Jan. 18
ZIMBABWE:
Zimbabwe Faces Hangman Crisis:
At least 117 prisoners are on death row in Zimbabwe and no executions have been
carried out for the past 12 years due to the unavailability of a hangman, the
Constitutional Court heard recently.
Zimbabweans are shunning the job.
Appearing for 14 death row prisoners who are challenging the constitutionality
of the death penalty despite spending lengthy periods in custody, Harare lawyer
Mr Tendai Biti said the number of condemned prisoners awaiting death stood at
117.
He said the automatic appeals in respect of some of the inmates had not been
exercised owing to delays in the transcription of court records and the
disappearance of some.
He said preparation of records was done on time only for those who paid the
requisite fees.
Mr Biti claimed timeframes were not being respected for condemned prisoners who
did not pay.
"The system has abandoned them. If you do not pay the fee for the preparation
of the record, the timeframes will not be respected," said Mr Biti.
Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, who was part of the 9-member bench hearing the
constitutional matter, questioned why the prisoners were not being executed.
Mrs Olivia Zvedi, a law officer in the Attorney- General's Office, said
Government was still looking for a hangman. "There is no hangman at the moment.
The one who was there previously left.
"We can only get one when an appropriate advertisement for the job is done and
interviews are conducted," she said.
Asked why they were not getting a new hangman, Mrs Zvedi said the job was not
an easy one and people were shunning it.
"It is not a job that one can easily apply for. The State is also in a
predicament on how to proceed in the absence of a hangman," she said.
(source: The Herald)
IRAN----executions
5 Prisoners Including Possible Juvenile Offender Hanged in Iran
Iranian authorities have executed 4 prisoners in northern Iran and 1 prisoner
in southern Iran who may have been under the age of 18 when he allegedly
committed the murder that Iranian courts sentenced him to death for.
Gilan Judiciary's press department reports on the exeuction of 4 prisoners at
Lakan, Rasht's central prison, on the morning of Saturday January 16. According
to the report, 3 of the prisoners were sentenced to death on drug charges.
Their names have been identified as: S.Gh., 50 years old; M.F., 35 years old;
and A.A., 24 years old. The report identifies the other prisoner as: H.R., 27
years old, sentenced to death for rape.
According to the human rights group, HRANA, on Wednesday January 13, a
prisoner, identified as Houshang Zare, was hanged at Shiraz's Adelabad Prison
on murder charges. A close source who asked to be anonymous tells IHR that Zare
was under the age of 18 when he allegedly committed the murder that Iranian
courts sentenced him to death for.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
NIGERIA/SAUDI ARABIA:
Soyinka leads march against death sentence on Saudi poet
Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has led many practitioners in the creative
industry in a protest march to save Palestinian writer and artist, Ashraf
Fayadh (35), from being hanged by the Saudi authorities.
Fayadh is facing a death sentence for posting online a video showing women
being flogged by Saudi Arabia authority ostensibly for some religious
infractions. He also renounced his Islamic faith.
In Lagos, the 'Free Ashraf Fayadh Now' campaign had the Nobel laureate leading
the charge for the freedom of the Palestinian artist residing in Saudi Arabia
who faces certain death if the world sat back and merely watched.
Soyinka said the need to hold global reading for Fayadh was necessary because
"this poet is one of us." He condemned any form of religious practice that
sentences people to death for their opinion. Soyinka wondered: "Why should we
not be partisan on this? Religion is a personal affirmation. We should not
subscribe to any article of faith that says ours is superior to the other. We
do not deserve to be sentenced to death, harassed or imprisoned for practising
a different faith".
To Soyinka, perhaps the world holds too much respect for the dogmatism of
others which has continued to fuel the impunity perpetuated in the name of
religion all over the world. He said religion should simply be a matter of
followership or otherwise with no one being compelled one way or the other.
Soyinka who said humanism was his religion, added that it was time to uphold
humanism as the global ideal. He blamed its promoters for being too tepid and
not insisting on certain tenets of humanism that should be upheld. "Too bad we
have not structured what we call humanism which is perhaps the problem we are
having, which makes a minority to impose their will on the rest of us. We ought
to confront the absence of humanism. We allowed the sacred texts to overwhelm
our lives. Why should a bunch of mortals sit down and pass death on others.
