Source: Scoop (26 November 2021)
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO2111/S00314/iran-un-experts-say-executions-of-child-offenders-must-stop.htm
GENEVA (25 November 2021) UN human rights experts* today strongly condemned the execution of Arman Abdolali, convicted for an alleged murder committed when he was 17, and demanded that Iran stop sentencing children to death.
There are currently over 85 juvenile offenders on death row in Iran, sentenced to death following processes that significantly violate international human rights law. The majority of those sentenced to death are from marginalized groups or are individuals who themselves have been victims of abuse.
Arman Abdolali was executed at dawn on 24 November. He was transferred to solitary confinement the previous evening.
“We strongly deplore that the authorities proceeded with the execution of juvenile offender Arman Abdolali, in violation of an absolute prohibition under international human rights law,” the experts said.
Arman Abdolali’s execution had been scheduled and re-scheduled at least on six occasions, during which he was transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for his execution only to be returned to his cell at the last minute. Special Procedures mandate holders and experts from Treaty Bodies had on several occasions, including on 12 October, called on the Government to halt his execution.
“This case is emblematic of the deep flaws of the juvenile justice system in the Islamic Republic of Iran and we call on the Government to undertake reforms as a matter of priority,” the experts said. Human rights mechanisms have consistently called on Iran to abolish the death penalty, in particular for juvenile offenders.
“In the meantime, we call on the Government to commute all death sentences issued against juvenile offenders, in line with its international obligations.”
* The experts: Javaid Rehman, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran; Mikiko Otani, Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Nils Melzer, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Showing posts with label juveniles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label juveniles. Show all posts
Monday, 29 November 2021
Monday, 2 November 2020
Saudi justice reform falls short as the death penalty is still inflicted on minors
Source: Asia News.it (30 October 2020)
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Saudi-justice-reform-falls-short-as-the-death-penalty-is-still-inflicted-on-minors-51453.html
Riyadh (AsiaNews) – Saudi prosecutors continue to seek the death penalty in cases involving minors even though the practice was cancelled for crimes committed before the age of 18, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports.
According to the human rights advocacy group, Saudi prosecutors recently called for the execution of eight people, accused of offences of opinion and protest-related crimes. In one case the accused was only nine at the time of the alleged crime.
Last April, King Salman issued a royal decree ending death sentences for crimes committed by minors, imposing instead a maximum sentence of 10 years in a juvenile detention facility. However, the decree has not yet taken effect, and rights groups warn that the death penalty is still in place.
Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Saudi Arabia has signed, the death penalty is outlawed for crimes committed by minors.
Overall, the Wahhabi kingdom has one of the worst human rights records in the world with violations committed mainly by its police and security forces.
Human Rights Watch recently obtained and analysed the charge sheets for two group trials that included the eight men in 2019.
Some of the crimes listed were allegedly committed when the defendants were aged 14 to 17. One of them, now 18, is charged for a nonviolent crime he allegedly committed when he was 9. All eight men have been in pretrial detention for up to two years.
“Saudi spin doctors are marketing judicial reforms as progress,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. But the reality is very different since “prosecutors appear to blatantly ignore them and carry on as usual”.
For Page, “If Saudi Arabia is serious about reforming its criminal justice system, it should start by banning the death penalty against alleged child offenders in all cases.”
In the case of the eight on trial, the prosecutor, who responds directly to the monarch, has levelled charges that do not resemble recognisable crimes, such as “seeking to destabilise the social fabric by participating in protests and funeral processions,” “chanting slogans hostile to the regime,” and “seeking to incite discord and division.”
All of the accused are from Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, where most of the country’s persecuted Shia minority live.
What is more, the new decree does not apply to qisas (retributive justice offences, usually for murder) or hudud crimes, serious crimes defined under the country’s interpretation of Islamic law that carry specific penalties.
Sources told HRW that two of the defendants, al-Nimr and al-Faraj, were denied legal counsel and tortured during questioning at the start of their detention.
Last year, Saudi Arabia executed 37 people in a mass execution. One of them was a minor at the time.
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Saudi-justice-reform-falls-short-as-the-death-penalty-is-still-inflicted-on-minors-51453.html
Riyadh (AsiaNews) – Saudi prosecutors continue to seek the death penalty in cases involving minors even though the practice was cancelled for crimes committed before the age of 18, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports.
According to the human rights advocacy group, Saudi prosecutors recently called for the execution of eight people, accused of offences of opinion and protest-related crimes. In one case the accused was only nine at the time of the alleged crime.
