July 11
PAKISTAN:
Children on death row: Why Pakistan must stop hanging juvenile
offenders----Despite the prohibition, cases of juvenile offenders' executions
are far from the exception.
The following is an excerpt from Justice Project Pakistan’s (JPP) book, The
Death Penalty in Pakistan: A Critical Review, to be launched on July 11, 2019
in Islamabad. A culmination of 10 years of JPP’s work, the book documents the
many ways in which Pakistan's application of the death penalty intersects with
legal, social and political realities.
It focuses on how capital punishment impacts some of the most vulnerable
populations: juveniles, the mentally ill, persons with physical disabilities,
low-wage migrant workers imprisoned in foreign jails and the working class.
Relying on public records for multiple JPP clients sentenced to death, nearly a
decade of experience in the field, as well as extensive experience with
legislation and advocacy, this book tracks the many junctures at which
violations occur, from arrest to sentencing to execution.
****
Aftab Bahadur was arrested at the age of 15 for the murder of a woman and her
two children. Aftab protested his innocence to the very end. The only
eyewitness who testified against Aftab recanted his statement by claiming that
he had been coerced by the police to provide his damning testimony. In fact, he
admitted, that Aftab had not even been present at the scene of the crime. The
Supreme Court of Pakistan, however, refused to consider the exculpatory
evidence stating that a fresh appeal was untimely. Aftab Bahadur therefore,
marched to the gallows at the age of 38 after having spent over 22 years on
Pakistan’s death row.
He was executed on 10 June 2015.
Like 160 countries in the world, Pakistan has enacted legislation prohibiting
the sentencing and imposition of the death penalty against juvenile offenders —
persons who commit crimes before turning 18 years old. The Government of
Pakistan is, additionally, a party to both the United Nations International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Convention on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) which categorically prohibits capital punishment for juvenile
offenders. However, despite the explicit bar, cases of juvenile offenders such
as Aftab Bahadur are far from the exception.
As a result of a criminal justice system that violates international human
rights standards at each stage of the judicial system, arrest, investigation,
trial, sentencing, and punishment, the death penalty is disproportionately
applied to the most vulnerable of Pakistan’s population — the mentally ill,
physically disabled, and juvenile offenders. Since the moratorium was lifted,
at least 6 juvenile offenders have been executed despite credible evidence in
support of their juvenility.
Pakistan’s failure to protect juvenile offenders from the death penalty since
the resumption of executions drew sharp criticism from international actors. In
June 2015, 4United Nations experts, whilst urging the Government of Pakistan to
halt the execution of juvenile offenders, condemned the existence of 'several
hundred' juvenile offenders on death row as a violation of its international
law obligations. Similarly, in June 2016, the UN Committee on the Rights of the
Child urged the Government of Pakistan to stay the executions of all juvenile
offenders and reopen all cases where there was even the slightest indication of
the minority of the accused at the time of the commission of the alleged
offence.
Pakistan enacted the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) in 2000 in order
to bring its criminal justice system in conformity with its obligations under
the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 2018, the JJSO was
repealed and replaced by Juvenile Justice System Act (JJSA). The law prohibits
executions of juveniles and makes provisions regarding separate courts, trials,
and detention centres from judges and lawyers. However, in the 18 years that
had passed since the JJSO came into force, it remained virtually ignored in
practice. Firstly, the law was enacted without retrospective force – thereby
denying its protection to juvenile offenders sentenced to death prior to its
enactment in 2000. A Presidential Notification granted a 'special remission'
for all juvenile offenders whose death sentences were confirmed prior to the
JJSO on the basis of an inquiry into their juvenility. However, such inquiries
were seldom conducted and when they were the investigation was replete with
incompetence, inefficiency, and violations of human rights standards.
Pakistan has also consistently failed to set up juvenile courts, borstal
institutions and provisions for effective legal aid for juveniles as provided
under, first the JJSO and now JJSA. In a context marred with low birth
registration and a lack of sensitisation of law enforcement and judiciary to
juvenile delinquency, a significant number of juvenile offenders fall outside
the few institutional safeguards actually implemented in practice. As a result,
the juvenile justice system is rarely applied to those it is designed to
protect, resulting in a significant number of death sentences being meted out
to juvenile offenders. Once sentenced these juvenile offenders are denied
effective recourse to appeals and post-conviction reliefs, even in the face of
exonerating evidence. All of these aforementioned problems constitute
violations of international law and taken together reveals a broken criminal
justice system that fails to protect juvenile offenders from the most severe
and irreversible form of punishment – the death penalty.
