Nov. 21
PAKISTAN:
Execution Ends Moratorium on Death Penalty; Hanging Erodes Government's Most
Tangible Human Rights Success
After a 4-year unofficial moratorium, Pakistan has reverted to the odious
practice of sending people to the gallows. Instead, the government should
declare an official moratorium, commute all existing death sentences, and then
abolish the death penalty for all crimes once and for all.
The Pakistani government should reinstate its moratorium on the death penalty
following its troubling return to the dwindling ranks of countries imposing
capital punishment. On November 15, 2012, military authorities hanged Muhammad
Hussain, an army soldier convicted of murder, at Mianwali jail in Punjab
province.
The hanging ended Pakistan's widely hailed unofficial moratorium on the death
penalty that had been in place since 2008, Human Rights Watch said. According
to official figures, Pakistan has more than 7,000 prisoners on death row, one
of the largest populations of prisoners facing execution in the world.
"After a 4-year unofficial moratorium, Pakistan has reverted to the odious
practice of sending people to the gallows," said Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan
director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead, the government should declare an
official moratorium, commute all existing death sentences, and then abolish the
death penalty for all crimes once and for all."
On February 12, 2009, a court martial in Okara Cantonment sentenced Hussain to
death for murdering his superior, Havaldar Khadim Hussain, in 2008. He
subsequently filed mercy petitions to the army's General Headquarters and the
chief of army staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, but they were rejected.
Hussain's final mercy petition to President Asif Ali Zardari was rejected on
December 30, 2011.
The Pakistani government is sending mixed messages about the death penalty,
Human Rights Watch said. On November 2, Zardari's spokesperson, Farhatullah
Babar, had told the media that the government has been "considering converting
death sentences into life imprisonment and is taking appropriate legislative
measures for the purpose."
The governing Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has repeatedly stated that it is
opposed to the death penalty. The PPP's founder and former prime minister,
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was hanged by military authorities on trumped-up charges
in 1979.
Human Rights Watch wrote to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in June 2008 and
met with him the following month urging action to abolish the death penalty and
to impose a moratorium pending abolition. Soon after military ruler Gen. Pervez
Musharraf was ousted from office in August 2008, the government imposed a de
facto moratorium on judicial executions.
Government officials speaking on condition of anonymity told Human Rights Watch
that Hussain's execution had been carried out under pressure from military
authorities as Husain had been convicted by a military rather than a civilian
court.
While under military rule, Pakistan each year executed among the highest number
of people of any country. For example, according to Amnesty International, in
2005 Pakistan sentenced more than 241 people to death and executed at least 31,
the 5th highest total in the world.
Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as an
inherently irreversible, inhumane punishment. A majority of countries in the
world have abolished the practice. On December 18, 2007, the United Nations
General Assembly passed a resolution by a wide margin calling for a worldwide
moratorium on executions.
"Hussain's execution derails one of the Pakistani government's most tangible
human rights successes," Hasan said. "It is essential the government
demonstrate that this execution was an aberration rather than a return to the
widespread application of the death penalty under military rule."
(source: Human Rights Watch)
**************
Death penalty should end
Thursday Pakistan reported its 1st execution in 4 years. Muhammad Hussain was
hanged in Mianwali jail thus ending the tacit moratorium the government has
observed since 2008 when Gen (retd) Musharraf's rule ended.
The convict was a soldier of the Pakistan Army who was accused of killing his
senior - a havaldar - with whom he was embroiled in a personal dispute. This
came as a shock to human rights activists who have been campaigning against
capital punishment. This execution took many aback because only a fortnight ago
the president's spokesman Farhatullah Babar had disclosed that the government
was working on a bill to abolish capital punishment before the elections. The
bill will convert the death penalty into life imprisonment.
In the last 4 years that Mr Asif Ali Zardari has been in office no prisoner had
been executed in any jail in Pakistan until last week. Not that no death
sentences were handed down - the death penalty continues to be recognised as a
form of punishment in Pakistan's judicial system. Nor were prisoners given
clemency apart from a few.
But a tortuous procedure was adopted. An execution date for a prisoner on death
row would be fixed, a clemency appeal made on his behalf and the president's
office would grant a stay order every 3 months, and thus prisoners - over 8,000
of them - escaped the noose.
It did mean that a prisoner had a sword perpetually hanging over his head.
