July 11
CANADA:
Canada to extradite Edmonton terror suspect, lawyer says
The federal government plans to extradite a Canadian citizen to the United
States to face terrorism charges, says his lawyer.
Sayfildin Tahir Sharif is accused of conspiracy to kill Americans and of
supporting a terror group that took part in a 2009 suicide bombing in his
native Iraq.
5 U.S. soldiers were killed when a truck filled with explosives was detonated
at a military checkpoint.
Bob Aloneissi, Sharif's lawyer, says he has received a letter from Justice
Minister Rob Nicholson that indicates the federal government intends to hand
over Sharif to stand trial in the United States.
He also faces a new charge there of aiding and abetting the murder of U.S.
nationals abroad.
"Mr. Nicholson has decided to surrender my client to the United States, which
is very disappointing," Aloneissi said Wednesday.
"But he has made that decision conditional on the United States not seeking the
death penalty in relation to this new charge."
The federal Extradition Act says the minister can refuse to make a surrender
order if the person to be extradited could face the death penalty under the
laws of the extradition partner.
Sharif, who also goes by Faruq Khalil Muhammad Isa as well as another name, has
been in custody in Edmonton since his arrest Jan.19, 2011.
Carole Saindon, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said Nicholson made the
surrender order decision on "Isa" June 25.
"He has 30 days to file a judicial review of this decision," she said in an
email from Ottawa.
Aloneissi said he will be consulting with his client and suggested he would
file a challenge of the federal justice minister's order.
"We will be looking at appealing Mr. Nicholson's decision to the Alberta Court
of Appeal," he said.
A separate appeal has already been filed over last October's Alberta Court of
Queen's Bench ruling that found there was enough evidence for an extradition.
The lawyer expects both appeals would be heard together.
During hearings last year on the U.S. extradition request, the Crown argued
that intercepted telephone and Internet conversations showed Sharif helped
jihadists contact members of a terror network as they made their way from
Tunisia to Iraq to make the attack on the soldiers.
Alberta Queen's Bench Justice Adam Germain ruled that the recorded phone calls
and emails went far beyond "religious enthusiasm" on Sharif's part.
Germain said all of the evidence leads to an inescapable conclusion that the
legal extradition test is established on the original two charges, which carry
a possible life sentence in the U.S.
Aloneissi has argued that there is no clear evidence that proves Sharif helped
support a terrorist group or that he agreed to help kill anyone. He said the
Crown's case was based on police interpretations of vague statements by Sharif
that have been translated to English from Arabic.
Sharif, an ethnic Kurd, was born in Iraq but moved to Toronto as a refugee in
1993. He became a Canadian citizen in 1997. When Sharif was arrested, he was
living in an Edmonton apartment with his girlfriend and her children.
Sharif has said the terrorist allegations against him came from people who were
tortured by American investigators.
He acknowledged that his real name is Isa, but said he changed it to escape a
Turkish refugee camp when he was a young man.
Sharif said he feared that using his real name again would have made it
difficult for him to immigrate to Canada
(source: CBC News)
LEBANON:
From Singer to Rebel: Fadel Shaker may receive the death penalty
How does one go from being a famous romantic singer into a jihadist rebel? Ask
ex-singer Fadel Shaker!
The Lebanese Military court is allegedly accusing retired Lebanese singer Fadel
Shaker of murdering soldiers in Lebanon. Also on the accused-list is Sheikh
Ahmad Al Assir and his sons.
Shaker turned into a jihadist supporter of the Salafist sheikh Ahmad al-Assir a
few years ago, causing astonishment among fans and fellow celebs alike.
The court said the accused had formed an armed gang with the intention of
harming people and stealing money, and to undermine the state's authorities
using terrorist acts.
Shaker and Co. were further accused of attacking elements of the Lebanese Army,
killing soldiers and injuring others.
The list went on; the group were said to have also vandalized military
property, in turn causing damage to buildings and cars, and possessing military
weapons, detonators and explosives.
If all charges were proven true then the death penalty would apply to Fadel and
his jihadist group.
Recently, the ex-singer appeared in a video bragging about killing 2 people and
injuring others in the battle of Abra, South of Sidon in Lebanon.
