July 15
SAUDI ARABIA:
They were convicted of minor crimes as teens and now face beheading and
'crucifixion' in Saudi Arabia
When Ali al-Nimr was 17, he says he was suddenly rammed by a Saudi Arabian
government vehicle while riding his motorcycle through the eastern district of
Qatif.
What happened next would change his life forever.
Al-Nimr was taken to a local police station, where he was beaten so badly he
had to be transferred to a hospital, his lawyer said.
Initially, al-Nimr was hit with relatively minor charges related to his
participation in the widespread 2011 to 2012 Arab Spring demonstrations against
Shia repression in the eastern part of the country, where most of the
population resides.
But when his uncle, the reformist Shia cleric and protest leader Sheikh Nimr
al-Nimr, was arrested, prosecutors ramped up their case. Instead of minor
infractions related to the protests, al-Nimr now stood accused of joining a
terrorist organization, throwing Molotov cocktails and arson.
After being moved to an adult prison at the age of 18, he confessed to a string
of crimes under extreme torture, according to his lawyer, Taha al-Hajji. At
trial, al-Nimr rescinded his confession, but this was ignored by the presiding
judge, according to al-Hajji.
Then, in May 2014, al-Nimr was sentenced to death by "crucifixion," contrary to
Article 37 of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that
no individual should be sentenced to death for crimes committed under the age
of 18. Saudi Arabia is one of the 196 countries that has ratified the CRC.
Al-Nimr, now 24, is not alone. In fact, he is 1 of 3 Saudi Arabian men known to
be on death row who were arrested and charged with crimes allegedly committed
when they were minors.
The cases of al-Nimr, Abdullah al-Zaher, 23, and Dawood al-Marhoon, 24, follow
the brutally familiar pattern of arrest, torture and then, once they could be
tried as adults, being sentenced to death for crimes against the state
committed before they turned 18, according to Reprieve, the human rights
advocates campaigning for their release.
The U.N.'s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, an independent body that
investigates "cases of deprivation of liberty," stated in 2017 that the Arab
Spring protests were "recognized by the international community as peaceful"
and that the trio "did not engage in any violent or hostile acts." The men were
not arrested during the protests -- only after -- and no warrants were
presented at the time of their arrests.
The Saudi Ministry of Justice has not responded to ABC News' request for
comment for this story.
According to Reprieve case files, al-Zaher and al-Marhoon underwent an ordeal
nearly identical to al-Nimr. Reprieve said that on March 3, 2012, 15-year-old
al-Zaher was arrested, beaten, shot at and held in solitary confinement in
Dammam after allegedly participating in protests.
"In prison, Saudi police tortured Abdullah -- including beating him with wire
iron rods -- and forced him to sign a paper that he had not read, without
allowing him to speak to his family or a lawyer," Reprieve wrote.
In May of that year, at 16, after refusing to "spy" on protesters, al-Marhoon
was arrested in Dammam Central Hospital, where he was receiving treatment for
injuries sustained in a traffic accident, Reprieve said.
"The Saudi authorities tortured him for weeks and refused to allow him to
communicate with anyone on the outside world," the organization said. "For two
weeks, Dawood's family had no idea where Saudi authorities were holding him,
and he was prevented from speaking to a lawyer."
Both were transferred to adult prison at the age of 18 and allegedly tortured
into confessing to the crime of "herabah," meaning banditry, according to the
U.N. and Reprieve. The men were tried jointly and sentenced to death by
crucifixion on Oct. 21, 2014, according to Reprieve case files.
Inhumane treatment of 3 young men in government custody, as reported by an
unnamed source, was relayed in a report by the Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention in 2017, in which the men are referred to as "Minors A, B and C," but
their birth dates match those of al-Nimr, al-Marhoon and al-Zaher.
The Working Group concluded that their detentions were "arbitrary," and that
"the adequate remedy would be to release all 3 minors immediately and to accord
them an enforceable right to reparations, in accordance with international
law." Their appeals were rejected in 2015.
In its response to the Working Group, the Saudi government denied the
allegations of torture, unfair trial and trumped-up charges and said "its
criminal justice system provided all the guarantees of fair trial and fair
procedures that were consistent with its international obligations in the field
of human rights under the general principles of an independent judiciary."
The government also said that the men were "fully fledged adults" and that
there were "no violations of its obligations under the Convention of the Rights
of the Child."
