March 31
BAHRAIN:
Torture investigator orders new Bahrain death penalty hearing
Acting on recommendations from UK-trained torture investigators, Bahrain's
Attorney General has requested that the country's highest court reconsider the
death sentences handed to 2 men convicted on the basis of forced confessions
obtained through torture.
Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa were sentenced in December 2014 for supposed
involvement in a bombing that killed a police officer in Bahrain. The country's
Special Investigations Unit (SIU), a UK-trained body set up to investigate
allegations of misconduct and torture, recommended the case was referred to the
Court of Cassation after new medical evidence emerged.
The Attorney General of Bahrain, Dr Ali bin Fadhl Al-Buainain, said in a
statement posted on social media on 28 March 2018 that the cases were being
referred "in accordance with the requirements of justice."
This comes at a time when there are other facing imminent execution, Including
Maher Abbas who has had his death sentence confirmed despite Bahrain's highest
court accepting that he was convicted on the basis of a confession obtained
through torture.
Reprieve and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) are now
calling for:
the SIU to make public its findings and the details of its investigation into
Mohamed and Husain's torture allegations
all imminent executions to be stayed pending SIU investigations into all
further torture allegations
the UK and EU to commit to trial monitoring for any new trials
Maya Foa, Director of Reprieve, said: "This belated recognition that Mohamed
and Husain's trial was unfair is welcome but it comes after they have already
suffered torture, including being stripped naked, beaten with iron rods and
having their families threatened with rape. Bahrain must now go further and
allow the Special Investigation Unit to review all death penalty cases where
there were allegations of torture. This must include the case of Maher Abbas,
who is facing imminent execution despite concerns expressed by Bahrain's
highest court that he was coerced into confessing."
Sayed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy at BIRD, said: "Mohamed and Husain should
never have faced a death sentence. It is important that the full findings of
this investigation are shared with their lawyers immediately so we can know the
truth of the abuse they suffered. Any retrial must meet international standards
and in the meantime both men should be released and allowed to return to their
families after more than 3 years of imprisonment and abuse."
(source: ekklesia.co.uk)
SOUTH SUDAN:
Appeal could save SA man from death penalty in South Sudan
A month after William Endley was sentenced to death, his family are hoping an
appeal will save him from the gallows.
The ex-South African National Defence Force (SANDF) colonel was sentenced to
hang in a South Sudanese court on February 23.
He was charged with espionage and conspiring to overthrow the government.
But in the days following his sentencing, Endley has filed an appeal.
The appeal, according to Charmaine Quinn, Endley's sister, means that the South
Sudanese courts can't set an execution date.
Endley was also sentenced to 9 years in jail. "The appeal deals with the fact
that he had an unfair trial, that there was no formal evidence and that he
should have been released according to the December Peace Accord," explains
Quinn, who lives in Cape Town.
During his trial, none of his defence witnesses appeared in court. But
following his court appearance, Endley's prison conditions have improved. He
has now been moved to the Juba Central Prison.
He was previously held in the notorious headquarters of the South Sudanese
National Security Service, which is known as the Blue House.
"He is allowed more phone calls now," says Quinn. "He is positive but I can
hear that it is taking its toll on him."
Endley's family have also written letters to President Cyril Ramaphosa and
Lindiwe Sisulu, the minister who heads the Department of International
Relations and Co-operation (Dirco).
"We're just hoping and praying that we get some light at the end of the
tunnel," says Quinn.
The family are also hoping that Dirco is trying to secure his release through
behind-the-scenes negotiations, though they are not aware of these.
Dirco did not respond to the Saturday Star this week.
Quinn explained that it is now easier for embassy staff to visit her brother,
now that he is in the Juba Central Prison. The family are also able to send him
R2000 a month, for food and medicines.
"What does concern me is that he is kept in chains."
Endley became a defence contractor after he left the SANDF and was hired by
former rebel leader Riek Machar as an adviser.
He was tasked with helping integrate the rebel forces into the national army,
in accordance with a peace agreement.