(source: Albawaba)
KENYA:
5 to face death penalty over robbery with violence
5 people have been sentenced to death by a Narok court after they were
convicted of involvement in a series of robbery with violence.
Mohammed Dima, James Ngechu, John Ngechu, Joseph Mwangi and Joseph Muchonga had
been charged with nine counts of violent carjacking along the Narok-Mai Mahiu
between 2011 and last year.
The 5 were arrested by the area Criminal Investigation Department (CID)
officers who had laid an ambush on them at Suswa area along the highway.
According to the prosecution that was led by Chief Inspector Ali Kingi, the
convicted criminals jointly committed the offences while armed with guns and
other dangerous weapons.
The prosecution told the court that apart from being armed, the accused who
masqueraded as traffic police officers committed the crimes while in authentic
police uniforms, adding whenever their victims were stopped, they always
obliged in the belief that they were police officers.
Kingi told the court that in the series of incidents in which a vehicle
belonging to the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) was also stolen, the
accused who were unrepresented robbed their victims of money, motor parts and
personal belongings.
During the 1st incident that happened on October 7, 2011 at Ilmashariani area
along the Narok-Mai Mahiu road while armed with rifles and other dangerous
weapons, they robbed David Kimani of a motor vehicle, KZT 303, a generator, gas
cylinders, motor vehicle tyres, food stuffs, assorted motor vehicle spare
parts, a mobile phone and Sh2,250 all valued at Sh1,611,250.
Sentencing them on Wednesday, the Narok Senior Resident Magistrate Temba Sitati
said the 5 who had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges were all
positively identified by their victims and those who witnessed them committing
the offences, adding that all pieces of evidence that were presented to court
linked them with the crime.
"The evidence presented to this court by both victims and other witnesses were
corroborating. This leaves the court with no doubt that they committed the
offence. To deter such sad incidents in the future, I sentence them to hang,"
Sitati told a hushed court and gave them 14 days to appeal.
(source: Standard Media)
TANZANIA:
Judges advised to discourage jury from death penalty rulings
Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) While Tanzania has opted to keep the death
penalty in its new constitution the World Congress Against the Death Penalty
has called upon Judges in countries whose books still retain the capital
punishment to use their discretionary power to individualise sentences and
discourage juries not to condemn to death.
The call is part of the final declaration of the 5th World Congress Against the
Death Penalty held in Madrid recently, a document endorsed by its members from
various organisations including the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) of
Tanzania.
The final communique reminds retentionist countries that more often than not,
the death penalty affects juveniles and mentally disabled and that it is
discriminatory on the basis of ethnic, religious, social origin, skin colour,
sexual orientation and gender identity.
It goes on to say that those sentenced to death are often subjected, by reason
of their status, to deteriorated conditions that violate human dignity. Also,
the anti death penalty activists argue that with flaws in the judicial system
there are chances that innocent persons may be convicted to pay for a crime
they did not commit.
Their argument is based on the fact that there have been a lot of testimonies
of people who were convicted to die only to be found innocent.
Critics argue that the capital punishment is not only barbaric and inhuman but
is also irreversible as once a life is taken there is no way it can be
retrieved and that it is condoning the very act that the society abhors.
Current statistics by the World Congress Against the Death Penalty indicates
that at least 93 countries in the world still retain the death penalty in their
books while 58 countries still implement the death penalty, every year.
This declaration comes as anti death penalty activists in the country struggle
to campaign against the imposition of the death penalty also, a petition
against the penalty still lags at the High Court for almost 6 years now.
Also, on October 10, 2008, the LHRC in collaboration with the SAHRINGON
Tanzania Chapter and the Tanganyika Law Society filed another petition at the
High Court calling upon the government to scrap the death penalty from its
country books and alternate for life imprisonment.
The Law Reform Commission of Tanzania is said to have collected public views as
to whether Tanzanians are for or against the death penalty but the findings
were apparently never made public.
Tanzania is among the countries that still retain the death penalty in its
legislature although the last time someone was hanged was in 1994. The capital
punishment is imposed in capital offenses such as murder, treason, and some
military related offenses.
The Congress does however report that the abolitionist movement is expanding in
a world where 70 % of the states no longer implement the death penalty, by law
or de facto and in E.Africa Rwanda has scraped the death penalty from its law
books.
