May 4
NIGERIA:
20 Condemned Convicts Escape Death as Ambode Commutes Sentences • Frees 14 who
had spent 20 years in prison
No fewer than 20 condemned prisoners in Lagos were saved from the hangman when
the state government commuted their death sentences to life imprisonment just
as it freed 14 inmates who had spent 20 years in prison.
This was sequel to the recommendations of the Advisory Council on Prerogative
of Mercy which toured the prisons to review cases in the drive to decongest
prisons.
This was made known when the State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for
Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem (SAN) was handing over the order for the release of
the inmates signed by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to prison authorities.
Kazeem explained that the development was pursuant to Constitutional provision
for the constitution of an Advisory Council and empowered the Governor power to
grant clemency to convicted persons on the advice of the Council.
“Prerogative of Mercy is a right recognised under the 1999 Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended); Section 212(2) of the Constitution
provides that the powers conferred on the Governor under Section 212(1) shall
be exercised by him after consultation with the Advisory Council of the State
on the Prerogative of Mercy as may be established by the Law of the State,”
Kazeem explained.
According to him, the inmates were considered to benefit from the prerogative
of mercy after due examination of their case files, which revealed that they
had been reformed and ready for re-integration into the society.
Kazeem congratulated the freed inmates, and advised them to be of good conduct
outside the prison.
Also speaking, Chairman of the Council, Prof. Oyelowo Oyewo said aside its
power under the Constitution, the setting up of the Council also served as a
way of de-congesting the prisons.
He equally congratulated the beneficiaries of the clemency by the Governor, and
urged them to avoid acts that led them into prison in the first place.
The Controller of Prison in charge of Kirikiri Maximum Prison, DCP Emmanuel
Oluwaniyi commended the State Government for the efforts to decongest the
prison.
Oluwaniyi, who was newly deployed to the state, said it was gratifying that he
was commencing his stewardship in the state on a good note with the release of
inmates who were due to be re-integrated into the society, just as he equally
admonished them to be of good conduct outside the prison.
Aside Oyewo and Kazeem, other members of the Lagos State Advisory Council on
Prerogative of Mercy are Mr. Adedotun Adetunji, Mrs. Musili Onasanya, Mr.
Olumide Oniyire, Mr. Chris Okoye, Mrs. Bolatumi Animashaun, and Mrs. Yemisi
Ogunlola (Secretary).
(source: This Day Live)
MALAWI:
Malawi gives personal 'emergency alarms' to albino citizens
The Malawian government is handing out some 1,600 personal security alarms to
its albino citizens, in an attempt to stop deadly attacks on the community.
"The gadgets will be distributed to persons with albinism in all the regions in
Malawi," Cecilia Chazama, minister for Gender, Children and Disability, said
Friday.
Albinos are targeted in Malawi and some other African countries because of the
superstitious belief that their body parts are magic and can make people rich.
Francis Masambuka, an albino activist, welcomed the project but stressed it
wasn't a cure-all solution to attacks on people with the condition - which
causes lack of skin pigmentation.
"The gadgets are connected to the network of nearest police stations...and once
a person with albinism is under threat, they can press it and the police can
rush to the scene," he said.
Some 24 people with albinism have been killed and 160 attacks reported to
police since 2014, according to figures from the Association of Persons with
Albinism in Malawi.
The emergency buttons - which will be distributed Saturday - are being
introduced amid continued attacks. Since December, 1 man has been reported
killed and 2 children abducted.
Despite the Malawian government's promise to tackle the problem, rights groups
have complained that few suspected of crimes against albinos are successfully
prosecuted.
However, on Friday a Malawi court sentenced a man found guilty of murdering an
albino to death. The death penalty has not been carried out in Malawi for
years, usually meaning life imprisonment instead.
Willard Mikaele, a 28-year-old barber from Thyol district, was found guilty of
strangling to death 19-year-old Mphatso Pensulo. He said he had been advised by
a witchdoctor to kill a person with albinism if he wanted to get rich.
"The motive behind the killing was as devilish as it is primitive. I want to
agree with the state that death sentence is appropriate as it reflects a sense
of justice in the circumstances," said Justice Maclean Kamwambe.
(source: iol.co.za)
TAIWAN:
Death penalty on table of 2nd Taiwan-EU consultations<>P>
The issue of the death penalty in Taiwan is expected to be tackled when
Taiwanese and European Union (EU) officials hold the annual Human Rights
Consultations later this month.
