Jan. 13
INDIA:
Death penalty will not end rapes: Puri Shankaracharya
Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swamy Shri Nischalananda Saraswati of Puri today said
death penalty will not end incidents of rape in the country and women should be
placed in a higher position in the society to stop such crimes against them.
"Any disrespect to women cannot be supported, nor should it be tolerated," he
told reporters here.
The Shankaracharya, who is here on the occasion of the Ganga Sagar mela, said
development of the country is not possible without empowering women and the
decadence of the society could only be arrested by involving everybody.
"From the government to the political parties, leaders and the common man
everybody should be involved," he said, adding that large scale changes should
be introduced in education, culture and social consciousness.
He blamed magazines, newspapers, entertainment channels and cinema for the
growing incidences of rape. "These are pushing the youth of today to the wrong
road.
(source: Economic Times)
*********************
Delhi Gang Rape: Yes Or No To The Death Penalty?
Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks,
climbed the scaffold on Nov. 21 last year. It was the 1st execution since 2004
in India, where more than 300 prisoners sit on death row as they await the day
of their death by hanging.
Now, in the wake of the gang rape and murder of a woman in Delhi last month
that sparked widespread protests, the debate is raging in India: Should rapists
be added to those 300? Should the world's largest democracy extend the
application of the death penalty to those criminals at a time when most other
nations that still use capital punishment are moving away from it?
Many Indians, as well as right-wing political parties, including the opposition
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are now calling for the death penalty for
rapists. In the wake of the killing of the young woman last November, who died
after being raped by a group of men on a bus, the government appointed a
3-person panel to look into the possibility of enhancing the penalties for rape
and introducing quicker trials for sexual crimes -- currently, the maximum
sentence for rape is life in prison, under the Indian Penal Code enacted in
1860 and largely unchanged since. However, many rapes are not prosecuted in
India.
The Justice Verma Committee, headed by former chief justice of India J.S.
Verma, includes Leila Seth, former chief justice of the state of Himachal
Pradesh, and Gopal Subramaniam, former solicitor general of India. The
committee, formed on Dec. 24, received more than 6,000 emails before it held
its 1st meeting on Dec. 26, and it continued to accept suggestions until Jan.
5.
The panel has to make recommendations to the government within 30 days of
concluding its work. It is unlikely, however, that its executive, led by the
center-left Congress Party, will recommend the death penalty for rapists.
"Life Imprisonment Is More Severe"
A draft proposal submitted by the Congress Party last week recommended life
imprisonment and the creation of dedicated fast-track courts with a deadline of
3 months for judging sexual assaults, despite support for hanging rapists from
the party's women's organization.
India's Law Minister, Ashwani Kumary, voiced on Thursday his support for life
in prison over the death penalty: "A lot of experts and jurists have told me
that life imprisonment is more severe than the death penalty for rapists," he
said.
Political factions echoing that view include the Communist Party of
India-Marxist, which has said that the maximum punishment in cases of
aggravated sexual assault and rape must be rigorous life imprisonment until
death.
Members of the Student Bar Association of the National Law School of India
University, who submitted their recommendations to the Verma committee, were of
the opinion that the death penalty was a "knee-jerk reaction" that would be
counterproductive. "Imposing the death penalty will ensure sympathy for the ...
accused and a fall in conviction rate. Even when condemned to the death row,
only a small percentage actually makes it to the executioner's block," the
association said in a report submitted to the committee.
The report added that chemical castration, another proposal being floated, was
"inappropriate as it misunderstands the nature of rape as a crime," and that
rape was "not just about [the] uncontrolled manifestation of sexual urges."
But there is no lack of support for hanging rapists.
Guillotine, Castration, And Branding
Among the mainstream parties, the BJP is particularly pro-hanging. Party chief
Nitin Gadkari sent a set of recommendations to the committee calling for death
for those convicted of gang rape, abduction and rape, and custodial rape. The
party also called for amending the Juvenile Justice Act of 2000 to lower the
age limit for being prosecuted as a criminal in rape cases to 16 years old from
the present 18. The definition of rape must be changed to include forms of
assault that do not include penetration, the party said.
Centre Right India, a news and opinion outlet, suggested that the death penalty
could be considered as a deterrent, "at least in cases of gang rapes, custodial
rapes, rapes by public servants, rape by medical professionals, rape of the
mentally or physically challenged, rape of Dalit women [members of the lowest
caste in Hinduism], and rapes during riots, with there being no recourse to a
clemency petition."
