Sept. 27
SAUDI ARABIA: DEATH SENTENCE NO LONGER MANDATORY FOR DRUG SMUGGLERS Saudi Arabia has redefined its drug trafficking laws, giving discretionary powers to judges and allowing them to hand down jail sentences instead of awarding the death penalty, the Jeddah-based Saudi Gazette reported. The Saudi Anti-Drug and Mental Effects Regulation stipulates the death penalty for drug traffickers, manufacturers and recipients of any narcotic substances. However, judges can now exercise discretion to reduce the sentence to imprisonment for a maximum of 15 years, sessions of 50 lashes, and a minimum fine of 100,000 Saudi riyals [more than 26,000 US dollars]. According to media reports, at least 62 people have been beheaded this year in the kingdom, a large number of them for drug-related crimes. News of the change to the Saudi drug laws came as the anti-narcotics department arrested a group of drug traffickers and seized a large quantity of cannabis at the King Khaled International Airport in the capital, Riyadh. The group was arrested following an anonymous tip-off that they would shortly arrive at the airport, Saudi newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat reports, saying it has learned that the traffickers are Pakistani in origin and had smuggled the drugs from Pakistan via the United Arab Emirates. Earlier in September, a Saudi official told the newspaper that the smuggling of drugs into the kingdom from Iraq has increased. He also warned that it was being used to raise funds for the militants fighting the security forces in Iraq and al-Qaeda's activities within the kingdom. (source: Outlook India) CHINA: China to review death sentences China's top court is to regain its power to review death sentences, as the authorities move to stem criticism that the death penalty is too widely used. The Supreme Court passed its right to review to lower courts in the 1980s, and a series of subsequent miscarriages of justice have recently come to light. China carried out at least 3,400 executions last year, according to rights group Amnesty International. That is more than was carried out by all other countries combined, AI says. The Supreme People's Court is setting up 3 branch courts in order to conduct the reviews, according to Chinese state media. "This will ensure the death penalty review process is truly neutral from administrative departments and prevent the intervention of other powers," the China Youth Daily quoted Supreme People's Court deputy director Wan E'xiang as saying. Amnesty International welcomed the move. "We think it will make a difference, said China researcher Corinna-Barbara Francis. Ms Francis pointed out that the Supreme Court would have more qualified staff, and would be immune from the local pressures which can sway decision-making in the lower courts. She said she believed the revelation of several miscarriages of justice in the last 6 months had "humiliated" the authorities. The move to empower the Supreme Court is part of a wider review of the use of the death penalty in China. At the moment, Chinese citizens can be sentenced to death for crimes such as corruption and robbery, but there is a debate under way over whether those who commit non-violent crimes should be exempt. Mr Wan said, however, that China was unlikely to abolish the death penalty. "The question is almost beyond discussion in China, because the millennium-old notion of murderers paying with their own lives is deeply ingrained in people's minds," he was quoted as saying. The Chinese media has given widespread coverage to 2 wrongful convictions this year - a butcher executed for murder in 1989 was proved innocent when his alleged victim was found alive, and a man was freed after 11 years in jail when his wife, whom he was accused of killing, was also found alive. (source: BBC NEWS) IRAN: URGENT ACTION APPEAL 27 September 2005 UA 256/05 Torture/Death Penalty/Imminent Execution IRAN: Moussa Esfandiari Mehni (m), aged 42, farmer Farmer Moussa Esfandiari Mehni was sentenced to death in October 2004, apparently convicted of smuggling firearms and opium. He is alleged to have confessed under torture. The Supreme Court in Tehran is believed to have upheld the sentence this month. All death sentences in Iran must be upheld by the Supreme Court before they can be implemented, and he could now be executed at any time. The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, has the power to grant clemency at this stage. Moussa is married and has seven children. He lives near the town of Baft, in south-eastern Iran. He was allegedly tortured after he was arrested: this included burning, beatings and fake executions, in order to force him to confess. He is now held in Baft prison. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Amnesty International opposes the death penalty as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible: - expressing concern that Moussa Esfandiari Mehni is facing execution, despite allegations that he confessed under torture; - reminding the authorities that extracting confessions under duress is prohibited by Iranian law; - urging the authorities to order an investigation into these allegations, and publish the findings; - stating that Amnesty International recognizes the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offences, but opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment; - urging the authorities to stop the execution of Moussa Esfandiari Mehni, and to commute his death sentence. APPEALS TO: Leader of the Islamic Republic: His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Fax: 011 98 21 649 5880 (mark ''FAO the Office of His Excellency, Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei'') Email: [email protected] Salutation: Your Excellency Head of the Judiciary: His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Ministry of Justice Park-e Shahr Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: [email protected] (mark ''Please forward to His Excellency Ayatollah Shahroudi'') Salutation: Your Excellency Minister of the Interior: Hojatoleslam Mustafa Purmohammadi Ministry of the Interior Dr Fatemi Avenue Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Fax: 011 98 21 896 0203 COPIES TO: Speaker of Parliament: Gholamali Haddad Adel Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami (Parliament) Imam Khomeini Avenue Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Fax: 011 98 21 646 1746 Iran does not presently have an embassy in this country. Instead, please send copies to: Iranian Interests Section 2209 Wisconsin Ave NW Washington DC 20007 Phone: 202 965 4990 Fax: 202 965 1073 Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after November 8, 2005. Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights. This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal. Urgent Action Network Amnesty International USA PO Box 1270 Nederland CO 80466-1270 Email: [email protected] http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/ Phone: 303 258 1170 Fax: 303 258 7881 ---------------------------------- END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL ----------------------------------