All of the men were tried and sentenced in the non-Sharia Specialized Criminal
Court, or SCC, which was set up in 2008, purportedly to deal with terrorism and
state security offences. Generally, the law in Saudi Arabia is Sharia, which is
based on Islamic traditions.
According to the American Bar Association, the court has been acting primarily
in concert with the "longstanding pattern of misusing counterterrorism
resources to stifle dissent" while failing to "effectively investigate and
prosecute terrorism financing emanating from the Kingdom."
"Indeed, in several judgments reviewed, Shia protesters were given the death
sentence solely on the basis of confessions alleged to have been produced
through torture," the Bar Association wrote.
In a review of 7 such cases, including al-Nimr's, the Bar Association found
that "the SCC convicted every defendant on the basis of their 'confessions'
alone, absent any additional evidence of the alleged crimes and although such
evidence should have been readily available based upon the prosecution's
assertions."
Al-Hajji painted a grim picture of the court as well: armed guards at every
turn, no one but the defendant's attorney and a family member allowed in,
surrounded by heavily fortified concrete walls and barriers.
"When I first saw Ali, he looked different than he did in the pictures that his
mother always posts of him," al-Hajji, who attended the first hearing at the
SCC alongside al-Nimr's father, told ABC News. "He was pale, his head was
shaved, and his nose looked swollen and unnatural. I learned later this was
because of the treatment he was exposed to during detention."
Al-Hajji and Reprieve allege that al-Nimr, as well as al-Zaher and al-Marhoon,
were coerced into signing false confessions and denied fair trials. Both
al-Hajji and al-Nimr's father attempted to visit Ali in prison "many times,"
the lawyer said, but were always refused entry, from when he was first assigned
to the case in until his client's sentencing in May 2014. Al-Hajji said the
prison would claim it had not received an order from the court, while the court
would tell him it had in fact sent the order. This wrangling meant al-Nimr's
own lawyer was never allowed to meet Ali in person during his case.
Unable to present a defense to the court, al-Nimr was sentenced to death
without a right to a fair trial, al-Hajji alleges.
Al-Hajji, along with numerous other human rights activists, left Saudi Arabia
to seek asylum in Europe in March 2016. That was 2 months after al-Nimr's uncle
was killed along with 46 other prisoners in January, in a mass execution.
'Their situation is very dangerous'
The official status of al-Nimr, al-Zaher and al-Marhoon is "at risk of imminent
execution," according to the U.N., having not been among the 37 people killed
in a mass execution in April of this year. 6 of the 37 executed then were
minors at the time of their arrests, according to the European Saudi
Organisation for Human Rights, a Europe-based organization that documents human
rights abuses in Saudi Arabia.
The status of "at risk of imminent execution" is used when a defendant has
exhausted all legal remedies. Since there is no notice of an execution date in
Saudi Arabia, a defendant in that position is always at risk of execution.
Al-Zaher and al-Marhoon are being held in solitary confinement in Riyadh's
Al-Ha'ir Prison, while al-Nimr is being held in the General Directorate of
Investigations Prison in Dammam, according to Reprieve. The psychological
impact is "horrible" for the men and their families, al-Hajji said.
"Ali, Abdullah and Dawood's position is now even more difficult than someone
who is scheduled to die, because that person knows he may be executed at any
moment," al-Hajji said. "Their situation is very dangerous. Their families live
in constant dread, never knowing who has been killed. In the midst of such
terrifying and brutal anticipation, some of them may wish for death to end
these horrible feelings."
Since 2014, all 3 men have awaited their executions and "crucifixion," which in
Saudi Arabia means the public display of the body after beheading. According to
Bloomberg, crucifixion is rare in Saudi Arabia. A man from Myanmar was executed
and crucified in 2018 after being accused of stabbing a woman to death, the
outlet said.
Saudi Arabia has one of the highest numbers of executions each year worldwide,
according to ESOHR, with 149 in 2018 and 122 so far in 2019.
Calls from the United Nations for Saudi Arabia to amend its death penalty were
heeded to a certain extent: in 2018, the country amended its juvenile code,
formally commuting the death penalty for those who committed crimes under the
age of 15 to "placement in a home for a period of no more than 10 years."
But U.N. human rights experts said the change wasn't enough, arguing "children
should never be subject to the death penalty." Under the the new rule, the
death penalty is still in effect for al-Nimr, al-Zaher, and al-Marhoon, who
were 17, 16 and 15, respectively, at the time of their arrests.
In April of this year, 3 men also arrested for allegedly committing crimes
while were minors were executed among a group of 37, ignoring a call from the
UNHCR to halt their sentences.
