May 1
BAHRAIN:
UN rights experts condemn military court conviction
UN human rights experts* have called for the retrial of 4 men sentenced to
death by a Bahraini military court in a collective trial that breached fair
trial and due process guarantees and confessions obtained under torture.
They welcomed the news that the King of Bahrain commuted the death sentences to
life in prison but deplored the imposition of the capital punishment in the
first place. "The fact remains, that they should have never been convicted on
the basis of flawed trials, let alone sentenced to death, and they still face
life sentences," they said.
The men, Mohamed AbdulHasan AlMutaghawi, Fadhel Sayed Radhi, Sayed Alawi Husain
and Mubarak Adel Mubarak Mahanna, were sentenced to death by the Bahraini High
Military Court on 25 December 2017 on charges of participating in a terrorist
cell and attempting to assassinate Bahrain's Defence Forces Commander-in-Chief.
2 others facing the same charges were sentenced in absentia. All of them in
addition had their citizenship revoked. They saw their appeals rejected by the
Bahraini Military Court of Cassation on 25 April 2018.
Prior to their conviction, it is understood that the men were forcibly
disappeared for several months, held in solitary confinement in small cells for
a prolonged period and subjected to torture and ill-treatment to obtain
confessions which were then used against them in court. They did not have
access to legal representation until late in the trial proceedings and the
court reportedly refused to investigate the defendants' allegations of torture
in custody.
"While welcoming the decision to annul the death sentences, we call on the
authorities to ensure that the 4 men are retried in accordance with
international law and standards", the experts said. "The allegations of
enforced disappearance and torture must be promptly, thoroughly and impartially
investigated with a view to holding those responsible to account and preventing
future similar occurrences."
They further urged the King of Bahrain to pardon all other death sentences and
ensure that all these and other pending capital punishment cases are retried in
full respect of fair trial and due process guarantees in compliance with the
treaty obligations the country has undertaken under the ICCPR and CAT.
"We also ask that the authorities reinstate the citizenship of all four men as
well as that of all others that have been punished in the same manner in the
same collective trial against established international human rights law and
standards", they added.
This was the 1st trial of civilians by a military court in Bahrain since 2011,
after the King of Bahrain amended the constitution in 2017 to allow for the
military trial of civilians. The UN experts called on the King of Bahrain to
reverse the amendment.
The experts had previously sought clarifications from the Government on this
case.
(source: scoop.co.nz)
EGYPT:
Photojournalist Potentially Facing the Death Penalty Is Awarded The "World
Press Freedom Prize"
Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid (popularly known as Shawkan) has won
the 2018 UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize. Zeid is an Egyptian photojournalist
who was arrested in Cairo in 2013 for photographing the Rabaa massacre.
Each year, the United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, "honors a person,
organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the
defense and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, and especially
when this has been achieved in the face of danger."
To summarize the incident: Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's 1st democratically elected
president, had been removed from office by the military. This resulted in a 6
week sit-in by supporters (the Muslim Brotherhood) of the ousted president. The
violent dispersal of the protest by security forces resulted in hundreds of
deaths and thousands of injuries. Zeid was arrested, along with 2 other
journalists. Zeid has been in jail since and is reportedly facing the death
penalty.
"The choice of Mahmoud Abu Zeid pays tribute to his courage, resistance and
commitment to freedom of expression," UNESCO jury president Maria Ressa said in
the statement.
The Egyptian government was not happy about Unesco's decision. The Egyptian
Foreign Ministry criticized the organization for honoring a defendant facing
terrorism charges and said that they shouldn't get involvement in political
issues.
The prize is being awarded on May 2nd in Ghana for World Press Freedom Day. The
theme of this year's conference is Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and
the Rule of Law.
The Unesco/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize was created in 1997 and is
named after Guillermo Cano Isaza who was the editor of the Colombian Newspaper
El Espectador. He openly criticized the country's powerful drug lords, which
resulted in his murder in Bogata in 1986.
(source: resourcemagonline.com)
IRAN----execution
Iran Execution: A Man Hanged in Isfahan on Drug-Related Charges----This is the
1st drug-related execution that the statistical department of IHR can confirm
after enforcement of the new drug law.
A prisoner was executed at Isfahan Central Prison on drug-related charges. This
is the 1st drug-related execution after the new drug law was enforced.
According to the IHR source, on the morning of Monday, April 30, a prisoner was
executed at Isfahan Central Prison on drug-related charges.
The prisoner was identified as Kiomars Nosuhi from Kermanshah. IHR had earlier
reported the transference of the prisoner to the solitary confinement.
A close source told IHR, "Because Kiomars was accused to be the leader of a
drug gang, his sentence was not reviewed according to the new drug law. He was
sentenced to death on the charge of a ton of morphine. Yesterday the prosecutor
had told his family that his execution was not going to be carried out, but he
was executed today at 5 am."
It should be noted that the new drug law, which limits issuing the death
penalty for drug-related offences, was enforced on November 14, 2017. Since
then, the execution of the defendants charged with drug-related offences had
been stopped. Therefore, this is the 1st drug-related execution that the
statistical department of IHR can confirm after enforcement of the new drug
law.
The execution of this prisoner has not been reported by the state-run media so
far.
**************************
Iran Executions: "the Fake Postman" Hanged in Rajai-Shahr Prison----The
prisoner and his family denied the accusations many times and claimed that the
real reason behind these accusations was political and financial issues.
Seyyed Iman Hosseini Moqaddam, who was dubbed as "the fake postman" by the
Iranian media, was hanged at Rajai Shahr Prison this morning.
According to IHR sources, on the morning of Monday, April 30, Seyyed Iman
Hosseini Moqaddam was hanged at Rajai Shahr Prison.
Hosseini Moqaddam, dubbed as "the fake postman" by the media, was sentenced to
execution in public on the charge of corruption on earth through multiple
counts of rape. However, the execution was carried out in the prison. The
prisoner and his family denied the accusations many times and claimed that the
real reason behind these accusations was political and financial issues.
Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a close ally of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
and his Chief of Staff from 2009 to 2013, was in a gathering held by the
prisoner's family in front of the Judiciary on November 27, 2017. The video of
this gathering has been published by IHR.
It should be noted that Hosseini Moqaddam was transferred to the solitary
confinement along with 12 others in order to be executed. 3 of them were
executed on Wednesday, April 25, but Hosseini Moqaddam's execution was delayed
for unknown reasons. The 3 prisoners who were executed on Wednesday were
identified as Alireza Masoumi, Mohammadreza Kharratha, and Amir Khalili; All
were sentenced to death on murder charges. Amir Khalili, an Afghanistani
national, was also sentenced to death on drug-related charges, but he was
executed for his murder case.
The execution of these prisoners has not been announced by the state-run media
so far.
(source for both: Iran Human Rights)
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