What kind of arrogance is that?"
The literary giant and human rights activist also condemned what he described
as the slavery and second class status of women who are confined to wearing
hijab in the name of religion and called for its abrogation. He said ECOWAS
Heads of government argument about the hijab is a wrong, advising that instead,
the argument should be for humanism that would not enslave women the way the
hijab does.
What we should ask is: what is human dignity? Why is that a minority imposes
its own on the rest of the world? Women should be left alone to wear what they
want and not be imposed upon. It's slavery; it's subjecting women to
humiliation. We need to know what the Prophet said about it or is it an
imposition? Islam has to talk to Islam to prevent interlopers like myself from
talking about it. But we don't want the explanation to be at the expense of
human life and dignity.
"We are not doing Ashraf Fayadh a favour by this protest. We are doing
ourselves a favour. We are saying religion is a personal thing".
Executive Director, TheNews, Mr. Kunle Ajibade, read from his prison memoir,
Jailed for Life, written during the Gen. Sanni Abacha years of dictatorship,
bringing the terrible conditions of condemned persons close home to the
audience made up of writers and other members of the creative community.
(source: The Guardian)
GREAT BRITAIN:
World War 1 soldier executed for mutiny to be honoured at National Memorial
Arboretum
In the mist of an anaemic French dawn, the weak sunlight burning through leaden
skies, they placed the blindfold over Jack Braithwaite's eyes.
He stiffened against the whitewashed wall, the wisps of breath from his open
mouth quickening.
These were Jack Braithwaite's horrifying last moments.
At 6.05am on October 29, 1916, Jack was executed by firing squad, joining the
ranks of those slaughtered by his own side.
His death on that barren patch of land in Rouen came minutes after one Gunner
Lewis was shot.
Jack, aged 31, heard the rifles' crackle and the sound turned his legs to
jelly.
His crime: mutiny. But that incendiary word paints a picture that does not fit
the act that cost Jack his life.
Jack, who openly admitted at his court martial, "I am not a born soldier, just
a Bohemian journalist", was guilty of a misdemeanour, not mutiny.
On August 28, 1916, the New Zealander, who had proved truly troublesome to Army
top brass, found himself at Number 1 Prison, Blargies, a military lock-up noted
for its toughness.
The simmering ill-feeling among inmates turned into open rebellion on that day.
A tough Aussie named Private Little complained bitterly and loudly about the
lack of hot water in the showers.
The matter escalated, with Little banging on tables and demanding his meal.
Others joined the insurrection, seizing the moment to air their own grievances.
It was then Jack, known as "Bohemian Jack" because of his artistic bent, made
his fatal mistake.
In a bid to defuse a potential riot, Jack, who was on mess duty, led furious
Little to his tent and fed him.
He had, however, taken Little from the custody of a staff sergeant. And that,
in the army's book, constituted mutiny.
Now, following a lobby by New Zealand historian Geoff McMillan, together with
Richard Pursehouse and Lee Dent of Cannock-based Great War group The Chase
Project, the trooper is to be honoured at a Staffordshire war memorial.
Jack's name will be included in the 'Shot at Dawn' tribute at the National
Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas.
Created in 2000 by Birmingham artist Andy DeComyn, the area is a circle of 306
stakes, bearing the name of men posthumously pardoned after being executed by
their own side, surrounding a statue of a blindfolded soldier.
It is hoped Jack's stake will be installed before the centenary of his death.
At the court martial, Jack, who spent every day of active service wondering
what he was doing amid the mud, blood and brutality of the trenches, pleaded
for his life.
He was attempting to stem trouble, he insisted, and pointed out that in Egypt,
where he had served, such actions had been punished with 14 days imprisonment.
"I cannot understand that a simple act of peace-making could be brought to look
like deliberate mutiny," he protested.
Jack, a member of 2nd battalion Otago Regiment, also pointed out the sacrifices
his family had made for the war effort. 2 brothers had been killed in action, 2
wounded and invalided back home. 2 more were training to join the fray. The
Braithwaites had paid a heavy price.
In an attempt to win sympathy, Jack added to the mix the fact he was due to
marry "the best girl in the entire world".
He partially won over the trial's convening officer, Lieutenant-General
Clayton, who recommended that the sentence be commuted to 10 years penal
servitude, concluding the evidence bore out the defendant's version of events.