Taiwan and the EU agreed to hold their 2nd annual Human Rights Consultations in
Brussels in mid May, and the meeting will be attended by high-ranking
representatives from both sides, an EU official who spoke on condition of
anonymity told CNA.
The EU will raise the issue of the death penalty and gender equality this year,
the official further revealed, adding that it was the EU's position to ask
Taiwan to put a moratorium on carrying out capital punishment, with an ultimate
goal of abolishing it.
Taiwan and the EU held the 1st installment of the meeting in Taipei in March
2018, in which death penalty and gender equality were also on the agenda.
However, Taiwan's Ministry of Justice executed a man convicted of murdering his
ex-wife and daughter just 5 months after the 1st Human Rights Consultations. In
response, the EU issued a statement expressing its concerns over the execution.
In that statement, the EU described the death penalty as a "cruel and inhumane"
form of punishment which failed to act as a deterrent to crimes and represented
an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity.
Some Taiwanese people rejected the EU statement, saying European countries
should not impose their values on Taiwan.
Nonetheless, the EU said it will continue its dialogue with Taiwan on this
issue.
It has been consistently advocating the abolishment of the death penalty, even
making it a requirement for countries to join the regional bloc.
(source: focustaiwan.tw)
IRAN:
UN Stresses Execution of Child Offenders in Iran “Absolutely Prohibited” by
International Law
The execution of 2 17-year-old boys in Iran on charges of rape and robbery,
after a trial that appears to have seriously breached fundamental due process
guarantees, is deplorable, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle
Bachelet said on Friday. She, once again, urged the authorities in Iran to
ensure that executions of child offenders are immediately halted.
“The prohibition of executions of child offenders is absolute under the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and under the Convention
on the Rights of the Child,*” Bachelet said. “Iran is party to both human
rights treaties and obliged to abide by them. These two cases are particularly
outrageous because it appears that both boys were reportedly subjected to
ill-treatment and a flawed legal process.”
Mehdi Sohrabifar and Amin Sedaghat were 15 years old when they were arrested
and accused of rape and robbery in 2017. According to information received by
the UN Human Rights Office, they were held in a police detention center for two
months, where they were initially deprived of their right to a lawyer, beaten
and reportedly coerced into making false confessions. The boys had originally
denied all charges. They were later convicted and sentenced to death.
Their families and lawyers brought their case to the Supreme Court, which
overturned the lower court’s sentence of capital punishment and ordered a
retrial. The lower court again convicted the boys and sentenced them to death.
Apparently, neither the victims nor their families were aware that the
executions were going to take place. They were executed on 25 April 2019 in
Shiraz in the southern Fars Province.
Sohrabifar and Sedaghat were reportedly flogged prior to their execution.
Flogging is also prohibited under the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child as an act
that amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and possibly torture.
It is understood that none of the courts involved took into due consideration
the medical evidence of Sohrabifar’s mental health, including the fact he had
attended a school for children with special needs for a decade. Article 91 of
the amended Islamic Penal Code gives judges the discretion to exempt children
from the death penalty if the judge assesses that the child did not realize the
nature of the crime or if there is uncertainty about his or her mental
development.
“I am appalled,” Bachelet said. “My Office has been engaging with Iran to
advocate for a total ban on executions of people who were minors at the time of
the offence. I once again call on the authorities to halt all executions of
juvenile offenders, and to immediately commute all such death sentences.”
The UN Human Rights Office opposes the use of the death penalty in all
circumstances.
* International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 6.5: “Sentence
of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below eighteen
years of age and shall not be carried out on pregnant women.”
Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 37: “States Parties shall ensure
that:
(a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment
without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by
persons below 18 years of age.”
(source: Iran Human Rights)
YEMEN:
Stop death penalty sentences against convicts in Yemen
Joint statement: Stop death penalty sentences against convicts in Yemen
Geneva - The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, SAM for Rights and
Liberties and AFD International warned in a joint statement that the courts of
the Houthi group in Yemen will continue to carry out death sentences against
political opponents without regard to fair trial conditions.
The three organizations said in a statement that al-Houthi group had turned the
judicial system in the areas under its control into a political tool to settle
accounts with its political opponents. The group detained and tried hundreds of
civilians on broad charges and violated all legal procedures to ensure the
rights of the accused.
