April 10
MIDDLE EAST:
Iran and Iraq lead way in reducing executions in the Middle East----Executions
fell by 41 percent from 2017 to 2018, but Amnesty International says practice
still taking place
The Middle East saw far fewer executions in 2018 than it did the previous year,
driven largely by sharp reductions in the number of people being put to death
in Iran and Iraq, according to Amnesty International.
A report from the human rights group released on Tuesday found that the number
of executions in the Middle East fell by 41 percent in one year, from 847 in
2017 to 501 in 2018.
That's the lowest number of executions the region has seen in almost a decade.
"We're encouraged by the reduction in executions, which suggests that even the
countries that are the most adherent to the death penalty are beginning to
change their ways," Oluwatosin Popoola, one of Amnesty's death penalty experts,
told Middle East Eye.
"A 50 percent drop in Iran shows that when legal reforms take place, executions
can fall. However, we must also note that, overall, the region continues to use
the death penalty heavily and against international law."
Only Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Yemen were known to have carried out
executions in 2018.
That's half the number of countries that used what Popoola called the "ultimate
cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment" in 2017.
While Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine and the United Arab Emirates had
carried out executions in 2017, none were recorded in those countries a year
later, according to Amnesty's 55-page report.
The methods of execution ranged from beheadings in Saudi Arabia to shootings in
Yemen. Hangings were used in Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Sudan, while stoning to
death is kept on the books in some countries, but is seldom used.
Meanwhile, the chaos of Syria's war made it impossible to collect data in that
country, said Popoola.
Beheadings, crucifixions and other punishments carried out by the so-called
Islamic State (IS) group were not viewed as judicial executions and were not
counted, he added.
Decline in Iran, Iraq
Supporters of the death penalty say that it deters would-be killers and drug
dealers from wrongdoing. Abolitionists say it is cruel, outdated and typically
punishes poor and minority groups, while people who are well-connected get
lighter sentences.
Iran has long been among the world's top users of the death penalty, with
courts battling epidemics of heroin and opium abuse - and levying the
punishment against drug addicts and drug dealers making money from the illicit
industry, among others.
Still, recorded executions there have fallen by half, from 507 in 2017 to 253
in 2018, Amnesty International found in its report.
This followed a shift in November 2017, when Iranian lawmakers re-wrote the
country's anti-drug rules so that only kingpins, armed dealers and those
convicted of smuggling large quantities of narcotics would face the punishment.
Hadi Ghaemi, director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, a campaign group,
described a long struggle to change attitudes in the country, which at one time
executed some 1,000 drug dealers and other convicts every year.
"It's a remarkable decline and a major accomplishment for a 10-year campaign,
by activists both inside and outside Iran, aided by international pressure,
against the senseless use of the death penalty in Iran," Ghaemi said.
"It was overused, too frequently against poor and illiterate individuals but
not the cartel kingpins. It did nothing to address Iran's drug epidemic, and
slowly public opinion and even the hardliners wised up to this."
Neighbouring Iraq saw even bigger reductions between 2017 and 2018, with a 58
percent drop in recorded executions - from 125 to 52 - in that one-year span.
This may reflect a slowdown in executions of IS members, many of whom were
rounded up and convicted under anti-terror laws as their self-declared
caliphate was beaten back and eventually defeated in Iraq during 2017, said
Popoola.
But the report did not suggest a wholesale shift away from executions in the
Middle East.
Although Iraq and Iran recorded big reductions, they still rank among the
world's top 5 countries that carry out executions. The others are Saudi Arabia,
with 149 recorded executions, Vietnam (at least 85) and China (more than
1,000).
In Iran, for instance, justice is often imposed more harshly against members of
minority groups, such as Mohammad Salas.
A Gonabadi Dervish, Salas was executed in June after being found guilty in a
"grossly unfair" trial for the murder of 3 police officers, the Amnesty report
said.
