February 5
UNITED KINGDOM:
UK, Stand Firm against Data Demands in Death Penalty Cases----US Could Use Data
Demanded from UK – But Pretend It Didn’t
After heated debate, the United Kingdom has just inched closer to adopting laws
that would allow the United States to demand and obtain digital evidence – such
as e-mails, texts, and chats – directly from companies that are storing it in
the UK. This would do away with important rights protections under the existing
treaty and policies, which require the UK authorities to scrutinize US demands
for data on a case-by-case basis. The US has already similarly undermined
rights safeguards by adopting the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data
(CLOUD) Act, which Human Rights Watch opposed.
Some members of the UK Parliament tried to put the brakes on these
developments, pointing out that the US could demand British-held evidence in US
prosecutions that could lead to a death sentence – a punishment the UK
government opposes.
Last Wednesday, the House of Commons responded by approving an amendment
requiring the UK Home Secretary to ask the US – and any other country that
allows capital punishment and hopes for a data-access agreement with the UK –
for written assurances of the “non-use” of information from the UK in
connection with a death-penalty case. However, the Home Secretary would not
actually need to receive such assurances.
This is a problem. Even if Parliament strengthened the amendment to require
assurances, the UK is poised to remove the most important means of ensuring US
authorities stick to their rights commitments in every case: review and
approval of each data demand.
Our research also prompts concerns that if the US does offer assurances that it
won’t “use” data from the UK in death penalty prosecutions, it may decide for
itself what “use” means – potentially in a way that allows it to take advantage
of evidence from the UK, but conceal how it was actually used.
Through the practice of “parallel construction,” US police and prosecutors can
avoid revealing the true origins of information in a criminal trial by
deliberately re-obtaining it in some other way. And as we reported last year,
we have specific concerns that the US government may employ a non-obvious
definition of the word “use” to avoid revealing that it has taken investigative
steps it prefers to hide.
As we have also urged regarding the UK’s potential extradition of ISIS suspects
to the US, the UK should stand firm in not facilitating executions. This means
preventing the US from grabbing UK-held data without strong, clear safeguards
to protect against capital punishment. This isn’t an arcane debate about ones
and zeros. It could be a life and death matter.
(source: Human Rights Watch)
INDIA:
162 death penalties imposed by trial courts in 2018, highest in 2 decades
In 2018, 162 death penalty verdicts were pronounced by Sessions Courts, the
highest since the turn of the millennium, according to a report.
The trend dipped slightly in 2014 and began climbing, reaching a record high in
2018.
The report, titled 'Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report 2018',
also notes that the Supreme Court moved in the opposite direction, commuting 11
death sentences it heard in 2018 to life imprisonment.
Of the 114 death penalty cases handled by the High Courts that year, the
majority (50%) were commuted. Here's a breakdown of the number of cases heard
by all courts.
The highest number of death sentences between 2015 and 2018 were given for
cases involving both sexual violence and murder.
The year 2018 saw the legislative expansion of the death penalty, introducing
it as a possible punishment for rape of girls below 12 years of age. 9 persons
were convicted under this new law in 2018. On August 1 2018, the Union Cabinet
approved a bill providing death penalty or life imprisonment for crimes
involving maritime piracy or piracy at sea, according to the report.
However, the Supreme Court's concern about the death penalty was observed on 2
fronts: 1st, the commutation of 11 out of 12 death sentences to life
imprisonment; and 2nd, Justice Kurian Joseph’s dissenting opinion in Chhannu
Lal Verma v. State of Chhattisgarh, calling for the need to reconsider the
death penalty as a punishment.
A State-wise analysis shows that of the 426 persons on death row in the country
(as on December 31, 2018) the highest number of convicts are from Maharashtra,
Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
No.of death row convicts: Maharashtra 66, Tamil Nadu 14, Bihar 22, Uttar
Pradesh 66, Madhya Pradesh 66, Karnataka 25
Of these, the status of 11 persons convicted under the Army Act is unknown.
(source: The Hindu)
SRI LANKA:
Sri Lanka ready for landmark hanging of drug convicts: Minister
Sri Lanka is ready to execute 5 drug convicts and end its 42-year capital
punishment moratorium once President Maithripala Sirisena signs the death
warrants and a hangman is appointed, officials said Tuesday (Feb 5).
