Aug. 11
SAUDI ARABIA----execution
Saudi beheads man for killing wife with axe
Saudi authorities beheaded a national on Monday after he was convicted of
killing his wife with an axe in front of their daughter, the interior ministry
announced.
Mahdi Al Ghabari battered his wife Shaqraa Al Bahri several times on her neck
with an axe, killing her "in the presence of their little daughter who
witnessed" the crime, said the statement published by the official SPA news
agency.
He was executed due to the "hideousness" of the crime, said the statement.
The beheading in the southwestern city of Najran raised to 23 the number of
executions so far this year in the Kingdom, according to an AFP count based on
official reports.
In 2013, there were 78 executions.
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable
by death in Saudi Arabia.
(source: Agence France-Presse)
SYRIA:
Isil beheads, crucifies in push for Syria's east----Leader of tribe whose stand
was crushed calls for other tribes to help halt the militants
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) has crushed a pocket of
resistance to its control in eastern Syria, crucifying 2 people and executing
23 others in the past 5 days, a monitoring group said on Monday.
The insurgents, who are also making rapid advances in Iraq, are tightening
their grip in Syria, of which they now control roughly 1/3, mostly rural areas
in the north and east.
The group, an Al Qaida offshoot, has fought the Syrian army, Kurdish militias
and Sunni Muslim tribal forces.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring
organisation opposed to the Al Assad regime, and residents in Syria's east said
that fighters from the Al Sheitaat tribe in eastern Deir Al Zor had tried to
resist Isil's advance this month.
In Al Shaafa, a town on the banks of the Euphrates river, Isil beheaded 2 men
from the Al Sheitaat clan on Sunday, the Observatory said, and gave residents a
12-hour deadline on Monday to hand over members of the tribe.
In other parts of Deir Al Zor province, the militants crucified 2 men for the
crime of "dealing with apostates" in the city of Mayadin, and 2 others for
blasphemy in the nearby town of Al Bulel, the Observatory said.
Isil has made rapid gains in Syria since it seized northern Iraq's largest
city, Mosul, on June 10, and declared an "Islamic caliphate" on territory it
controls in Syria and Iraq.
The Observatory said a further 19 men from the Al Sheitaat tribe were executed
on Thursday, 18 shot dead and 1 beheaded, on the outskirts of Deir Al Zor city.
It said the men worked at an oil installation.
"No one will now dare from the other tribes to move against Isil after the
defeat of the Al Sheitaat," said Ahmad Ziyada Al Qaissi, an Isil sympathiser
contacted by Skype from Mayadin.
Tribal sources say the conflict between Isil and the Al Sheitaat tribe, who
number about 70,000, flared after Isil took over of 2 oil fields in July.
1 of those, Al Omar, is the biggest oil and gas field in Deir Al Zor and has
been a lucrative source of funds for rebel groups.
The head of the Al Sheitaat tribe, Shaikh Rafaa Aakla Al Raju, called in a
video message for other tribes to join the fight against Isil.
"We appeal to the other tribes to stand by us because it will be their turn
next ... If [Isil] are done with us, the other tribes will be targeted after Al
Sheitaat. They are the next target," he said in the video, posted on YouTube on
Sunday.
A Syrian human rights activist from Deir Al Zor who fled for Turkey last year
said rebels opposed to President Bashar Al Assad had retreated to Al Sheitaat
tribal areas from which they had been trying to mount resistance to Isil's
expansion.
He said, on condition of anonymity, that the resistance had been crushed in the
last few days. "The situation is very bad, but the people can't repel them," he
said.
He said that in tandem with their violent campaign, Isil was distributing gas,
electricity, fuel and food to garner local support.
"It is a poor area. They are winning support this way. They won a lot of
support this way. They are halting theft and punishing thieves. This is also
giving them credibility."
More than 170,000 people have been killed in Syria's civil war, which pits
overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim rebels against Al Assad, a member of the Alawite
minority, backed by Shiite militias from Iraq and Lebanon.
The insurgency is split between competing factions, with Isil emerging as the
most powerful.
In Raqqa, Isil's power base in Syria, its hold appears to be growing only
firmer even as Syrian government forces intensify air strikes on territory held
by the group.
One Syrian living in an area of Isil control near Raqqa said the number of its
fighters in the streets had grown dramatically in the last few weeks,
particularly since it captured the army's 17th Division at the end of July.
The group has carried out beheadings, levied a tax on non-Muslims, and settled
foreign fighters in confiscated homes, said the resident, who asked for
anonymity due to security concerns.
But despite that, as in Deir Al Zor, it has won a degree of respect among
locals by curbing crime using extreme means. For youths without work, salaries
offered by Isil are one of the few sources of income.
"The [Islamic] State [of Iraq and the Levant] has respect and standing and its
voice is heard," said the resident, speaking by Skype.
(source: Gulf News)
GAZA:
Hamas said to have executed dozens of tunnel diggers----Any excavator who was
suspected of collaborating with Israel was killed, Israeli website reports
Hamas executed dozens of diggers responsible for its extensive tunnel system in
past weeks, fearing the workers would reveal the site locations to Israel, a
report on the Mako website's army blog said.