Those men, Mujtaba al-Sweikat, Abdulkarim al-Hawaj and Salman Qureish, had been
charged with offenses that U.N. human rights experts "previously have
considered to represent criminalization of the exercise of fundamental rights,
including freedom of assembly and expression, when they were aged less than 18
years old."
The execution of al-Sweikat, a prospective U.S. college student arrested in the
kingdom at the age of 17, when he was on his way to attend Western Michigan
University, drew especially sharp condemnation from Congresswoman Rashida
Tlaib, D-Mich.
"Saudi Arabia's ruler MBS [Mohammed bin Salman] tortures & executes children,"
she posted on Twitter on April 24. "Already this year, he has killed 100
people. At least 3 today were arrested as teenagers & tortured into false
confessions. He killed them for attending protests! Think about that."
The Arab Spring
The current wave of repression dates back to the 2011 Arab Spring and the
former King Abdullah, according to Ali Adubisi, director of ESOHR, who himself
spent over a year in prison between 2011 and 2012, before he fled.
"In 2011, the eastern region of Saudi Arabia was affected by the Arab Spring,
especially as it suffered from economic and social deprivation as well as
religious discrimination," he said. "The Saudi government's response to these
moves was violent. Live weapons were used against demonstrators and
participants, and then large-scale arrests were carried out … in prisons, the
situation was also worse, more violent as torture and violence increased."
The policies have been continued under the current power axis of Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman and his father, King Salman.
Despite the pair's initially promising a reform agenda, called Vision 2030, the
humanitarian crisis in Yemen and the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal
Khashoggi cast doubts on that effort.
International pressure is key
Sherif Azer, who leads Reprieve's Middle East team, said that the roles of the
U.S. and U.K. are essential if there is going to be a change in the cases.
The Trump administration in particular has drawn criticism for failing to
condemn Saudi Arabia's human rights record, with the president's saying bin
Salman has done "really a spectacular job" at the G-20 summit and defending the
kingdom amid its war in Yemen and the slaying of Khashoggi. The administration
also approved 2 nuclear technology transfers to the kingdom after Khashoggi's
killing, which a U.N. report said was the work of Saudi leadership.
"While Mohammed bin Salman glad-hands world leaders at the G-20 summit, young
men arrested as teenagers sit on Saudi death row, wondering if they will be
beheaded next. The Saudi regime appears to believe it is exempt from
international law, and can execute children with impunity," Azer told ABC News.
"Its western partners, particularly the U.S. and U.K., must stress that there
will be consequences for such lawless and repugnant acts."
In a statement, a U.S. State Department spokesperson condemned the prospective
executions.
"We call on the Government of Saudi Arabia, and all governments, to ensure that
no death penalty is imposed in any case involving a defendant who was a minor
at the time of the arrest or alleged crime," the spokesperson said. "We have
spoken out publicly about our concerns, including in the Human Rights and
International Religious Freedom reports, and continue to do so in our private
diplomatic engagements as well."
In the 2018 report, the State Department mentioned the cases of the three men
and said that "senior embassy and consulate general officials continued to
press the government to respect religious freedom, eliminate discriminatory
enforcement of laws against religious minorities, and promote respect and
tolerance for minority religious practices and beliefs."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also just unveiled the Commission on Unalienable
Rights at the State Department to reinvigorate the country's global approach to
human rights in pursuit of a "moral foreign policy." Yet in an article for The
Wall Street Journal, Pompeo highlighted the cases of Iran and Cuba but made no
mention of Saudi Arabia.
So far this year, 122 people -- 6 were minors at the time of their sentencing
-- have been executed in Saudi Arabia, double the number of executions carried
out by this time last year, according to the EOSHR.
In the U.K., the High Court ruled last month that continued arms sales to Saudi
Arabia were illegal in the context of the Yemen conflict. A U.K. Foreign Office
source told ABC News that the country is opposed to the death penalty in all
cases where international standards are not met, and no aspect of its
commercial relationship prevents them from speaking frankly to Saudi Arabia
about human rights.
"Certainly, international public opinion has turned more towards the reality of
what is happening in Saudi Arabia away from the official Saudi promotion of
reforms," Adubisi told ABC News. "But is it enough? As a number of states have
emphasized in the Human Rights Council, there must be a binding mechanism to
hold violators accountable in Saudi Arabia. This may contribute to the
protection of dozens of lives."
It may take such radical change, either from within Saudi Arabia or because of
pressure from Western nations, to save al-Nimr, al-Zaher, and al-Marhoon.