Zulfiqar Ali, a death-row prisoner in Kot Lakhpat, maintains a record. He has
had 16 execution dates and 17 stay orders issued since 2008 when his review
petition was turned down.
In 2007, the UN General Assembly had recommended that governments that had not
abolished capital punishment should announce a moratorium on executions.
Seen against this backdrop, the hanging of Muhammad Hussain last week comes as
a regressive step. The Punjab chief of prisons explained that this conviction
was a military matter and the president did not intervene in such cases that
fell under the army's jurisdiction. But it was also stated that clemency had
been turned down by the president as well as the chief of army staff.
If the appeal went to the president, it means he had a say in the matter. Why
was the execution carried out in a civilian prison if it was a military issue?
Apparently this was intended to demonstrate to the world who actually exercises
power in Pakistan when the government and the military are at cross purposes.
It is time the government acted speedily on the issue of capital punishment
that has been hanging fire for long. Last year Barrister Zafarullah had
petitioned the Supreme Court to abolish the death sentence, given the
corruption that is rife in the judicial system. The chances of innocent people
being declared guilty and sentenced to death wrongly are very high.
The process of law requires that any person tried for a crime should have the
right to full legal defence. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Pakistan.
It has been clearly established again and again that police investigations are
often flawed, and lawyers appointed by the state do not always perform their
duties responsibly resulting in the miscarriage of justice.
Take Zulfiqar Ali's case. According to him he was not provided competent and
honest lawyers. The counsel appointed by the courts to argue his appeals didn't
meet him at all. As a result his request for a review was taken up by Justice
Iftikhar Chaudhry who converted it into a review petition suo motu in 2006. But
before any action could be taken the chief justice was out and Zulfiqar Ali's
petition was heard by the PCO judges.
The lawyer who was supposed to represent him never showed up at the review
hearing in 2008. Such is the state of our judiciary that the judges reportedly
caught hold of one of the lawyers present in court, who had no inkling of the
case, and enlisted him as the defence counsel to fulfil a formality. Would that
be considered a fair trial? And we do not know how many of those sentenced to
death in Pakistan have suffered a similar fate.
All this comes at a time when the momentum towards abolition of the death
penalty is growing. Protocol 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights stipulates that all parties will "take measures to abolish the
death penalty within their jurisdiction". 75 states are parties to the protocol
today.
The UN Assembly is also poised to adopt next month a resolution for the fourth
time calling on member states to establish a moratorium on executions with a
view to abolishing the death penalty.
The rationale as identified in the resolution is stated to be "that any
miscarriage or failure of justice in the implementation of the death penalty is
irreversible and irreparable" and that a moratorium "contributes to respect for
human dignity and to the enhancement and progressive development of human
rights", and "there is no conclusive evidence of the deterrent value of the
death penalty". A large number of states have formally or informally observed a
moratorium.
(source: Dawn)
LEBANON:
Report: Judge Requests Death Penalty for Roland Chbeir's Killer
Examining Magistrate Judge Ziad Makna demanded in his indictment the death
penalty against the killer of 22-year-old Roland Chbeir, who was murdered on
October 28 by his friend.
Al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday that Makna accused Charbel Shallita of
committing a premeditated crime.
Shallita had confessed earlier of committing the crime for financial reasons.
Chbeir went missing on October 24 after Shallita lured his friend to an empty
area in Jbeil on allegations that he wanted to sell him a piece of land, then
he shot him twice in the back.
The killer had even attended the victim's funeral in Fidar where he sat with
Chbeir's family members.
Internal Security Forces found the hunting rifle that Shallita used to carry
out his crime, which he borrowed from a friend, in addition to Chbeir's mobile
phone and blood-soaked clothes.
(source: Naharnet News)
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Gargash refutes EU charges
Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, briefed the
Federal National Council on Tuesday about the calibrated response to the
European Union (EU) Parliament resolution criticising the UAE's records in many
areas, especially human rights.
Quoting Federal Attorney-General Ali Salem Al Tinaiji, Dr Gargash said the
Public Prosecution is still interrogating the arrested members of an
organisation suspected to have foreign links, especially since their
confessions revealed that their schemes would have compromised state security.
He explained the procedures which have been taken in response to the EU
resolution. He was replying to a question raised in this regard by council
member Dr Abdul Rahim Al Shaheen.
