April 9
GLOBAL:
How to teach … debating the death penalty----This week the Guardian Teacher
Network has resources to help pupils discuss the use of the death penalty
around the world
At least 676 executions were carried out in 20 countries in 2011, and 1,923
people in 63 countries were sentenced to death, according to a recent survey by
Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org.uk). While the figures make grim
reading, they provide a relevant context in which to explore issues surrounding
the use of the death penalty around the world.
Arab Spring Leads to Wave of Middle East State Executions is a Guardian article
that covers the main findings of Amnesty's annual capital punishment survey.
Pupils can find out which countries used the death penalty in 2011. They can
also investigate a range of questions about human rights: Why have Middle
Eastern countries stepped up their use of capital punishment? What is the
situation in China? How have juveniles been affected? This information can be
used in a range of curricular activities, from data handling to class debates.
Capital punishment 2011 is an interactive map that clearly illustrates the
findings of Amnesty's survey. Pupils can compare the number of death sentences
handed down in 2011 and the number of executions that took place. They can also
see how the number of countries carrying out executions has changed since 1991.
The presentation is supported by a datablog that explains the statistics
further.
As part of Amnesty International's 2012 death penalty campaign, the Guardian
has created an animated video about Mohammad Mostafaei, a lawyer who has saved
around 20 juveniles from execution in Iran. Suitable for use with older pupils,
the animation focuses on the story of Behnoud Shojaee, a 17-year-old whose
death sentence was postponed six times before a final decision was made in
October 2009. After watching the video, pupils can use role play to explore
their views on capital punishment.
Teenager Ali Mahin Torabi gives a moving account of his conviction for murder
in the Guardian article Iranian who spent seven years on death row. The article
can be used as a stimulus for a variety of critical thinking and literacy
activities: What would the letters that Ali's sisters wrote to him have been
like? How would he have felt when he was being smuggled out of Iran? In what
ways were Ali's human rights abused?
Pupils can explore their views on capital punishment further by examining the
case of the case of Troy Davis , an American who was executed in September 2011
in one of the most hotly contested death row cases in recent years. Based on
their research, can pupils evaluate the arguments for and against the death
penalty? Can they express and justify their personal points of view?
A Matter of Life and Death is a teaching pack from Amnesty including these
assembly notes that explores issues surrounding the use of the death penalty.
For advice on tackling sensitive subjects with young people, consult the
resource Teaching Controversial Issues.
The Guardian Teacher Network has more than 100,000 pages of lesson plans and
interactive materials. To see and share for yourself go to
teachers.guardian.co.uk. There are also hundreds of jobs on the site; for a
free trial of your first advert, go to schoolsjobs.guardian.co.uk.
(source: The Guardian)
GAZA:
Gaza: Hamas Should Halt Executions ---- 3 Men Hanged; Another Could Face Firing
Squad
The Hamas government’s stated commitment to justice should include ending the
death penalty, which makes worse the well documented injustices of Gaza’s
courts. Rather than executing prisoners, Hamas should focus on reforming its
justice system.
The Hamas authorities’ execution of three convicted prisoners by hanging on
April 7, 2012, highlights the need for a moratorium on capital punishment in
Gaza, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch, which opposes the
death penalty in all cases as cruel and inhuman punishment, said the
persistence of unfair trials made the executions particularly egregious.
At least 1 other prisoner is at imminent risk of execution in Gaza. His final
appeal of a death sentence was rejected by the highest military court in
February.
“The Hamas government’s stated commitment to justice should include ending the
death penalty, which makes worse the well documented injustices of Gaza’s
courts,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
“Rather than executing prisoners, Hamas should focus on reforming its justice
system.”
Human Rights Watch has documented cases in which military courts in Gaza failed
to examine credible evidence that the accused were convicted on the basis of
confessions coerced under torture, as well as other due process violations like
arbitrary arrest and failure to allow detainees to consult with lawyers until
after they had been interrogated.
The Interior Ministry announced the executions of three men, convicted in
unrelated cases, in a statement on its website. The men had exhausted their
appeals, and the victims’ relatives did not agree to accept compensation in
lieu of their executions, the statement said.
In the case of a man identified only as M.B., a 49-year-old resident of Deir
al-Balah, the civil first instance court in Deir al-Balah had sentenced him to
death on March 30, 2010, for murder. The Gaza Court of Cassation upheld the
ruling on February 16, 2012, according to the Palestinian Center for Human
Rights (PCHR), an independent group based in Gaza. Amnesty International
identified him as Mohammed Baraka and said he had been convicted of killing a
relative.
In the case of M.A’., a 20-year-old resident of Rafah, the civil first instance
court in Khan Yunis had sentenced him to death on November 24, 2010, for
abducting, raping, and killing a child in July 2010, according to the
Independent Commission for Human Rights, a Palestinian rights ombudsman. The
sentence was confirmed by the appeals court in Gaza City on November 2, 2011,
and by the court of cassation on February 29, PCHR reported.