There was no independent confirmation of the report.
The tunnelers, many of whom constructed the tunnels over the course of months,
would dig for 8-12 hours a day, and received a monthly wage of $150-$300,
according to the blog.
Sources in Gaza told the website that Hamas took a series of precautions to
prevent information from reaching Israel. The terror organization would
reportedly blindfold the excavators en route to the sites and back, to prevent
them from recognizing the locations. The tunnels were strictly supervised by
Hamas members, and civilians were kept far from the sites.
M., a former tunnel digger and Israeli collaborator, told the website that
Hamas would strip search the workers to ensure they had no recording devices or
cameras hidden on them.
"The people we met had their faces covered; no one knew them by their real
names, it was all codes and first names. They didn't want to take the risk that
some of the diggers were collaborating with Israel," he said.
After the tunnels were completed, dozens were reportedly executed to prevent
intelligence leaks to Israel.
"Anyone they suspected might transfer information to Israel on the tunnels was
killed by the military wing," a different source said. "They were very cruel."
In 2012, a Journal of Palestine Studies article claimed 160 Palestinian
children were killed while working on Hamas's tunnel system.
The digging of tunnels began 4 years ago and has demanded 40 % of Hamas's
budget, The Times of Israel has learned.
Tunnel diggers have been using electric or pneumatic jackhammers, advancing 4-5
meters a day. The tunnels found were reportedly mostly dug 18-25 meters (60-82
feet) underground, though 1 was discovered at a depth of 35 meters (115 feet).
"That's like a 10-story building underground," 1 expert said.
Digging requires engineering and geological expertise, with tunnels usually dug
through sandy soil, their roof supported by a more durable level of clay. As
they are dug, the tunnels are reinforced by concrete panels, manufactured
locally in workshops adjacent to each tunnel. These workshops have also been
targeted by the IDF throughout its military operation.
(source: Times of Israel)
EGYPT:
Irish teenager among prisoners set for mass trial in Egypt
A mass trial in Egypt tomorrow (12 August) could see death sentences handed
down to hundreds of prisoners, including an Irish teenager who was a juvenile
at the time of his arrest.
Ibrahim Halawa, an Irish citizen, was 17 when he was arrested last August along
with his three older sisters, now released, after being caught up in protests
in Cairo in the turmoil that followed the ousting of former President Mohammed
Morsi. He has since been held in a series of adult prisons in the capital
without charge or trial, in contravention of international law and the
country's own Child Laws.
The Egyptian authorities have refused to consider proof of Mr Halawa's age and
nationality, provided by his family, lawyers, and consular officials, and
instead insist he is an adult. Tomorrow's mass trial, to be held in a makeshift
court in the notorious Tora prison complex, will see him appearing alongside
over 480 adults.
In conversations with the legal charity Reprieve, which is assisting him, Mr
Halawa's family say he has reported torture during his detention; including
being stripped, beaten with chains and whips, forced to drink from the toilet,
and subject to racist taunts by guards for being Irish. He is reported to be
permanently disfigured after being shot in the hand and denied medical
treatment.
Maya Foa, head of Reprieve's death penalty team, said: "That the Egyptian
government has arrested and tortured children, in contravention of its own and
international law, is horrifying enough; that it is now seeking to hand down
summary death sentences for hundreds of prisoners at a time, including Ibrahim
and other juveniles, is an utter disgrace. Other governments should take all
steps necessary to prevent this travesty of justice and ensure no lives are
lost in the process."
(source: Ekklesia.co.uk)
PAKISTAN:
For Imran, and other aspiring hangmen
Hanging people is no easy task.
PTI chairman Imran Khan needs no introduction, but for some of you, Tara Maseeh
probably will.
Tara Maseeh was the man who hanged an elected former prime minister, Zulfiqar
Ali Bhutto, on the gallows back in 1979. At that time, student activists of
Jamaat-e-Islami used to go about Karachi University chanting the following
slogan:
Tara Maseeh aye ga, surkhon ko latkaye ga
[Tara Maseeh will come and hang these liberals/atheists]
The upcoming 'Azadi March' and Imran Khan's Bahawalpur speech preceding it has
put this hanging business in the news again.
At a rally in Bahawalpur, Khan famously threatened that if so much as a single
bullet was fired at his followers during the Azadi March in August, he will
hang the official behind the shooting with his own hands.
In the same speech, Khan put forward four questions to the PML-N government.
Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed not only answered the questions
but also offered to be hanged off Imran's hands in case the answers were wrong.
I'd say that if nothing else, Imran Khan's threat should have appeased the
sizeable pro-death penalty community of Pakistan, who believe that no good can
come out of a crime-fighting regiment if every crime isn't punishable by death.
The philosophy paints the last government as an abject failure, for in all 5
years of its tenure, it failed to put a single convicted head into the noose.
I think Bhutto's hanging could be a possible reason for that.
Bhutto's death has been openly called 'judicial murder' for a long time now.
Justice Naseem Hasan Shah - 1 of the judges on the panel which imposed the
death sentence on Bhutto - admitted in an interview that there was tremendous
political pressure behind the sentence.