Dr Gargash told the council that Al Tinaji had stated that the Public
Prosecution would announce the outcome of the investigation. The UAE was
committed to placing the findings before the judiciary to decide the merit of
the case without intervention from anybody, and the rulings of the court would,
undoubtedly, be as per the rules dispensing justice with transparency.
"We have all noticed the attempts made by some human rights and civil
organisations that are sceptical about the legislative and judicial
institutions of the UAE and these have been rejected altogether, and we should
be careful while responding to these malicious trends," he noted.
With regard to the EU resolution's reference to continuing trafficking of
persons for exploitation at work in the UAE, Dr Gargash said it quoted a report
released by the UN rapporteuer on human trafficking. However, this had not been
officially issued as a report, but was a mere press release following her (the
rapporteuer's) visit to the UAE in April 2012. At the same time, even this
release had admitted the UAE's efforts and its experience on combating human
trafficking.
On the criticism of death penalty still practised in the country, Dr Gargash
said, "The UAE is not the only country which carries out death penalty. The
provision has a slew of guarantees and precautions, foremost among which is
that it is only executed in cases of very serious crimes like premeditated
murder, and is not carried out unless the judicial bench that prosecutes the
alleged perpetrator issues such a decision unanimously."
Contrary to the allegation in the EU resolution, the UAE respects all human
rights and the basic freedoms according to the Constitution, notably Chapter 3,
which grants the right of freedom of expression. Therefore, he said the
allegations in the report are groundless, as more than 1,400 media corporations
work in the UAE and media free zones have been set up in several emirates.
The UN Human Development Report last year (2011) outlines the advancement made
by the UAE in women empowerment, ranking the country at 38 of the 187 member
countries, he said. The gender equality index presented at the World Economic
Forum in 2011 also showed the UAE at the top among Arab countries.
"These were not based on mere theoretical assumptions but based on the
provisions stated in the UAE legislation, which ensure the protection, equality
and empowerment of women, which had been achieved on the ground, specifically
during the period from 2008 to 2012."
On the allegation of torture of detainees, Dr Gargash said a delegation from
the UAE Human Rights Association had visited the detainees to ensure they were
not being tortured or physically and verbally abused. "The association held a
press conference and announced the outcome of its visit, saying that the
delegation had confirmed that the detainees were well treated, and were staying
in a good condition and air-conditioned cells, and provided with all health
care round the clock."
The association, he said, had categorically denied all allegations of physical
and psychological harm or ill treatment of prisoners.
Dr Gargash reaffirmed that the alleged practices are not part of the values
held by the country and these allegations are "only attempts to undermine our
practices and institutions which work as per the rules and laws enforced and
applicable in the UAE."
The UAE is still examining the feasibility of joining the international civil,
political rights, socio-economic and cultural conventions and their optional
protocols. The UAE, he said, is keen that its national laws are in conformity
with the conventions before joining them.
He said the UAE Ambassador to Brussels has been assigned to keep in touch with
the European parliamentarians to open a dialogue on the problem of human
rights. He himself had met with a number of EU ambassadors in the UAE and
explained to them the country';s response to the EU resolution which he termed
is prejudiced, ignoring the efforts made in boosting and protecting human
rights in the UAE.
He said the steps taken by the ministry have improved chances of diluting the
draft of the resolution as a number of EU MPs have stated their opposion to the
resolution in support of the UAE and willingness of vote against it.
(source: Khaleej Times)
NIGERIA:
CACOL Against Death Penalty For Corrupt Persons
The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, has said that it is opposed to
capital punishment for corruption offenders as proposed by some section of the
country.
CACOL Chairman, Debo Adeniran argued that death penalty is barbaric and a
denial of the offender's right to life.
"Such penalty presupposes that neither the accusers nor the trial judge could
make mistakes. And if it turns out that a mistake was made while the culprit
had been executed it can never be reversed. The country would have lost its
property and a fraction of its workforce," Adeniran said.
He advocated life jail for corruption convicts and forfeiture of properties to
the state.
"As much as we're worried about the recalcitrance of corruption culprits in
Nigeria, death penalty cannot solve the problem. It would reduce the frequency
no doubt, but corruption criminals may become more brazen in their game. They
will steal so large so they'll feel comfortable dying for their progeny to
remember them to have made eternal wealth for them," Adeniran said.