According to their sources, the three organizations said that the
Houthi-controlled courts consistently and blatantly violated all justice
procedures and denied detainees and their lawyers the right of defense
guaranteed under domestic and international law.
The joint statement pointed out that most of the detainees in al-Houthi prisons
were illegally taken and subjected to enforced disappearance for several months
before being shown in illegal detention centers that are not under the
supervision of the Public Prosecution. They are subjected to various kinds of
psychological and physical torture during detention, and are forced to sign
confessions they know nothing about their content.
The organizations indicated that they documented a number of cases where
executions were made against a group of civilians. It took only one session to
issue sentences ending their lives. The court did not give the defense body the
right to plead guilty.
The organizations quoted a Yemeni lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity,
as saying that the right to defend the accused was completely lacking. “I
attended a trial session for a group of defendants. I was surprised at the
first session by the Judge pronouncing the death sentences for five of them. I
asked the court for a copy of the case file and the hearing was adjourned, but
my request was rejected immediately.”
The organizations pointed out that the courts under al-Houthi's control clearly
violate the privacy of the detainees. In some cases, the detainee is
photographed during the interrogation period, which is not permissible by the
law.
A photo and audio recordings of the detainee are published via media, with the
public inciting against them in an attempt to prepare the public opinion to
accept and encourage the harsh sentences against the accused.
The organizations have shown that such measures are a clear violation of the
criminal justice law and fair trial rules and raise serious concerns about the
intention to issue harsh sentences against detainees.
Since March 2015, the Houthi courts have issued 55 death sentences against
civilians. The courts have not observed fair trial guarantees, an indication of
a loss of confidence in Yemen's entire judicial system.
Concluding their statement, the organizations issued an urgent appeal to all
the relevant international parties to pressure the al-Houthi group to stop the
execution of a number of defendants and to urge the group to stop the
politicized verdicts and death sentences issued against dozens of Yemenis on
fabricated charges.
The organizations urged that all parties to the conflict in Yemen, including
armed groups, should respect the rules of international humanitarian law and
spare civilians any dangers they may incur, stressing the need for urgent UN
intervention to end the suffering of thousands of detainees in prisons in
Yemen.
(source: scoop.co.nz)
EUROPE:
Preacher who said ‘gays should face death penalty’ to be banned from most of
Europe
An anti-gay preacher has been banned from entering most of Europe, Dutch
officials have confirmed.
Steven Anderson, from Arizona, US, has previously called for the execution of
gay people by stoning and said it was ‘good news’ that 49 victims died in the
Orlando nightclub mass shooting.
LGBTI campaigners, Dutch MPs and Amsterdam’s mayor, Femke Halsema, called on
the government to block the preacher’s entry ahead of his European tour, which
included events in Ireland and Sweden.
Dutch security minister Mark Harbers announced he had taken steps to stop
Anderson entering the Schengen Area, comprising 26 European countries, for a
planned visit to The Netherlands on May 23.
In a statement issued to Dutch parliament on Wednesday, Harbers said: ‘There is
no place in a democratic nation like ours for discrimination, incitement to
hatred or intolerance and violence on any grounds. ‘Civil liberties are not a
license for intolerant behaviour that limits the freedoms of others.
‘The government is committed to taking strong action against extremist speakers
who, by spreading their beliefs restrict the freedoms of others or incite
people to hatred or violence.’
Amsterdam’s mayor Halsema said he was ‘relieved’ at the decision to block
Anderson.
Philip Tijsma, a spokesman for Dutch LGBTI rights organisation COC, said the
move was ‘a wise and good decision’.
Anderson founded the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona, in 2005,
which describes itself as an ‘old-fashioned, fundamental’ church which has made
international headlines ever since. On its website, a doctrinal statement says:
‘We believe that homosexuality is a sin and an abomination which God punishes
with the death penalty.’
He has previously said in a 2014 sermon that the world would be cured of AIDS
within months if ‘homos’ were stoned to death, reported Pink News.
Anderson said: ‘It’s curable, right there. Because if you executed the homos
like God recommends, you wouldn’t have all this AIDS running rampant.’
Following the Orlando Pulse nightclub attack, which killed 49 people and
severely injured 53, he called it ‘good news’ because there were ‘less
paedophiles in the world’ who wanted to ‘recruit people into their filthy
lifestyle’.
He is also reported to have denied the Holocaust and to have prayed for
President Barack Obama’s death because of his views on abortion rights.
(source: metro.co.uk)
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