But this agreement fell apart in July 2016 when heavy fighting broke out in the
capital. Machar fled and is now under house arrest in South Africa, while
Endley was arrested.
Jakkie Cilliers, the head of African Futures & Innovation at the Institute for
Security Studies, says now that Endley has been formally charged it's easier
for the South African government to act.
"This is where Dirco becomes the key player and would be engaging to see,
firstly, if there is a basis to engage, but it also becomes a Department of
Justice issue," he says.
The government has a good relationship with the South Sudanese, he adds.
But while political forces may be at work, Quinn has drawn strength from her
brother's sense of humour.
"The other day he phoned and he called himself the dead man talking, not the
Dead Man Walking, as in the movie."
(source: The Saturday Star)
NIGERIA:
Delta Gov. Commutes Death Sentences on 30 Prisoners to Life Imprisonment
The Delta State Governor, His Excellency, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has
approved the grant of total pardon to 5 inmates who were serving various terms
of imprisonment and commuted 30 others on death row to life imprisonment in the
exercise of his Prerogative of Mercy under Section 212 of the 1999 Constitution
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
A statement released from the Office of the Honourable Attorney-General and
Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Peter Mrakpor stated that the Governor acted
pursuant to powers vested on him in exercise of his powers of prerogative of
mercy in the spirit of the Easter celebration and took into considerations the
several international and local pleas including those from Amnesty
international.
The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice explained that the Governor
acted in accordance to his constitutional powers based on the recommendations
of the 7-Man Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy headed by Chief
Patrick Okpakpor that was inaugurated by the Delta Governor on 30th March,
2017.
According to the statement, the Governor approved the grant of full pardon to
the following inmates and ordered their immediate release; Livinus Ugwu (M) who
was sentenced to 20 years, Enebeli Dike (M), a condemned convict, Orji Pascal
(M), serving a 10 year jail term, Moses Agedah who was also on death row and
Martins Ishiekwene, a prisoner sentenced to death on the 30th of November,
1998.
The 30 inmates whose sentences were commuted by the Governor were all death row
inmates, sentenced to death by hanging.
The statement further stated that Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa's administration
was irrevocably committed to better the lives of the people of delta state
including prisoners as the Government has come out with various rehabilitation
programmes through skill acquisitions, trainings and other empowerment
programmes geared towards their reintegration back to society.
(source: prnigeria.com)
IRAN:
Harsh Sentence Upheld For Iranian Kurdish Activist While Brother Awaits Appeal
on Death Sentence
An Appeals Court has upheld the 8-year prison sentence issued against Iranian
Kurdish civil rights activist Afshin Hossein Panahi for the charge of
"propaganda against the state" and "collaboration with a Kurdish opposition
group."
One of his brothers told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) that after
agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ambushed his brothers in
a shootout, almost all of his family members were detained, including 1 brother
who is currently waiting to find out whether the Appeals Court will uphold his
death sentence.
"My brother Afshin was arrested along with three other relatives on suspicion
of connections with Komala [armed separatist organization] but during
interrogations, it became clear that they have no ties with the group," Amjad
Hossein Panahi told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on March 27,
2018.
"So instead, the court sentenced him to 8 1/2 years in prison for his past
civil activities, such as holding a Nowruz [Persian New Year] ceremony in
Kurdistan [province in Iran] in 2017 and promoting Komala, a sentence that has
now been upheld by the Appeals Court," he added.
He continued: "The IRGC had carried out a surprise attack and opened fire
without warning. Since then, nearly every member of the family - brothers,
sisters, brother-in-laws - have been detained, interrogated or threatened."
"My brother Ramin has been sentenced to death, Afshin sentenced to 8.5 years in
prison, my cousin Zubair Hossein Panahi sentenced to 6 years in prison and our
brother-in-law Ahmad Aminpanah sentenced to 5 years in prison, all because 1
person was a member of a political party," he added.
