Sept. 11
MALAWI:
International community rattled by Malawi muslims' call to kill gays
The international community is abuzz with reports that the Muslim Association
has proposed the death penalty for homosexuals in Malawi.
The anti-Jihad Website Jihad Watch quoted local media which quoted Muslim
Association of Malawi (MAM) spokesperson Sheikh Dinala Chabulika calling for
gay people to be condemned.
The Jihad Watch article is currently making rounds on Twitter and is the
current most salient result on Malawi on Twitter at the time of publication.
Sheikh Chabulika was quoted in an article published by a fortnightly newspaper
'Mkwaso' dated 1st-14th September 2017.
In the article, Chabulika stated that homosexuality is not only against the
Islamic teachings and religion but also an abomination and therefore emphasized
that those practicing it be executed.
He further emphasized that as the Muslim Community, they will never change
their stand on the matter that homosexuals need to be handed death penalty as a
way of making sure that the issue is curbed.
Chabulika was also responding to the call by Malawi government through the
Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) on the need to conduct a survey to sort
views of Malawians on Homosexuality practice which is under the LGBTI
(Lesbians, Gays, Transgender and Intersex).
The Sheikh said the Inquiry is 'unnecessary'.
In response to Chabulika's calls, Malawi Network of Religious Leaders Living
with or Personally Affected with HIV and Aids (MANERELA) Human Rights Activist
Allie Mwachande described the sentiments as a 'big shame'.
"This is a very big shame! If they say homosexuals must be killed is he
[Chabulika] himself ready to kill? Because if he is ready then he should tell
us when and where he will do that" said Mwachande.
He added: "As a human rights campaigner, I meet different people and I know
some of the Muslims who are within the LGBTI Community. Some are even from
Mangochi where him and I all come from...will he be happy to see his brothers
and sister killed?".
Mwachande further reminded Sheikh Chabulika as a man of Allah to always preach
love in order to serve the souls of the so called 'worst sinners'.
"As a Sheikh, he should always preach about love without looking at the sexual
orientation, tribe, colour, cultural beliefs etc. Jesus and Mohammed both
preached about love and the Bible and Quran [sic] still tells us to love one
another" explained Mwachande.
The most revered prophet in Islam, Muhammad is quoted in the Hadith as
specifying the punishment for gays:
"The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,
'Whoever you find doing the action of the people of Loot, execute the one who
does it and the one to whom it is done.'"
(source: The Malavi Post)
MALAYSIA:
Lawyer: Wrongful conviction makes the case for death penalty repeal
The case of a young Thai woman who is on death row demonstrates why the death
penalty should be repealed in Malaysia, says a lawyer with the National Legal
Aid Foundation.
In a report by the Asian Correspondent, Samantha Chong spoke about how the Thai
national was in Malaysia, and was waiting at a bus station platform and her
friend had left a bag beside her.
She happened to be then questioned by police who asked her if the bag was hers,
and she had replied that it was not.
"Despite her denial, she was arrested and charged with drug trafficking after
the bag was found to contain heroin.
"During the trial, the defendant claimed that her statement had allegedly been
falsified by police to say she claimed ownership of the bag," Chong was quoted
as saying.
Chong added that the defendant's lawyer had not properly presented her defence
in court and as a result, she was convicted and sentenced to death.
According to Chong, this is not an uncommon incident, and that all the "finding
of facts" decided in the trial at the High Court is normally "not disturbed"
when the case is heard on appeal.
"If you are convicted at the High Court, your fate is almost sealed. The
Federal Court's judgement is simple, 'You should have presented this new
argument at the High Court' and so they will disallow it.
"As the process of law stands, if the defence wants to challenge facts, the
lawyer must ask the questions during cross examination in the 1st trial, and
not present new facts on appeal," Chong said in calling for an end to capital
punishment as there could be other cases of wrongful conviction leading to an
innocent person facing the gallows.
Speaking at the Freedom Film Festival in Kuala Lumpur recently, Chong also said
many of those convicted do not understand their rights and, in some cases,
don't even know what they are being arrested for.
"Many people on death row do not have good legal representation," Chong was
quoted as as saying by Asian Correspondent.
"Around 50% of them are migrants which raises immediate issues with language.
In a lot of cases, defendants don't even know what is happening when they are
arrested and are not allowed to see a lawyer until sometimes 6 or 7 months
after arrest."