(source: PM News Nigeria)
AFGHANISATAN:
Karzai Should Halt Executions; Allies and Donors Should Press for a Moratorium
on Capital Punishment
The Afghan government should end its sudden surge of executions and institute a
moratorium on further executions, Human Rights Watch said today. On November
20, 2012, the Afghan government executed 8 people, ending a 4-year virtual
moratorium on the use of the death penalty, during which only 2 people were
reportedly executed.
The weakness of the Afghan legal system and the routine failure of courts to
meet international fair trial standards make Afghanistan???s use of the death
penalty especially troubling, Human Rights Watch said. Countries and donors
supporting the Afghan government should make clear their opposition to the
renewed use the death penalty.
"The Afghan government's near total moratorium on the death penalty in recent
years was a major departure from Taliban rule," said Brad Adams, Asia director
at Human Rights Watch. "The 8 hangings in a single day are a terrible step
backwards for Afghanistan. President Hamid Karzai should stop future executions
and commit to a formal moratorium."
The Afghan government, which distributed photos of the executed men to
journalists, said the men were hanged as punishment for "crimes and cruelty
against children, women and people of Afghanistan." Those crimes included
murder, rape, sexual assault, kidnapping, and robbery.
Under Afghan law, the president must sign a death warrant in order for an
execution to go forward after a court hands down a death sentence.
Afghan law allows for the death penalty and death sentences are handed down by
courts with some frequency. However, executions have been infrequent since the
fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. A single execution was carried out in 2004,
followed by a 3-year unofficial moratorium that ended in 2007 with the
execution by firing squad of 15 people at Pul-i-Charkhi prison in Kabul. At
that time, the government announced that it intended to continue executing
those on death row, and further executions were held in 2008, sparking
condemnation from the United Nations and the European Union. Since then, the
government has not carried out the death penalty, with the exception of the
execution in June 2011 of 2 men convicted of participating in a February 2011
attack on a bank in Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan that resulted in 38
deaths.
Afghanistan's justice system remains weak, compromised, and fails to meet with
international fair trial standards in spite of more than 10 years of donor
assistance. It relies heavily on confessions, including some obtained through
torture. Use of physical evidence is rudimentary. The independence and
impartiality of judges is often undermined, especially in high-profile cases.
Effective defense representation is often absent. Studies by the UN and others
have shown prosecutors and judges to be among the most corrupt officials in
Afghanistan. The Afghan justice system is also opaque, with information about
court dates not easily available. Prisoners on death row include women
convicted of murder for killing their abusive husbands, in a society in which
women have little chance for escape from domestic violence.
Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as an
inherently irreversible, inhumane punishment. A majority of countries in the
world have abolished the practice. On December 18, 2007, the United Nations
General Assembly passed a resolution by a wide margin calling for a worldwide
moratorium on executions.
"The death penalty is an act of cruelty that should never be used," Adams said.
"Its use in Afghanistan, where a fair trial is typically out of the question,
is even more horrific."
(source: Human Rights Watch)
*********************
Stop executions, HRW tells Karzai
A US-bed international human rights organisation on Wednesday asked the Afghan
government to end its sudden surge of executions and institute a moratorium on
capital punishment.
On Tuesday, the Attorney General Office (AGO) said 8 people had been hanged
inside a high-security jail in Kabul in compliance with President Hamid
Karzai's decree. Over the past 4 years, only 2 people were reportedly executed.
Deputy Attorney General Rahmatullah Nazari said the individuals, convicted of
armed robberies and sexual abuse were hanged in the Russian-built Pul-i-Charkhi
Prison on the eastern outskirts of the capital.
Reacting to the executions, Human Rights Watch said the weakness of the Afghan
legal system and the routine failure of courts to meet international fair trial
standards made the use of the death penalty especially troubling in the
country.
HRW's Asia Director Brad Adams said: "The Afghan government's near total
moratorium on the death penalty in recent years was a major departure from
Taliban rule."
He called the 8 hangings in a single day a "terrible step backwards" for
Afghanistan and President Karzai to stop future executions and commit to a
formal moratorium.
A single execution was carried out in 2004, followed by a 3-year unofficial
moratorium that ended in 2007 when a firing squad shot dead 15 people at the
Pul-i-Charkhi prison.
Further executions took place in 2008, sparking condemnation from the United
Nations and the European Union. Since then, the government has not carried out
the death penalty, with the exception of the execution in June 2011 of 2 men
convicted of participating in a February 2011 attack on a bank in Jalalabad.