Last April, King Salman issued a royal decree ending death sentences for crimes committed by minors, imposing instead a maximum sentence of 10 years in a juvenile detention facility. However, the decree has not yet taken effect, and rights groups warn that the death penalty is still in place.
Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Saudi Arabia has signed, the death penalty is outlawed for crimes committed by minors.
Overall, the Wahhabi kingdom has one of the worst human rights records in the world with violations committed mainly by its police and security forces.
Human Rights Watch recently obtained and analysed the charge sheets for two group trials that included the eight men in 2019.
Some of the crimes listed were allegedly committed when the defendants were aged 14 to 17. One of them, now 18, is charged for a nonviolent crime he allegedly committed when he was 9. All eight men have been in pretrial detention for up to two years.
“Saudi spin doctors are marketing judicial reforms as progress,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. But the reality is very different since “prosecutors appear to blatantly ignore them and carry on as usual”.
For Page, “If Saudi Arabia is serious about reforming its criminal justice system, it should start by banning the death penalty against alleged child offenders in all cases.”
In the case of the eight on trial, the prosecutor, who responds directly to the monarch, has levelled charges that do not resemble recognisable crimes, such as “seeking to destabilise the social fabric by participating in protests and funeral processions,” “chanting slogans hostile to the regime,” and “seeking to incite discord and division.”
All of the accused are from Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, where most of the country’s persecuted Shia minority live.
What is more, the new decree does not apply to qisas (retributive justice offences, usually for murder) or hudud crimes, serious crimes defined under the country’s interpretation of Islamic law that carry specific penalties.
Sources told HRW that two of the defendants, al-Nimr and al-Faraj, were denied legal counsel and tortured during questioning at the start of their detention.
Last year, Saudi Arabia executed 37 people in a mass execution. One of them was a minor at the time.
Thursday, 30 April 2020
Saudi Arabia eliminates death penalty for minors
Source: Channel News Asia (27 April 2020)
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/saudi-arabia-eliminates-death-penalty-for-minors-12679054
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Sunday (Apr 26) ended the death penalty for crimes committed by minors after effectively abolishing floggings as the kingdom seeks to blunt criticism over its human rights record.
The reforms underscore a push by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to modernise the ultra-conservative kingdom long associated with a fundamentalist strain of Wahhabi Islam.
The death penalty has been eliminated for those convicted of crimes committed while they were minors, Human Rights Commission president Awwad Alawwad said in a statement, citing a royal decree.
"Instead, the individual will receive a prison sentence of no longer than 10 years in a juvenile detention facility," the statement said.
The decree is expected to spare the lives of at least six men from the minority Shiite community who are on death row.
The were accused of taking part in anti-government protests during the Arab Spring uprisings while they were under the age of 18.
United Nations human rights experts made an urgent appeal to Saudi Arabia last year to halt plans to execute them.
"This is an important day for Saudi Arabia," said Awwad Alawwad.
"The decree helps us in establishing a more modern penal code."
The kingdom has one of the world's highest rates of execution, with suspects convicted of terrorism, homicide, rape, armed robbery and drug trafficking facing the death penalty.
Saudi Arabia executed at least 187 people in 2019, according to a tally based on official data, the highest since 1995 when 195 people were put to death.
Since January, 12 people were executed, according to official data.
Human rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns about the fairness of trials in the kingdom, an absolute monarchy governed under a strict form of Islamic law.
On Saturday, the HRC announced Saudi Arabia had effectively abolished flogging as a punishment, which have long drawn condemnation from human rights groups.
The most high-profile instance of flogging in recent years was the case of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi who was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes in 2014 on charges of "insulting" Islam.
But "hudud" or harsher punishment under Islamic law such as floggings are still applicable for serious offences, a Saudi official said.
Hudud, which means "boundaries" in Arabic, is meted out for such sins as rape, murder or theft.
But "hudud" punishments are rarely meted out as many offences must be proved by a confession or be verified by several adult Muslim witnesses, the official added.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/saudi-arabia-eliminates-death-penalty-for-minors-12679054
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Sunday (Apr 26) ended the death penalty for crimes committed by minors after effectively abolishing floggings as the kingdom seeks to blunt criticism over its human rights record.
The reforms underscore a push by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to modernise the ultra-conservative kingdom long associated with a fundamentalist strain of Wahhabi Islam.
The death penalty has been eliminated for those convicted of crimes committed while they were minors, Human Rights Commission president Awwad Alawwad said in a statement, citing a royal decree.
"Instead, the individual will receive a prison sentence of no longer than 10 years in a juvenile detention facility," the statement said.