(source: The Guardian)
PAKISTAN:
Reinstatement of executions
Regrettably, the new government has decided to end the moratorium the previous
government had placed on executions via a presidential order that expired on
June 30. An interior ministry spokesman said there will be no general amnesty
for convicts awaiting execution, and that all cases of execution will be
examined on case to case basis. The decision is to affect an estimated 8,000
prisoners currently on the death row. As expected, rights groups have denounced
the decision. Calling for an immediate suspension of capital punishment Amnesty
International said "any government green light to resume executions in Pakistan
would be a shocking and retrograde step, putting thousands of people's lives at
risk."
Notably, as many as 150 countries have either banned capital punishment or
maintain moratorium on it for eventual abolition. The penalty is widely seen as
violative of human dignity. The state, of course, is not expected to seek
revenge but to protect society from incorrigible criminals. That can be done
through isolating such individuals by putting them in prisons. It is worthwhile
to pay attention to the fact that statistical evidence from countries still
sending people to the gallows for various crimes shows it does not act as
significant deterrent. There are even more compelling reasons for the
government not to reinstate executions. Most important of all, the punishment
is irreversible while the chances of wrongful conviction quite high. There have
been instances of miscarriage of justice even in the US. In Pakistan, ordinary
people's right to fair trial and due process gets little respect. As the Human
Rights Commission of Pakistan has been repeatedly pointing out, the probability
of miscarriage of justice is much greater here because of "critical
deficiencies in the law, administration of justice, police investigation,
chronic corruption and cultural prejudices affecting women and religious
minorities."
Needless to say, those who suffer the most on account of these systemic
deficiencies invariably are members of the poor and powerless sections of
society. The recent example of Shahrukh murder case amply demonstrates how the
system helps the rich and the powerful get away with crime. The main suspect
had almost made good his escape to a foreign country aided and abetted by
government agencies. Had it not been for the suo motu notice taken by the apex
court, all the accused would have gone scot-free. The issue also puts Pakistan
in a difficult situation while dealing with the EU countries where some of its
most-wanted insurgents and terrorists have taken refuge. Since the European
laws prohibit handing any person to a country using torture or death penalty,
extradition treaties are out of the question. The government needs to
reconsider its decision, and maintain moratorium until the country is ready to
join a vast majority of nations that have banned capital punishment.
(source: Business Recorder)
IRAQ:
Rights Groups Condemn Increasing Executions in Iraq
From the time Saddam Hussein's regime was established and until it was toppled,
everyone who opposed or disagreed with its views was doomed to die. Executions
were carried out en masse: Amnesty International put the number of executions
between 1980 and 1983 at 800. At the time, neither the international community
nor international human rights organizations served as a deterrent; Iraq
secluded itself for around 12 years prior to the ouster of Saddam.
What was happening inside the country remained unknown. Saddam bribed and
deceived the organizations who visited Iraq to give a more agreeable image of
the country, and to a large extent, he succeeded in doing so. Right after the
American invasion, the American occupation authority annulled capital
punishments, similar to the model of developed countries that respect human
rights.
The law preventing the use of the death penalty was still in force until
mid-2004. On Aug. 8 of the same year, however, the interim Iraqi government,
controlled by the occupation authority, reintroduced capital punishment.
Alluding to the Saddam Hussein regime, the pretext under which capital
punishment was reinstated was already set - trying those responsible for mass
graves. During the past 10 years, successive governments kept implementing
death penalties increasingly year after year, turning a deaf ear to
international warnings. Iraq was classified as one of the Middle East's
cruelest countries [in terms of] implementing capital punishment. In fact, the
number of executions reached record highs this year.
In the year capital punishment was reinstated, not a single execution was
carried out. In 2005, however, 3 individuals were executed. In 2006, and
according to Amnesty International, 65 executions were carried out, which led
the organization to voice its concern about the growing use of the capital
punishment law.
The year 2006 witnessed the bloodiest incidents: militias were deployed and
started to heinously kill people based on their religious sect. Killing was
carried out at random and individuals were cut to pieces using electric saws,
their mutilated bodies thrown onto the sidewalks.