Calling them the "silent group", Chong said their cases are often out of the
media spotlight and they are left alone to defend themselves against the word
of the police.
"In most death penalty cases the witnesses are the police. There are many good
policemen but there are some bad apples. So, if the courts only have the word
of the police against the word of the suspect, who are they going to believe?"
Chong told the festival audience.
Cabinet approval for court discretion
The issue of the mandatory death penalty has long been a contentious one in
Malaysia with not just the law, but many people too supporting such punishment
for those convicted of murder, drug trafficking, treason and waging war against
the King.
However, the mandatory death sentence for the drug offence may soon be a thing
of the past.
It was reported last month that the Cabinet had unanimously agreed to allow
judges to impose an appropriate penalty on drug traffickers instead of the
mandatory death sentence under an amendment to Section 39B of the Dangerous
Drugs Act 1952.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Azalina Othman Said told the Dewan
Rakyat at the last parliamentary sitting that the relevant ministries and
agencies would prepare a memorandum to be handed over to the Cabinet for
approval.
She said research on the issue had been carried out through the International
Centre for Law and Legal Studies (I-CeLLS) and presented to the cabinet on
March 1.
"The cabinet unanimously agreed to the amendment to Section 39B of the
Dangerous Drugs Act," she had said.
Azalina was responding to a question from Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh, who
had asked for updates on the government's move to review the mandatory death
sentence.
In response, the Malaysian Bar called for the government to table a bill
soonest possible to put an end to the mandatory death penalty, declare an
official moratorium on the use of the punishment, stay any pending executions
and commute every death sentence to one of life imprisonment.
Last year, Malaysia executed 9 people. This was an increase from the 1 sentence
carried out in 2015.
This places Malaysia at number 9 among the 23 countries that still have the
death penalty, according to Amnesty International.
(source: freemalaysiatoday.com)
LEBANON:
Lebanese director faces tribunal at home for filming in Israel----Ziad Doueiri
reportedly detained at Beirut airport for 'dealing with the enemy' 5 years
after release of his film 'The Attack'
A Lebanese film director was brought before a military court in Lebanon Monday
to face charges related to a 2012 movie he made that was partially filmed in
Israel.
Ziad Doueiri was arrested the day before when he landed at Beirut airport, the
local blog "A Separate State of Mind" reported. He was charged with "dealing
with the enemy" and authorities took away his French and Lebanese passports.
According to the report, Doueiri's arrest came after "a complaint was filed,"
although it was not clear why the issue resurfaced so long after the fact, or
who filed the complaint. The director had returned to Lebanon from the Venice
Film Festival and was set to release his latest work "The Insult," which was
filmed in Lebanon, in the coming days.
Doueiri, 53, filmed parts of his movie, "The Attack," in Israel, where he
stayed for 11 months, breaking a Lebanese law that forbids its citizens from
traveling to Israel.
Simply by shooting the film in Israel and casting Israeli actors, Doueiri was
violating a 1955 Lebanese law that bans "cooperation with Israeli institutions
or acts, inside or outside Israel." He could even face the death penalty if a
Lebanese court interpreted his felony as full-fledged treason.
"The Attack" is based on the book of the same name by Algerian writer Mohammed
Moulessehoul. It tells the story of an Israeli-Palestinian surgeon working in
Tel Aviv, who discovers that a suicide bombing was carried out by his wife
after terrorists recruited her.
It was banned in Lebanon, and the Arab League called for its boycott because of
the Israeli locations used during production.
In a March 2013 interview with The Times of Israel, Doueiri was defiant despite
the risks posed by making the film in Israel.
"No Lebanese government is going to execute me for going to Israel, but they
can screw things up for me," he said at the time. "I'm not afraid. If I were, I
wouldn't have made the film."
Born in 1963, Doueiri is most famous for his film "West Beirut." He left his
home country during its civil war and studied in the US. He now mostly works
there and in Europe.
(source: The Times of Israel)
PAKISTAN:
If the US President could pardon terrorists and desperate, hardened convicts,
why can't the President of Pakistan pardon or give remission?
Clemency please!