Afghanistan's justice system heavily relied on confessions, including some
obtained through torture, the group said, adding the independence and
impartiality of judges was often undermined, especially in high-profile cases.
Meanwhile, the European Union also expressed its serious concern regarding
reports that the Afghan authorities had begun to carry out executions of a
number of convicted criminals.
The EU Delegation said it condemned rape and other similar atrocious crimes,
and understood the utter revulsion that was felt by all toward those who
committed such offences.
A statement from the EU, and the embassies of Norway and Switzerland said they
were opposed to the use of capital punishment in all cases and under any
circumstances. "The death penalty is cruel and inhumane."
(source: Pakistan Today)
*************************
EU, rights groups condemn Afghan executions
The European Union and international rights groups condemned Afghanistan's
execution of eight prisoners and urged Kabul to drop plans to hang more soon.
President Hamid Karzai has approved the execution of 16 people after their
death sentences were confirmed by 3 courts, presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi
told AFP.
8 death row prisoners, convicted of murder, kidnapping and rape, were hanged on
Tuesday and 8 more are expected to be put to death within days.
"The Afghan government should end its sudden surge of executions and institute
a moratorium on further executions," Human Rights Watch said.
"The weakness of the Afghan legal system and the routine failure of courts to
meet international fair trial standards make Afghanistan's use of the death
penalty especially troubling," it said.
Executions have been infrequent since the 2001 fall of the Taliban regime,
which put people to death for adultery and other infringements of Islamic law.
One man, Abdullah Shah, was executed in 2004 for murder, 15 were killed by
firing squad in October 2007 and 7 in 2008. Last year, 2 Taliban militants were
executed for an attack on a bank which left 38 people dead.
Amnesty International said some 200 prisoners are reportedly on death row in
Afghanistan.
"The death penalty should never be used to achieve political gain or
popularity," said Polly Truscott, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific deputy
director.
"We urge President Karzai to halt these executions immediately. The sheer
number of people who could be killed by the state is a particularly shocking
use of what is the ultimate cruel and inhuman form of punishment."
The EU mission in Afghanistan called on the government to commute all death
sentences and to reintroduce a moratorium on executions as a first step towards
abolishing capital punishment.
"The European Union is opposed to the use of capital punishment in all cases
and under any circumstances. The death penalty is cruel and inhumane," the EU
delegation said in a statement.
A military court on Monday rejected an appeal by an Afghan soldier sentenced to
death for killing 5 French troops in an insider attack in January -- the 1st
such conviction for a so-called 'green-on-blue' attack.
The French foreign ministry at the time said it "took note" of the sentence,
adding its thoughts were with the soldiers who were killed and their families.
(source: Agence France-Presse)
INDIA:
India hangs lone surviving terrorist from 2008 Mumbai attacks
India on Wednesday hanged the lone surviving gunman from the deadly terrorist
attack in Mumbai 4 years ago that left 166 people dead, including 6 Americans.
Ajmal Amir Kasab, a Pakistani citizen, was one of 10 heavily armed terrorists
who sailed into India's financial hub of Mumbai and launched a series of
attacks on 2 5-star hotels, the city's main train station, a restaurant and a
Jewish prayer center.
In a country where few things remain secret, Ajmal Kasab's swift hanging was a
welcome surprise for many.
India's home minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, told reporters in New Delhi that
Kasab was hanged at 7:30 a.m. at a jail in Pune city, outside Mumbai. The
hanging comes just 5 days ahead of the 4th anniversary of the attack.
"It was decided on the 7th of November, it was important to keep it a secret,"
Shinde said. He added that Pakistan so far has not asked for Kasab's body. "We
have informed Pakistan," he said. "If they demand it, we will hand over the
body."
Prithviraj Chavan, the chief minister of the state of Maharashtra, of which
Mumbai is the capital, said Kasab has been buried in Pune.
For many Indians, Kasab's trial became a symbol of India's resolve to tackle
terrorism emanating from Pakistan. "There is a rule of law that is followed in
India, whether he is an Indian citizen or not," Chavan said. "This shows that
whatever time and money it takes, justice will be done."
Kasab was asked if he had any last wish or wanted to write his will. He said in
writing that he did not feel the need to do so, Chavan said.