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said in December that she personally
favored capital punishment for rapists. Though she has declined to disclose her
government's formal recommendations to the committee, Indian media has reported
-- citing Delhi government sources -- that the administration was in favor of
the death penalty in gang-rape cases.
Even those positions aren't as brutal as the 11 suggestions from
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, a hardline Islamic organization headquartered in New
Delhi. The group wants public hangings of rape convicts, abolition of
co-education, a "sober and dignified" dress code for women in educational
institutions, and the criminalization of sex outside marriage, including
live-in relationships.
Such harsh views are not limited to the ultra-religious. The Punjab-based
Doctors Federation of India and the Apna Bharat Aap Sanwaro, an association of
doctors, professionals, intellectuals and social activists, suggested measures
including the amputation of sex organs and limbs.
They said the punishment for all gang rapes and brutal rapes should be the
"engraving of the word 'rapist' on the forehead of a confirmed rapist,
guillotine amputation of the penis and surgical castration, amputation of both
upper limbs at the above-elbow level and amputation of the right leg." Not
tough enough? They added that rape convicts should be left "on the road, to be
hated and abused by the people." And that should happen to men even younger
than 16 -- they feel the age for criminal prosecution of accused rapists should
be 14, "as a 14-year-old man is mature enough to conduct an act like rape."
The castration movement has adherents even among those who don't want to see
convicted rapists hang or lie on the street without limbs. In a petition,
SafeNation4Women, a Chennai-based women's forum, urged the committee to allow
first-time rapists to voluntarily undergo chemical castration periodically in
return for reduced sentences. For repeat offenders, chemical castration must be
made compulsory, the petition said.
The committee's final recommendations aren't likely to include any of those
suggestions, which a majority of public opinion would find barbaric in a
country that has followed the worldwide trend toward a more restrictive
application of state-sanctioned killing.
It's far more possible that, along with speedier punishment, the committee will
adopt some of the positions suggested by organizations such as World Vision
India, a Christian humanitarian group. In an open letter to the committee, it
suggested guidelines that include setting up a public sex offender database,
increased censoring of media that portray women negatively, banning movies that
involve rape and molestation of women, sex education in schools, and gender
sensitivity lessons for boys. Granted, those things alone may not solve the
problem of rape in India. But they could go a long way toward changing the
climate that has long made rape a serious risk that Indian women must live
with.
(source: International Business Times)
SAUDI ARABIA:
The maids on Saudi Arabia's death row: Scores of foreign women facing execution
for child abuse, witchcraft... and killing would-be rapists
Human rights groups warn of the 'deadly risks' facing migrant workers
Workers lured by wealthy families but face abuse and exploitation
Migrants get little legal protection, with no access to lawyers or embassies
'Justice system is characterised by arbitrary arrests and unfair trials'
Foreign workers are being warned of the 'deadly risks' they face in Saudi
Arabia, with more than 45 maids awaiting execution despite growing anger at the
country's mistreatment of migrants.
The death row prisoners include a domestic worker convicted of beating her
employer to death when he allegedly tried to rape her.
On Wednesday, authorities in the Middle Eastern country ignored international
pleas and beheaded maid Rizana Nafeek, 24, who was convicted of killing a baby
despite protesting her innocence.
Human rights groups believe Indonesians account for the majority of the maids
on death row and that there are Sri Lankans, Filipinos, Indians and Ethiopians
also facing execution.
Campaigners say many of Saudi Arabia's 1.5 million migrant workers, around
375,000 of whom are Sri Lankan, are attracted to the country by the prospect of
working for wealthy families but face exploitation and abuse.
This can range from months of hard work without pay to physical violence, in a
country where legal protections are particularly weak, and access to lawyers,
translators and embassies is often blocked.
Human Rights Watch's Nisha Varia told The Observer: 'The Saudi justice system
is characterised by arbitrary arrests, unfair trials and harsh punishments. A
domestic worker facing abuse or exploitation from her employer might run away
and then be accused of theft.
'Employers may accuse domestic workers, especially those from Indonesia, of
witchcraft. Victims of rape and sexual assault are at risk of being accused of
adultery and fornication.'
Human rights group say 69 people were executed in Saudi Arabia last year and 79
the year before, including 5 women, 1 of whom was beheaded for witchcraft and
sorcery.
Amnesty International Saudi Arabia researcher Dina el-Mamoun said there is
growing alarm at the number of migrant workers being sentenced to death, with
more than 120 foriegn nationals known to be on death row.
She said migrant workers in Saudi Arabia are at great risk if they end up in
the criminal justice system and added countries should be advising their
residents of the 'very real and deadly' risks.