The former President of the United States of America in 1999 granted clemency
to 16 convicted terrorists despite hue and cry raised by FBI, police, the US
Senate, and the House of Representatives. In 2001, on his last day in office,
Clinton accepted mercy petitions of three women terrorists given long jail
terms. Generally, US Presidents grant pardons all through their term; however,
former President Bill Clinton granted pardon to 140 people on the very day of
his as inauguration as President of the US. Former Presidents of US Ronald
Reagan and Jimmy Carter, during their tenures, as Presidents had pardoned 406
and 566 respectively.
In 2006 the Sri Lankan President, Maithripala Sirisena, granted pardon to a
Tamil Tiger insurgent convicted who plotted a plan to kill him a decade ago.
The President of Sri Lanka welcomed him onto the stage and even blessed him by
touching him on his head. The opponents of the President accused him of
undermining nationwide safety by releasing desperate and hardened convicted
terrorists from the jail. Among mentioned instances were instances where
desperate and hardened convicted persons had been pardoned by the Presidents of
their countries. The question considering Pakistan arises is: how can the
President of Pakistan decide the clemency plea of convicted persons after
dismissal of their appeals in the Supreme Court?
The latest data released by the Ministry of Interior says that the President of
Pakistan since 2014 had dismissed 513 mercy petitions. Needless to say that
Pakistan lifted 8 year-long moratorium on the death sentence in 2014 in the
wake of the brutal massacre in Peshawar, wherein 144 school children were
murdered. The former President of Pakistan had to pardon Mirza Tahir Hussain-a
British Pakistani - who was convicted of murdering a taxi driver in Rawalpindi
in 1988. He was pardoned by the President and his clemency plea was drafted and
sent to the President by the Prince Charles. The former of Prime Minister of
Britain, Tony Blair, came on an official trip to Pakistan in 2006 wherein he
discussed Mirza Tahir Hussain's case.
There was another instance where the former President of Pakistan, Rafiq Tarar,
pardoned an inmate who was allegedly accused of spying in Pakistan. He was
pardoned by the President in 1998. The reason for quoting these instances are
that ratio of acceptance of clemency plea in Pakistan is very low. Furthermore,
no concrete, objective criteria is available for the President as to how he
decides on a mercy petition. As mentioned above, the President had dismissed as
many as 513 mercy petitions- the number is too high. If the US President could
pardon terrorists and desperate and hardened convicts, why cannot the President
of Pakistan pardon or give remission to those inmates who had come in conflict
in law by accident or for the first time. Since the introduction of military
courts, the cases involving terrorism-related issues were referred to them, and
cases involving ordinary criminal offences remained in ordinary civilian
criminal courts. The President of Pakistan, by virtue of Article 45 of the
Constitution, remained the final and last forum where an inmate can submit for
mercy after the dismissal of his appeal in the Supreme Court.
Since 2014, 472 people have been sent to the gallows and most of them were
convicted of single murder or other ordinary criminal offences. It is available
on record that the government, in consultation with other stakeholders,
reinstated the death sentence despite immense international pressure from human
rights organizations to execute terrorists and people convicted of heinous
offences against humanity.
There are many inmates who have been on death row for years and the President,
without having any objective criteria, had dismissed their mercy petitions.
Most of them have poor and vulnerable background. The President of Pakistan is
under a constitutional duty to exercise his power under Article 45 as soon as
possible: keeping a mercy petition for years is a failure on his part to
perform his constitutional duty effectively.
The President of Pakistan has a constitutional obligation to exercise his power
under Article 45 as soon as possible: keeping a mercy petition for years is a
failure on his part to perform his constitutional duty effectively
For instance, a case of a juvenile Muhammad Iqbal is foremost. His first mercy
petition had been dismissed by the President; no idea on what grounds his
petition was dismissed. No idea what criteria was adopted by the President
while deciding his clemency plea. He has been languishing in jail since 1998.
Another example could be of Kaniza Bibi who has been in jail since 1989, and
she was found to be insane. The authorities were about to send her to gallows a
year ago, but the intervention of international organisation save her from
gallows. The President must grant pardon and remission to vulnerable and
juveniles by exercising his power under Article 45.
The President and the authorities must perform their duties effectively. I
further submit that the President ought to consider clemency pleas with open
heart as the death sentence undermines human dignity. Pakistan can only be a
peaceful country if we de-weaponise it and also we abolish the death sentence.
(source: Sarmad Ali is an attorney in Lahore; Commentary----Daily Times)
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