The decree is expected to spare the lives of at least six men from the minority Shiite community who are on death row.
The were accused of taking part in anti-government protests during the Arab Spring uprisings while they were under the age of 18.
United Nations human rights experts made an urgent appeal to Saudi Arabia last year to halt plans to execute them.
"This is an important day for Saudi Arabia," said Awwad Alawwad.
"The decree helps us in establishing a more modern penal code."
The kingdom has one of the world's highest rates of execution, with suspects convicted of terrorism, homicide, rape, armed robbery and drug trafficking facing the death penalty.
Saudi Arabia executed at least 187 people in 2019, according to a tally based on official data, the highest since 1995 when 195 people were put to death.
Since January, 12 people were executed, according to official data.
Human rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns about the fairness of trials in the kingdom, an absolute monarchy governed under a strict form of Islamic law.
On Saturday, the HRC announced Saudi Arabia had effectively abolished flogging as a punishment, which have long drawn condemnation from human rights groups.
The most high-profile instance of flogging in recent years was the case of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi who was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes in 2014 on charges of "insulting" Islam.
But "hudud" or harsher punishment under Islamic law such as floggings are still applicable for serious offences, a Saudi official said.
Hudud, which means "boundaries" in Arabic, is meted out for such sins as rape, murder or theft.
But "hudud" punishments are rarely meted out as many offences must be proved by a confession or be verified by several adult Muslim witnesses, the official added.
Tuesday, 22 March 2016
Four on death row in Saudi Arabia for terrorism
Source: Channel NewsAsia (12 March 2016)
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/four-on-death-row-in-saud/2596306.html
Death sentences against four Saudi men convicted of terrorism have been confirmed by 13 judges, a Saudi newspaper reported, raising the possibility of a new round of executions two months after 47 people including a prominent Shi'ite cleric were put to death.
International rights groups said the families of three young Shi'ite Muslim men feared their sons, arrested for involvement in anti-government protests while under the age of 18, were among those facing the death penalty. One is a nephew of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, the cleric whose execution in January led to a rupture of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Officials from the Saudi justice ministry and the interior ministry were not immediately available to comment.
Saudi newspaper Okaz said: "The four terrorists awaiting the implementation of the death sentences complement the first group of 47." It said a total of 13 judges had considered the cases in three levels of hearings, but did not identify the four men.
Rights group Reprieve, which campaigns against the death penalty, said: "While details of the four in line for execution remain unclear, the reports will raise fears for three juveniles who are awaiting execution after their sentences ... were upheld in the SCC (Specialised Criminal Court) last year."
The three are Dawoud al-Marhoon, arrested in 2012; Abdullah Hassan al-Zaher, who was 15 when he was arrested in 2011; and Ali al-Nimr, aged 17 when he was detained in 2012. France has called on Saudi Arabia not to execute Nimr, arguing he was a minor at the time.
Amnesty International said: "If these executions go ahead, Saudi Arabia will demonstrate its utter disdain for international law, which prohibits executions of people for crimes committed under the age of 18."
In November last year, two Saudi newspapers reported that Saudi Arabia was planning to execute more than 50 people for "terrorist crimes" that killed more than 100 civilians and 71 security personnel.
The 47 executed on Jan. 2 were mostly Sunnis convicted of al Qaeda attacks in the kingdom a decade ago. Four, including the older Nimr, were members of the Shi'ite minority who were accused of involvement in shooting policemen.
Nimr's execution sparked demonstrations in eastern Saudi Arabia and in Shi'ite Iran, where angry crowds ransacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran, prompting Riyadh to break off ties with Iran.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/four-on-death-row-in-saud/2596306.html
Death sentences against four Saudi men convicted of terrorism have been confirmed by 13 judges, a Saudi newspaper reported, raising the possibility of a new round of executions two months after 47 people including a prominent Shi'ite cleric were put to death.
International rights groups said the families of three young Shi'ite Muslim men feared their sons, arrested for involvement in anti-government protests while under the age of 18, were among those facing the death penalty. One is a nephew of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, the cleric whose execution in January led to a rupture of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Officials from the Saudi justice ministry and the interior ministry were not immediately available to comment.
Saudi newspaper Okaz said: "The four terrorists awaiting the implementation of the death sentences complement the first group of 47." It said a total of 13 judges had considered the cases in three levels of hearings, but did not identify the four men.
Rights group Reprieve, which campaigns against the death penalty, said: "While details of the four in line for execution remain unclear, the reports will raise fears for three juveniles who are awaiting execution after their sentences ... were upheld in the SCC (Specialised Criminal Court) last year."
