Jan. 16
SAUDI ARABIA----execution
Smuggler beheaded in Saudi Arabia; 4th execution so far this year
Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani man in the eastern Khubar province on
Wednesday after he was convicted of drug trafficking, the interior ministry
announced.
Arshad Mohammad was arrested for smuggling heroin and hashish into the kingdom,
the ministry was quoted as saying by the official SPA news agency.
His execution brings to 4 the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia so far
this year.
Last year, the kingdom beheaded 76 people, according to an AFP tally based on
official figures. The US-based Human Rights Watch put the number at 69.
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable
by death under Saudi Arabia???s strict version of sharia.
(source: Gulf News)
*******************
Death penalty and human trafficking hold back Saudi development; A local source
talks to AsiaNews about the kingdom's contradictions, fast economic development
combined with great backwardness in terms of human rights. Migrant workers
represent an urgent problem. In a population of 24 million people, 5 million
are foreigners, victims of organised trafficking.
"Saudi Arabia has to drop the death penalty" because "to be a worthy country it
is not enough to have a growing economy. It also has to have a holistic
approach to development," a source in Saudi Arabia told AsiaNews. Anonymous for
security reasons, the source spoke about the kingdom, its contradictions, which
are often ignored by the international community, including its violations of
human and women's rights.
In a country of 24 million, 10 million migrant workers are especially
vulnerable to human trafficking. The lack of rules and controls means that some
5 million of them are complete strangers. "We do not know their names, their
qualifications, or which employment agencies recruited them." Usually, "they
are minors, without the legal age to migrate and work," the source explained.
"It is a serious issue; one that transcends individual cases" that make to the
headlines. Look at Rizana Nafeek's case. The young Muslim maid was executed for
allegedly killing an infant. Her fate stands out and shows the need for Saudi
Arabia to "try other, more appropriate paths" to judge people who offend.
Despite the fact that the country has tried to show itself to the world under a
better light, that of economic success and growth, the need for other paths has
caused "a reaction among ordinary Saudis in the past ten years" because of the
death penalty, the crackdown on bloggers and activists and human rights
violations.
"People feel there is something wrong," the source said. "Although the kingdom
is booming economically, something is missing, namely adequate laws and a
reformed justice system. Is progress in these domains keeping up with economic
progress? The answer is no."
"The religious and fundamentalist sectors are at fault. Everything is
controlled by them. There is little left for laws on humanitarian emergencies
and related issues."
Making matters worse is the attitude of foreign countries. Instead of touching
"hot issues" like the death penalty, they prefer to improve trading relations
with the kingdom.
"Once and a while, someone our country is criticised for its abuses. But the
time of inducements is long gone. Problems must be raised and confronted
directly as soon as possible. Saudi Arabia is not looking towards the future.
If nothing is done soon, things will get worse in the next 5 or 6 years."
(source: Asia News)
SOUTH KOREA:
S. Korea top court rejects death penalty in brutal murder
Korea's top court on Wednesday rejected arguments for reinstating the death
sentence imposed on a Chinese national convicted of a gruesome murder that
shocked the country.
Wu Yuanchun, an ethnic Korean, was originally sentenced to death for the rape,
murder and dismemberment of a 28-year-old woman in the southern city of Suwon
in April, 2012.
Wu, a migrant worker, spent 6 hours cutting the body into 365 pieces and
individually wrapping each one in plastic.
In June, a district court sentenced Wu to death, having accepted the
prosecution's argument that the murder was premeditated and that Wu had
intended to sell the body parts.
But the sentence was reduced to life imprisonment in October by an appeals
court that rejected the argument Wu had planned to kill her in order to sell
the body parts, prompting prosecutors to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Although the death penalty is still imposed in South Korea, nobody has been
executed since 1997.
Wu's case triggered a backlash against police when it was revealed that the
victim had called a police emergency number from her home as the attack was
taking place.
The phone line remained open for 8 minutes, and the victim could be heard
screaming in pain and begging for her life.
Police admitted mistakes and the national police chief resigned as a result.
(source: Agence France-Presse)
LEBANON:
Death penalty in Lebanon: Pushing the debate back into parliament... and
Lebanese minds
The pot of blood, spilled by the government once again started to boil as
Beirut paid a visit from Robert Badinter, a well-known French activist for the
abolition of the death penalty last week.
Although the death penalty is enforced in many states around the world, a
long-term trend towards abolition is in sight. Lebanon, being one of the 58
states using death penalty, rises up to the discussion of human rights contra
the states' right to take a man's life.
The recent beheading of a young Sri Lankan woman in Saudi Arabia has been
reported on all over the world. In Lebanon, on January 3, 5 men were ordered to
be executed by a military judge as they are accused of assassinating the former
Hezbollah official Ghalib Awali. Death penalty is making the headlines on
international, regional and local news almost every day. Politicians, NGOs and
international press are shining a light onto the morality of how punishment is
best to fit the crime.
Last week, the former French Justice Minister, Robert Badinter, who worked on
eliminating the death penalty in France and succeeded in the year of 1981, paid
a visit to Beirut. On this occasion, a session was held for the Human Rights
parliamentary committee, at the attorney's house.
The lecture was well attended by politicians both for and against death
penalty, as well as by nongovernmental organizations. George Ghali, the project
officer at Alef, said that it was a great honor to have a person who has
actually worked on abolition of death penalty, to come and speak in Beirut. "I
hope this will push the debate on death penalty back into the parliament,"
Ghali said.
