May 19
SINGAPORE:
2 Penang men charged with drug trafficking, face death penalty
2 men were charged with 5 counts of drug trafficking in 2 separate cases at the
magistrate's court here today.
Unemployed Tan Swee Hin, 51, was charged for trafficking 13.9kg of heroin, 20kg
of methamphetamine and 37.3kg of 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA) at
Tingkat Paya Terubong 5, Taman Paya Terubong, at about 10.30am on May 5.
The 3 charges were read to him before magistrate Mohamad Amin Shahul Hamid and
Tan nodded to signal that he understood the charges.
On the 2nd case, 52-year-old businessman, Tang Chin Tart, was charged for
trafficking 2.6kg of heroin and 1.8kg of methamphetamine at Lebuh Sungai Pinang
4 at 10.15pm on May 8.
The 2 charges were read to him in Bahasa Malaysia.
No plea was recorded for the 5 charges.
Both cases were prosecuted by deputy public prosecutor Nurul Fatin Husin under
Section 39B (1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which provides for the
death penalty under Section 39B (2) of the same act.
Magistrate Amin set July 19 for mention, pending chemical reports and a Hokkien
translator.
(source: nst.com.my)
PAKISTAN:
Man gets death penalty for killing cousin, niece
A court awarded death sentence to an accused for his involvement in a dual
murder case in Sargodha on Thursday. The judgment was announced by Additional
District and Sessions Judge Shaikh Shehzad Ahmad.
The prosecution told the court that accused Tasawwar Abbas, resident of Asmat
Colony, Bhalwal ad gunned down his cousin Amina Bibi and niece Saima Bibi over
a family dispute in 2015. The local police registered a case against the
accused and presented the challan before the court. After hearing the
arguments, the judge handed down death sentence to Tasawwar along with a fine
of Rs200,000 as compensation money. The accused was sent to District Jail
Sargodha. Meanwhile, in another murder case an additional district and sessions
court awarded death sentence to a man.
The prosecution told the court that accused Mudassir Abbas, a resident of Chak
72, had gunned down his father Zafar Abbas over a marriage dispute.
After hearing the arguments, the judge awarded death sentence to the accused
along with a fine of Rs200,000 as compensation money. The culprit was sent to
district Jail Sargodha. Earlier in April 2017, an additional and sessions court
awarded death sentence to a man in a murder case in Dera Ghazi Khan.
Additional District and Sessions judge Khizar Hayat handed down the death
sentence to Muhammad Farooq, who along with his son Saifuddin, had opened fire
on Hasan and his sons Majid and Qasim. The victims suffered bullet injures and
Majid died at a hospital during treatment. The court also imposed a fine of
Rs400,000 on the accused. Similarly, an additional and district court awarded
death sentence to an accused in a murder case in Sialkot. The verdict was
announced by Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Nadeem Ansari.
The prosecution told the court that accused Shanaf had killed Adil over a land
dispute in Parthanwala Village 2 years back. However, the police arrested the
accused and presented the challan in the court. After hearing arguments, the
judge awarded death sentence to the accused and ordered him to pay Rs200,000
compensation money to the heirs of the deceased.
(source: The express Tribune)
************************
Reasons behind ICJ's decision to suspend death penalty
The precipitation about the case was cleared before the ruling of International
Court of Justice that Pakistan will punish the Indian spy for terrorism
charges, although the ICJ suspended the execution of Indian spy.
Kulbhushan was awarded death penalty by the Pakistan's Field General Court
Martial few weeks before, the Indian government pursuing delay in the execution
of the spy.
ICJ was trying to stop the hanging of Indian spy because the accused can be
hung anytime, by the ruling court makes sure that there will be no urgency in
the execution.
The ICJ jurisdiction was rejected by Pakistan because it was hoped that the
ruling will be in favor of Pakistan.
Both countries are the signatory of Vienna Convention which stated that the
counselor access of the victim should be given to the other country.
The ICJ can investigate the "disputes arising out of the interpretation or
application of the [Vienna] Convention".
(source: pakistantribe.com)
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC of CONGO:
Congo Releases British-Norwegian Sentenced to Death: Who is Joshua French?
After 8 years in a Congolese prison, 3 trials and multiple death sentences, a
British-Norwegian former soldier is finally free.