(source: ABC News)
YEMEN:
Supreme Judicial Council: Death sentencing of 30 detainees is illegal
The Supreme Judicial Council said on Sunday 14 July 2019 that the death
sentence ruled last week by a Houthis-run court in Sana’a against 30 detainees
is illegal.
The state-run Saba News Agency reported that judge, Ali Nasser Salem, chairman
of the Supreme Judicial Council headed on Sunday a meeting in the temporary
capital Aden and discussed the death penalty sentenced by the Houthis-run
Specialized Criminal Court against 30 detainees.
It said that the sentence and any thing issued by this court in Sana’a is
deemed illegal. It explained that the court in Sana’a has no mandate anymore to
issue or hold such trails as the council transferred authority of the court in
April 2018 from Sana’a to Marib, which is under the government’s control.
The Houthis-issued death sentence against 30 detainees has received local and
international condemnation including the US Department of State, the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights and Amnesty International.
(source: Alsahwa Net)
INDIA:
To hang or not to hang? Debate begins on capital punishment, alternative
methods----Plea in Supreme Court?wants execution by hanging to be judged
against global opinion and evolving standards of human decency
The last execution carried out by the state was that of Yakub Memon, in 2015.
Convicted for his role in the 1993 Bombay blasts case, the charted accountant
was hanged at the Nagpur central jail. Relatives weren’t allowed to attend the
event. Instead, his death was witnessed only by a magistrate, a doctor, and a
few prison officials.
Now, nobody but the people present at the spot know how Memon suffered through
his last moments among the living. Did death come instantly, or did he suffer?
They aren’t saying.
Over 1,414 convicts have been hanged since Independence, but there is just as
little information on how agonising their final moments were. So, why has this
issue suddenly become relevant now, after all these years?
At death’s door: An investigation into capital punishment in India
A public interest litigation has once again ignited a moral debate on the
question of hanging a convict by the neck till his eventual death. The
petition, filed in the Supreme Court, wants execution by hanging to be judged
against the backdrop of international opinion and evolving standards of human
decency.
Hanging has been India’s favoured mode of execution for over 100 years now,
although the armed forces also regard death by firing squad as a legal way to
end a convict’s life. The question of the noose was addressed by the Supreme
Court in the Deepa vs Union of India judgment in 1983, almost 34 years ago, but
the horror that accompanies hanging was explicitly expressed only in this one.
Death by hanging: SC asks govt if this is best way to execute convicts
‘Brutal, barbaric, diabolic’: SC upholds death for convicts in 2012 gang rape
case
Justice Bhagwati, in his minority judgement, provided a graphic description of
the execution process. Here’s an extract: “The day before an execution, the
prisoner goes through the harrowing experience of being weighed, measured for
the length of (the) drop to assure breaking of the neck, the size of the neck,
body measurements, et cetera. When the trap springs, he dangles at the end of
the rope. There are times when the neck does not break, and the prisoner
strangles to death. His eyes almost pop out of his head, his tongue swells and
protrudes from his mouth, his neck may or may not break, and the rope claims
large portions of skin and flesh from the side of the face. He urinates, he
defecates, and droppings fall to the floor while witnesses look on, and almost
all executions have had one or more person fainting or being helped out of the
witness room. The prisoner remains dangling from the end of the rope for eight
to 14 minutes before the doctor climbs up a small ladder and listens to his
heartbeats with a stethoscope and pronounces him dead.”
While the case primarily tested the constitutionality of death by hanging, it
also discussed alternative methods of execution. However, the eventual
conclusion was that hanging is indeed the most humane, painless and speedy way
to execute a felon.
Name your poison
•There are 9 common methods of execution: Hanging, firing squad, shooting,
beheading, lethal injection, stoning, lethal gas, electrocution, and a
particularly ghastly one that involves throwing people from a height.
•The most common method is hanging, with as many as 60 countries authorising
this practice.
•The least common methods are electrocution, lethal gas execution and throwing
off heights.
•The United States is the only country to authorise both electrocution and
lethal gas execution.
•Iran is the only country to authorise pushing individuals from heights
Ruling in defence of hanging, the judges said: “Hanging by rope is not a cruel
way to execute the death sentence. The mechanics of hanging have undergone
significant improvement over the years, and it has almost been perfected into a
science. The system is consistent with the obligation of the state to ensure
that the process of execution is conducted with decency and decorum, and
without causing degradation or brutality of any kind.”