The irreversible nature of the violations mandates that Pakistan reinstate a
moratorium of its application on the death penalty and launch an independent
investigation into all death row cases particularly those marked by allegations
of juvenility. Additionally, in order to prevent future executions of juvenile
offenders and to ensure that they are extended the requisite protections under
international human rights standards requires a comprehensive reform of its
juvenile justice system starting from the determination of age at the time of
arrest to the grant of mercy prior to execution.
(source: dawn.com)
JAPAN:
Death sentence finalized for man who killed 5 neighbors in western Japan in
2013
The Supreme Court rejected on Thursday an appeal by a 69-year-old man convicted
of killing 5 neighbors in Yamaguchi Prefecture in western Japan in 2013 in
revenge for what he believed to be harassment, leading his death sentence to be
finalized.
The decision against Kosei Homi, who was also found guilty of setting fire to 2
of the victims' homes in a remote community, was handed down by the top court's
No. 1 Petty Bench.
"It was a brutal crime based on a firm intent to kill, and the consequences of
taking five people's lives are grave," Presiding Judge Atsushi Yamaguchi said
in delivering a unanimous decision by the 5 judges.
Upholding lower court decisions, the top court acknowledged that Homi was
mentally competent to be held fully responsible for his conduct even though he
had been diagnosed as suffering from a type of delusional disorder at the time
of the crime.
"Delusion affected the development of the motive, but he carried out the
killings based on his own sense of values. The influence of delusion on his
actions was not that significant," it said.
According to the ruling at the Yamaguchi District Court in 2015, Homi killed a
woman and a couple, all in their 70s, by bludgeoning them in the head with a
wooden pole before setting fire to their homes in the mountainous community of
Shunan, in July 2013. He was also convicted of murdering 2 more elderly people.
Homi believed he had been harassed by his neighbors, and he attacked them to
retaliate, the ruling said. The sentence was upheld at the Hiroshima High Court
in 2016.
Homi and his lawyers had pleaded not guilty, claiming he could not be held
criminally responsible by reason of insanity or diminished mental capacity.
(source: The Mainichi)
THAILAND:
Thai man given death sentence for horrific rape/murder of German tourist
A 23 year old Thai man has been given the death sentence by the Chonburi court
for the brutal rape and murder of a 27 year old German tourist on the island of
Koh Si Chang in April.
Ronakorn "Pon" Romreun will die for the crime after battering Mariam Beelte
with wood and rocks and burying her corpse under stones in an effort at
concealment.
The murder on April 7th shocked the small Koh Si Chang community that "Pon" was
a part of. It also made international news around the world.
The court heard how Pon and Ms Beelte had encountered each other at the foot of
a series of stone steps that led up to a site of the flag of Rama V on the
holiday island.
She parked her rented motorcycle but rejected the Thai man's approach after he
bought her flowers. He followed her as she climbed the 360 steps.
Near the top and weakened by the climb she was attacked and raped by Pon on the
steps. He then hit her with a piece of wood. She fought back and managed to try
and flee down the steps.
He hit her with a rock on the head that caused her to fall.
He then turned her over and repeatedly smashed her head and face with rocks
until she was dead.
He then dragged her into the undergrowth where he covered her with rocks.
The body was soon discovered and police made a quick arrest and Pon admitted
the crime.
He was also high on drugs at the time of the rape and murder.
The court handed down the death sentence and ordered the seizure of rocks that
were part of the evidence presented in the case.
Thaivisa notes that Thailand carried out its first execution of a prisoner on
death row for 9 years last June.
Teerasak Longji, 26, was killed by lethal injection at Bangkok's Bang Kwang
prison. He had been convicted of aggravated murder.
Officials were tight lipped at the time about the execution with anti-death
penalty activists surprised by the move.
Many prisoners sit on death row but the penalty has rarely been carried out in
recent years with the previous execution having been carried out in 2009.
(source: ThaiVisa News)
INDIA:
India includes death penalty in child abuse law
The Indian cabinet has cleared amendments to an existing gender-neutral law
against sexual abuse of children introducing the provision of death penalty in
cases of aggravated sexual offences and more stringent penal provisions aimed
at clamping down on child pornography.
The 14 amendments to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO)
Act 2012 was okayed at a meeting of the cabinet chaired by the country's Prime
Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday evening.
The amendments will make punishment more stringent for committing sexual crimes
against children including death penalty and also provide for levy of fines and
imprisonment to curb child pornography,” Information and Broadcasting Minister
Prakash Javadekar told reporters.
The amendments, first cleared by the Cabinet in 2018, were introduced as a Bill
in the Lok Sabha in February but could not be passed because of the
announcement of parliamentary elections, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
Among others, the amendments seek to award the death penalty in cases of
aggravated penetrative sexual assault of children, making it gender neutral.