Afshin Hossein Panahi was arrested at his family's home in late June 2017
following an ambush by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against
members of Komala in Sanadaj, the capital of Kurdistan Province, on June 23,
2017. His brother, Ramin Hossein Panahi, was wounded and 3 other Kurdish
activists - Sabah Hossein Panahi, Hamed Seif Panahi, and Behzad Nouri - were
killed at the time.
On January 25, 2018, Ramin Hossein Panahi was sentenced to death by a
preliminary court in Sanandaj for being a member of Komala and drawing his
weapon. He is awaiting a decision on his appeal.
"Among us, only Ramin was a Komala member," Amjad Hossein Panahi told CHRI.
"But it has become clear he was not armed at the time of the confrontation when
he was arrested."
Describing itself as the "vanguard party of the liberating movement of the
Kurdish nation," Komala is a banned, armed socialist group in Iran claiming to
be fighting for "freedom, and legitimate political and cultural rights" for
Iran's Kurdish minority population.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
CHINA:
'Vicious' Killer of 11 Women Gets Death Penalty in China
30 years after Gao Chengyong embarked on a succession of 11 rape-murders of
women in northwest China, a court sentenced him to death on Friday, following
an investigation that involved sifting through 230,000 fingerprints.
The sentence by a court in Baiyin, a small city in Gansu Province, was not
unexpected in China, which executes more prisoners than any other. But the
verdict against Mr. Gao, 53, a farmer, itinerant worker and shopkeeper, was
widely reported, and applauded, in China, where the killings drew intense
attention.
"The motives for the defendant Gao Chengyong's crimes were utterly despicable,
the means were utterly vicious, the nature of the crimes utterly vile," the
court's verdict stated, according to the China News Service, an official
agency.
The court found that Mr. Gao had killed 11 women, whom he usually followed to
their homes. He murdered all but 1 around Baiyin; another woman was killed in
Baotou, a city in the north Chinese region of Inner Mongolia. In many cases, he
molested the women and dismembered their bodies. Besides homicide, he also was
found guilty of rape and of defiling corpses. He stood trial last July.
When Mr. Gao was arrested in 2016, the last murder had taken place 14 years
earlier, and the police needed advanced forensic technology, as well as an
element of chance, to link him to the crimes.
Zhang Enwei, a forensic detective who helped solve the murders, said he had
checked 230,000 sets of fingerprints trying to identify a suspect, Beijing
News, a newspaper, reported on Friday. But Mr. Gao was one of hundreds of
millions of rural migrants who move around, often slipping past city data
checks, and he was not caught in the dragnet for fingerprints in Baiyin.
But by 2011, the detectives in Baiyin had acquired technology to trace DNA
clues, and 5 years later a relative of Mr. Gao had his DNA sample taken after
he was suspected of giving kickbacks. Their shared traits led the investigators
to Mr. Gao, who was then running a small store in a school in Baiyin with his
wife.
Mr. Zhang said Mr. Gao was very calm when he was shown the evidence, according
to the Beijing News. "Basically he did not offer too much of a defense,???" Mr.
Zhang said. "He knew that this day would come."
Mr. Gao said he would not appeal the sentence. In an interview last year, his
defense lawyer, Zhu Aijun, denied reports that Mr. Gao had chosen as his
victims only women and girls with long hair and dressed in red.
Mr. Gao said he had "chosen his targets for crimes at random," Mr. Zhu told a
Chinese news website. "That was one of the reasons that it was so hard to crack
the case for a long time."
(source: New York Times)
GUYANA:
Guyana: Women accomplices sentenced to death
Justive Sandil Kissoon on Thursday imposed the death penalty on Hemwattie
Abdulla, 42, of Ozone Park, Queens, New York, and Surojni Permaul, 48,
Belvedere Settlement, Corentyne.
The judge handed down the ruling at the Berbice Assizes on Thursday afternoon,
after noting that the killing of Abdool Shakeel Majid was well planned, and not
a spur-of-the-moment thing.
Majid and Abdulla, his wife of 4 months, arrived in Guyana on April 22, 2012
with the intention of spending a 2-week vacation.