One of the attendees, Justice Minister Shakib Qertbawi, held a speech saying
that death sentence does not conform to the state of law. Qertbawi also said
that he considers it to be unnecessary and pointed out that statistics have
shown that the application of the death penalty does not necessarily reduce the
crime rate. "The right to life is at the forefront of human rights," Qertbawi
said.
According to Marie Daunay at the Lebanese Center for Human Rights, the problem
is not to convince the politicians but rather the people.
"Countries that abolished death penalty did not see further crime in their
statistics. This is because a person, who commits a crime, will not think of
the punishment. The public are not aware of this," Daunay said.
The last execution that took place in Lebanon was in 2004. But since then, the
public has called for the state to put criminals on death row on several
occasions.
"It is difficult for people to reason with crime. When Myriam al Achkar was
raped and murdered in 2011, the whole community mobilized asking for death
penalty. People wanted justice and vengeance," Ghali said.
Politicians, however, take a whole other stand on why death penalty should
still remain in Lebanon. Several ministers support a death penalty sentence for
criminals that spy and collaborate with Israel. According to Ghali, the main
arguments for the death penalty are to reduce crime and not thinking that
Lebanese prisons aren't escape proof.
(source: iloubnan.info)
IRAN----executions
4 Prisoners Executed In Iran Today: A Juvenile Offender Among Those Executed
According To Unofficial Source
4 prisoners were hanged in 2 different Iranian prisons reported the official
Iranian media today.
2 of the prisoners were hanged in the Rajai Shahr prison of Karaj (west of
Tehran). According to the state run Iranian news agency Mehr, one of the
prisoners was a "young boy" who was convicted of murdering and old woman in
2008. The other prisoner was a "young man" convicted of murdering a man in
2007, said the report. Age and names of none of the prisoners were mentioned in
the report.
According to the website of the "human rights and democracy activists in Iran"
(HRDAI) the boy who was convicted of murdering the old woman was Kianoosh
Naderi born in 1991. He was a minor at the time of committing the alleged
offence said the group. Iran Human Rights (IHR) is investigating this case
further.
2 prisoners executed in north-eastern Iran: 1 of them hanged in public
According to the state run Iranian news agency Aftab, 2 prisoners were hanged
in north-eastern province of Khorasan early this morning January 16. According
to the report 1 of the prisoners was hanged publicly in the town of Sabzevar
while the other prisoner was hanged in the prison of Mashhad. Both the
prisoners were convicted of rape and age and name of none of them were
mentioned in the report.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
***************
see:
http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/human-rights/12693-photos-a-prisoner-hanged-in-public-in-iran
(source: NCR=-Iran)
******************
Pastor Saeed Abedini Set for 'Sham' Trial in Iran, Fears Death for Faith in
Jesus
Pastor Saeed Abedini, an American citizen born in Iran, is facing a quick trial
in Tehran on Jan. 21 and has expressed fears that he might be given the death
penalty for his Christian work.
The American Center for Law and Justice shared an update with The Christian
Post about the pastor's case, and revealed that his attorney in Iran has been
allowed to see the court file only very recently - to discover that the
pastor's trial date is set for Monday, Jan. 21, less than1e week from now.
"It is an outrage that Pastor Saeed's trial date and charge against him would
be withheld from his legal counsel until less than a week before the trial
itself. Not only is Iran violating Pastor Saeed's fundamental freedom of
religion, but it is making a mockery of justice," Jordan Sekulow, Executive
Director of the American Center for Law and Justice, said in a statement. The
ACLJ is representing the pastor's family, his wife and 2 children, who are in
the U.S.
Pastor Abedini's case was also recently transferred over to a notorious
"hanging judge" in Iran, named in 2011 by the European Union as an individual
subject to sanctions for human rights violations for sentencing a number of
human right activists to death.
In a letter to his wife, Naghmeh, the 32-year-old pastor recently expressed his
fears that he might indeed be facing the death penalty, and revealed some of
the interrogation techniques that have been used against him in Evin Prison in
Tehran.
"This is the process in my life today: one day I am told I will be freed and
allowed to see my kids on Christmas (which was a lie) and the next day I am
told I will hang for my faith in Jesus," Pastor Abedini wrote. "One day there
are intense pains after beatings in interrogations, the next day they are nice
to you and offer you candy."
Pastor Abedini, who converted from Islam to Christianity at the age of 20 and
later married Naghmeh, a U.S. citizen, has long been targeted by Iranian
authorities for helping underground churches in Iran and for his charity work.
He was first detained by Iranian officials in 2009, and released with a warning
not to continue preaching. But in July 2011, he was once again arrested during
one of his trips from America to Iran.
His lawyer has deciphered, however, that the only real charge authorities have
managed to make against him is for "endangering" the national security of Iran
in 2000, the year when he converted to Christianity. The ACLJ described it as
"a typical charge brought by the radical Islamic regime against those it wishes
to persecute for their religious beliefs. His court file indicated that this
national security charge was directly related to his work starting a house
church movement in Iran."
The law group claims that Iranian authorities have even confiscated more than
$105,000 from an Iranian bank account given to Abedini in donations for a local
orphanage project.
The U.S. State Department recently revealed its "serious concerns" for the
pastor's imprisonment, but stopped short of calling for his immediate release.
The ACLJ has urged the State Department to take a stronger stand on the issue
and offer better protection for Americans persecuted in other countries for
their Christian faith.
More than 66,000 people have already signed a petition urging for Pastor
Abedini's release from prison, and the ACLJ is hopeful that intense
international pressure will eventually lead to his freedom, such as in Iranian
Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani's case.
(source: Christian Post)
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