Iran too frequently executes those who were aged under 18 at the time of their
crimes, the group also found.
Saudi Arabia executes a large number of foreigners, mostly for murder and drug
crimes, while defendants in such trials often lack legal safeguards and
sometimes don't get a translator in court, Popoola said.
While the rate of executions across the region has fallen, the same does not go
for the number of death penalties that were handed down by courts.
'It's a remarkable decline and a major accomplishment for a 10-year campaign,
by activists both inside and outside Iran ... against the senseless use of the
death penalty'- Hadi Ghaemi, Center for Human Rights in Iran
In Iraq, that number quadrupled from at least 65 in 2017 to at least 271 in
2018.
And in Egypt, the number of death sentences handed down rose by more than 75 %,
from at least 402 in 2017 to at least 717 in 2018, as the government of
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi cracked down on political opponents.
Nizam Assaf, the Amman-based co-ordinator of the Arab Coalition Against the
Death Penalty, noted that while execution rates had fallen, no single Middle
Eastern government had excised the death penalty from its laws this past year.
"There's been a reduction in executions in Iran and Iraq, but these two
countries still execute large numbers of people," Assaf told MEE.
"We're still waiting to see real progress on this issue in our region. We need
to see more lobbying work and more international pressure on these regimes so
that the right to life is properly respected."
(source: Middle East Eye)
SAUDI ARABIA:
Fear over 23 Nigerians on death row in Saudi Arabia
JAILED IN SAUDI ARABIA
Halimat Oyebanjo Oyaya 10yrs
Sherifat Shawni 4 yrs
Limata Ahmad 10yrs
Halimat Isah 5yrs
Olubumi Adejarani Olaniyan 10yrs
Omobolanle Funke 15yrs
Nuratu Bolanle Yusuf 15yrs
Maryam Ibrahim Tanko 7yrs
Rahma Abdulkarim 20yrs
Nuratu Yusuf Abike 20yrs
Bolaji Kehinde 10yrs
Yasirat Abolanle Salau – awaiting trial
23 Nigerians are on the death row in Saudi Arabia. They may be beheaded any
time from now, The Nation has learnt.
Besides, 11 are serving various jail terms for drug trafficking in the kingdom.
Another suspected trafficker is awaiting trial.
The 23 death row inmates could not be named for “diplomatic and sensitivity”
reasons.
Unless President Muhammadu Buhari intervenes, the death toll could be higher, a
source said.
The “late” response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to a memo from the
Nigerian Consul-General, Amb. M. S. Yunusa, is believed to have contributed to
the execution of a Nigerian woman, Kudirat Adeshola Afolabi about 2 weeks ago.
It was learnt that the ministry had been “diplomatically slow” in responding to
issues connected with Nigerians.
No ministry official was willing to comment on the allegation yesterday.
The Consul-General wrote twice to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief
Geoffrey Onyeama, on December 3, 2018 and February 6, 2019, raising the alarm
over the plight of Nigerians in Saudi Arabia.
He said the nation should endeavour to use its diplomatic bond with Saudi
Arabia to seek pardon for all our compatriots condemned to death and for those
serving various jail terms.
But more worrisome to the Consul-General is what he believe is the security
lapse at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, which is
being used for massive drug trafficking.
The envoy admitted that there is a drug syndicate at the airport.
He alleged that the syndicate in cahoots with greedy airline officials at MAKIA
were checking in extra bags containing prohibited drugs.
He said members of the syndicate had been using particulars of innocent
passengers and baggage tags to smuggle drugs leading to the arrest of Nigerians
who had no links with drug trafficking.
One of the memos said: “Furthermore, it is with humility that I bring to the
Honourable Minister‘s knowledge that, sadly, there are a number of Nigerians
arrested for alleged drug related offence who are currently in detention at
Dhahban Prison (Male Section) and Madina Prison (Male & Female Sections).