Joshua French, 35, returned to Norway Wednesday after what was initially an
ambitious attempt to set up a private security company in Africa morphed into a
nightmare of almost a decade in detention and the death of his close friend and
co-prisoner, Tjostolv Moland.
"We are very happy and relieved, especially on behalf of the family," French's
lawyer, Hans Marius Graasvold, tells Newsweek from Oslo. "I was afraid that he
wouldn't manage to hold on for as long as it took to reach a solution."
French's family, who have faithfully run a blog bringing attention to his case
for the past eight years, rejoiced at his return. "Thanks to our dear son and
brother for your vitality, strength and endurance. We finally got you home and
the joy is indescribable!" wrote French's mother and sister, Kari Hilde French
and Hannah French, in a Wednesday blog post.
Born in Norway to a British father and Norwegian mother, French spent part of
his childhood in the U.K. and reportedly served in the British Army. But it was
his career in the Norwegian military that would ultimately land him in trouble
in Congo.
Congolese authorities arrested French and Moland, another ex-Norwegian soldier,
in May 2009 on suspicion of killing their driver, a 47-year-old Congolese man
named Abedi Kasongo. The Norwegian pair had traveled to Congo allegedly to set
up a private security firm and said that their vehicle had been ambushed by
gunmen, who had killed Kasongo.
The pair were put on trial later the same year at a military court in Kisangani
in the lawless eastern Congo. The court convicted them of multiple charges -
including murder, attempted murder and espionage - and sentenced both of them
to death. Norwegian authorities complained that the men had not been given a
fair trial, while witnesses were paid $5,000 each to appear, according to
British charity Reprieve.
The verdict was overturned in April 2010 by a separate Congolese court due to
flawed procedures. But in June of that year, a tribunal in Kisangani again
found the men guilty of murder and, once again, sentenced them to death and
also ordered the Norwegian state and the 2 men to pay $65 million in damages to
the Congolese government. (Congo has not technically abolished the death
penalty, and up to 500 people remain on death row in the country, but sentences
are rarely carried out - the last execution was in 2003.)
After 4 years in prison, French's story took a tragic twist. On August 18,
2013, French woke up at the Kinshasa prison where he was being held to find his
friend Moland dead. Norway immediately sent investigators to Congo to determine
the cause of Moland's death, and a joint Norwegian-Congolese probe found
suicide was the cause, according to Reprieve. But despite that finding,
Congolese prosecutors put French on trial for Moland's murder and convicted him
in February 2014, despite the fact he was suffering from psychosis and refusing
to eat for periods during the trial. French was sentenced to life imprisonment.
During French's long imprisonment, Norwegian authorities have continually
sought to engage their Congolese counterparts in the hope of securing his
release, with the assistance of British government officials. In February,
Congo's Justice Minister Alexis Thambwe Mwamba told Norwegian broadcaster NRK
that the country's president, Joseph Kabila, had agreed to set French free
later in the year. But there were fears that the Norwegian's ill health could
mean that he would die in prison: French's mother wrote on May 7 that he had
been admitted to hospital 4 times during his imprisonment and had spent 5 1/2
months in hospital in 2016. "Our greatest wish is to get Joshua French home
alive before it is too late," she wrote.
But French's eventual release appears to have been more the result of Congolese
authorities running out of patience than of Norwegian mediation efforts.
Norway's Foreign Minister Borge Brende said Wednesday that French had been
transferred as part of a "humanitarian deal," but that the Congolese government
had not pardoned his alleged crimes and that no money had been paid for his
release.
Graasvold, French's lawyer, says the ex-prisoner is currently in hospital, but
declined to comment on the specifics of his health. But Graasvold does say that
French is not expected to serve any time in prison in Norway: "He will receive
all necessary medical help but other than that he's a free man."
(source: newsweek.com)
PHILIPPINES:
Cardinal Tagle urges Filipinos to join anti-death penalty march----A 21-day
nationwide march has galvanized opposition to the proposed revival of capital
punishment in the Philippines.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila urged Filipinos to join a 21-day "Walk
for Life," a nationwide march that started in the southern Philippines on May 4
and is set to reach Manila on May 21.
"The march gives us an opportunity to find ways of fighting crimes, for all
crimes violate life, but without resorting to measures that also violate life
like capital punishment," said the Manila prelate.
The cardinal said that through "personal and collective study, prayer,
discernment, and action, we hope to be a people that promote a culture of
life."