The court then looked into alternative methods of execution that are in vogue
elsewhere. Electrocution, lethal gas, shooting and lethal injection were all
dismissed as likely alternatives because they were found to have no
“demonstrable advantage” over hanging.
The option of electrocution was rejected because it was not an “entirely
painless” mode of execution. “Besides, power cuts have been considered as an
impediment in the use of the electric chair in America. With the frequency of
power cuts in our country, the electric chair will become an instrument of
torture,” the judges said.
They also refused to consider lethal injection as a mode of execution, stating
that it was by-and-large an untried method. The firing squad idea was shot down
on the grounds that it was an unreliable technique, and not a very “civilised”
way of ending somebody’s life. The gas chamber method was likewise dubbed as a
complicated one that would expose the prisoner to an uncommon level of torture.
Nevertheless, it has to be acknowledged that a lot has changed since the 1983
judgment. Hanging as a mode of execution has come under severe scrutiny.
In 2003, the Law Commission of India took it upon itself to study the pros and
cons of hanging as the choice mode of execution. This exercise, which invited
comments on the matter from judges, police and members of the legal fraternity,
threw up some astounding results.
According to the study, as many as 80% of the judges said the mode of executing
the death penalty should be changed. They were all in favour of the lethal
injection. However, this method is also known to have its problems, with
several instances of botched-up executions cropping up in recent times.
The jury is still out on the pertinent question of, if not hanging, what is the
best way to legally kill a person? The debate, at least, has begun.
(source: Hindustan Times)
MALAYSIA:
Retired cops: Give judges discretion to mete out death penalty
A group of retired senior police officers want the government to only abolish
provisions of law stipulating mandatory death sentence.
Retired Senior Police Officers Association of Malaysia (Respa) president Tan
Sri Ismail Che Rus said the death sentence could however be retained to give
clear warning to both Malaysians and foreigners that certain offences were
serious enough to warrant the death penalty.
“However, the discretion to award the punishment of death or life sentence in
jail must be given to the presiding judge, who is the best person to apply the
law based on facts before the court,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Ismail, who is the former CID director, said as an example, the perpetrator of
a premeditated killing of a police officer on duty deserved to be hanged while
a convicted drug mule could be sentenced to life imprisonment although the
judge could still impose the capital punishment depending on the reasons and
circumstances.
He said in short, the punishment should fit the degree of the seriousness of
the crime and so, it was better to leave this to the judges’ wisdom.
Respa also called on the government to “clear the air” over the status of
implementing the abolition of capital punishment as this remained unclear.
“There is no mention of the fate of over 1,200 condemned prisoners and whether
the Bill to amend those laws carrying the mandatory death sentence, such as the
Penal Code, Fire Arms (Increase Penalty Act) and Dangerous Drug Act, is ready
to be tabled in Parliament,” Ismail said.
Respa, said Ismail, also reiterated its position of supporting the government
on retaining the Security Offences Special Measures (Sosma), Prevention of
Crime Act (Poca) and Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota), albeit with
amendments.
Ismail said although Respa was aware that the public were calling for the
removal of certain provisions in those laws to make them more in tune with
human rights’ norms, the Review Committee set up by the government would come
up with acceptable solutions to balance security needs and human rights
practices.
On Saturday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong
had said that the Bill to repeal the mandatory death penalty was expected to be
tabled in Parliament in October once the government had decided on the
appropriate prison terms for 11 serious criminal offences, adding that a task
would be set up soon.
(source: thestar.com.my)
SRI LANKA:
Sri Lankan president stands firm on death penalty----MP calls on parliament to
block Maithripala Sirisena’s plans to bring back the hangman’s noose
Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena says he will declare a national day
of mourning if the country’s parliament attempts to block his proposal for
reinstatement of the death penalty.
MP Bandula Lal Bandarigoda has submitted a private member's bill seeking to
block the return of capital punishment after 43 years. His bill also provides
provisions to commute the sentence to one of life imprisonment to those already
on death row.
But President Sirisena insists his decision to reinstate the death penalty will
not be reversed and condemned the very idea of it being debated in parliament.
"That particular day will be marked as one of national mourning," said
President Sirisena on July 14 in Embilipitiya. “The decision to implement the
death penalty will not be reversed.”
The president has ordered the death penalty against four convicted drug dealers
and authorities have already hired two executioners to carry out the first
hangings since Sri Lanka introduced a de facto moratorium in 1976.
The hangmen were selected out of more than 100 applicants who responded to an
advertisement calling for Sri Lankan men aged 18-45 with “excellent moral
character” and “mental strength.”
