Nov. 1
ZIMBABWE:
Zimbabwe's Mugabe says he favors resumption of executions
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe said Wednesday he is in favor of resuming
executions after more than a decade in response to rising murder rates.
The last execution in the southern African nation was in 2005.
Although he said his cabinet is divided on the issue, Mugabe said he favors
lifting the moratorium on executions. "Let's restore the death penalty," he
said, speaking at the burial of a political ally.
He did not say when it could happen but said that "if you hear people are being
executed, know Mugabe's thinking has prevailed."
Zimbabwe's law allows for the death penalty for people convicted of murder "in
aggravating circumstances." Women and offenders younger than 17 and older than
70 are exempt from executions.
Over 90 prisoners are on death row, according to official figures.
The hangman's job has been vacant in Zimbabwe for over a decade, but justice
ministry permanent secretary Virgina Mabhiza has said recent months have seen a
"flood" of applications in the economically struggling nation. Mabhiza said
more than 50 people had applied.
Zimbabwe imposed 8 death sentences last year, according to Amnesty
International. The human rights group said 97 people were known to be facing
death sentences in the country as of the end of 2016.
(source: Associated Press)
TAIWAN:
Taiwan's enduring death penalty
In May 2014, a man stabbed 4 people to death and injured dozens on a Taipei
train. He was executed on 10 May 2016 - 10 days before President Tsai Ing-wen
assumed office. The pace of executions in Taiwan has waxed and waned over
recent decades - after a nearly 5-year pause in executions, 33 people were
executed between 2010 and 2016. Today, the death penalty remains legal, popular
and contentious.
Treason, piracy and serious drug offences are among the crimes for which courts
may impose a death sentence, although the overwhelming majority of executions
in the last decade have been for murder. Retention of the death penalty is
permitted but discouraged under the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR), which Taiwan adopted as domestic law in 2009.
In January 2017, a group of independent human-rights experts invited by the
Taiwanese government to review compliance expressed its 'strong regrets that
there has been no progress in the abolition of capital punishment as the utmost
form of corporal punishment'. Since the adoption of the ICCPR, there have been
procedural adjustments - such as requiring appellate sentencing hearings in all
capital cases - and a concomitant drop in the number of death sentences
finalised by the courts. But there has been no change in the government's basic
position that the death penalty is legal.
The death penalty is also popular. A 2016 poll by the National Development
Council found that nearly 88 % of the public were against its abolition. This
high degree of public support is less surprising when viewed in light of the
poll's timing - it immediately followed a public outcry over the grisly murder
of a 4 year old girl. But an earlier 2015 poll similarly found that over 80 %
of people did not support abolition.
It is also hard to find any lawyers, judges or legal academics in Taiwan who
expect this support to markedly decrease anytime soon. They hope to gradually
increase public support for abolition by exploring accompanying reforms aimed
at shoring up public safety, including the possibility of introducing life
without parole.
Despite widespread support among the general public, the death penalty remains
contentious in political circles. In 2016, a legislator proposed an amendment
to the criminal law that would require the death penalty in most murder cases
where the victim is a child. In contrast, at the 2016 European Union-Taiwan
Human Rights Exchange Programme a group of legislators met with EU human rights
experts to discuss possible alternative sentences to the death penalty.
The executive branch has likewise displayed discordant views. Wang Ching-feng,
who served as president Ma Ying-jeou's minister of justice from 2008-2010,
resigned over her refusal to sign execution orders. The next minister, Tseng
Yung-fu, promptly approved the execution of 6 people on death row and signed 21
execution orders in total. His successor, Luo Ying-shay, signed 12 execution
orders during her tenure.
The current Minister of Justice, Chiu Tai-san, has been circumspect in his
public remarks, calling for dialogue between those in favour of and opposed to
the death penalty. President Tsai too has avoided taking a clear public stance
since taking office, though in 2015 she did remark that abolition of the death
penalty required both a social consensus and comprehensive complementary
measures, neither of which she saw present in Taiwan.
Looking to other countries' experiences, abolition is more often led by
political elites than motivated by public clamouring against the death penalty.
President Tsai has so far failed to provide such leadership. The death penalty
was raised in passing at the National Judicial Reform Conference that President
Tsai convened, but it was not included as a specific topic for discussion, nor
was there any mention of the death penalty in the summary of major issues.
Tsai's reluctance to push the death penalty into the spotlight is not
surprising considering that her approval rating dipped below 30 % earlier this
year. In addition, her political capital is already stretched thin with an
ambitious agenda underway, including tackling controversial pension reform.
The reality of the death penalty being retained has prompted non-governmental
organisations to take a multifaceted approach to curbing the use of the death
penalty. For example, in October 2017 the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death
Penalty, Taipei Bar Association's Human Rights Committee and Legal Aid
Foundation held a conference on the death penalty.
The Taiwan Innocence Project for its part has shown that Taiwan is not immune
to the worldwide phenomenon of wrongful convictions, including death penalty
cases. As 2017 draws to a close, it appears likely that it will be an
execution-free year in Taiwan. But there still remains a lack of momentum for
outright abolition in the executive and legislative branches, and Taiwan's
Constitutional Court has not yet intimated that it might issue a decision
rendering the practice unconstitutional. As such, the death penalty is expected
to linger, experiencing periods of disuse disrupted by occasional executions.
This enduring use of the death penalty remains a stain on Taiwan's otherwise
steadily improving record of championing international human rights norms.
(source: Margaret K Lewis is a Professor of Law at Seton Hall University and a
Fulbright Senior Scholar at National Taiwan University College of Law----East
Asia Forum)
GUATEMALA:
Guatemala high court abolishes death penalty in civil cases
Guatemala's highest court has issued a ruling abolishing the death penalty for
civil cases.