Mission was unable to gain Consular access to them as the host authorities have
flatly refused to grant permission for such despite several requests to that
effect.
“Following the outcome of investigations carried out by both the NDLEA and the
Nigeria Police (Kano State Command) the Honourable Minister may wish to note
that:
“There exists a criminal syndicate collaborating with greedy officials of some
airlines at MAKIA, notably Ethiopian and Egyptian Airlines, who connive to
check in drug-laden bags, using passenger’s particulars without their consent
or knowledge;
“Nigerian victims of the activities of these criminal gangs were arrested and
detained in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for drug trafficking offences they did
not commit;
“The outcome of investigations by the Nigeria Police and NDLEA absolved these
victims of complicity in the crime of peddling drugs into the Kingdom. The
investigations further established beyond reasonable doubts that the victims
were unaware of the drug-laden baggage that were checked in bearing their
particulars by unknown persons at MAKIA, Kano;
“All the suspected culprits had been apprehended and a case of criminal
conspiracy, breach of trust and drug trafficking has been established against
them, hence, they were arraigned at the Federal High Court, Kano;
“There are 24 Nigerians who were condemned to death between 2016 2018 for drug
trafficking in contravention of the Kingdom’s Narcotic and Psychotropic
Substances Control Law issued under Decree No. M/39 dated 8/7/1428AH;
“There are 12 Nigerian women currently serving various jail terms at Dhahban
prison for drug smuggling.
“Meanwhile, the following drug traffickers are serving various jail terms:
a) Halimat Oyebanjo Oyaya – 10 years b) Sherifat Shawni – 4 years c) Limata
Ahmad – 10 years d) Halimat Isah – 5 years e) Olubumi Adejarani Olaniyan – 10
years f) Omobolanle Funke – 15 years g) Nuratu Bolanle Yusuf – 15 years h)
Maryam Ibrahim Tanko – 7 years i) Rahma Abdulkarim 20 years j) Nuratu Yusuf
Abike – 20 years k) Bolaji Kehinde – 10 years I) Yasirat Abolanle Salau –
awaiting trail
“There are a number of Nigerians accused of drug trafficking incarcerated at
various Saudi Prisons but the Mission was unable to undertake consular visits
due to refusal by the Saudi authorities to grant permission for such visits
despite repeated requests and
“Drug smuggling into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by Nigerians has reached an
alarming proportion and all hands must be on deck to check this menace.”
The Consul-General gave insight into how a syndicate had infiltrated the
security in Kano to perpetrate drug trafficking.
His memo drew the minister’s attention to “a frightening development that
portends grave danger to passenger travelling to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
through Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano.”
“It has emerged that some criminally minded individuals working in cohort with
greedy airline officials at MAKIA, have perfected the art of checking in extra
bags containing prohibited drugs, particularly Tramadol, using the particulars
of innocent passengers and baggage tags presumably assigned to such passengers
travelling to the Kingdom. Regrettably, this contemptible act exposes innocent
Nigerians to high risk of losing their lives,” the memo said, adding:
“As you are aware Your Excellency, drug trafficking attracts capital punishment
in Saudi Arabia. It is, therefore, imperative that urgent steps are taken to
checkmate the activities of these miscreants. “Certainly, failure to do so
would be tantamount to allowing innocent Nigerians to face death sentences for
crimes they did not commit.
“At this juncture, it would be appropriate to mention some of these cases that
were handled by the Consulate-General. For Instance, Messrs. Bashir Usman Sani,
Amdani Salisu Maikasuwa and Ibrahim Abubakar Ibrahim, were arrested and later
imprisoned in 2017 while Zainab Habibu Allyn and Ibrahim Abubakar were arrested
on 25th December, 2018 and have remained in prison custody following date, for
alleged drug trafficking.