The three are Dawoud al-Marhoon, arrested in 2012; Abdullah Hassan al-Zaher, who was 15 when he was arrested in 2011; and Ali al-Nimr, aged 17 when he was detained in 2012. France has called on Saudi Arabia not to execute Nimr, arguing he was a minor at the time.
Amnesty International said: "If these executions go ahead, Saudi Arabia will demonstrate its utter disdain for international law, which prohibits executions of people for crimes committed under the age of 18."
In November last year, two Saudi newspapers reported that Saudi Arabia was planning to execute more than 50 people for "terrorist crimes" that killed more than 100 civilians and 71 security personnel.
The 47 executed on Jan. 2 were mostly Sunnis convicted of al Qaeda attacks in the kingdom a decade ago. Four, including the older Nimr, were members of the Shi'ite minority who were accused of involvement in shooting policemen.
Nimr's execution sparked demonstrations in eastern Saudi Arabia and in Shi'ite Iran, where angry crowds ransacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran, prompting Riyadh to break off ties with Iran.
Wednesday, 21 October 2015
UN experts slam execution of minors in Iran
Source: France24.com (16 October 2015)
http://www.france24.com/en/20151016-un-execution-iran-death-penalty-minors-united-nations
United Nations human rights experts expressed "outrage and profound sadness" Friday at Iran's execution of two juvenile offenders, urging the country to "stop killing children."
Fatemeh Salbehi was hanged on Tuesday after being found guilty for killing a man she had been forced to marry when she was just 16, becoming the 11th woman to be executed in Iran this year, along with around 700 men.
The UN experts pointed to reported flaws in her trial and appeals process, and warned her execution was a clear breach of international law banning condemning juvenile offenders to death.
They also decried the execution a week earlier of Samad Zahabi, who was sentenced to death in March 2013 for killing a fellow shepherd when he was just 17.
"No notice was provided to Mr. Zahabi's family, nor was the required 48-hour notice provided to his lawyer," the experts said in a statement.
Ahmed Shaheed, the UN's top expert on the rights situation in Iran, said the two executions were "disturbing examples of surging execution rates and questionable fair trial standards in the Islamic Republic of Iran."
The UN expert on summary executions, Christof Heyns, meanwhile slammed the executions as "unlawful killings committed by the State, the equivalent of murders performed by individuals."
"These are profound tragedies that demean the value of human life and sully the reputation of the country," he said, pointing out that "executing a juvenile offender, especially after a questionable trial, directly contravenes the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child." "Iran must immediately stop killing children," he insisted.
Dubravka Simonovic, the expert UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, highlighted the court's lack of consideration for the circumstances surrounding Salbehi's crime, which she said were "emblematic of the struggles victims of domestic abuse face in the judicial system."
"We cannot ignore the serious consequences of psychological, sexual and physical violence in the home on a woman's physical and psychological health," she said.
Highlighting Salbehi's young age at the time of her marriage and her lack of consent, Simonovic voiced concern over the high numbers of early and forced marriages in Iran.
The three experts called on Tehran to immediately establish a moratorium on executions and work towards abolishing the death penalty all together.
http://www.france24.com/en/20151016-un-execution-iran-death-penalty-minors-united-nations
United Nations human rights experts expressed "outrage and profound sadness" Friday at Iran's execution of two juvenile offenders, urging the country to "stop killing children."
Fatemeh Salbehi was hanged on Tuesday after being found guilty for killing a man she had been forced to marry when she was just 16, becoming the 11th woman to be executed in Iran this year, along with around 700 men.
The UN experts pointed to reported flaws in her trial and appeals process, and warned her execution was a clear breach of international law banning condemning juvenile offenders to death.
They also decried the execution a week earlier of Samad Zahabi, who was sentenced to death in March 2013 for killing a fellow shepherd when he was just 17.
"No notice was provided to Mr. Zahabi's family, nor was the required 48-hour notice provided to his lawyer," the experts said in a statement.
Ahmed Shaheed, the UN's top expert on the rights situation in Iran, said the two executions were "disturbing examples of surging execution rates and questionable fair trial standards in the Islamic Republic of Iran."
The UN expert on summary executions, Christof Heyns, meanwhile slammed the executions as "unlawful killings committed by the State, the equivalent of murders performed by individuals."
"These are profound tragedies that demean the value of human life and sully the reputation of the country," he said, pointing out that "executing a juvenile offender, especially after a questionable trial, directly contravenes the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child." "Iran must immediately stop killing children," he insisted.