The Supreme Court confirmed the death penalty for Kasab in August, and Indian
President Pranab Mukherjee rejected his appeal for mercy on Nov. 5. Capital
punishment is legal in India, but the Supreme Court has ruled that it should be
implemented only in the "rarest of rare cases." Kasab's hanging was the 2nd
since 1995, but the government jumped the line of 16 others whose mercy
petitions were pending with Mukherjee.
By Indian standards where courts take several decades to come to a conclusive
ruling, Kasab's trial and hanging have been remarkably quick. In one of the
most keenly watched trials in India in recent times, the government set up a
special fast-track court that met daily inside a high-security jail.
Kasab was kept in a bomb-proof, egg-shaped cell in a Mumbai jail for 4 years,
and every detail of his life - from his daily diet to the newspaper he read and
how much money was being spent on keeping him alive - made headlines in the
Indian media.
"I wondered many times if I will be able to see Kasab hanged in my own
lifetime. I am very happy with the justice given by the Indian government,"
Geeta Salaskar, the wife of a police officer killed in the attack, told the
Indian news channel ABP News. "But still this is not complete justice because
the masterminds in Pakistan are yet to be punished."
On Tuesday, India voted against a United Nations draft resolution that called
for abolishing the death penalty, arguing that it was a sovereign right of a
nation to frame its laws.
"The hanging of Ajmal Kasab marks a concerning end to the country's moratorium
on capital punishment," said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human
Rights Watch. "Instead of resorting to the use of execution to address heinous
crime, India should join the rising ranks of nations that have taken the
decision to remove the death penalty from their legal frameworks."
(source: Washington Post)
*********************
India's legal protocol to hang death row convicts
External affairs minister Salman Khurshid on Wednesday said India had completed
all legal protocols before Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab was
executed.
The protocol India follows before a death row convict is hanged if he/she has
filed a mercy petition:
-Trial Court: Finds the accused guilty, crime as the rarest of the rare cases
and awards death penalty.
-High Court: Admits appeal against trial court verdict, but upholds findings of
the trial court and the sentence.
-Supreme Court: Admits appeal against the high court judgment, but confirms
findings of the rarest of the rare cases and sentence.
-State Governor: Accepts mercy petition and forwards it to the union home
ministry through the state home ministry.
-Union Home Ministry: Considers the mercy petition and puts it up before the
president with recommendation to reject.
-President: Considers the home ministry recommendations and rejects the plea.
Sends file back to the union home ministry.
-Union Home Ministry: Sends the file to the state home ministry.
-State Home Ministry: Executes the convict at convenient time and place.
(source: Daily News & Analysis)
********************
Kasab execution represents Indian death penalty backslide
The execution of Ajmal Kasab for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks
undoes much of the progress India has made over the death penalty, Amnesty
International said.
Kasab, a Pakistani national, was hanged this morning at Yerawada prison in Pune
city. He was convicted in 2010 by a special court for his involvement in the
Mumbai attacks during which more than 150 people were killed and in excess of
250 were injured.
The more than 80 charges he was found guilty of,included committing acts of
terrorism and criminal conspiracy to commit murder.
"Today's executions means India has taken a significant step backwards and
joined that minority of countries that are still executing," said VK
Shashikumar, Programmes Head at Amnesty International India.
Ajmal Kasab's death sentence was upheld by India's Supreme Court on 29 August
2012, and his mercy petition was reportedly rejected by the President on 5
November.
Prior to Kasab's filing of his petition, 11 mercy petitions from persons on
death row were pending before the President.
Ajmal Kasab's lawyer and family in Pakistan were not informed of the imminent
execution, in violation of international standards on the use of the death
penalty.
"We recognize the gravity of the crimes for which Ajmal Kasab was convicted,
and sympathise with the victims of these acts and their families, but the death
penalty is the ultimate cruel and inhuman form of punishment," said
Shashikumar.
"We are also deeply disconcerted both by the unusual speed with which his mercy
petition was rejected, as well as the secrecy that surrounded his execution."
The resumption of executions in India comes just two days after the UN General
Assembly's human rights committee adopted a draft resolution calling for a
global moratorium on the death penalty, with a view to completely abolishing
it.