Sri Lanka has signed international declarations against the death penalty and
the president’s proposal has not enhanced his country’s international standing.
Nor has it gone down well domestically — several written court petitions have
been filed seeking an interim order preventing the implementing of the death
sentence.
Several international rights organizations, including Amnesty International,
have criticized the intended return of the hangman’s noose, noting that 106
countries have already abolished the death penalty.
The Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has called on President Sirisena to
immediately halt his plans to carry out executions.
"We urge the parliament of Sri Lanka to initiate urgent reforms to repeal the
death penalty, a power no one person should possess in a constitutional
democracy based on the rule of law," the CPA said on June 28.
The CPA noted that resuming the death penalty went against decades of Sri
Lanka's domestic and international policy.
"Sri Lanka is obliged under international law to refrain from carrying out the
death penalty,” said the CPA statement.
“Sri Lanka is a signatory to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which both stress the
right to life and oblige states to impose the death penalty in only the most
exceptional circumstances for the most serious crimes.
"All the major religions practiced in Sri Lanka are founded on principles of
non-violence. The re-imposition of the death penalty is a clear violation of
these principles.”
Sri Lankan Catholics, including Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, priests and other
religious leaders, have organized several protest marches and rallies against
the increased use of illegal drugs.
The country has been used for years as a transit point for drugs but now
domestic concerns are growing about the local use of illegal drugs, especially
among young people and children.
President Sirisena said he would not allow drug criminals to destroy younger
generations.
A recent survey conducted by the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board, the
police and the Presidential Task Force on Drug Prevention said about 150,000
children under the age of 18 had become victims of drugs suppliers. Around
6,100 of these were said to be addicted to heroin.
Nearly 100,000 consume heroin daily, of whom 85,000 are boys and 1,500 girls.
About 300,000 Sri Lankan youngsters are reported to be addicted to cannabis,
with 1,500 girls among them.
The police have stepped up their efforts too, with 40,846 people arrested in
connection with drugs trafficking over the past 6 months.
President Sirisena is under political pressure to take strong action to combat
rising crime and terrorism in the wake of the Easter suicide bomb attacks that
killed more than 250 people.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka said in August 2018 that the
death penalty would not solve the drugs menace.
(source: ucanews.com)
**********************
Decision to implement death penalty will not be reversed: President
President Maithripala Sirisena states that if a proposal to suspend the death
penalty is brought to parliament, that the particular day will be marked as a
day of national mourning. The President made this comment at a ceremony held in
Embilipitiya this morning (July 14) to provide 5000 residents of the Mahaweli
region with land deeds.
He further claimed that he will not allow drug addicts and criminals to distort
the future of the country’s children. The President said that just like all the
measures taken against the spread of drugs in the country, that the decision to
implement the death penalty will also not be reversed.
He continued to say that certain people express opposition over this decision
as per the requirements of various foreign forces. The President further
highlighted the need for creating an active voice within the people who truly
love and care for this country and its future generation, to support this
decision.
(source: News 1st)
*********************
Scholarship on death row----Awaiting execution, Indika - 1st convict to obtain
Master’s degree
The 4 ceiling fans, at full speed, didn’t cool down the hot room but,from time
to time,a welcome breeze would blow in through the wide-open door, ruffling the
leaves of a Bo-tree that stood just outside and swaying the orange and yellow
coloured tissue paper decorations that were put up for this year’s Vesak in
May. A man in a white shirt and white shorts was busy stamping on pink cards
next to a typewriter, and another, dressed similarly, helped a man in uniform
to look through a Sinhala newspaper. Another officer was filling up a log book.
This was when 34-year-old Bamunusinghe Arachchige Lakmini Indika Bamunusinghe,
known to all as ‘Indika’, walked in. Clad in a white shirt tied in the front
with two cords, a white sarong and black bata slippers, carrying two ‘CR’note
books and a volume on the life of social revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, Indika
looked determined.
The officers nodded at him acknowledging his presence. He smiled back. If it
had been anyone else, his books would have been remarked on, in this
environment of the Welikada Prison- especially for an inmate on death row.
But not with Indika and not that day. On that day, Indika seemed as
‘revolutionary’ as the political hero he was reading about. Just the day
before, Thursday, July 11, 2019, Indika had made history by becoming the 1st
prison inmate to get a Master’s Degree in Sri Lanka, and the 5th in the world.
He was also Sri Lanka’s 1st prison inmate to get a bachelor’s degree several
years ago.