During that time, al-Qaeda gained ground to the detriment of American troops
and the Iraqi army, and Amnesty International's concerns proved correct. The
sectarian conflict extended to the state institutions. Sunnis were banned from
entering the buildings of Shiite ministers and vice versa. The then-minister of
interior atrociously executed Sunni detainees using electric saws in the
basements of the Ministry of Interior.
According to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, capital punishment,
which is currently carried out in 69 countries, was often carried out in Iraq
through convictions based on forced confessions. The 2 organizations recorded
many cases that fell under this category.
What's more, those who were subjected to forced confessions had soon reneged
when appearing before the courts. Yet the courts did not take the change of
testimony into consideration, even though forced confession renders the change
legitimate. As a result, many were sentenced to life [in prison] or to death.
All arrests were conducted pursuant to Article 4 of Law No. 13 of 2005 on
terrorism. This controversial law was criticized by local legislators and
international organizations, notably the Security Council's Counter-Terrorism
Committee guided by Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001). From 2006 until
2011, the committee sent reports calling on Iraq to review the terrorism law of
2005 and set up a counterterrorism mechanism to clear up the vagueness. It also
called on suggesting accurate provisions and exact definitions of terrorism in
order to prevent the trials from devolving into political trials.
A preliminary assessment of this law will show that there are loose provisions,
notably in Article 4, which open the door wide for interpretations and threaten
public freedoms since the article allows for the trial of anyone who violates
the law. The Iraqi government, however, did not show real interest in the
criticism leveled against the law or the reports issued by international
organization, which were sent consecutively over the course of 7 years.
Article 4 defines criminals as "Anyone who committed, as a main perpetrator or
a participant, any of the terrorist acts," or "a person who incites, plans,
finances, or assists terrorists to commit crimes." The said article sentences
to death the convicted individuals.
Article 4 is somehow related to the law on rewarding informers, since the
arrests conducted in the areas of tension are based on the reports of
intelligence officers. A number of lawyers, including Saddam Hussein's lawyer,
Badih Aref, affirmed that informants reported people who had absolutely nothing
to do with terrorism. In a country where intelligence agencies are absent,
informants must fill the gap within a brittle security system. The law on
awarding informants, No. 33 of 2008, reads, "The investigation in the crimes
under the provisions of this law shall be clandestine. The competent party
conducting the investigation shall keep the name of the informer under the seal
of secrecy."
When protests flared up in many Iraqi provinces, the Iraqi government made
haste to annul this law. Protesters claimed their relatives were being thrown
in jail pursuant to this law, which has put the law at the top list of the
protester's demands.
Mass executions in a human slaughterhouse
The pretext for maintaining capital punishment has always been the
"proliferation of terrorist operations." Even though many executions were
carried out by the successive Iraqi governments, terrorism remained at a high
boil. Random arrests and torture in prisons did not deter the perpetrators. In
fact, terrorist attacks claimed the lives of around 1,000 Iraqis last month.
Last April, Justice Minister Hassan al-Shammari said during a news conference
that "the Iraqi government has to carry out executions given the current
situation in the country." Shammari criticized "the international reports that
put Iraq at 3rd in terms of capital punishment," reiterating that "the Iraqi
government will continue to implement capital punishment even if Iraq ranked
first with distinction." The Iraqi government insists on maintaining capital
punishment; yet, it did not yet refer to a rehabilitation program that helps
those engaged in terrorist acts to reintegrate into society, which led the
government to resort to violence in response to the violence of militias and
terrorist organizations.
Queuing for death
In 2012, 129 people were executed [in Iraq]. This year, the justice minister
announced that they are waiting for a presidential decree to execute 1,500
prisoners. Additionally, 1,400 were sentenced to death and are waiting for the
decision to be imposed. The numbers of executed prisoners are piling up and
international organizations are counting. The UN High Commission for Human
Rights likened the collective executions in Iraq to "processing animals in
slaughterhouse." In a statement, the ambassadors of the EU voiced their concern
over "the Iraqi government proceeding with the executions."
While international concerns and objections of human rights organizations are
intensifying in regard to the increase of executions, armed militias, more
brutal than ever, keep on claiming the lives of Iraqis on a daily basis. Does
execution cure terrorism?
(source: Al-Monitor)
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