The UN GA's vote confirms the global trend moving firmly towards an abolition
of the death penalty.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty as it violates the right to
life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The
Organization opposes capital punishment in all cases without exception,
regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or
other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to
carry out the execution. The Indian authorities should immediately establish an
immediate moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty,
in line with UN General Assembly resolutions adopted since 2007.
(source: Amnesty International)
******************
26/11 victims welcome execution
Relatives of victims and survivors of the Mumbai 26/11 strike today felt that
justice has been done with the hanging of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab,
saying it will serve as a lesson to terrorists that India is determined to act
firmly against them.
Kasab was hanged to death at 7.30 a.m. at Yerawada jail in Pune after President
Pranab Mukherjee rejected his mercy plea earlier this month.
Dr K Unnikrishnan, father of NSG commando K Unnikrishnan, who was killed in the
Taj Hotel strike, said, "The way in which the execution has been done, it is a
model way. Before anybody could react to the rejection of the mercy petition
(of Kasab), everything is over. That is the thing which I cherish."
Dr Unnikrishnan, a retired Isro official, said, "Definitely there was a long
way to go for the sense of closure...Kasab's execution is only one chapter. The
perpetrators are still moving around in Pakistan and the anti-India thinking in
Pakistan is too much now, it should come down."
Mrs Smita Salaskar, wife of slain encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar who fell
victim to the bullets of terrorists during the carnage, said, "Though the
execution was delayed, Kasab was finally hanged. With this hanging, homage has
been paid to my husband."
Mr Eknath Omble, brother of assistant police sub-inspector Tukaram Omble who
died while capturing the terrorist, said, "I am proud and very happy that my
brother's efforts have paid off."
"We are very happy and satisfied. Ajmal Kasab should have been hanged in
public, but I know our law does not permit this," he said.
Mrs Ragini Sharma, whose railway ticket collector husband S K Sharma was killed
in the strike, said, "The first thing that comes to my mind is what happened is
good. We are happy that we have got justice."
Mr Vishnu Zende, an announcer at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the railway
station here which was one of the targets of the attack, said, "I had never
thought that I would get to hear this news like this."
"I am very happy that he has been hanged. All the people who died in the terror
attack have been given tribute by hanging him," Mr Zende, who had helped save
many lives by making announcements over the public address system in the
station about the strike, said.
Vinita, wife of police officer Ashok Kamte, who died fighting the terrorists,
expressed satisfaction over the hanging of Kasab, saying though belated, the
government had done justice to the families of the martyrs.
"Though it took a long time, justice has been done to us. The authorities
maintained extreme secrecy to carry out the execution and we are satisfied,"
she said.
13-year-old Devika Rotwan, who was shot in the right leg in the terror attack,
said, "I am very much happy that Kasab has been hanged. But I would have been
happier if this would have been done in public. It is a good news that a
terrorist has been hanged... Wish this should have been done on the anniversary
of the attack this year."
Devika, who studies in Class IX now, had gone to the CST with her family
members and was waiting for a train, when 2 terrorists opened fire.
Bhisham Mansukhani, who escaped the attack at the Taj Hotel, told PTI, "I am
taken aback! It is surprising! I feel the death penalty is more of a political
thing. I think by executing the death penalty the government is trying to earn
brownie points and use this as a tool to brandish this during elections."
Mansukhani was on the roof-top of the Taj Mahal hotel in Colaba in south Mumbai
on the dreadful night of 26 November.
Kuresh Zorabi, whose bakery opposite Chabad House (Nariman House) in south
Mumbai, was splattered with bullet holes in the 26/11 attack, said, "It is
surprising and shocking, but at the same time I am little disappointed that all
this was kept secret. This is difficult to digest for a second. I am thrilled
that Kasab has been hanged. This will serve as a lesson to terrorists that
India can take strict action against them."
For terror attack victim Sarika Uphadyay, "It is definitely a time for
celebration...it is like Diwali! We have been waiting for this since the past
four years and finally it has happened. Feeling sad that this was kept as a
secret."
Sarika was at the Leopold Caf for a dinner with her friend Anamika Gupta, where
Kasab and his other accomplice opened fire. "I am finding it hard to digest
that he has been hanged to death. He and his accomplices had brought the city
of Mumbai to a halt, killed so many innocent people...I think he should have
been hanged in Mumbai and not in Pune," she said.
