He was also
handed down another 3 counts of life imprisonment for other related charges.
According to the prosecution, D. Ramya, 24, an assistant professor in a private
engineering college at Kinathukadavu on Pollachi road was found dead at her
residence at Ganesh Nagar near Teachers Colony in Karamadai on Nov. 3, 2014.
Her mother D. Malathi (48), a homemaker lay unconscious with serious injuries.
The incident came to light when the victim's father Dharmaraj (50), a Tamil
Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO) staff at
Kothagiri in Nilgiris district, on returning home panicked after both his wife
and daughter did not pick up his calls. He found his daughter lying dead in
pool of a blood and wife in an unconscious state with severe head injuries.
Malathi was rushed to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, where she
fortunately recovered after treatment. On 23 January, 2015, the Karamadai
police arrested K. Mahesh, a native of Thenkasi in Tirunelveli district from
Pappanaickenpalayam area.
He was arrested in a different case, but was found to be involved in the rape
and murder of the professor during enquiry. On the day of incident, Mahesh had
followed the victim, who was heading home on foot, with intent to snatch her
chain, the prosecution said.
However, suspecting her to be alone, the convict barged into the house through
the back door. He attacked Malathi with a wooden log, then raped and murdered
Ramya in a brutal manner. The accused then fled away with 3.2 sovereigns of
gold jewels from the house.
On completion of trial, the Mahila Court judge G Raja awarded him death by
hanging for murder, besides 3 life sentences for rape, trespassing and attempt
to murder. In addition, he was also given 10 years of imprisonment for attempt
to murder, which may be served concurrently. Also the accused was slapped with
a fine of '25,000.
(source: Deccan Chronicle)
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