But his recommendations were not accepted by the court. Jack and 3 Australians
involved in the prison clash were sentenced to death by firing squad.
There is credence in claims made by Jack's family that he was a "sacrificial
lamb".
Despite being sentenced to death, the Army knew there was little chance that
the Australians would face a firing squad. The execution of any trooper from
Down Under needed the approval of the Australian Governor General.
And he did not share Allied chief Sir Douglas Haig's appetite for killing our
own men.
The 3 Aussies, who all played a greater role in the near jail riot than Jack,
had their sentence commuted to 2 years hard labour.
But Haig and his cronies had to make a point, had to show that flagrant
disobedience would result in death.
That factor, plus the powder keg atmosphere at the prison and Jack's poor
disciplinary record meant clemency was not an option.
He had, after all, proved more than problematic during his stint on The Front.
In May, 1916, Jack lost his stripes for going AWOL and didn't seem to give a
fig about it. He allegedly retorted: "Let duty and soldiering go to hell." His
only time in the trenches, from May 14 to 22, ended ignominiously. He again
went missing from his unit, armed with a forged "leave pass". That earned him
60 days field punishment, but by this time Jack had decided war was not for
him.
He again escaped on July 7, was caught and sentenced to 2 years hard labour.
Even then, he tried to do a runner while being transferred to the British
Army's Blargies prison.
Jack's own family seems to have been ashamed of the reluctant trooper. His own
uncle, Brigadier W. Braithwaite, urged authorities to lock up his nephew and
send him back to New Zealand as soon as possible.
Quite simply, in the British Army's eyes, Jack was a coward. In reality, the
man was a sensitive soul, intelligent enough to realise the madness he was
immersed in. The Bohemian had been flung into a meat grinder and wanted none of
it. In all, he was court martialled 4 times.
His approach to military life is best summed up by writer Mary Vidal in a
superb blog on the Western Front Association website.
She said: "Poor Jack. He seems to have been somebody who was totally unsuited
to become a soldier and perhaps left to himself, and without the patriotic
fervour sweeping Britain and the Empire in 1915, he would not have enlisted.
"He was unable to accept military discipline and acted in a foolhardy, perhaps
stupid, manner and was dealt with firmly by the authorities.
"In his final, fatal, brush with military law he found himself cast in the role
of a sacrificial victim. It would seem that he was in the wrong place at the
wrong time and his luck had run out. In his last hours how much he must have
wished he had stayed a 'Bohemian' journalist."
Great War historian Ian McGibbon wrote: "Braithwaite was foolhardy, even
stupid, in his failure to take military discipline seriously and was treated
firmly by the New Zealand divisional authorities. But in his final hearing he
was more unlucky than criminal.
"But he found himself cast in the role of sacrificial victim and paid the
supreme penalty."
In his last, poignant written missive to the court, Jack, pinning his hopes on
his prowess as a writer, stated: "Unfortunately I have made a serious mess of
things, and where I came to win honour and glory, I have won shame, dishonour,
and everlasting disgrace."
: He was wrong. Disgrace did not last forever.
His pardon was signed by British Secretary for Defence Des Browne in 2006.
Jack's tribute at the National Memorial Arboretum was secured after Geoff
McMillan, from Waikanae Beach, New Zealand, visited the site last April.
"I could only find 4 stakes for the 5 New Zealanders executed during the Great
War," he said.
"There was not one for Jack Braithwaite, who had been pardoned by the New
Zealand Government in 2000 along with the other four under the Pardon for
Soldiers of the Great War Act."
News of Jack's honour has been welcomed by Richard Pursehouse.
"I think it's great, like picking up on something that has been missed," he
said. "I feel very humbled to have been involved.
???There is no date yet, but we hope it happens before the centenary of his
death.
"What happened was the law at the time, you had to have the ultimate deterrent.
In contrast, not a single servicemen was executed in World War II."
Bohemian Jack is buried in St Sever Cemetery, Rouen.
(source: birminghammail.co.uk)
MALAYSIA:
Commute sentence of Altantuya's convicted murderer
Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet) prays that the sentence
of death on Azilah Hadri, who was convicted for the murder of Altantuya
Shaariibuu, be commuted.