“However, in the case of Ms. Zainab Habibu Aliyu and pursuant to a complaint
lodged by her father, Alhaji Bashir Usman Sani (in Nigeria), the National Drug
Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigeria Police (Kano State Command) have
thoroughly investigated the case and six suspects were arrested and charged to
Federal High Court, Kano.
“The accused persons are, Messrs Idris Umar Shehu (Alias Umar Sande), Sani
Suleiman, Nuhu Adamu, Udosen Itoro Henry, Sani Hamisu and Ms Rhoda Adetunji.
They were charged with conspiring to export Tramadol to the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia and for illegally checking in additional baggage containing the banned
substance and linking same to Ms. Zainab Aliyu and Ibrahim Abubakar, passengers
on board Ethopian Airline flight ET 941/ET 402 to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 24th
December, 2018.
“ In the same token, seven other suspects, namely, Yusuf Isa Ahmad, Shaba
Umaru, Diwawu Mustapha, Shafiu Musa, Murtala Muhammad, Musa Haruna and Hajiya
Gawure Abba Aji were also arrested and charged to court with criminal
conspiracy, breach of trust, and drug trafficking. They were also accused of
tagging additional drug-laden baggages and falsely linking same to Messrs
Bashir Usman Sani and Amdani Salisu Maikasuwa. Again, Messrs Rabiu Mahmud Sani
and Anthony/Johnson as well as Mrs. Celestine Emanuel Yayok were also charged
with fraudulency tagging and exporting a bag containing psychotropic drugs
suspected to be Tramadol using the passport details of Ibrahim Ibrahim Abubakar
Ibrahim.
“Your Excellency, permit me to state that investigation carried out by both the
NDLEA and the Nigeria Police have established beyond reasonable doubts the
existence of some criminal syndicates masquerading as touts rendering
assistance to unsuspecting passengers at MAKIA, Kano.
“These miscreants are now endangering innocent lives and this state of affairs
should not be allowed to remain unchecked.
“ Furthermore, it is noteworthy to state that consequent upon the Mission’s
relentless efforts through several notes to host Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(Makkah Region Branch) and ceaseless interactive sessions with the officials of
Saudi Department for combating Drugs, Food and Drug Administration as well as
the offices of the Public Prosecutor, Makkah and Madinah Regions, Messers
Bashir Usman Sani, Amadani Salisu Maikasuwa and Ibrahim Ibrahim Abubakar
Ibrahim have all been released on 25th October, 2018 and 25/1/2019
respectively.
“Again, it is pertinent to reiterate that peddling of drugs to the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia contravenes the Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances Control Law,
issuer under Royal Decree No. M/39 dated 8/7/1428AH and is punishable with
death penalty. Unfortunately, between 2016- 2017 the under noted Nigerians were
arrested at King Abdul Aziz International Airport. Jeddah and Prince Muhammad
bin Abdul-Aziz international Airport, Madinah for smuggling narcotic drugs
concealed in their rectums.
The Consul-General made 5 recommendations to the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
including the need to seek clemency for innocent Nigerians held for drug
trafficking in Saudi Arabia.
The recommendations are:
Enhancement of security surveillance by installing functional CCTV cameras at
the checking-in counters and other sensitive areas of airports in Nigeria;
Henceforth, Nigeria Airport Management Authority (NAMA) in collaboration with
other relevant security agencies should institute a compulsory baggage
identification procedure before boarding for all checked-in luggage;
Every passenger should check in his/her luggage personally and not through
third parties;
The trial of those found culpable for checking-in extra-baggage’s using the
identities of victims should be pursued expeditiously and the attested copies
of the judgments be made available to the Mission for onward transmission to
our host authorities as proof that the culprits were punished in accordance
with our laws; and
The Federal Government should henceforth, appeal for clemency and pardon for
all our compatriots condemned to death and for those serving various jail
terms.
(source: thenationonlineng.net)
IRAN:
Woman Sentenced to death in Iran Based Solely on Qasameh
A woman suspected of murdering her husband was sentenced to death in Iran based
solely on Qsameh, the state-run ISNA news agency reported Monday.