The activity aims to dramatize opposition to the proposal pending in the
Philippine Senate to revive capital punishment in the country.
In the central Philippine city of Tacloban, young people joined the march as it
passed the province of Leyte which was devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan in
2013.
Leira Ann Regulacion, a 15-year-old student, said she is "afraid" with the
proposed revival of the death penalty because offenders are "never given a
chance to live a new life."
"This is sad, alarming and frightening," said Ninian Sumadia, a youth leader
who joined the march from the southern city of Cagayan de Oro.
She said the government would only be "institutionalizing the culture of death"
with the passage of the death penalty law.
"I am calling our fellow young people to join this call against the death
penalty because it is a threat to our life," she added.
The head of the Philippines Catholic bishops' conference had earlier issued a
call to the country's church leaders to support the march.
Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, head of the bishops'
conference, said the lay initiative is "most deserving of support from all who
want to make a clear unequivocal stand for life."
"It is our duty as pastors to encourage them, to bless them, and invite more
lay faithful to assist them in the mission of social transformation," said the
prelate in a statement.
(source: heraldmalaysia.com)
ASIA:
The Death Penalty in South Asia----Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka have
effectively abolished capital punishment. The rest of South Asia hasn't.
"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it
to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment." So wrote
English author JRR Tolkein in his popular Lord of the Rings series. India's
Mahatma Gandhi put it this way: "An eye for an eye makes the whole world
blind."
Although much of the world has come around to a similar view - that one killing
cannot be avenged with another - most South Asian states maintain a fondness
for capital punishment, with Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka as the exceptions.
The constitutions of Nepal (Article 16), and Bhutan (Article 7-18) both
prohibit the death penalty. Interestingly, though the death penalty has a legal
foundation in Sri Lanka there have been no executions in the Buddhist state
since 1976. Legal practice shows that the state has moved a step toward
abolition, following the global trend.
Conversely, the South Asian states of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives,
and Pakistan all firmly believe that the death penalty can deter people with
evil intent. In this context, the Indian legal system fails to buy into the
words of Gandhi, who is considered to be Bapu (founding father) of the world's
largest democracy.
The Indian Penal Code (IPC)-1860 (amended in 2013) prescribes the death penalty
for as many as 11 offenses, including waging war against the government,
abetting mutiny by a member of the armed forces, acid attack, murder, rape, and
criminal conspiracy. Similar legal frameworks for the death penalty (save for
acid attack) have been provisioned under the Bangladesh Penal Code.
In Pakistan, capital punishment is provisioned for no less than 27 different
offenses, to include blasphemy, sexual intercourse outside of marriage,
outraging the modesty of a woman, and smuggling drugs.
In Afghanistan, various crimes - murder, apostasy, homosexuality, rape,
terrorism, drug trafficking, adultery, treason, or desertion - are punishable
by death based on Islamic jurisprudence. The Maldivian legal position on the
death penalty is similar to Afghanistan's.
Generally, an accused merits the fate of legal death in India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Maldives, and Afghanistan when the crimes committed meet the
threshold of "most serious crimes." Blasphemy, adultery, or drug trafficking do
not necessarily meet the threshold of "most serious crimes" but are still
punishable by death in Pakistan and many other Islamic countries, including
Maldives and Afghanistan.
India's Supreme Court, in the landmark case of Bachan Singh vs.State of Punjab
(1980), forwarded the doctrine of "rarest of rare," arguing that life
imprisonment is the rule while a death sentence is the exception. The top court
held that the death penalty could be imposed "when [society's] collective
conscience is so shocked that it will expect the holders of the judicial power
center to inflict death penalty irrespective of their personal opinion as
regards desirability or otherwise of retaining death penalty."
Even though there is no statutory definition of "rarest of the rare" cases, its
widely believed that the pre-planned, brutal, cold-blooded, and sordid nature
of a crime, without giving any chance to the victim, is taken into
consideration to decide whether a particular case falls within the purview of
"rarest of the rare." India's Supreme Court recently used this metric to award
the death penalty to the accused in a high-profile 2012 gang-rape case.
The "collective conscience" metric for awarding the death penalty is
problematic. If a judge feels that the collective conscience is so shocked that
it's desirable to inflict the death penalty on the accused, then can he or she
hear the case entirely on merit? Will the judge ensure a fair trial and presume
the accused innocent until proven guilty?
