June 24
PAKISTAN:
Petition in LHC seeks public execution of Zainab's murderer
The father of Zainab Amin, a 6-year-old child whose rape and murder by Imran
Ali in January 2018 had sparked national outrage, has filed a petition in the
Lahore High Court (LHC) demanding that his daughter's killer be hanged
publicly.
Zainab's murder: the state must not succumb to mob mentality
The petition states that a public execution will "give [a] clear message of
deterrence to everybody" and that "the murderer of Zainab should be given
exemplary punishment so as to avoid any such tragedy in the future."
The petition further says that according to Article 22 of the Anti-Terrorism
Act (ATA), the government can carry out public executions if it is likely to
create a deterrent effect.
Zainab, whose body was recovered from a trash heap in Kasur, had been
kidnapped, raped and killed earlier this year. The incident had spawned the
#JusticeForZainab campaign online and also resulted in an increased debate on
and media reporting of child abuse cases.
On February 17, the accused Imran was found guilty by an Anti-Terrorism Court
and was subsequently awarded 4 counts of the death penalty, 1 life term, a
7-year jail term and Rs4.1 million in fines.
In the aftermath of the verdict, a debate had taken place in the Senate and the
Council of Islamic Ideology on whether public execution could be justified in
certain cases. The lawmakers had eventually opposed the idea.
(source: dawn.com)
INDIA:
Indian woman arrested for poisoning food
Indian police have arrested a 28-year-old woman for allegedly poisoning food
that led to the deaths of at least 5 people and hospitalization of 120 others
in the western state of Maharashtra.
The horrific incident took place at Mahad village in the state's Raigad
district, some 75 km from capital Mumbai, earlier this week.
"After 5 days of intense probe, we arrested housewife Pragya Survase on charges
of mixing insecticide in food that was served to guests at one of her
relative's house-warming party in Mahad village Monday," a senior police
official said Saturday.
Local media reports said that Survase had committed the crime of killing her
husband, her parents-in-law and their relatives to take revenge against them as
they had time and again taunted her for her dark complexion and also criticised
her cooking.
Police zeroed in on Survase after forensic analysis of food samples served at
the party confirmed presence of insecticide, traces of which were also found
near her relative's house. During questioning of all family members, she
fumbled and later broke down, police said.
"Survase has confessed to the crime citing marital, family disputes," local
police chief Anil Paraskar told the media.
Survase has been charged with murder, attempt to murder and conspiracy charges
under the Indian Penal Code as some of her victims included children aged 7
years, and she faces a maximum of death penalty.
"Further investigation is on," Paraskar added.
(source: xinhuanet.com)
******************
Facing death penalty, Dalit case convict dies of heart attack
A 55-year-old convict in the 2013 Sonai murder case, in which 3 Dalit men were
killed in Ahmednagar district, died following a heart attack today, an official
said.
Popat Darandale was sentenced to death along with 5 other accused in the
sensational case by a court in Nashik in January this year.
Darandale had been lodged in the Nashik Road Central Jail. 2 days ago, he was
admitted to the Nashik Civil Hospital for treatment to a heart-related ailment.
At around 6.15 am, he suffered a heart attack and died, jail superintendent
Rajkumar Sali told PTI this evening.
After conducting a post-mortem, Darandale's body will be handed over to his
relatives, he said.
3 Dalit men were brutally killed in Sonai village on January 1, 2013, and their
mutilated body parts were found in a septic tank.
Darandale and 5 others were arrested for the crime. The 6 were convicted on
various charges, including murder and criminal conspiracy, and awarded the
death penalty by the trial court on January 20.
According to the police, the killings were prompted by an inter-caste love
affair between Sachin Gharu (24), one of the victims, and a girl from the
Maratha community.
(source: Press Trust of India)
SOUTH KOREA:
Korea moving to abolish death penalty
Heated debate is expected after the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
said it will recommend President Moon Jae-in declare a moratorium on the death
penalty in December. A senior official at the oversight agency said last week
that joint, working-level discussions with the Ministry of Justice will soon be
under way to help President Moon to deliver the declaration Dec. 10, on the
70th anniversary of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Day. A moratorium
refers to any suspension of activity. Countries that pass a moratorium on
judicial executions publicly make it clear that they will not put a person to
death in a government-sanctioned punishment. The move, the official said, is
part of efforts to facilitate the agency's initiative to enhance human rights,
in line with policy goals presented during a President-chaired debriefing last
December. The President at the time asked the agency recommend opinions in line
with international standards and criteria on human rights issues including the
death penalty and the abolishment of the law that punishes conscientious
objectors who refuse to serve in the military on religious grounds.
The UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which incorporated
values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN General
Assembly, made it clear that "nothing ... should be invoked to delay or to
prevent the abolition of capital punishment by any State Party to the ...