The Constitutional Court announced its decision Thursday. It is final and will
take effect once it is published in the government's official gazette.
Until now Guatemalan law has allowed for the death penalty in cases of murders
of people younger than 12 or older than 60; kidnappings where the victim is
severely hurt or dies; assassination of the president or VP; or in certain
crimes related to drug trafficking.
However the Central American nation has not applied a death sentence for some
years in line with a regional human rights agreement to which it is a
signatory.
The death penalty remains on the books at least nominally for Guatemala's
military judicial system.
(source: Associated Press)
INDIA:
DCW asks why delay in execution of Nirbhaya's rapists
The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Tuesday issued notice to Tihar Jail
Administration and Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) South District for not
giving death penalty to Nirbhaya rapists.
Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi had complained to DCW, that even after five months
of Supreme Court's verdict, death sentence has not been given carried out.
The Apex Court had sentenced the accused with death penalty.
The DCW Chairperson, Swati Jaihind responded to the mother's plea by
immediately sending a notice to Tihar Jail administration and DCP South
District.
In the notice, she has inquired as to why, even after 5 months of Supreme
Court's verdict, the accused have not been hanged. She also mentioned whether
the Tihar Jail officials have issued order of death sentence to the 4 accused.
If the order has been issued, then reasons for not adhering to the order.
The Commission has notified the officials and DCP to respond to the
aforementioned inquiries by November 6.
Further DCW's Chairperson stated that, it is a shame that even Nirbhaya is yet
to receive justice in our country. Nirbhaya's mother and the entire nation who
are pleading for justice are yet to receive it. She demanded that the convicts
must be hanged at the earliest.
On December 16, 2012, the entire country was shocked by the horrific Nirbhaya
gang rape and murder in South Delhi. The Supreme Court upheld death sentence
for the 4 convicts months ago.
(source: newkerala.com)
PAKISTAN:
To the gallows: Man gets death penalty in murder case
A court awarded death sentence to an accused for his involvement in a murder
case in Sargodha on Thursday.
The judgment was announced by Additional Sessions Judge Zulfiqar Ali. The
prosecution told the court that accused Nasrullah, a resident of Chak No
162/NB, and his accomplices Nasir, Jevan Shah, Kaleem and Baqar Shah had gunned
down a man Sarfaraz, over litigation matters on September 5, 2014.
The local police registered a case and presented the challan before the court.
After hearing the arguments, the judge handed down death sentence to Nasrullah
with a fine of Rs1 million as compensation money.
However, the court acquitted all the 4 co-accused giving them the benefit of
doubt.
Earlier, a court awarded death sentence to a murder convict and life term to 2
others for their involvement in a murder case in Sargodha. Convict Ramzan and
his companions had gunned down Mehr over a property dispute in 2015. The judge
handed down death sentence to Ramzan and awarded life term to 2 of his
accomplices.
(source: Express Tribune)
IRAN:
Judge Refuses to Order Psychological Evaluation That Could Save Man Sentenced
to Death as Minor
A judge in Iran is refusing to order a psychological evaluation to determine
the maturity level of Mohammad Reza Haddadi in 2003, the year he allegedly
committed murder at the age of 15.
Haddadi, now 29, could be saved from execution if the medical examiner rules he
was not mature enough to understand the nature of the crime he allegedly
committed, his lawyer told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).
"Based on Article 91 of the Islamic Penal Code, if a juvenile was incapable of
understanding the nature of the crime, he could be saved from capital
punishment," said attorney Hossein Ahmadiniaz, on October 28, 2017. "The
authority that can determine mental maturity is the medical examiner."
"My client was 15 when the crime took place," added Ahmadiniaz. "Later, he said
he did not commit the crime and took back his confession. So we requested a
judicial review and asked the court to refer Mohammad Reza to the medical
examiner."
However, the judge presiding over Branch 101 of the Criminal Court in the city
of Kazeroun, in Fars Province, has so far refused to order the mental
evaluation.
Held in Adelabad Prison in the provincial capital of Shiraz since 2003, Haddadi
was transferred for execution on at least 4 occasions, but each time he was
saved by domestic and international protests, his lawyer told CHRI.
Haddadi was arrested in October 2003 in connection with the murder of a taxi
driver. 3 accomplices, who were all over 18-years-old at the time, were
convicted of abduction, collusion in murder, and hiding the victim's body, and
issued prison sentences ranging from 15 years to life.
Based on his confession, Haddadi was issued a death sentence, in addition to a
15-year prison sentence.
However, in a letter he sent to the judge 11 days after his arrest, Haddadi
said he had confessed because the co-defendants had promised him money and
insisted he would not be convicted of murder because of his age, Haddadi's
lawyer told CHRI.
"The judge is refusing to send Mohammad Reza to the medical examiner because he
says, in his opinion, Mohammad Reza was a mature person when he confessed and
there's no need to send him to the medical examiner," said Ahmadiniaz.
"But this makes no legal or common sense," he said. "The judge cannot make a
personal guess as to Mohammad Reza's mental level. That determination is made
by the medical examiner."
Ahmadiniaz told CHRI that the judge refused the request after the prosecutors
in the cities of Shiraz and Kazeroun both agreed that Haddadi should receive a
psychological evaluation. "In recent years, many juveniles have been saved from
execution by the courts in Tehran on the basis of Article 91," said Ahmadiniaz.
"But the judge in Kazeroun is denying this right from Mohammad Reza. That's not
reasonable."
(source: Iran Human Rights)
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