Sirisena announced last year a tougher line on spiralling narcotics-related
crime including executions for repeat drug offenders, inspired by a similar
crackdown in the Philippines.
The country's justice minister told parliament Tuesday that legal and
administrative procedures for the 5 condemned Sri Lankans were completed last
month, paving the way for the 1st hangings since 1976.
"We have already complied with the president's request to restart capital
punishment," Thalatha Athukorale said.
Five names had been sent to the president between Oct 12 and the end of
January, but Sirisena was yet to sign the warrants and fix the execution dates,
Athukorale added. There was no immediate comment from Sirisena's office on the
cases.
Following a visit to the Philippines last month, Sirisena reaffirmed his plans
to replicate his counterpart Rodrigo Duterte's "success" in dealing with
illegal drugs.
Sirisena praised the "decisive action" of Duterte who has offered
anti-narcotics help to Sri Lanka.
Duterte ran on a law-and-order platform that included promises to kill
thousands of people involved in the drug trade, even officials.
"Even though I have not implemented some of the decisions of President Duterte,
I will not bow to international non-governmental (rights) organisations and
change my decision on death penalty for drug offences," Sirisena said last
month.
Athukorale said there were 18 drug convicts who would qualify under Sirisena's
guidelines to be hanged out of 376 convicts on death row.
But prisons spokesman Thushara Upuldeniya said authorities were still trying to
fill a vacancy for an executioner.
Light work and a salary of 35,000 rupees (US$200) a month was offered in
advertisements placed last year, but no suitable candidate came forward, he
said.
"Technically, we don't have a hangman right now, but if the need arises, we
should be able to get one fairly quickly," Upuldeniya told AFP.
While Sri Lanka's last execution was more than 4 decades ago, an executioner
functioned until his retirement in 2014. 3 replacements since have quit after
short stints at the unused gallows.
Criminals are regularly given death sentences for murder, rape and drug-related
crimes but their punishments have been commuted to life.
International rights groups have urged Sri Lanka not to revive capital
punishment.
(source: channelnewsasia.com)
IRAN:
10 Salafi Death-row Prisoners at Imminent Risk of Execution----At least 1 of
the death-row prisoners, Barzan Nasrollahzadeh, was under 18 years old at the
time of arrest.
In an unusual event, 10 death-row Salafi prisoners were transferred to Rajai
Shahr solitary confinement this morning. Executions are usually carried out on
Wednesday in Rajai Shahr, and prisoners are transferred to solitary confinement
a couple of days prior to that. Therefore, the Salafi prisoners might be at
risk of execution.
According to IHR sources, Special Units forces raid into Rajai Shahr prison and
transferred 10 death-row Salafi prisoners to the solitary confinement. “They
were Special Unit forces, not the usual prison guards,” a source in the prison
told IHR, “We have been told that they are going to be executed on Wednesday.”
Of note, tens of prisoners are held in Ward 7 of Rajai Shahr prison who are
sentenced to death or long-term imprisonment for the charge of “cooperating
with Salafi groups.” Most of them are from Iranian western provinces.
At least 1 of the death-row prisoners, Barzan Nasrollahzadeh, was under 18
years old at the time of arrest.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
EGYPT:
Death penalty call for alleged Sisi assassination plot
A court in Egypt has applied for the death penalty to be introduced against 8
people charged with the attempted assassination of President Abdel Fattah
al-Sisi almost 5 years ago.The court on Monday filed for a death penalty
verdict against the accused who allegedly planned to kill the Egyptian leader
while he performed the hajj in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia in 2014.
According to the details of the case against them, the accused have operated a
terror cell with w view to carrying out the plot in which former Saudi Crown
Prince, Nayef bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud was also to be assassinated.
The Grand Mufti who is key to the process of granting the request will
pronounce over the case.
The Mufti is one of the most influential religious leaders over Islamic
jurisprudence in Egypt.
(source: journalducameroun.com)
***********************
Egypt court to sentence man to death over killing wife, 3 sons
Kafr al-Sheikh Criminal Court on Sunday referred the papers of a man who killed
his wife and three sons to Grand Mufti Shawky Allam before sentencing him to
the death penalty.