Covenant." Korea is among 160 other countries that have already either
eliminated capital punishment or do not practice it. 61 convicted criminals are
serving prison term after being sentenced to death, but no execution has been
carried out here over the past 2 decades since December 1997. The international
community including Amnesty International considers a country where no
execution was carried out over 10 years a virtually death penalty-free region.
Publication by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), a
UN body, places particular focus on the political leadership required to move
away from capital punishment. Cheong Wa Dae said declaring the moratorium will
be reviewed upon submission of the NHRC-drafted recommendation.
Supporters' claim
Supporters of the abolishment claim the death penalty undermines human dignity,
denies opportunity to reverse wrongful, erroneous convictions and is not a
useful deterrent to crimes evidenced by a lack of statistical evidence. The
OHCHR, whose mandate seeks to promote and protect all human rights, advocates
for the universal abolition of the death penalty, urging the international
community to acknowledge the failure of capital punishment as a means to exact
justice. Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the taking of life is
"too irreversible for one human being to inflict it on another." He urged that
people continue to argue strongly against the death penalty because it is
unjust and incompatible with fundamental human rights.
Execution of 8 people convicted on charges of National Security Law violation
in 1975 is the most well-known case that illustrates "unacceptable risk of
executing innocent people" in Korea. The eight in what is widely known as the
"Inhyukdang incident," were arrested for alleged involvement in what
then-military, authoritarian regime under Park Chung-hee deemed as organized
efforts to overthrow his government with the help of North Korea, a crime
punishable under the National Security Law. They were executed only 18 hours
after the sentencing in an unusually swift elimination of politically dissident
voices, as the newly established regime under Park sought to initiate and
perpetuate the fear-inducing rule only about a year after taking power via
military coup in 1974. The Seoul Central District Court posthumously acquitted
them in a retrial 2007.
Pushback inevitable
However, such a politically motivated execution in the past is highly unlikely
to recur in Korea, a country ruled by democracy with elected leaders subject to
accountability in regularly held elections. Currently, public sentiment is not
entirely for the abolition, primarily due to a sense of seeking revenge and
retribution against committers of violent crimes such as sex offenders and
serial killers. The public largely remains against spending taxpayers' money to
keep "savages" alive. According to a survey conducted by Real Meter of 511
people, more than 1/2, or 52.8 % said they were in favor of the death penalty.
Less than 1/3, or 32.6 %, said they were against the execution. According to a
separate survey by a local daily newspaper of 1,000 people, nearly 2/3, or 66 %
said they were against the death penalty abolition. Of those aged between 19
and 29, over 70 % said they were against the abolishment.
Many people demanded death penalty be imposed on Cho Doo-soon, who was
convicted of raping an 8-year-old school girl, which left her with permanent
damage to multiple organs. Despite the severity of the crime, he was only
sentenced to a 12-year prison term in 2008, after a judge recognized his claim
that he was intoxicated at the time of the incident and therefore unable to
make rational decisions. His scheduled released in 2020 is a main concern for
parents with young girls and the public at large.
Public outrage was just as fierce against Yoo Young-chul, a serial killer who
infamously said he "would have killed up to a hundred people" had he not been
apprehended. The then 34-year-old was sentenced to death in June 2005 and has
since been serving prison term for killing 20 people mostly women and elderly
in Seoul between 2003 and 2004. The man tried to justify his actions by
switching blame onto the rich and women, saying "I hope this incident would
serve as a cautionary tale that rich people should get their act together and
that women should not be promiscuous." Many of his victims were prostitutes
whom he called to his home. Kim told police that he ate the organs of his
victims.
The most recent case involves a man Lee Young-hak who was sentenced to death in
January for killing and discarding the body of a girl, a friend of her
daughter. Lee asked his 11-year-old daughter to invite the victim for a
sleepover. He then drugged, sexually harassed and killed her. The daughter was
sentenced to prison term for helping the father discard of the body.
Balance required
The ministry plans to hold public hearings in September, conduct 6-month study
on possible alternative punishment to replace capital punishment. Further
in-depth review followed by public consensus will precede revision to the
status quo. "Abolishing the death penalty should be determined with great
caution after fully reviewing both the positive and negative impact it would
have on the criminal justice system," the ministry said. This would require a
review of its earlier rejection to follow UN recommendation on the abolishment
of death penalty early this year. It was 1 of the 2 UN recommendations the
ministry rejected alongside the abolishment of National Security Law, which the
ministry claimed should remain for the country to achieve peaceful
reunification as well as to improve human rights of North Korean people. Other
than the 2, the ministry said it would follow 85 other recommendations, adding
the remaining 130 are under review with plans to establish an institutional
framework for their implementation.
(source: Korea Times)
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