July 12
SRI LANKA:
Sri Lanka to reinstate death penalty in anti-drug war 'inspired' by
Philippines' Duterte
Sri Lanka is going to reinstate capital punishment for drug dealers who
coordinate criminal activities from behind bars, as it draws inspiration from
the brutal anti-drug campaign led by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.
"From now on, we will hang drug offenders without commuting their death
sentences," Rajitha Senaratne, government spokesman, announced on Wednesday.
Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena has told the government, which
earlier had unanimously backed the reinstatement of capital punishment, that he
"was ready to sign the death warrants," the spokesman said.
The last execution in Sri Lanka took place back in 1976 and since then all
death sentences in the country have been commuted to life in prison as
successive presidents refused to sign death warrants.
"Although there are certain opinions regarding capital punishment in a Buddhist
society, if a large number of criminal acts spread in such a society despite
religious sermons, it will be necessary to take some timely actions to control
crime," the President's Media Division cited Sirisena as saying.
There are currently 19 drug offenders in Sri Lanka, whose death sentences had
been commuted to life, Senaratne said, adding that some of them continue
coordinating trafficking from detention. Earlier this week, 1 of those drug
dealers organized the smuggling of over 100 kilograms of heroin into the
country.
The government spokesman has called the uncompromising war on drugs led by
Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines an example for Sri Lanka, saying that
Colombo will also be using the military to curb trafficking.
"We were told that the Philippines has been successful in deploying the army
and dealing with this problem. We will try to replicate their success,"
Senaratne promised, as cited by AFP.
The Philippine authorities have acknowledged that 4,200 drug suspects, who were
resisting law enforcement, were eliminated in the country since July 2016. But
critics call the killings unlawful and claim that the death toll was far
greater.
Amnesty International has, meanwhile, said that Sri Lanka is heading in the
"wrong direction" and urged the country to abandon its plans. "Sri Lanka has
been a leader in the region, with an enviable record of shunning this cruel and
irreversible punishment at a time when many other countries persisted with it,"
Dinushika Dissanayake, the watchdog's Deputy Director for South Asia, said in a
statement. "By resuming executions after more than 40 years, Sri Lanka will do
immense damage to its reputation."
(source: rt.com)
*********************
Amnesty urges Sri Lanka to withdraw death penalty plans
Amnesty International on Wednesday called on Sri Lanka to withdraw its plans to
implement the death penalty for drug trafficking offences.
This week the country's ministry of Buddhasasana announced that the cabinet had
decided to implement it, and to include 19 prisoners currently on death row.
"By resuming executions after more than 40 years, Sri Lanka will do immense
damage to its reputation. The government must immediately halt plans to carry
out any executions, commute all death sentences, and establish an official
moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty as a first step towards
its full abolition," Amnesty International's South Asian Deputy Director
Dinushika Dissanayake said.
"Executing people for drug-related crimes is a violation of international law -
which says the death penalty can only be imposed in countries that are yet to
abolish it for the "most serious crimes".
(source: Tamil Guardian)
IRAN----executions
2 Executions in Northern Iran Followed by an Act of Revenge
Last week 2 prisoners were secretly executed at Gorgan Prison on murder
charges. 1 of the executions was followed by an act of revenge by the family of
the prisoners on the victim's relatives.
According to a close source, on the morning of Saturday, June 30, 2 prisoners
were executed at Gorgan Prison. the prisoners were sentenced to death on murder
charges. 1 of the prisoners was identified as Vahid who was convicted of murder
during a street fight. On Thursday, July 5, Vahid's relatives invaded the
plaintiffs' house in Ghal'e-Hasan and caused damage to their property on an act
of revenge.
On Friday, July 6, IRNA website mentioned the invasion of the prisoner's family
and quoted colonel Mohammad Shirazi, Chief of Police, "Yesterday (Thursday) the
murderer's family invaded the house of the victim's family with a group of
people and set fire to their house and car."
Many experts had earlier warned that implementation of Qisas leads to spread
hate and hostility in a society.
The execution of these prisoners has not been announced by the state-run media
so far.
According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 240 of the
517 execution sentences in 2017 were implemented due to murder charges. There
is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in
issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and
intent.
*****************
Prisoner Executed in Northern Iran
A prisoner was executed in a city in Mazandaran Province on murder charges.
According to ILNA news agency, a prisoner identified as A. M., son of Seyyed
Ne'mat, was executed in Mazandaran Province. The prisoner was sentenced to
death on murder charges.