“I don’t know what life has in store for me, but I wanted to leave a legacy,”
Indika said earnestly during the interview. What motivated this man in the
prime of life, but with death by hanging possibly awaiting him, to take up a
long term study course like a Master’s?
He wanted to give hope and encouragement to his fellow prison inmates to work
hard to reach their own goals despite being cut off from the rest of the world
by thick off white walls.
He earned his Master’s at the University of Kelaniya in Social Science,
Combined Social Sciences,Social Culture, Social Research, and Contemporary
Social Science. Now sitting for the MPhil also at the same university he is
focusing on ‘Sri Lanka’s gang crimes and new trends’ for his thesis.
Indika’s view is that there is no large scale ‘organised crime’ in Sri Lanka.
But there are, he acknowledged, four types of crime that show some
characteristics of what is called‘organised crime’. They are heroin peddling,
illegal arms trade, human trafficking and white-collar crimes where the pawns
pay the price for a bigger man’s deed.
What concerns Indika, a convict-now-turned-student of crime, is the rising
number of gang crime in Sri Lanka. And, as he now prepares to begin further
education in Death Row, he hopes to explore the effect of gang crime on the
whole island. The Government has promised to fund the further studies of this
defier of the death sentence. Even as he continues his wait in the shadow of
death, Indika is ready to persevere and proceed further in his studies.
Photographs from the graduation at the BMICH, the day before, shows a suitably
cloaked Indika accepting his certificate with a wide smile on his face. More
photos from the event, taken later that day, depict a different picture. A deep
frown had replaced the vibrant smile as he posed alongside his loved ones and
well-wishers.
It was a bittersweet moment for him. “I was happy and sad at the same time. I
was happy about my achievements and sad about having to come back to prison.”
It was all overwhelming.
Indika, a former Sub Inspector of Police, is on death row for his alleged
involvement in the murder of businessman Mohamed Siyam in 2013. He was 28 years
old when he was given the death sentence.
He was arrested just 13 days after he got registered to the woman he had loved
for 10 years - Nayana. Undeterred by the conviction of her loved one, Nayana
then played a vital role in Indika’s educational achievements. Indika, at the
same time, has appealed the court’s conviction.
Even as Indika continued his incarceration somewhat sheltered by Sri Lanka’s
moratorium on the death penalty, debate around the death penalty was suddenly
re-ignited with President Maithripala Sirisena’s announcement that it will be
re-instated. Thus, confronted as he was with a looming threat of extinction,
Indika however, persisted with his studies.
Last week the Parliament presented a motion to gazette the ‘Abolishing of the
Death Penalty Bill’,and the Supreme Court earlier this month granted interim
relief in a petition to delay the implementation of the penalty till October
this year. The petition was filed by a death row inmate who was due to be
executed if the death sentence was carried out in accordance with the
President’s wishes.
The country’s prisons, now known as ‘correctional institutes’, house over
24,000 prisoners. Of them 471 inmates are convicted and are in death row. The
number includes 6 women. Another 736 death row inmates have appealed.
Nayana refuses to even contemplate that her husband will be hanged by the State
one day. She has worked tirelessly to help Indika come this far.
She is paying off a loan of Rs. 1 million she took to pay for Indika’s tuition
fees, books, any photocopy material, a laptop and 4 recorders. Every Sunday she
would sit in class alongside future graduates, who were in reality Indika’s
batch mates recording, taking down notes and seeking clarifications for
Indika’s queries from lecturers and making sure he had all of them at least by
the next day. All of this was made possible by the prison authorities who had
obtained approval from the university for this unique master’s exam exercise. .
“I can’t express my happiness in words. I did all of this because I know he
(Indika) has a lot to offer to this world. He will do great things,” Nayana
told the Sunday Observer.
After working 5 days a week and sitting one day in class Nayana said she was
too exhausted to pursue a degree of her own. “He will do it for both of us,”
she said.
There’s also another person who is celebrating Indika’s accomplishments along
with her. Commissioner of Prisons (Rehabilitation) Chandana Ekanayake, who was
then a senior Superintendent at the Welikada Prison, ensured that Indika had at
least the basic facilities to do his studies.
Under his guidance a desk and a reading lamp was set up in Indika’s cell. He
also got involved in getting permission to make necessary arrangements for
Indika to sit for exams inside the prison.
“He is leaving a legacy behind. He showed the world that anyone can achieve
anything with the least of facilities if that person had the determination,”
Commissioner Ekanayake said whose vision is that ‘knowledge is power’.