Additionally, in the 21st century world we live in - fully equipped with
24-hour TV and social media on tap - outrage can be manufactured and reality
can be distorted.
"The collective conscience doctrine is not a very clear-cut concept and its in
want of a healthy debate in India," opines Dr. Nidhi Saxena, a faculty member
in international law at Sikkim Central University, India. She adds that the
judicial pronouncements may not address the collective conscience, as public
participation was not ensured in the entire decision making process.
Beyond the specific issues with the "collective conscience" rule, many believe
that the taking of a life by the judiciary is simply unjust and inhuman and its
continued practice is a stain on a society standing on humanitarian values.
Beyond this, the death penalty regime is a clear violation Article 6 (right to
life) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and
Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And, interestingly,
India, Pakistan, Maldives, and Afghanistan are signatories to these
conventions.
Although the task remains unfulfilled, the second optional protocol to ICCPR
was introduced in 1991 with the aim of abolishing of the death penalty
globally. However, the instrument only succeeded in imposing an obligation on
the international community to disallow capital punishment in the case of
minors and pregnant women.
Despite this, the Maldivian parliament recently enacted a law that confirms
death penalty can be applied to a minor who commits an intentional murder or
any serious crime.
A UN resolution that called for a global moratorium on the death penalty was
passed by the General Assembly on December 19, 2016. It was supported by 117
states; 40 voted against it and 31 abstained.
Moreover, the International Criminal Court, which is situated in The Hague,
also slams the death penalty and favors life imprisonment even for crimes
against humanity, such as genocide.
Even as the global trend roots for abolition, the states imposing the death
penalty justify their slated position. They appeal to each state's sovereign
rights to determine its own law (as enshrined under Article 2 Paragraph 7 of
the UN Charter, i.e., the principle of non-intervention in the domestic affairs
of a state). They also argue that the death penalty is exercised in rare cases
and insist their legal systems guarantee rule of law and ample procedural
safeguards for a fair and speedy trial.
However, "abolition is now entrenched in human rights discourse and it cannot
be limited to national criminal jurisprudence. If one makes the 'sovereignty
defense' then its simply a frivolous justification," says Saxena.
Ultimately, the "death penalty is not a strong enough deterrent; rather
effective laws and order are," Saxena argues. Though a section of the
population in India favors the death penalty for crimes involving women and
children or terrorism, she believes "the move towards a more enlightened
approach (i.e., abolition) could be initiated in Parliament."
The criminal jurisprudence of most of South Asia on death penalty falls short
of international obligations and its high time to rethink their stand on the
death penalty.
As per the reports of Amnesty International, around 140 countries - more than
2/3 of the world - have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. The
South Asian states, except Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka, are out of step with
this global trend.
(source: Jivesh Jha is a Kathmandu University graduate and currently an LL.B
student in Dehradun, India----thediplomat.com)
BAHRAIN:
Urgent Action
BAHRAINI MAN'S DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD ON APPEAL
11 May, the Bahrain High Court of Appeal upheld the death sentence imposed
against Maher Abbas Ahmed. His case will now go before the Court of Cassation.
Maher Abbas Ahmed will be at imminent risk of execution if the sentence is
upheld again.
Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:
* Expressing grave concern that Maher Abbas Ahmad's death sentence was upheld
again;
* Urging the King of Bahrain, Shaikh Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa, to immediately
commute the death sentence imposed on Maher Abbas Ahmad and establish an
official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty;
* Calling on the authorities to conduct an investigation into the allegations
of torture made by Maher Abbas Ahmad and his co-defendants;
* Acknowledging the Bahraini government's responsibility to protect the public
and bring to justice those who commit crimes, but insisting that this should
always be done in accordance with international law and Bahrain's international
human rights obligations.
Contact these two officials by 29 June, 2017:
King
Sheikh Hamad bin 'Issa Al Khalifa
Office of His Majesty the King
P.O. Box 555
Rifa'a Palace
al-Manama, Bahrain
Fax: +973 1766 4587
Salutation: Your Majesty
H.E. Ambassador Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Khalifa
Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain
3502 International Dr. NW
Washington DC 20008
Phone: 1 202 342 1111
Fax: 1 202 362 2192
Email: ambsecret...@bahrainembassy.org
Twitter: @bahdiplomatic
Salutation: Dear Ambassador
(source: Amnesty International)
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