More recently, in October 1999, when Pervez Musharraf ousted Nawaz Sharif and
filed a case against him for hijacking a plane, the general had hoped Sharif
and his loyalists would be awarded the death sentence.
But as luck would have it, a Sindhi judge, Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffri,
disappointed him with a life sentence instead. If Jaffri had been a fan of
'hangman' just as Musharraf and Imran Khan are, there's a good likelihood our
prime minister wouldn't be here today.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The horror of executing a person
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To give you an idea of what havoc the death penalty can wreak on people, here's
an example:
In October 1992, one Major Arshad Jameel claimed to have located and killed
nine Indian agents (in an encounter following a tip-off) in Tando Bahawal,
Hyderabad, Sindh. At that time, the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif happened
to be in Hyderabad as well. He admired the Major's feat on national television.
Later, it was discovered that the 'encounter' was fake. Jameel was tried and
handed the death sentence by a military court.
But up till 1996, the sentencing could not be carried out.
Eventually, the sisters of the 2 brothers who lost their lives in this
'encounter' set themselves on fire. Only then, in October 1996, was Arshad
Jameel finally hanged.
The law requires that a 'first class' magistrate be present during the
execution. In the above case, the magistrate nominated was Ghanor Khan Jatoi.
I happened to be familiar with Jatoi through a couple of friends of mine, who
knew him closely. According to them, Ghanor Khan Jatoi was a very sensitive
man. He tried hard to break free of the job assigned to him, but was eventually
forced to witness a man die in front of his eyes.
After the hanging, Jatoi started to grow restless with every passing day. He
couldn't sleep, couldn't eat. Things gradually grew worse and he began to have
fits. To escape the ghosts of the hanging, he got himself transferred to
Sangarh district, but to no improvement in his health. Eventually, Ghanor Khan
Jatoi ended this ordeal by committing suicide.
All this not for someone who administered the hanging, but only witnessed it.
Of course, I don't mean to scare Imran Khan away from hanging people, but only
wish to point out that having someone hanged requires a certain tenacity that
is genetic. M.G. Chitkara writes in his book Benazir: A profile:
"Tara Maseeh, the man who hanged Bhutto, was given Rs25 for the task. He came
from a family of executioners and considered the job an honour for him.
Maseeh's father was the person who hanged the liberalist freedom-fighter Bhagat
Singh."
The money aside, an honour is an honour. These days, there's a shortage of
people fit for the job in India too.
Mahadeb Malik, the executioner from Calcutta, says it's no easy task and
requires tremendous courage. Think in terms of how you're essentially killing a
person per a pre-planned scheme and without any personal reason or even
remorse, says Malik. There's zero room for botching it and sometimes, you even
have to deal with the wrath of the person being executed.
The BBC report A country in search of a hangman also says that executioners in
India are paid Rs10,000 for every execution. According to the 2013 report of
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, there are as many as 6,218 convicts inside
Pakistan's jails waiting to be hanged.
If Pakistan starts paying its executioners Rs10,000 for every hanging, I think
the total revenue for killing people could amount to over Rs 6 crore.
Perhaps the government could assign this task to Imran - at the very least, it
would serve to fill up the party coffers, if he is up to the task.
(source: Akhtar Balouch is a senior journalist, writer and researcher. He is
currently a council member of the HRCP. Sociology is his primary domain of
expertise, on which he has published several books----Dawn)
JAPAN:
Lawmaker group seeking end to death penalty to resume activities
A Diet members' group formed to end the death penalty plans to resume
operations as early as next month after suspending its activities following the
2012 election, sources said Monday.
The group headed by Shizuka Kamei, 77, an independent in the Lower House, wants
to establish a new prison sentence - life with no chance of parole - to make
taking capital punishment of the books easier, the sources said.
Alarmed by the execution of nine inmates since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took
power following the Lower House election in December 2012, Kamei, a former
police officer who once headed the now-defunct Kokumin Shinto (People's New
Party), and other group members have called on ruling and opposition lawmakers
in both Diet houses to join the parliamentary body, the sources said.
The group, established in 1994 had more than 100 members at one point, but its
membership has declined to around 30 and the group has not held a full meeting
since the 2012 general election.
Former senior members include Yoshito Sengoku, who served as chief Cabinet
secretary under Prime Minister Naoto Kan of the Democratic Party of Japan,
Hirotami Murakoshi, a former DPJ Lower House member who served as the group's
secretary-general, as well as Koichi Kato and Hidenao Nakagawa, former Lower
House members and secretary-generals of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The parliamentary group will aim to submit a bill to the Diet that initially
calls for the establishment of life sentences without parole, suspends the
execution of death-row inmates and only allows the death penalty to be handed
down when all 3 professional judges and 6 citizen judges agree.
Kamei said the establishment of a life sentence without parole would lead to a
decline in the number of people who support the death penalty and eventually
see capital punishment phased out.
The group also plans to launch a panel in both Diet chambers to examine the
death penalty.
The London-based human rights group Amnesty International said in a recent
report that the number of countries using capital punishment declined to 22 in
2013 from 37 in 1994.
(source: Japan Times)
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