M.A’.’s brother told Addameer, another Palestinian rights group, that the
family was notified on April 6 of his impending execution and allowed to see
him in prison at 1 a.m. on April 7. At 6:45 a.m. prison authorities phoned the
family to say M.A.’ had been executed.
The 2 men were convicted under the 1936 Penal Code (no. 74), dating from the
British Mandate.
In the 3rd case, Gaza’s Supreme Military Court upheld on February 2 the death
sentence by hanging for W.J., 27, from the Bureij camp in central Gaza, the
rights ombudsman reported. W. J. was found guilty by a lower tribunal, the
Permanent Military Court, on March 29, 2011, of treason and complicity in
murder under the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Revolutionary Penal
Code of 1979.
The Palestinian rights ombudsman also said the Hamas authorities may soon
execute at least one other prisoner. On February 14 the Supreme Military Court
in Gaza City upheld a death sentence by firing squad against Jamil Zakaria
Juha, 29, of Gaza City. The permanent military court had sentenced him to death
on December 6, 2010, for complicity in murder. He has no more appeals.
Military courts in both Gaza and the West Bank apply the PLO’s Revolutionary
Penal Code, which imposes the death penalty for at least 42 crimes, including
several that fall well outside of the international standard of “the most
serious crimes.” Military court jurisdiction should extend only to military
personnel, but Human Rights Watch found that 5 of the 16 people sentenced to
death by military courts in 2009 and 2010 were civilians.
Since taking control of Gaza in 2007, Hamas authorities in Gaza have executed
at least 11 men, including 5 in 2010 and 3 in 2011. At least 5 men were
executed after convictions by military courts. The Palestinian Authority in the
West Bank has issued death sentences but has not carried any out executions
since 2005.
The widespread use of torture on suspects in detention in Gaza adds to fair
trial concerns, Human Rights Watch said. The Palestinian rights ombudsman
documented 22 allegations of custodial torture in February alone. In 2011 the
internal security service of the Interior Ministry and Hamas police in Gaza
allegedly tortured 147 people, based on the ombudsman’s monthly reports. Human
Rights Watch does not know whether evidence used in court proceedings in these
cases had been obtained by coercion.
(source: Human Rights Watch)
UNITED ARB EMIRATES:
2 accused of raping male student, 17
2 men have been accused of kidnapping and raping a 17-year-old boy.
The student said he was forced to drink alcohol until he passed out during
which time he was raped. Still naked, he eventually escaped.
HK, a 23-year-old stateless man, and AA, 19, a Yemeni, are alleged to have been
part of a group that attacked the boy as he walked home from a friend's house
in Al Qusais in October last year.
They pushed him into the boot of a Honda Civic and took him to AA's house. The
boy, a Yemeni, said he was taken to a bedroom on the 2nd floor and forced to
drink alcohol. He blacked out for about 3 hours and was naked when he awoke. He
told prosecutors that HK and AA raped him, assisted by HK's brother.
Afterwards he was carried to a bathroom, where he washed his face until he
regained his balance. He then ran home, still naked.
A policeman, 23, testified that HK confessed after being confronted with video
footage on his mobile phone showing the alleged assault.
The officer said that HK claimed he had been drunk at the time.
The 24-second video showed the naked student being punched in the chest and
slapped on the face.
His assailant was not shown as he was apparently holding the camera, records
show. A forensics report confirmed that bruising and drag marks on the
student's body were consistent with his allegations.
At Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance, HK and AA were charged with coercion
in sexual intercourse, physical assault and consuming alcohol.
AA denies the charges. HK failed to appear to enter a plea. The next hearing,
to which HK will be summoned, is scheduled for May 10.
Under Article 354 of the federal penal code, anyone convicted of coercion in
sexual intercourse is sentenced to death.
(source: The National)
SAUDI ARABIA----executions
Saudi brothers beheaded for murder
2 brothers sentenced to death for murdering a fellow Saudi were decapitated by
the sword in the city of Jeddah on Monday, the interior ministry Riyadh, Saudi
Rrabia said.
Mohammed and Selim al-Madhiribi al-Shamali were convicted of hitting Saad
al-Madhiribi on the head with a hammer and then stabbing him to death in a
business dispute, it said in a statement carried by the state news agency SPA.
Their beheadings took to 19 the total number of executions in the
ultra-conservative kingdom so far this year, according to a tally based on
official reports.
Under the AFP count, at least 76 people sentenced to death were beheaded in
2011, while rights group Amnesty International put the number of executions
last year at 79.
The death penalty is handed down in Saudi Arabia, which applies strict sharia
(Islamic) law, for a wide range of offences including rape, apostasy, armed
robbery, homosexuality and drug trafficking as well as murder.
(source: The Times of India)
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