The court set March 2 to read the verdict. A referral to the Mufti is required
in the Egyptian court system ahead of death sentences, even though the mufti’s
opinion is advisory and not binding.
The session began amid tight security measures, as the defendant was present at
an early time in the dock. The presiding judge proved his presence. The judge
said the court had decided to convict the suspect, after finding him guilty of
all the charges assigned to him.
The court began the hearings in the case on Saturday, during which it heard the
prosecutor’s pleadings and the decision to refer the suspect for criminal
trial. The court also heard the defendant’s defense.
The prosecution has charged the suspect with several counts of murdering his
wife with premeditation, committing three other murders in which he slaughtered
his children with premeditation, and possession of a knife.
The suspect confessed to the judge all the charges against him and that he
killed his wife and 3 children.
Ahmed Ashour, the defense attorney for the suspect, said that his client had
committed his crime under the influence of psychological factors, causing him
to lose the ability to choose, after discovering a relationship between his
wife and another person.
The defense explained that his client knew of this relationship through the
discovery of messages on his wife’s phone confirming the existence of this
relationship, and she told him it was an old relationship, which affected him
psychologically and made him kill his wife.
The details of the incident date back to December 31 when the police received a
report that a man had found his wife and 3 children slaughtered inside their
own apartment.
The investigation found that the husband of the 1st victim and the father of
the children was behind the crime.
During the investigations, the husband admitted to the murder because of
earlier marital disputes, and then intended to kill his wife and children.
(source: egyptindependent.com)
UGANDA:
Death of the death sentence----Bill to align death penalty laws reawakens
debate on punishment for capital offenses
On Jan.22 a man who confessed in the High Court in Kampala to have killed his
wife in an acid attack was sentenced to 40 years in prison. The sentencing of
Khassim Kakaire who has been on remand for murder at Luzira Prison since2015 by
High Court judge Anthony Ojok Ayuko was seen by some as too lenient. Kakaire,
they said, should have been sentenced to death.
Judge Ayuko anticipated that reaction and in his ruling showed that he
appreciated the gravity of the crime and the pain of the victims.
“This kind of offence must be discouraged at whatever cost. Someone would
rather shoot you and you die than leave you in such pain,” the judge said.
But, he noted, the offender had opted not to waste court’s time by going into a
full trial and had pleaded guilty under the plea bargain arrangement, was also
affected by the attack, and was remorseful. He also noted that the convict is
43 years old.
“I find the 40 years appropriate, minus the four years on remand leaving the
accused to serve 36 years,” the court ruled.
Kakaire told court he is responsible for pouring concentrated sulphuric acid on
his wife Josephine Namanda, who he suspected to have an extra marital affair.
This case gained attention as it was heard when parliament was handling a
controversial Bill; the Law Revision (Penalties in Criminal Matters)
Miscellaneous Amendment Bill 2015.The Bill seeks to amend the Penal Code Act,
Cap 120, the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2002, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces Act,
2005, and the Trial on Indictment Act, Cap 23.
While the Bill does not seek to scrap death penalty, it became a major area of
discussion. Some MPs proposed a referendum to allow Ugandans decide whether or
not they still need the law in place. Arguments in favor of lenience and those
in favor of severity came up, not just among legislators but among ordinary
members of the public.
“If you kill, you are killed too. For us it’s that fair,”said Uganda Muslim
Supreme Council’s Hajji Nsereko Mutumba. He cited Islamic teachings, which he
said are similar to the biblical “an eye for an eye”. He said this was part of
God’s law given by Moses to ancient Israel and was quoted by Jesus.
In Uganda, according to the law, people on death row are supposed to die by
hanging. Up to 149 people are currently on the death row. One qualified for
hanging 3 months ago.
Uganda Prisons’ Frank Baine told The Independent that the 148 have either
appealed or their cases are at the Supreme Court level awaiting final judgment.
“The prisoner who qualified is supposed to be hanged in a period not later than
three years,” Baine said. The law, however, provides that if a convict on death
row is not executed in three years, then the sentence automatically becomes a
life sentence. He said many convicts have had their sentences reduced because
executions last happened in 1999.
That is when President Yoweri Museveni signed a death warrant to have 28 hanged
in an execution that sunk in Musa Sebirumbi who was a Uganda People’s Congress
chairman in Luweero during the Obote II government.