The amendments also bring in a section to penalise the possession of child
pornography with up to 3 years in jail.
The amendments also include introduction of some new sections which aim at
making punishments for crimes against children, including digital offences,
more stringent. These include amendments to Sections 4, 5 and 6 of the POSCO
Act to increase the punishment from 7 to 10 years, from 10 to 20 years and from
20 to life imprisonment and death.
Amendments to Sections 14 and 15 of the Act aim to regulate child pornography,
by proposing punishments ranging from a fine of Rs 1000 to imprisonment for up
to seven years for storing, not deleting or reporting, and producing child
pornography for commercial purposes.
The amendments also penalise the transmission of pornographic material to
children and proposes a synchronising of this with the Information Technology
Act.
An official statement termed the amendments as a “historic decision” to protect
the children from sexual offences.
The amendments are expected to discourage the trend of child sexual abuse by
acting as a deterrent due to strong penal provisions incorporated in the Act,
it said adding it also “intends to protect the interest of vulnerable children
in times of distress (natural disaster and violence) and ensures their safety
and dignity.”
The POCSO Act, 2012 was enacted to protect children from offences of sexual
assault, sexual harassment and pornography. The Act defines a child as any
person below 18 years of age.
(source: The Daily Star)
******************
Bhopal Court Awards Death Penalty to Man for Raping, Murdering Minor----The
girl had gone missing after she came out of her house on June 8 to make a
purchase. Her body was found next morning near a drain in the area.
In a speedy judgment, a Bhopal court on Thursday awarded death sentence to a
35-year-old man for raping and killing a minor girl last month.
Special Judge (for POCSO cases) Kumudini Patel pronounced the punishment to
Vishnu Bamora on 2 separate offences under Indian Penal Code Sections 302
(murder) and 376-AB (raping a girl of 12-year-old and below).
The convict was also sentenced to life for the offence of unnatural sex with
the eight-year-old girl, state prosecution cell's spokesperson Sudha Vijay
Singh Bhadoriya told PTI.
The judge also awarded him three years' and seven years' imprisonments under
IPC Sections 363 and 366, respectively, for kidnapping the minor and abduction
for forced and illicit intercourse, Bhadoriya said.
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court ordered all the
sentences to run concurrently, she said.
Bamora was pronounced guilty on the basis of reports of the DNA test conducted
by the Bhopal and Sagar-based forensic science laboratories and taking into
account other vital aspects, she said.
The judge examined 30 prosecution witnesses before awarding the punishment.
The girl went missing after she came out of her house in Kamla Nagar area here
on June 8 to make a purchase. Her body was found next morning near a drain in
the area.
Bamora was arrested from Mortakka village in Khandwa on June 10 for raping and
smothering the minor girl.
A 108-page charge sheet was filed against him on June 12, said Bhadoriya.
(source: news18.com)
**********************
Government approves changes in POCSO Act, includes death penalty for sexual
offences against children----The amendments in the Protection of Children from
Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act also provide for fines and imprisonment to curb
child pornography.
To combat rising cases of child sex abuse, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday
approved amendments to strengthen the POCSO Act by including death penalty for
aggravated sexual assault on children, besides providing stringent punishments
for other crimes against minors, officials said.
The proposed changes in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO)
Act also provide for fines and imprisonment to curb child pornography.
The modification in the law will address the need for stringent measures
against rising trend of child sex abuse in the country and combat the menace of
relatively new kind of crimes, the government said, stressing that the strong
penal provisions will act as a deterrent.
"It intends to protect the interests of vulnerable children in times of
distress and ensures their safety and dignity. The amendment is aimed at
establishing clarity regarding the aspects of child abuse and punishment
thereof," it said.
The government, in a statement, said the amendments in Section-2, 4, 5, 6, 9,
14, 15, 34,42 and 45 of the POCSO Act, 2012 are being made to address the
aspects of child sexual abuse in an appropriate manner.
"Section-4, 5 and 6 are proposed to be amended to provide option of stringent
punishment, including death penalty, for committing sexual assault and
aggravated penetrative sexual assault crime on a child to protect the children
from sexual abuse," it said.
(source: economictimes.indiatimes.com)
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY:
Rights group denounces death sentence issued by a Gaza court
Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights denounced today a death sentence issued
yesterday by a Gaza court against a 69-year-old resident of northern Gaza
convicted on charges of premeditated murder.
It said this is the second death sentence issued in Gaza this year and the 16th
since the accession of the State of Palestine to the Protocol on the abolition
of the death penalty when President Mahmoud Abbas signed on June 7, 2018 the
papers to accede to the second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights of 1989 on abolition of the death penalty.