Dubravka Simonovic, the expert UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, highlighted the court's lack of consideration for the circumstances surrounding Salbehi's crime, which she said were "emblematic of the struggles victims of domestic abuse face in the judicial system."
"We cannot ignore the serious consequences of psychological, sexual and physical violence in the home on a woman's physical and psychological health," she said.
Highlighting Salbehi's young age at the time of her marriage and her lack of consent, Simonovic voiced concern over the high numbers of early and forced marriages in Iran.
The three experts called on Tehran to immediately establish a moratorium on executions and work towards abolishing the death penalty all together.
Friday, 25 September 2015
UN: Riyadh stop the death sentence of Arab Spring protestor
Source: Asia News (23 September 2015)
Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was under age and in high school in 2012 when he joined the protests in the eastern city of Qatif. United Nations officials say he was subjected to violence, torture and abuse by the police; the confession was extorted by force. He faces beheading and crucifixion. In 2015 the Executioner has already killed 134 people in the Saudi kingdom.
UN officials, human rights experts are appealing to the authorities in Riyadh to put a stop to the execution of a young man accused of joining a criminal gang after having participated in the Arab Spring protests when he was a minor. Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was still attending high school when, in 2012, he joined those who were demonstrating to demand reforms and greater democracy in Qatif, a town in the eastern part of the kingdom.In an official statement the UN officials say the young man was repeatedly subjected to torture, abuse, forced to confess and did not receive adequate legal assistance before and during his trial. His appeal was conducted "with a total disregard of international standards".
"Every judgment - the UN report says - that imposes the death penalty on persons who were minors at the time, and their effect, is incompatible with the international obligations assumed by Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, the young man is locked up on death row, and "could be executed at any time." After decapitation, the boy will be crucified by the authorities as a "warning against the criminals."
In addition to the conviction for joining a criminal gang, Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was also indicted for attacking the police. Two other people, also minors at the time, could soon end up in the hands of the Executioner always in connection with protests in Qatif.
Activists and human rights groups say that between January 1985 and June 2015, Saudi Arabia executed at least 2,208 people, about half of them foreigners; among those killed by the Executioner are people with mental disabilities and minors. This year the number of executions has already reached 134, 44 more than in last year's total.
"We appeal to the Saudi authorities - the UN experts conclude - because a moratorium to the use of the death penalty, interrupt the execution of convicted persons and minors at the time. Finally, thorough investigations should be launched into alleged cases of torture".
UN officials, human rights experts are appealing to the authorities in Riyadh to put a stop to the execution of a young man accused of joining a criminal gang after having participated in the Arab Spring protests when he was a minor. Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was still attending high school when, in 2012, he joined those who were demonstrating to demand reforms and greater democracy in Qatif, a town in the eastern part of the kingdom.In an official statement the UN officials say the young man was repeatedly subjected to torture, abuse, forced to confess and did not receive adequate legal assistance before and during his trial. His appeal was conducted "with a total disregard of international standards".
"Every judgment - the UN report says - that imposes the death penalty on persons who were minors at the time, and their effect, is incompatible with the international obligations assumed by Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, the young man is locked up on death row, and "could be executed at any time." After decapitation, the boy will be crucified by the authorities as a "warning against the criminals."
In addition to the conviction for joining a criminal gang, Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was also indicted for attacking the police. Two other people, also minors at the time, could soon end up in the hands of the Executioner always in connection with protests in Qatif.
Activists and human rights groups say that between January 1985 and June 2015, Saudi Arabia executed at least 2,208 people, about half of them foreigners; among those killed by the Executioner are people with mental disabilities and minors. This year the number of executions has already reached 134, 44 more than in last year's total.
"We appeal to the Saudi authorities - the UN experts conclude - because a moratorium to the use of the death penalty, interrupt the execution of convicted persons and minors at the time. Finally, thorough investigations should be launched into alleged cases of torture".
Thursday, 24 September 2015
France urges Saudi Arabia to cancel death penalty for young Shi'ite
Source: Reuters (24 September 2015)
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/france-urges-saudi-arabia/2147032.html
PARIS: France called on Saudi Arabia on Wednesday not to execute a Shi'ite Muslim sentenced to death over his role in anti-government protests, saying he was a minor when he was arrested.
Ali al-Nimr was given the death penalty in May after taking part in demonstrations three years ago for democracy and equal rights in Saudi Arabia's oil-producing Eastern Province.
"France is concerned about the situation of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, who was sentenced to death even though he was a minor at the time of the events," Foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said. "Opposed to the death penalty in all cases and circumstances, we call for the execution to be called off."