Citing that the case has “procedural and substantive” defects, the woman’s
attorney Abdulsamad Khorramshahi who was cited by ISNA said they have submitted
an appeal and the case will be reviewed by the Supreme Court.
According to the report, Khorramshahi had previously said about the case that
his client was accused of having fatally poisoned her husband and child but
there was no evidence to prove the acusations.
Khorramshahi said on January 30, 2019 that a forensics report showed that the
woman’s husband and child were poisoned but it did not specify the type of
poison and the poisoning may be due to gas leakage.
The lawyer has stated that his client has denied all the accusations.
Furtheremore, there is no solid evidence that proves her guilt.
At the request of the victims’ relatives, the woman was sentenced to death
based on Qasameh (proof of a criminal case by the means of swearing) despite
the lack of evidence against her.
Qasameh is one way, within the Islamic jurisprudence and criminal law in Iran,
to prove crimes related to murder and physical injuries when there is no enough
evidence against the suspect.
The relatives of a plaintiff must bring 50 relatives to the court to swear an
oath that the defendant is guilty. Otherwise, the defendant must swear an oath
and plead not guilty 50 times in order to have her charges dropped.
The people who swear in Qasameh are not usually direct witnesses to the crime.
Qasameh appears to be a weak way to prove a crime, yet it continues to be used
in the Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) and criminal law.
Issuing an execution verdict without evidence, because the plaintiff’s family
claims the defendant is guilty, should not acceptable in a modern legal system
and should be considered a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, especially Article 10.
On October 30, 2017, Mojtaba Ghiasvand was executed at Rajai Shahr Prison based
on Qasameh.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
BRUNEI:
Stoning Gay People to Death in Brunei Is an Outrage and Not My Definition of
Islam
I was 13 years old when I first heard of the Sultan of Brunei. The absolute
ruler of a tiny, oil-rich kingdom in Southeast Asia, Hassanal Bolkiah was the
subject of a much-discussed TV documentary by the British filmmaker Alan
Whicker in 1992. As a young teenager, sitting in front of the television, I was
in awe of this Muslim king. He was the richest man in the world! He earned a
quarter of a million pounds every hour! He owned more than 150 cars!
Today, however, I’m filled not with awe but with disgust. Brunei has become the
first country in Southeast Asia to impose capital punishment for “crimes” such
as adultery and gay sex.
LGBTQ Bruneians, who are in particular danger, have been fleeing the kingdom.
Can you blame them? According to the Associated Press, “Homosexuality was
already punishable in Brunei by a jail term of up to 10 years. … But under the
new laws, those found guilty of gay sex can be stoned to death or whipped.
Adulterers risk death by stoning too, while thieves face amputation of a right
hand on their 1st offense and a left foot on their 2nd. The laws also apply to
children and foreigners, even if they are not Muslim.”
This is barbarism, plain and simple. How can a punishment rightly described as
“cruel and inhuman” (U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle
Bachelet), “vicious” (Amnesty International), and “medieval” (Human Rights
Watch) be considered appropriate or acceptable in the 21st century? Has the
Sultan — who isn’t exactly a paragon of moral rectitude himself — taken leave
of his senses?
Then again, shamefully, Brunei isn’t alone. A recent study by the International
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association found that there are
already 6 countries that explicitly make homosexuality a crime punishable by
death. And, as a Muslim, it is a source of deep frustration for me that 5 out
of the 6 are Muslim-majority countries — Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, Sudan, and
Somalia — and in the sixth, Nigeria, the death penalty is imposed only in
Muslim-majority or Muslim-plurality states. According to ILGA, there are also
70 member states of the United Nations that “criminalise consensual same-sex
sexual acts” — and, again, Muslim-majority countries are disproportionately
represented on that list. In fact, homosexuality is illegal in the vast
majority of the world’s Muslim-majority nations, from Senegal in West Africa to
Malaysia in Southeast Asia to Qatar in the Middle East. (Full disclosure: I
host 2 shows on Al Jazeera English, which is funded by the government of Qatar.