5 days later, however, his battered, lifeless body, minus the scalp, was found
on a popular Corentyne beach, while his wife, who has been named the Number One
accused, boarded a plane and headed back to their Queens home. In rehashing the
evidence, the judge noted that the course of conduct involved cross- border
communication between the 2 convicted women, whose single objective was to
bring death to the victim.
He said, "The Number One accused was not willing to contemplate such conduct in
her adoptive place, in the United States of America, but instead involved the
Number Two accused, her neighbour from Belvedere Village, Corentyne, whose
purpose was to kill the deceased."
Continuing with his summation, Justice Kissoon said: "Abdulla entrusted US$5000
to Permaul, who gave [it to] Pooran Jaundoo, her son-in-law, who is the husband
of Urmilla Devi Persaud. The deceased, at the end of the day, was taken to
[the] Number 63 Beach, where he was murdered."
Quoting a saying made popular back in the days, Justice Kissoon said, "But for
a few pieces of silver, which in this case was US$5,000, Permaul permitted
herself and family to be used as instruments.
"In addition, this Court had been privileged to evidence, which was not
permitted before the jury because of the objections of Defence Counsel.
However, it must be noted that Urmilla Devi Persaud, the daughter of the Number
Two accused, was found to be in possession of the wedding ring belonging to the
now dead man.
"Further, the victim was involved in an accident in the USA, and may or may not
have received a financial award. We can only speculate if that was the reason
for his killing."
Preparatory to making his decision known, Justice Kissoon said it is the
mandate of the court to impose a sentence which will reflect a civilised
society, even as he signalled to the Court Marshal who recited the death
penalty.
Early into the trial, the court heard through Probation Officer Judith
Vankennie that the Number One accused, the mother of 6, had met the deceased
while living and working in the US.
He was a cab driver and she was a nurse aide at a nursing home; that after
they'd struck up a friendship, she left her husband of many years to live with
the deceased, with whom she claimed to have had a happier relationship, the
court was told.
(source: stluciatimes.com)
BANGLADESH:
Dehradun: Main accused in Bengali couple murder case gets death penalty----The
court of ADJ Mohammed Sultan gave death penalty to driver Raju and life
imprisonment to the 3 co-accused
A district sessions court on Friday pronounced death sentence to the main
accused of the Bengali couple murder case at Vikasnagar in Dehradun.
Moumita Das, a Gurgoan teacher, was raped and killed by a taxi driver and his
friends in Chakrata in October 2014. Before that the accused had killed her
companion Avijit Paul. The court of ADJ Mohammed Sultan gave death penalty to
driver Raju and life imprisonment to 3 co-accused in the case.
Moumita and Avijit Paul had arrived for Diwali break in Chakrata area, about
110 km from Dehradun. The family members lost contact with them after 24
October 2014. The family members lodged a police complain about the missing
couple. Later, a taxi driver and 3 other friends were arrested for murdering
the couple.
The 4 accused first killed Avijit Paul and then raped Moumita on the move in a
car. After raping the woman, the 4 killed her and threw the body in the river.
The Uttarakhand police and State Disaster Relief Force conducted a special
operation to recover the body of the lady after 3 weeks.
(source: The Statesman)
INDIA:
Man sentenced to death in rape-murder case
Judge Shakti Putra awarded death penalty to Anil Kashyap on Thursday evening
and also imposed a fine of Rs 40,000.
A fast-track court in Baghpat has awarded death sentence to a 27-year-old man
for raping and murdering a 6-year-old girl in 2012.
Judge Shakti Putra awarded death penalty to Anil Kashyap on Thursday evening
and also imposed a fine of Rs 40,000.
He was held guilty under Sections 376 (rape) and 302 (murder) of the Indian
Penal Code (IPC), according to government lawyer Subhash Tomar.
The girl was raped on December 9, 2012, by Kashyap and her body was found in a
sugarcane field. He was arrested 3 days later, he said.
(source: tribuneindia.com)
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