France does not usually comment on death penalty cases in Saudi Arabia due to their frequency. It has nurtured strong relations with Riyadh due to its tough stance on their Shi'ite rival Iran and shared positions on Middle East conflicts.
The French statement came a day after United Nations rights experts called on Riyadh to halt Nimr's "imminent execution".
Nimr was convicted of sedition, rioting, protesting and robbery in the Eastern Province district of Qatif, home to many of the Sunni Muslim-ruled kingdom's minority Shi'ites, who say they face entrenched discrimination.
Nimr, who activists said was 17 at the time of his arrest in 2012, was also convicted of chanting anti-state slogans in illegal protests and inciting others to demonstrate, according to state media.
"Saudi Arabia's plans to behead and crucify someone arrested as a child are indefensible," said Donald Campbell, spokesman for international human rights charity Reprieve.
"The international community – particularly Saudi Arabia's close allies, the UK and the U.S. – must stand with the French government and U.N. experts against this outrage, and call on the Saudi authorities to put a halt to this unjustified killing."
The conviction of Nimr, a nephew of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shi'ite cleric who is also on trial, followed that of Rida al-Rubh, 26, the son of another cleric who has been critical of the authorities.
The clerics are part of a group of around a dozen defendants on trial for their part in protests and violent unrest in Qatif, particularly in the village of Awamiya, where police officers and facilities have been attacked.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/france-urges-saudi-arabia/2147032.html
PARIS: France called on Saudi Arabia on Wednesday not to execute a Shi'ite Muslim sentenced to death over his role in anti-government protests, saying he was a minor when he was arrested.
Ali al-Nimr was given the death penalty in May after taking part in demonstrations three years ago for democracy and equal rights in Saudi Arabia's oil-producing Eastern Province.
"France is concerned about the situation of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, who was sentenced to death even though he was a minor at the time of the events," Foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said. "Opposed to the death penalty in all cases and circumstances, we call for the execution to be called off."
France does not usually comment on death penalty cases in Saudi Arabia due to their frequency. It has nurtured strong relations with Riyadh due to its tough stance on their Shi'ite rival Iran and shared positions on Middle East conflicts.
The French statement came a day after United Nations rights experts called on Riyadh to halt Nimr's "imminent execution".
Nimr was convicted of sedition, rioting, protesting and robbery in the Eastern Province district of Qatif, home to many of the Sunni Muslim-ruled kingdom's minority Shi'ites, who say they face entrenched discrimination.
Nimr, who activists said was 17 at the time of his arrest in 2012, was also convicted of chanting anti-state slogans in illegal protests and inciting others to demonstrate, according to state media.
"Saudi Arabia's plans to behead and crucify someone arrested as a child are indefensible," said Donald Campbell, spokesman for international human rights charity Reprieve.
"The international community – particularly Saudi Arabia's close allies, the UK and the U.S. – must stand with the French government and U.N. experts against this outrage, and call on the Saudi authorities to put a halt to this unjustified killing."
The conviction of Nimr, a nephew of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shi'ite cleric who is also on trial, followed that of Rida al-Rubh, 26, the son of another cleric who has been critical of the authorities.
The clerics are part of a group of around a dozen defendants on trial for their part in protests and violent unrest in Qatif, particularly in the village of Awamiya, where police officers and facilities have been attacked.
Thursday, 27 August 2015
Amnesty International Calls Saudi Justice System ‘Faulty,’ Criticizes High Execution Rate
Source: International Business Times (25 August 2015)
http://www.ibtimes.com/amnesty-international-calls-saudi-justice-system-faulty-criticizes-high-execution-2066706
Saudi Arabia executed one person in every two days on an average in less than a year, Amnesty International said in a report Tuesday. The London-based organization released a report, titled “Killing In the Name of Justice: The Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia,” in which it claimed that 175 executions had been carried out in Saudi Arabia from Aug. 2014 to June 2015.
According to the 43-page report, the Saudi regime executed 102 people between January and June 2015. There were 83 executions in 2014. The report also says at least 2,208 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia from January 1985 to June 2015.
Said Boumedouha, acting director of Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa program, called the Saudi justice system “faulty" and claimed that Saudi courts give death sentence to people for witchcraft, apostasy and adultery. The regime follows strict Islamic laws, which order execution for drug smuggling, rape and murder as well.
Iranian news agency Press TV has reported that Saudi authorities execute people for such crimes even if those are committed before the person reaches 18. According to an earlier Amnesty report, Iran is believed to have executed around 700 people in the first six months of 2015. Tehran, however, officially declared that the number was 246.