Ms Mamoun said: 'In many cases they're subjected to whole trials where they
can't understand the proceedings, which are conducted solely in Arabic, and
without translation. They are often not given access to consular assistance.'
Death row prisoner Tuti Tursilawati binti Warjuki, 27, from Indonesia, faces
execution for murdering her employer in 2010 when he allegedly attempted to
rape her.
Her supporters say she was abused by the man since arriving in the country a
year earlier and was denied legal representation for the first two months of
her trial.
Siti Zainab, also from Indonesia, has also been sentenced to death after being
convicted in 1999 of stabbing her female employer to death.
She confessed to the murder but the authorities appear to have dismissed
concerns over her mental health.
Prisoner Satinah binti Jumadi Ahmad, 40, was arrested in 2007 for killing her
female employer. The Indonesian government is prepared to pay some of the 1.6m
pounds of blood money demanded by the woman's family to save her.
Reports of what happened vary from her fighting back after being attacked to
the maid having snapped after suffering months of abuse before being accused of
stealing.
The Sri Lankan government has spoken out against the execution of house maid
Rizana Nafeek, from, Sri Lanka, after she was beheaded in public by a sword
last week.
Miss Nafeek was sentenced to death in 2007 after her Saudi employer accused her
of strangling his 4-month-old baby 2 years earlier after a dispute with the
child's mother.
Her family and human rights groups repeatedly appealed to King Abdullah to
pardon Miss Nafeek, who protested her innocence and said the baby had choked to
death while being bottle fed.
Supporters said the age on the passport she used to enter the country in 2005
was changed so she could get work and that according to her birth certificate
she was just 17 when the baby died.
Miss Nafeek said her original confession was made under duress and there
translation services were not made available to her. Amnesty said she had no
access to lawyers either during her pre-trial interrogation or at her 2007
trial.
Philip Luther, the organisation's Middle East and North Africa programme
director, said before the execution: 'It appears that she was herself a child
at the time and there are real concerns about the fairness of her trial.'
(source: The Daily Mail)
*************************
Rizana Nafeek Beheaded: 50 Foreign Maids Condemned to Death by 'Cruel' Saudi
Justice
Around 50 foreign maids are being held on death row in Saudi Arabia, and there
is growing alarm at the kingdom's treatment of its foreign workforce.
The issue has captured international attention in the wake of growing revulsion
at the beheading of Sri Lankan domestic worker Rizana Nafeek.
Nafeek, whose age is disputed, was given the death penalty for killing a Saudi
baby in her care in 2005. She denied the charge.
Saudi prosecutors alleged she had smothered a 4-year-old boy after an argument
with his mother. Nafeek maintained the baby choked to death.
Though her passport gave her date of birth as February 1982, her birth
certificate said she was born six years later, making her only 17 at the time
of the child's death. This would mean her beheading violated international law,
which forbids the execution of those under 18 at the time of the alleged crime.
Nafeek was sentenced to death in 2007 by a village court that denied her legal
assistance and did not allow her to present her birth certificate in evidence.
However, a confession she had signed during interrogation was allowed to stand,
though Nafeek had retracted it, saying it had been obtained under duress.
'Callous disregard for basic humanity'
Appeals for clemency from Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa and
governments around the world were rejected by the Saudis.
Britain said it deplored the killing, which it termed "cruel and inhuman". UN
Secretary-Genral Ban Ki-moon also expressed his dismay, voicing concern at
"irregularities" in her detention and trial, and at the "increased use of
capital punishment in Saudi Arabia".
Alistair Burt, Foreign Office minister for the Middle East, said: "I condemn
the execution of Rizana Nafeek in Saudi Arabia yesterday, despite the many
appeals for her sentence to be commuted.
"The UK opposes all use of the death penalty as a matter of principle, whatever
the crime committed. The beheading of Ms Nafeek is particularly concerning as
reports suggest she may have been a child of 17 at the time the crime was
committed.
"We also find the practice of beheading to be particularly cruel and inhuman.
We continue to raise our concerns about human rights with the Saudi
authorities, including its frequent use of the death penalty."
Amnesty International had also made a clemency plea to Saudi Arabia's King
Abdullah. Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa programme director, Philip
Luther, later termed the decision "outrageous".
"It appears that she was herself a child at the time and there are real
concerns about the fairness of her trial," Luther added.
The execution has refocused the spotlight on to the increase in cases of abuse
of migrant workers, which is a disturbing phenomenon In Saudi Arabia and across
the Gulf, where women in often wealthy households are confined to the family
home for much of their lives, with complete authority over foreign staff, who
are seldom literate and paid little. Maids often have their passports
confiscated by their employers, and are treated as indentured labour.