(source: The Statesman)
************************
Kasab's hanging, India voted against abolition of death penalty at UN
A record 110 countries backed a resolution voted every 2 years at a UN General
Assembly committee calling for the abolition of the death penalty.
The vote tears apart traditional alliances at the United Nations. The United
States, Japan, China, Iran, India, North Korea, Syria and Zimbabwe were among
39 countries to oppose the non-binding resolution in the assembly's rights
committee.
36 countries abstained.
Nobody in cabinet knew about Kasab's execution, Shinde tells NDTV Israel voted
against its strong US-ally to join European Union nations, Australia, Brazil
and South Africa among major countries backing the motion.
Norway, which played a leading role campaigning for the resolution, said on its
Twitter account that the increased support was a "great result".
At the last vote in 2010, 107 countries backed the resolution.
France's new Socialist government has launched a campaign with other
abolitionist states to get the full General Assembly to pass a resolution in
December calling for a death penalty moratorium. Though such a resolution would
be non-binding, diplomats say it would increase moral pressure.
A world congress against the death penalty is to be held in Madrid in June.
According to the United Nations, about 150 countries have either abolished
capital punishment or have instituted a moratorium.
Amnesty International says that China executed "thousands" of prisoners in 2011
though exact figures are hard to determine. It says that other countries put to
death at least 680 people with Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia major users of
capital punishment.
Amnesty says that progress is slowly being made however.
(source: NDTV News)
**********************
Human Rights Watch urges India to end death penalty
Hours after Pakistani Ajmal Kasab was hanged in Pune, Human Rights Watch urged
India to remove the death penalty from its legal framework.
"The hanging of Kasab marks a concerning end to the country's moratorium on
capital punishment," said a statement from the US-based rights group issued in
India.
"Instead of resorting to the use of execution to address heinous crime, India
should join the rising ranks of nations that have taken the decision to remove
the death penalty from their legal frameworks," it added.
Nearly four years after the Mumbai terror attack, Ajmal Kasab, the sole
surviving Pakistani gunman, was hanged to death at the Yerawada central prison
in Pune this morning in an operation shrouded in secrecy.
25-year old Kasab was hanged at 7.30 am, Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil
said in Mumbai shortly after the hanging.
Pakistan government was kept informed about the execution.
The execution in the Mumbai attack trial brought closure to many in the
audacious strike by 10 terrorists of Pakistan-based terror outfit
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in which 166 people were killed. Nine LeT men were killed
during the 60-hour siege which began on the night of November 26, 2008.
The prison authorities remained tight-lipped about the details of hanging
performed in a well-guarded secret operation amid reports that Kasab did not
have any death wish.
Kasab was executed after he exhausted all legal remedies available to escape
the noose with President Pranab Mukherjee rejecting his mercy plea following
the advice of the Union home ministry.
(source: Hindustan Times)
ASIA:
As UN Votes to Abolish Death Penalty, a Wave of Executions in South Asia
In India, Ajmal Kasab, the lone remaining gunman convicted in the 2008 Mumbai
attacks was hanged on Wednesday morning, officials said, the 1st time India has
applied the death penalty in 8 years.
Pakistan ended a 4-year moratorium on the death penalty on Nov. 15, with the
hanging of Muhammad Hussain, a soldier convicted of murder in Punjab province.
Afghanistan, meanwhile, witnessed what Human Rights Watch called a "sudden
surge in executions," with the killing of 8 people convicted of crimes
including murder and sexual assault on Nov. 20, after a 4-year period in which
just 2 people were executed.
The wave of executions coincides with the United Nations General Assembly's
call for a moratorium on the death penalty. The General Assembly voted on Nov.
19 to approve a draft resolution asking members to abolish the death penalty.
The vote passed with 110 nations approving, 39 against and 35 abstaining from
voting, the United Nations said.
India and Pakistan were among the nations that voted against the resolution,
along with Japan, Syria, Egypt and Sudan.
Human rights advocates warned against reading a larger message into the timing
of these executions. "It's a horrible, weird coincidence," said Meenakshi
Ganguly, the South Asia director of Human Rights Watch, who is based in Delhi.
None of these countries was trying to send a global message of any sort, she
said.
Mr. Kasab's execution came 5 days ahead of the anniversary of the 2008 Mumbai
attacks. India had had an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty for almost
a decade, Ms. Ganguly said. "We hope this is the exception, rather than the
rule," she said.
(source: New York Times)
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