April 22
SAUDI ARABIA:
Number of Beheadings in Saudi Arabia Rises by 70%
Amid mounting criticism of Saudi Arabia over its human rights record, a new
report by a nonprofit organization shows that the number of beheadings in the
kingdom during the 1st quarter of 2018 rose by over 70 % compared to the same
period last year.
In its latest report published Saturday, the European Saudi Organization for
Human Rights (ESOHR) said executions by the Saudi government in the 1st quarter
of 2018 increased by 72% compared to the corresponding period last year.
According to the report, a number of foreign nationals also face capital
punishment in Saudi Arabia.
The report came against a backdrop of widespread criticism of the kingdom over
its terrible human rights record, including the censorship of free speech,
indiscriminate incarceration of citizens with no due process, or the lack of
basic freedoms for women and girls.
Although the Riyadh government does not disclose any official statistics for
people on death row, ESOHR has confirmed that 42 people are facing imminent
execution, including 8 people who were minors at the time of the offence.
The report has also decried the Saudi regime's move to execute people for
alleged offenses that do not even cross the serious crimes threshold defined by
the international law, noting that the convicts have simply attended peaceful
demonstrations, exercised freedom of speech, or practiced their religious
rites.
Since 2008, Saudi Arabia has rejected all requests for visits by special
independent rapporteurs of the United Nations, who are concerned about the
kingdom's human rights violation, the report added.
In March 2017, Michel Forst, a UN special rapporteur on the situation of human
rights, expressed serious concerns about the situation of human rights
defenders in Saudi Arabia.
Also in a report in September 2017, the UN Secretary General deplored Saudi
Arabia for practicing intimidating acts such as travel bans, freezes on assets
of people, and the use of torture against individuals or groups that
collaborate with the UN institutions or programs.
Figures show that 146 people were decapitated in Saudi Arabia in 2017, of whom
56 were foreigners.
Only in 1 day in July 2017, Saudi Arabia killed 4 people charged with attending
demonstrations.
(source: ifpnews.com)
IRANexecutions
8 Prisoners Including 2 Afghans Executed in Iran
8 prisoners most of whom were charged with murder were secretly executed at
Rajai Shahr Prison.
According to a close source, on the morning of Wednesday, April 18, 8 prisoners
most of whom were charged with murder were executed at Rajai Shahr Prison.
1 of the prisoners were identified as Akbar Eftekhari from ward 6, who had been
in prison for 14 years on murder charges. 5 other prisoners were transferred to
the solitary confinement from different wards of the same prison.
The 2 other prisoners were Afghans transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison from
Ghezel Hesar Prison in order to be executed.
An informed source told IHR, "Unusually strict security measures were taken for
these executions to keep them secret."
According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 240 of the
517 execution sentences in 2017 were implemented due to murder charges.
There is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results
in issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and
intent.
(source: Iran Human Rights)
INDIA:
India approves death penalty for child rapists after 8-year-old murdered
Offenders who rape girls under 12 may now be subject to the death penalty in
India, according to an ordinance passed by India's cabinet Saturday after a
nationwide furor over the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl.
In an emergency meeting, India's cabinet approved an amendment to the law
protecting children from sexual offences that will set the minimum penalty for
the gang rape of a child under 12 to life imprisonment or death, and the
minimum for the rape of a child to 20 years up to a maximum sentence of life or
death. It also doubled, to 20 years, the minimum punishment for the rape of a
child under 16.
The new ordinance also calls for rape cases to be investigated in 2 months and
trials to be concluded in the same span, as well as for new forensic labs and
fast-track courts to be added.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been under fire for his response to the
crisis sparked by the arrest earlier this month of 8 suspects in the January
rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in the northern state of Jammu and
Kashmir.
With a Muslim victim and alleged Hindu assailants, the case rapidly became
polarized, and 2 legislators from Modi's political party were ultimately forced
to step down after they attended a rally in support of the accused. Around the
same time, a legislator from Modi's party was arrested