Nisha Varia, the senior women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, said
Saudi Arabia was in flagrant breach of its legal obligations.
"In executing Rizana Nafeek, Saudi authorities demonstrated callous disregard
for basic humanity as well as Saudi Arabia's international legal obligations,"
she said.
The exact number of maids on death row could be higher, but Saudi authorities
do not publish official figures.
Indonesians are believed to account for the majority of those facing the death
penalty, with 45 Indonesian women being held on death row, according to human
rights groups.
Sri Lankan, Filipina, Indian and Ethiopian maids are also among those being
held on death row.
About 1.5 million foreign maids work in Saudi Arabia, including about 375,000
Sri Lankans, attracted by higher salaries in the oil-rich state. However,
workers have few, if any rights once they arrive, and can find themselves at
the mercy of their employers.
An estimated 52.6 million domestic workers around the world lack legal rights
and protections, according to a report by the International Labour
Organisation.
But in Saudi Arabia, legal protections are weaker and access to justice more
remote, said Varia.
"The Saudi justice system is characterised by arbitrary arrests, unfair trials
and harsh punishments," she said. "Migrants are at high risk of being victims
of spurious charges.
"A domestic worker facing abuse or exploitation from her employer might run
away and then be accused of theft. Employers may accuse domestic workers,
especially those from Indonesia, of witchcraft.
"Victims of rape and sexual assault are at risk of being accused of adultery
and fornication."
Migrants can be denied access to lawyers and translators, and consular access
is routinely blocked.
Others on death row in Saudi Arabia include Satinah binti Jumadi Ahmad, Tuti
Tursilawati binti Warjuki, Darmawati binti Taryani, Siti Aminah and Siti
Zaenab.
Ahmad, 40, an Indonesian employed as a maid in the kingdom, was sentenced to
death after she was an convicted of murdering her employer during an argument.
Blood Money
Anis Hidayah, executive director of Indonesian rights group Migrant Care, said
the victim's family has demanded ???1.6m in blood money to avert Ahmad's death,
a common practice in the Saudi justice system.
The Indonesian government has said it is prepared to make a payment, but has
reportedly offered a lower sum. Indonesia imposed a moratorium on sending
migrant workers to Saudi Arabia after an Indonesian maid was beheaded in 2011.
Tursilawati, 27, claims she killed her employer when he tried to rape her in
2010 after months of sexual abuse. Zaenab was also convicted of killing her
employer, while Aminah and Taryani were sentenced to death for the murder of
another migrant worker.
Saudi Arabia executed at least 69 people in 2012, says Human Rights Watch. The
previous year it executed at least 79, including 5 women, according to Amnesty.
1 woman was beheaded for witchcraft and sorcery. More than 120 people - mostly
foreign nationals - are on death row in Saudi Arabia, Amnesty said.
Amnesty has said it is alarmed at the "disproportionate" number of migrant
workers in Saudi Arabia being executed.
"As with Rizana Nafeek, nearly all migrant workers in Saudi Arabia are at great
risk if they end up in the criminal justice system," Amnesty's Saudi Arabia
researcher, Dina el-Mamoun, told the Observer.
"In many cases, they're subjected to whole trials where they can't understand
the proceedings, which are conducted solely in Arabic and without translation.
They are often not given access to lawyers or to consular assistance."
She said poor workers from the Indian subcontinent, south-east Asia and Africa
should be warned by their governments of the risks they ran in agreeing to work
in the country. "All countries should be advising their residents who might be
thinking of working in Saudi Arabia of the risks of mistreatment in detention,
of an unfair trial and even of execution," she said. "The risks are very real
and could be deadly."
Rizana Nafeek was taken out of her prison cell in Dawadmi town, 200 km from
Riyadh, on Wednesday 9 January. Dressed in white robes, blindfolded and
handcuffed, she was led out by prison officers and forced to her knees as an
Islamic prayer was recited. She was beheaded in a public place before hundreds
of onlookers, Saudi authorities confirmed.
(source: International Business Times)
IRAN:
Iranian drug statistics at all-time high
Iranian police statistics reveal that 652 new drug-related cases are created
every day and 30 people are arrested every hour on drug-related charges.
The Mehr news agency reported on Saturday January 12 on the unprecedented
prevalence of drugs in the country, citing the latest statistics released by
the police department.
The report adds that in the first 9 months of the current Iranian year (which
starts in March), 1,286 kg of drugs have been confiscated and 53 kg are being
discovered every hour.