The Guardian reported that Indonesia decided in May that it will not send any more domestic workers to 21 countries in the Middle East. The decision was made after two Indonesian women, Karni binti Medi Tarsim and Siti Zainab, had been executed by Saudi authorities in April. The women were found guilty of murder.
According to 2014 estimates, Saudi Arabia has the third highest execution rate while the top two positions are held by China and Iran. Iraq and the United States come fourth and fifth consecutively.
http://www.ibtimes.com/amnesty-international-calls-saudi-justice-system-faulty-criticizes-high-execution-2066706
Saudi Arabia executed one person in every two days on an average in less than a year, Amnesty International said in a report Tuesday. The London-based organization released a report, titled “Killing In the Name of Justice: The Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia,” in which it claimed that 175 executions had been carried out in Saudi Arabia from Aug. 2014 to June 2015.
According to the 43-page report, the Saudi regime executed 102 people between January and June 2015. There were 83 executions in 2014. The report also says at least 2,208 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia from January 1985 to June 2015.
Said Boumedouha, acting director of Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa program, called the Saudi justice system “faulty" and claimed that Saudi courts give death sentence to people for witchcraft, apostasy and adultery. The regime follows strict Islamic laws, which order execution for drug smuggling, rape and murder as well.
Iranian news agency Press TV has reported that Saudi authorities execute people for such crimes even if those are committed before the person reaches 18. According to an earlier Amnesty report, Iran is believed to have executed around 700 people in the first six months of 2015. Tehran, however, officially declared that the number was 246.
The Guardian reported that Indonesia decided in May that it will not send any more domestic workers to 21 countries in the Middle East. The decision was made after two Indonesian women, Karni binti Medi Tarsim and Siti Zainab, had been executed by Saudi authorities in April. The women were found guilty of murder.
According to 2014 estimates, Saudi Arabia has the third highest execution rate while the top two positions are held by China and Iran. Iraq and the United States come fourth and fifth consecutively.
Tuesday, 18 August 2015
Pakistan hangs Shafqat Hussain despite claim he was a child at time of crime
Source: The Guardian (4 August 2015)
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/04/pakistan-hangs-shafqat-hussain-claim-child-crime
The family of a man hanged in Pakistan despite claims he was a minor at the time of his crime have hit out at the justice system as human rights activists declared it a “deeply sad day” for a country seeing a surge in the number of executions.
Shafqat Hussain, whose execution had been repeatedly postponed amid international pressure, was hanged on Tuesday morning after Pakistan’s courts remained unconvinced by claims that he was a minor at the time he murdered a boy more than a decade ago.
He was executed at 4.30am local time in the central jail in the southern city of Karachi after four last-minute reprieves in recent months.
Pakistan has seen a spree of executions following the lifting of a death penalty moratorium following the attack in December by Taliban militants on a school in Peshawar that killed more than 130 teenagers.
Last week the European Union expressed its concerns about the “alarming pace” of executions, with more than 190 people hanged since December, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
Hussain was sentenced in 2004 by an anti-terrorism court for kidnapping and killing a seven-year-old boy who had gone missing from an apartment building in Karachi, where Hussain worked as a watchman.
The hanging took place despite last-minute attempts to spare him, including a request by the Sindh Human Rights Commission, a statutory body, for a supreme court inquiry into a case that has already been reviewed by the country’s top court.
Abdul Majeed, Hussain’s elder brother, said he and two cousins had rushed to the jail after officials warned them about the likely execution on Tuesday. “Shafqat was already like a dead man by the time we saw him,” he said. “His complexion was yellowish as if he had no blood in his body and he was crying and reciting verses from the Holy Qur’an. He requested us to take care of our old parents.”
He saw Hussain’s body after his execution and said there was a deep cut on his neck, suggesting the hanging had been botched.
Sumaira, Hussain’s sister, said it was impossible to “survive and fight for justice in Pakistan if you are from a poor family”, adding: “We had no money to contest the case or to free him from the cruel police.”
Hussain did benefit from the energies of human rights lawyers who took on his case. Central to their campaign has been the claim that he was just 14 at the time of the alleged crime, and therefore ineligible for execution under Pakistan’s law.
They also argued that Hussain was tortured by police into making a confession.
“Pakistan authorities have never undertaken a proper, judicial investigation into either issue,” the rights group Justice Project Pakistan said after Hussain’s execution. “Instead seizing and refusing to release key evidence such as Shafqat’s school record, which could have provided proof that he was under 18 when he was sentenced to death.”
The police have insisted Hussain was in fact 23 when he was arrested and that his age was never raised during his appeal.