He was hanged for the murder of Edidian Luttamaguzi, a renowned collaborator of
Museveni’s National Resistance Army rebels during the 1981-86 bush war.,P>
(source: independent.co.ug)
RUSSIA:
Life convict tells about last death penalties in Russia
The narrator was a cellmate of the famous boy incendiary Golovkin, nicknamed
Fisher.
Sergey Khvastunov, who is serving a life sentence in Mordovia and has been
behind bars for 27 years now, spoke about the latest executions in Russian
prisons. According to the prisoner, in captivity, he met with the last person
who was executed – the Sergei Golovkin, nicknamed Fisher (Udav), who set boys
on fire. MK journalist Eva Merkacheva spoke with the prisoner.
“The executions always took place after 20.00, and as soon as this time came,
the silence was amazing, one could hear a fly flying down the corridor,”
Khvastunov says.
According to him, the death penalty was carried out in the basement, the thick
steel door of which was next to the shower room. The prisoners did not hear the
shots and usually learned about the executions the next day from thieves in
law, whom prison doctors would inform about the executions. The identity of the
executioner is strictly secret.
The last person to be executed was Fisher, who burned at least 11 boys in
1986-1992. His execution took place on August 2, 1996. In the same year, the
death penalty was abolished in Russia after the country's accession to the
Council of Europe. After the introduction of a moratorium on execution,
according to Khvastunov, things became easier. Now there were 70 death victims,
not 30, and they were allowed to turn on music, more young people came, the
regime was softened.
Khvastunov has been in prison since 1993 for robbing and killing a diplomat’s
family — a wife and 2 children. The diplomat allegedly owed $ 100 to
Khvastunov’s relative, which prompted the crime.
(source: crimerussia.com)
PHILIPPINES:
House reimposes death penalty on drugs
The House of Representatives has reimposed anew the death penalty in the
country’s penal system, this time, providing for the capital punishment on
persons found in possession of dangerous drugs during parties, social
gatherings and meetings.
This was contained in House Bill 8909 that would amend Republic Act 9165 or the
Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The measure was approved on 3rd and final reading with 172 affirmative and zero
negative votes.
HB 8909 consolidated numerous provisions of at least 15 bills, seeking to amend
the dangerous drugs law. Authors included Reps. Rozzano Rufino Biazon
(PDP-Laban, Muntinlupa City); Winston Castelo (PDP-laban, QuezonCity); Alfredo
Garbin and Rodel Batocabe (Ako Bicol Partylist) and former president and
Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, among others.
Section 13 of the bill penalizes a person found possessing any dangerous drug
during a party or a social gathering or meeting attended by two or more
individuals with life imprisonment or death. A fine ranging from P5 million to
P10 million, regardless of the amount of seized narcotics, will also be
imposed.
HB 8909 seeks to further strengthen drug prevention and control by providing
legal presumption on those who are considered importer, financier and protector
or coddler of illegal drugs.
Negligent lessors, whose properties would be found to have been turned into a
drug laboratory, drug den and venue for other illegal drug activities, will
also be penalized.
If a property is owned by a 3rd person and it is used as a den, dive, or resort
to commit violation of the provisions of RA 9165, criminal liability will
extend to the partner, president, director, manager, trustee, estate
administration or officer of the corporation or partnership who consents to or
tolerates such a violation.
The bill directs the Office of the Ombudsman and the Civil Service Commission
to investigate cases of acquittal of drug cases to determine whether or not
these were bungled by the prosecutor, investigator or concerned arresting
officers.
The bill also mandates professional and non-professional athletes to undergo
mandatory drug tests at least twice a year. Those found positive of drug use
will be suspended and subjected to further investigation by appropriate
government agencies.
The proposed measure also grants immunity to state witnesses, who appear to be
the least guilty, but can testify to personal knowledge and info necessary for
the conviction of other rogue suspects.
There is likewise a presumption of planting of evidence against law enforcers
if the rules of procedure and/or engagement for arrest, search and seizure have
not been complied with.
There is also a presumption of a person as financier if she or he causes the
payment, underwrites and supplies the moneye for planting, maintnenace and
oepration of marijuana plantation and drug laboratories.
(source: Manila Bulletin)
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