The police report indicates 200,000 people have been arrested on drug-related
charges in the first nine months of the current year. In the same period, 1,700
drug gangs have been identified and dismantled.
80 % of the drug crimes were committed in the southern provinces of Hormozgan
and Sistan-Baluchistan, according to the report, which also indicates a 5 %
increase in drug activities.
Last July, former health minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi said that if one
includes the families of individuals suffering from drug addiction, between 5
million and 10 million Iranians are wrestling with the problem of drug
addiction.
The head of the Task Force to Fight Drugs issued official figures showing 1.8
million people are addicted to drug use and 3.9 % of them are women.
(source: Radio Zamaneh)
**********************
Beatings, death threats target American pastor; Held in Iran's Evin Prison
since arrest in September
Daily beatings, threats of death, and intimidation of his Iranian family.
That's the daily routine for an American pastor who has been in Iran's deadly
and dreaded Evin Prison since his warrantless arrest by the Revolutionary Guard
in September, according to officials with an organization that has been
monitoring his situation.
American pastor Saeed Abedini was thrown into Evin Prison shortly after his
return to Iran to continue his work with Iranian orphans, officials said.
The Revolutionary Guard found out about Abedini's arrival and met him at a bus
stop. And since his detention in Evin Prison, the jailers have conducted
interrogations, daily beatings, and threats of the death penalty.
American Center for Law and Justice President Jordan Sekulow says the situation
is critical.
"The situation facing American Pastor Saeed Abedini could not be more grave.
And, now we know that he is facing beatings and death threats because of his
Christian faith," Sekulow said.
A State Department spokesman finally spoke out about Pastor Abedini in the
daily press briefing. The unnamed official said the U. S. government has taken
notice of the pastor's condition.
"We have serious concerns about the fate of 2 U.S. citizens detained in Iran,
Amir Hekmati and Saeed Abedini. Let me start with Mr. Abedini. He was arrested
by Iranian officials more than 3 months ago on charges related to his religious
beliefs. We understand that a hearing will be held soon, and we call on Iranian
officials to respect Iran's own laws and provide Mr. Abedini access to an
attorney," the State Department official said.
Amir Hekmati is the former United States Marine who has been in Evin Prison for
espionage. Hekmati has been in prison since August 2011 and was sentenced to
death by Iran's Revolutionary Court in January 2012.
Abedini has been allowed to send letters to his relatives. Those letters
document the pastor's hostile and inhumane treatment.
"In a letter released to family members in Iran today, Pastor Saeed revealed
the traumatic and life-threatening situation he faces in Iran's horrendous Evin
Prison," Sekulow said.
"In his letter, he tells how he experiences 'intense pains after beatings in
interrogations' and how he has been told, 'I will hang for my faith in Jesus.'
He was even lied to that he would be able to see his family on Christmas,"
Sekulow said.
"This new and disturbing information comes just days after his case was turned
over to one of Iran's 'hanging judges' - underscoring the hostility that Iran
shows toward human rights and religious freedom. We continue to work for his
release," Sekulow said.
Sekulow says Abedini is thankful for the level of support and encouragement
he's received from Christians worldwide.
"In addition to expressing his utmost appreciation to all of those around the
world who have spoken out on his behalf, he gave just a glimpse of the real
dangers he faces in prison," Sekulow said.
Sekulow says the ACLJ has contacted the Obama administration to encourage
action on Abedini's behalf.
"We continue to urge the Obama administration's State Department to take action
to free this American. We urge the State Department to condemn his captivity,
while at the same time, putting pressure on Iran's allies to secure his
release," Sekulow said.
WND reported in December that the pastor was arrested in September and that the
Iranian government is refusing to provide information on any charges.
But the American Center for Law and Justice says that the prison is "especially
brutal" and that he's in jail because he formerly ran a network of house
churches while he still lived in Iran.
Fox News has reported he was going back to Iran to continue his work building
an orphanage.
The Iranian government doesn't recognize dual citizenship and has said they
have no obligation to honor any diplomatic inquiries from the U.S. government.
Sekulow said that the warrantless arrest is standard procedure for the Iranian
regime.
"Iran has commonly employed intimidation tactics to stop the spread of
Christianity and the growth of the underground house church," Sekulow said.
Sekulow adds that the pastor's status makes him a target:
"Pastor Saeed is a dual citizen of both Iran and the United States, but
unfortunately, Iran does not recognize Pastor Saeed's U.S. citizenship. The
government does know, however, that in the past, thousands of Iranians have
looked to Pastor Saeed as a leader of those who convert from Islam to
Christianity."
(source: WND)
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