Indika understands the power of knowledge too. So do his fellow inmates who
would not talk loud or engage in their usual fun activities when he was
studying for an exam. Indika said they were the best friends he could ask for.
“It was not my solo effort. I had an inmate teaching me English, and another- a
former lecturer- helping me with social science. They were all very supportive
and not one put me down. They were all humane,” Indika stressed. He knows that
they would have been at his graduation if they had been given the chance, to
cheer him as he stepped on stage to get his certificate.
Another personal idol that Indika missed on that historic day was his mother
who had passed away in 2016 from health complications. After he was convicted
his mother came to visit him at least 7 times. She would always ask him if he
ate on time, and then ask him to be happy and study. His father does not speak
to him anymore. His brother didn’t come to the graduation too. Nayana was
there, beaming in all the photographs taken that day.
Indika hopes to go home one day. If he does not, he wants the world to know
three things he learned during his journey.
One is that life does not end with death, and a person needs to constantly grow
to take it to the next realm of existence. A 2nd lesson is that it does not
matter what one has already, because a strong mind will help to achieve much. A
third lesson is to set an example to others to also leave an inspiring story
behind for others to learn from.
The Committee for Protecting the Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) Chairman, Attorney
Senaka Perera ,noted that Indika had already become a crusader for prison
inmates. He said that Indika’s story was changing the debate over the death
penalty, and helping all to understand the value of a person. Perera said the
country was trying to revive a system that is rejected by the modern world.
Indika’s idea about the death penalty is a more holistic one. Though he does
not want to go against President Sirisena’s vision, he thoroughly believes in
2nd chances.
“If the Buddha was able to rehabilitate Angulimala who killed 999 people, why
can’t our prison system rehabilitate and send back a positively-oriented inmate
into society?” he asked.
Indika hopes that his interview with the Sunday Observer will take his message
of gratitude to the following people he wanted listed: President Maithripala
Sirisena, Secretary to President Janaka Ranawaka, Western Province Fisheries
Minister Upul (who came to his graduation), politician Yasapala Koralage from
the Western Province, ‘Janaka Aiyya’ from his village, all his lecturers and
the Vice Chancellor of the University, and, his wife Nayana for helping him get
this far.
His future plans, even as he waits in death row, is to obtain a PhD and to
represent Sri Lanka in boxing at the SAARC Games.
(source: Sunday Observer)
CHINA:
China Detains Another Canadian, 12 Taiwanese Amid Rising Tensions
A Canadian citizen has been detained in the Chinese city of Yantai, a Canadian
government spokesman said on July 13, an incident that comes amid chilly
diplomatic relations between the 2 countries.
Global Affairs, as Canada’s foreign ministry is known, didn’t provide further
details or say whether the case was related to the detention of 16 foreign
teachers and students earlier in the week.
Meanwhile, 12 Taiwanese securities analysts were also detained in Shanghai on
July 7, Taiwan Mainland Affairs Council said on July 13.
Relations between China and Canada nosedived last December after Vancouver
police detained Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei
Technologies Co, on a U.S. arrest warrant. Beijing has repeatedly demanded
Meng’s return, and has warned of “severe consequences” if Canada doesn’t
release her.
Meng is indicted in the United States on charges of fraud relating to
violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran.
After Meng’s arrest, China detained 2 Canadians, former diplomat Michael Kovrig
and business consultant Michael Spavor, accusing them of involvement in
stealing state secrets.
The Globe and Mail reported on Jan. 3 that Global Affairs spokesman Guillaume
Bérubé said that at least 13 Canadians had been detained in China since Meng
was arrested last year.
Bérubé confirmed that 8 of the 13 detained Canadians have been released.
Besides Kovrig and Spavor, another Canadian in China, Robert Schellenberg, was
sentenced to death in January for his involvement in a drug case, an escalation
of his previous 15-year prison term. A second Canadian man, Fan Wei, was given
the death penalty in April for drug offenses.
On July 9, police in Xuzhou, a city in northern China’s Jiangsu Province, said
it had detained 19 people on drug-related charges and that 16 of them were
foreigners. Yantai is about 385 miles from Xuzhou.
The British Embassy in Beijing said on July 12 that 4 British nationals were
arrested as part of the drug raid in Xuzhou.
China’s state radio said some of the detained individuals were teachers at an
English education center operated by EF Education First, a privately held Swiss
firm that operates in 114 countries.
(source: The Epoch Times)
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