According to the Qatari penal code, gay sex can result in a prison sentence.)
It is easy to blame all of this rampant, state-sponsored homophobia in the
Muslim-majority world solely on Islam. Indeed, the prominent British atheist,
scientist, and Islamophobe, Richard Dawkins, cited Brunei’s barbaric new law in
order to compare my faith to cancer.
Yet the truth is that nowhere in the Quran is a legal punishment prescribed for
the sin, or the “crime,” of homosexuality. There are no authentic reports in
any of the Muslim books of history of the Prophet Muhammad punishing anyone for
same-sex acts. In fact, even many Muslims today are unaware that the Ottoman
Empire decriminalized homosexuality in 1858. Got that? One hundred and nine
years before the U.K. and 145 years before the United States, the biggest
Muslim-ruled empire on earth decreed that there should be no penalty for being
gay.
To be clear: The consensus position among mainstream Islamic scholars, whether
Sunni or Shia, is that same-sex relations, like extramarital or premarital
relations, are a sin. There is, however, no consensus among scholars about any
earthly punishment for committing this sin. Don’t take my word for it — ask
Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, described as “arguably the West’s most influential Islamic
scholar.”
To point the finger only at Islam, or even at Islamists, doesn’t explain why
Egypt under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who came to power after toppling
the Muslim Brotherhood and is now a hero to Ivanka Trump, has violently cracked
down on LGBTQ communities; or why Muslim men are fleeing a “gay purge” in
secular Chechnya.
Homophobia is not the monopoly of any one country, culture, or religion.
Catholic-majority Brazil is believed to have the highest LGBTQ murder rate in
the world. Orthodox-majority Russia passed a “gay propaganda law” in 2013. Here
in the United States, anti-gay hate crimes are on the rise and, according to
Rebecca Isaacs, executive director of the LGBTQ rights group Equality
Federation, the Trump administration has “done so many things that are as
anti-LGBTQ as you could possibly be.” The president has even joked that his
vice president wants to “hang” all gay people. (As my friend Owen Jones,
perhaps Britain’s best-known progressive and gay commentator, has observed, “If
you only talk about LGBTQ rights to bash Muslims, you don’t care about LGBTQ
rights.”)
For those of us who are Muslims, however, there is no point denying that queer
people do face particular abuse, discrimination, demonization, and violence
across the Muslim-majority world. It is long past time for us to engage in a
frank discussion about our attitudes toward gay people in our midst. We have to
find a way to try and reconcile our beliefs — and Islam, like Judaism and
Christianity, has traditionally seen homosexuality as a sin — with the reality
of life in modern, pluralistic, secular societies in which gay people cannot be
wished away or banished from sight. Personally, as a practicing Muslim, I have
had to think long and hard about this over the years, and I have also written
before about my own homophobia when I was younger and the lack of compassion
and understanding displayed by some in my own community.
Muslims, though, are not a monolith. In the United States, the majority (51 %)
of Muslims now support a legal right for gay couples to marry, compared to a
majority (58 %) of white evangelical Christians who remain opposed. There are a
number of prominent Muslim-majority countries, from Turkey and Indonesia to
Bosnia and Kosovo, where it isn’t a crime to be gay (though, of course,
homophobic prejudice and discrimination still abounds).
And, in an interview on the Deconstructed podcast in February, the soon-to-be
prime minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, told me that he plans to repeal his
country’s anti-gay laws. Ibrahim, one of the most respected voices in the
Muslim-majority world who was himself imprisoned on trumped-up charges of
sodomy, said the laws are “archaic,” a hangover from the days of British
colonialism, and “nothing to do with Islam or Christianity.” For Ibrahim, “you
cannot condemn people for their sexual orientation” because “your sexual
orientation is your business.” However, he added, “it will take time” for
attitudes to “evolve.”