It was recently reported that former special action force officer Azilah has
filed a petition to the Selangor sultan, being the ruler of the state of
Selangor, seeking a royal pardon over his conviction for the murder of the
Mongolian translator (The Star, Jan 15, 2016). In Malaysia, conviction for
murder carries the mandatory death penalty.
Article 42(1) of the Malaysian federal constitution provides that: 'The Yang
di-Pertuan Agong has power to grant pardons, reprieves and respites in respect
of all offences which have been tried by court-martial and all offences
committed in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya; and
the Ruler or Yang di-Pertua Negeri of a State has power to grant pardons,
reprieves and respites in respect of all other offences committed in his State.
In a reply to a parliamentary question by Member of Parliament M Kulasegaran
(DAP - Ipoh Barat), dated Nov 3, 2015, it was disclosed that since 1998 until
Oct 6, 2015, 127 death row prisoners have had their sentence commuted. As of
Oct 6, 2015, there still remain about 1,022 persons on death row.
In Thailand, Royal Pardons have resulted in about 90 % or more persons
sentenced to death having their sentence commuted to imprisonment.
On 18/12/2014, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a Resolution
to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death
penalty. This is the 5th time this resolution has been tabled since the first
in 2007. One hundred and seventeen member states voted in favour of the 2014
resolution, indicating the continuing growing global support for the abolition
of the death penalty.
As such, taking also into consideration the various arguments for the abolition
of the death penalty including that any miscarriage or failure of justice in
the implementation of the death penalty is irreversible and irreparable, Madpet
urges the HRH the sultan of Selangor to exercise his power to commute the death
sentence faced by Azilah Hadri into one of imprisonment.
Madpet reiterates its urging that Malaysia abolish the death penalty.
Madpet also urges a moratorium on all executions pending abolition.
(source: CHARLES HECTOR is a coordinator of Malaysians Against Death Penalty
and Torture (Madpet)----malaysiakini.com)
EGYPT:
Egypt's parliament endorses controversial anti-terrorism law
Egypt's parliament on Sunday overwhelmingly endorsed a controversial
anti-terrorism law that sets up special courts and shields its enforcers from
legal ramifications.
The law is one of roughly 400 that were issued by executive decree during the
more than 3 years in which Egypt was governed without a parliament after its
democratically elected chamber was dissolved in mid-2012.
It details sentences for various terrorism-related crimes ranging from 5 years
to the death penalty, and shields the military and police from legal penalties
for what it calls proportionate use of force.
The law also fines journalists for contradicting the authorities' version of
any militant attack. The original draft was amended last year following a
domestic and international outcry after it initially stipulated imprisonment
for such an offence.
The newly elected legislature is constitutionally obliged to review the
executive decrees within 15 days of its 1st session, which was on Jan. 10, and
either approve or reject them.
The anti-terrorism law passed by an overwhelming 457 votes to 24 without a
single amendment to the original decree issued by President Abdel Fattah
al-Sisi last year, parliamentary sources said.
Egypt's new parliament, which has 568 elected members plus another 28 appointed
directly by the president, is dominated by the "Support Egypt" coalition, an
alliance of over 400 MPs loyal to Sisi.
Human rights groups accuse Sisi, who as military chief deposed a freely elected
Islamist president in 2013, of rolling back freedoms won in the 2011 uprising
that toppled veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Opposition legislator Mohamed Salah Khalifa, a leader of the Islamist Nour
Party, which holds just 12 seats after controlling about a quarter of the
previous parliament, said the law employed ambiguous wording.
"I fear that it will be used broadly when it is applied," he said.
"The (anti-terrorism) law was imposed during exceptional circumstances when the
country was exposed to danger but, after these dangers subside, there should be
a balance between protecting the state and its institutions and preserving
human rights."
Parliament also approved a 2014 decree on the protection of critical government
facilities. The law increases the jurisdiction of military courts, allowing
them to try civilians accused of attacking buildings and cutting off roads.
Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country, is confronted by an increasingly
violent insurgency in North Sinai, where the most active militant group has
pledged allegiance to Islamic State. Cairo and other cities have also suffered
Islamist attacks.
Sisi has presided over a no-holds-barred crackdown on Islamists. Thousands of
alleged Islamist supporters have been jailed and scores have been sentenced to
death.
(source: Reuters)
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