Al-Mezan condemned issuing death sentences in the Gaza Strip, particularly
since Palestine has joined the Protocol on the abolition of the death penalty,
stressing the need to find other, more effective penalties to stop serious
crimes since the death penalty has proved ineffective in reducing crimes.
It called for putting an end to issuing death sentences and to cancel it in
total.
(source: wafa.ps)
TAIWAN:
Taiwan court confirms death sentence for arsonist who killed 6----1st death
sentence in 2 years, no appeals possible
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (July 10) confirmed the death penalty against a
man who committed arson on Lunar New Year’s Eve, killing 6 people including
both his parents, and injuring 4.
Weng Jen-hsien harbored a long-time grudge against his parents and brother, so
he waited until a total of 16 relatives and friends had gathered to celebrate
Lunar New Year’s Eve on February 7, 2016, at the family home in Longtan,
Taoyuan City, before setting light to gasoline inside the house, the Central
News Agency reported.
During the fire, 6 people perished, including both his parents and a nurse, and
4 more were left with injuries.
Both the district and the high court sentenced Weng to death, but the 1st time
the case came in front of the Supreme Court, it sent it back to the high court,
which once again ruled that the arsonist needed to be kept away from society
for ever, confirming the death sentence.
This time, the Supreme Court agreed, leaving no room for appeals. Wednesday’s
verdict was the 1st death sentence in exactly 2 years, according to CNA. Some
members of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party have advocated the abolition
of capital punishment, but public opinion in Taiwan has long been opposed to
any change.
(source: Taiwan News)
MOROCCO:
Morocco trial nears end for 24 suspects in killing of Scandinavian
hikers----Prosecutors have called for the death penalty for the 3 main
extremist suspects
The trial of the suspected extremist killers of 2 Scandinavian women hikers
beheaded in Morocco's High Atlas mountains last December neared its close on
Thursday as lawyers prepared to deliver their final arguments.
Prosecutors have called for the death penalty for the 3 main militant suspects
behind the "bloodthirsty" murder of the young Scandinavians.
The maximum sentence was sought for 25-year-old suspected ringleader Abdessamad
Ejjoud and 2 radicalised Moroccans, although the country has had a de facto
freeze on executions since 1993.
Petitions on social media have called for their execution.
The 3 admitted to killing Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and
28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland.
The prosecution has called for jail terms of between 15 years and life for the
21 other defendants on trial since May 2 before an anti-terror court in Sale,
near Rabat.
The life sentence has been sought for Abderrahim Khayali, a 33-year-old
plumber, who had accompanied the three assailants but left the scene before the
murders.
The prosecution called for 20 years in jail for Kevin Zoller Guervos, a
Spanish-Swiss convert to Islam.
All but three of those on trial had said they were supporters of ISIS,
according to the prosecution, although ISIS itself has never claimed
responsibility for the murders.
The 3 killers of the girls were "bloodthirsty monsters", the prosecution said,
pointing out that an autopsy report had found 23 injuries on Jespersen's
decapitated body and 7 on that of Ueland.
Ejjoud, an underground imam, had confessed to beheading 1 of the girls and
Younes Ouaziyad, a 27-year-old carpenter, the other, while Rachid Afatti, 33,
had videoed the murders on his mobile.
The defence team said it would call for the judge to take into account
extenuating circumstance.
"We will appeal for mitigating circumstances on account of their precarious
social conditions and psychological disequilibrium," Hafida Mekessaou told AFP.
Khalid Elfataoui, representing Jespersen's family, said she would read out a
"devastating" letter received from the Danish woman's family and demand
compensation of 10 million dirhams (just over $1 million) on their behalf.
The Norwegian woman's family has declined to take part in the trial.
Jespersen's lawyers have accused authorities of having failed to monitor the
activities of some of the suspects before the 2 women camped in an isolated
mountain area had their throats slit.
The brutal killings could have been spared had authorities heeded information
on the behaviour of street vendor Ejjoud, they said.
The alleged ringleader who had been convicted for trying to join ISIS in Syria
was released early from prison in 2015 and went on to meet former inmates and
other individuals without checks by authorities, attorney Khaled El Fataoui
said.
He alleged police had been informed of the activities of the group of men from
an underprivileged background but failed to act.
Lawyer Houssine Raji added the suspects met in Koranic schools run by cleric
Mohamed Al Maghraoui, which had been shut in 2010 under a court decision but
ordered reopened in 2012 by the justice minister.
Investigators have said the "cell" was inspired by IS ideology, but Morocco's
anti-terror chief insisted the accused had no contact with the militant group
in conflict zones.
(source: thenational.ae)
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