Here’s the problem though: Gay Bruneians no longer have time on their side.
Their Muslim-majority neighbors have stayed silent while Brunei’s Western
allies, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, have issued the most
tepid and halfhearted of condemnations. It has been left to Hollywood
celebrities to publish scathing op-eds and launch a loud boycott campaign. So
it’s time for the rest of us — Muslims and non-Muslims alike — to make some
noise too, on behalf of members of a persecuted minority group who are in
genuine fear for their lives.
Remember, this isn’t a debate about Islamic theology or ethics. This isn’t
about changing sincerely held religious beliefs. We should all, of course, be
free to believe what we want, but while I can’t and don’t speak for other
Muslims, I’ll tell you this for free: Stoning innocent people to death is not
my definition of Islam.
(source: Mehdi Hasan, theintercept.com)
BELARUS:
Europe's Last Executioner
Belarus is the last country in Europe to have the death penalty. Since 1991,
about 300 death sentences have been carried out in the country. The condemned
prisoners are shot in the head. The body is not given to the family and the
place of burial remains a state secret.
(soruce: rferl.org)
UNITED KINGDOM:
Javid must oppose death penalties
Tories accused of backtracking on human rights by Amnesty International as
death penalty rate rises around the world.
Human rights campaigners have called on the government to reaffirm its
opposition to the death penalty as they accused the UK of showing a "new
flexibility" in its approach to capital punishment.
Amnesty International's call comes after Home Secretary Sajid Javid faced
criticism in July last year after not seeking assurances that Alexanda Kotey
and El Shafee Elsheikh, two of the so-called Isis Beatles, would not face
execution if they were extradited to the US.
The charity's annual report on the death penalty globally showed an increase in
capital punishment in nations which are UK international allies such as the US
and Japan, despite executions overall falling by nearly 1/3 last year.
Hypocrisy
Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK's director, said: "Historically, the UK
has a good record in terms of encouraging other countries to abolish the death
penalty, but last year's backtracking in the case of Alexanda Kotey and El
Shafee Elsheikh was extremely worrying.
"Kotey and Elsheikh's alleged crimes were appalling, but that doesn't justify
the UK in adopting a pick-and-mix attitude in its opposition to the death
penalty. You either oppose the cruelty of the death penalty, or you don't."
The pair are accused of belonging to a brutal 4-man cell of Islamic State
executioners in Syria, nicknamed The Beatles because of their British accents,
responsible for killing a number of high-profile Western hostages.
They were captured in January last year, sparking a row over whether they
should be returned to the UK for trial or face justice in another jurisdiction.
Ms Allen added: "One of the likely fall-outs from the UK's new 'flexibility' on
the death penalty is the possibility that pro-death penalty governments will
begin to accuse the UK of hypocrisy if we oppose their use of capital
punishment.
Abhorrent
"Capital punishment is a serious human rights violation and the UK should be
opposing its use in every instance, not just when it suits it politically."
The report revealed that globally the number of executions in 2018 fell by
nearly a third to 690, the lowest in a decade. But this also saw a rise in
executions in countries including Iraq, Egypt, Japan, Singapore, South Sudan
and the United States.
China is believed to be the world's most prolific executioner, where thousands
are believed to be put to death each year, however that data is still
classified as a state secret.
Despite a significant decrease in the numbers from Iran, the figures showed the
nation still accounted for more than a third of the known executions recorded
globally last year.
Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty International's secretary general, said: "Japan, Singapore
and South Sudan reported their highest levels of executions in years, and
Thailand resumed executions after almost a decade - but these countries now
form a dwindling minority.
"To all the countries that still resort to the death penalty, I challenge you
to act boldly and put a stop to this abhorrent punishment now."
(source: theecologist.org)
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