The report was published on July 5 and the prisoner seems to have been executed
on the same day. However, the report didn't specify the date of the execution.
Moreover, there are some ambiguities about the execution site, since the title
of the report mentions Qaemshahr Prison, but later in the text, Sari Prison is
stated as the execution site.
According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 240 of the
517 execution sentences in 2017 were implemented due to murder charges. There
is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in
issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and
intent.
(source for both: Iran Human Rights)
SUDAN:
Religious teacher faces death penalty for defending human rights
The government of Sudan has intensified its attempts to silence Matar Younis
Ali Hussein, a visually impaired religious teacher who faces the death penalty
for nothing more than criticising the government's repression in Darfur and
standing up for human rights, said Amnesty International ahead of a court
hearing on 12 July.
Matar Younis, aged 48, could face the death penalty or life imprisonment if
found guilty of trumped up charges of allegedly 'waging war against the State'
and 'undermining the constitutional system'. He has also been charged with
'espionage'.
"The Sudanese authorities have continuously shown contempt for the human rights
of the people of Darfur. Matar Younis has been one of the few voices for
victims in Darfur who has consistently, fearlessly and publicly asked the
government to change its harmful policies and protect the displaced people of
Darfur. He should not be criminalized for standing up for human rights," said
Seif Magango, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn
and the Great Lakes.
"The Sudanese authorities must drop all charges against Matar Younis and
release him immediately and unconditionally. Amnesty International recognizes
Matar Younis as a Prisoner of Conscience. It is absurd that this courageous man
who dared to criticize the continuous human rights violations against the
people in his region could face the death penalty."
**********************
Urgent Action Update: DETAINED RELIGIOUS TEACHER FACES DEATH PENALTY (Sudan: UA
70.18)
Matar Younis Ali Hussein, a religious teacher who has a visual disability, has
been formally charged with three offences under the 1991 Penal Code. Two of the
offences put him at risk of facing the death penalty or life imprisonment in
Sudan. Matar Younis was arrested on 1 April apparently because of his criticism
of the government's policy in Darfur. He remains at risk of torture and other
ill-treatment while in detention.
TAKE ACTION
Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:
Calling on the Sudanese authorities to drop the charges and release Matar
Younis Ali Hussein immediately and unconditionally, as he has been detained
solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression;
Calling on them to ensure that, pending his release, Matar Younis Ali Hussein
is granted regular access to his family and a lawyer of his choice;
Urging them to ensure that, pending his release, he is not subjected to torture
and other ill-treatment;
Calling on them to release all other detainees in Sudan who are detained solely
for the peaceful exercise of their human rights.
Contact these two officials by 22 August, 2018:
President
HE Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir
Office of the President
People's Palace
PO Box 281
Khartoum, Sudan
Salutation: Dear President
Ambassador Maowia Osman Khalid
Embassy of the Republic of Sudan
2210 Massachusetts Ave. NW,
Washington, DC 20008
Phone: 202 338 8565 I Fax: 1 202 667 2406
Email: sudanembass...@sudanembassy.org
Salutation: Dear Ambassador
(source for both: Amnesty International)
FRANCE:
Guillotine sold to French millionaire collector
A guillotine has fetched 8,008 euros (7080 pounds) at a controversial auction
in Paris.
The 150-year-old replica of a device used for executions was bought on
Wednesday by a French millionaire and collector of bizarre objects.
France's auction watchdog was opposed to the sale, despite the auction house
insisting that the 3m (10ft) instrument in question had never been used.
The guillotine was last used to behead a convict in 1977. France abolished the
death penalty in 1981.
The replica, which has a few dents on the blade, was once on display at a
museum of torture in Paris. It was part of a bankruptcy sale of a jazz club
that took over the museum's premises.
"They should not be selling this guillotine," a spokesperson for the French
auction regulators told the Parisien newspaper.
"Objects like the clothes of people who were deported to the (Nazi death) camps
and instruments of torture are sensitive."
However, the auction watchdog was unable to block the auction, which lasted
only 2 minutes. Industrialist Christophe Fevrier doubled the starting price of
4,000 euros (3,535 pounds).
Real guillotines have been put to auction in the past. One sold for 220,000
euros in Paris in 2011. Another, initially valued at 40,000 euros, failed to
sell in the western city of Nantes in 2014.
The guillotine was first used during the French Revolution, with 16,000 people
beheaded between 1793 and 1794, most notably King Louis XVI and Queen Marie
Antoinette.
(source: BBC News)
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