Proving someone’s age can often be fraught with problems in a country were proper records are not always kept. In one court hearing the judges were reduced to an “ocular examination” of old photos of Hussain to try to ascertain his age.
We had no money to contest the case or to free him from the cruel policeShafqat Hussain's sister, Sumaira
Although one birth certificate emerged, the government said it was impossible to prove its authenticity.
Human rights special rapporteurs from the United Nations also became involved last month, complaining that Hussain’s trial “fell short of international standards” for not fully investigating the issue of his age or the allegations of torture.
Despite the vigorous efforts to spare Hussain, lawyers who have reviewed the case have remained unconvinced.
“There is no evidence that he was under age,” said Chaudhry Faisal Hussain, a prominent lawyer. He pointed out that the plea for an investigation into Hussain’s age was dismissed by Islamabad high court judge Athar Minallah, one of the country’s most respected human rights lawyers.
“This case has been needlessly lingered by civil society who want to create a parallel judicial system by creating media trials. Unfortunately people tend to believe what the media says.”
Despite international criticism of the number of executions, the government has remained firm as the death penalty is popular among the public, who widely regard it as an effective deterrent against crime and terrorism. Even a recent threat from the European Union to reconsider an important trade pact in light of the executions has not deterred the government.
“This is another deeply sad day for Pakistan,” said David Griffiths, from the rights group Amnesty International. “A man whose age remains disputed and whose conviction was built around torture has now paid with his life – and for a crime for which the death penalty cannot be imposed under international law.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/04/pakistan-hangs-shafqat-hussain-claim-child-crime
The family of a man hanged in Pakistan despite claims he was a minor at the time of his crime have hit out at the justice system as human rights activists declared it a “deeply sad day” for a country seeing a surge in the number of executions.
Shafqat Hussain, whose execution had been repeatedly postponed amid international pressure, was hanged on Tuesday morning after Pakistan’s courts remained unconvinced by claims that he was a minor at the time he murdered a boy more than a decade ago.
He was executed at 4.30am local time in the central jail in the southern city of Karachi after four last-minute reprieves in recent months.
Pakistan has seen a spree of executions following the lifting of a death penalty moratorium following the attack in December by Taliban militants on a school in Peshawar that killed more than 130 teenagers.
Last week the European Union expressed its concerns about the “alarming pace” of executions, with more than 190 people hanged since December, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
Hussain was sentenced in 2004 by an anti-terrorism court for kidnapping and killing a seven-year-old boy who had gone missing from an apartment building in Karachi, where Hussain worked as a watchman.
The hanging took place despite last-minute attempts to spare him, including a request by the Sindh Human Rights Commission, a statutory body, for a supreme court inquiry into a case that has already been reviewed by the country’s top court.
Abdul Majeed, Hussain’s elder brother, said he and two cousins had rushed to the jail after officials warned them about the likely execution on Tuesday. “Shafqat was already like a dead man by the time we saw him,” he said. “His complexion was yellowish as if he had no blood in his body and he was crying and reciting verses from the Holy Qur’an. He requested us to take care of our old parents.”
He saw Hussain’s body after his execution and said there was a deep cut on his neck, suggesting the hanging had been botched.
Sumaira, Hussain’s sister, said it was impossible to “survive and fight for justice in Pakistan if you are from a poor family”, adding: “We had no money to contest the case or to free him from the cruel police.”
Hussain did benefit from the energies of human rights lawyers who took on his case. Central to their campaign has been the claim that he was just 14 at the time of the alleged crime, and therefore ineligible for execution under Pakistan’s law.
They also argued that Hussain was tortured by police into making a confession.
“Pakistan authorities have never undertaken a proper, judicial investigation into either issue,” the rights group Justice Project Pakistan said after Hussain’s execution. “Instead seizing and refusing to release key evidence such as Shafqat’s school record, which could have provided proof that he was under 18 when he was sentenced to death.”
The police have insisted Hussain was in fact 23 when he was arrested and that his age was never raised during his appeal.
Proving someone’s age can often be fraught with problems in a country were proper records are not always kept. In one court hearing the judges were reduced to an “ocular examination” of old photos of Hussain to try to ascertain his age.
We had no money to contest the case or to free him from the cruel policeShafqat Hussain's sister, Sumaira
Although one birth certificate emerged, the government said it was impossible to prove its authenticity.
Human rights special rapporteurs from the United Nations also became involved last month, complaining that Hussain’s trial “fell short of international standards” for not fully investigating the issue of his age or the allegations of torture.
Despite the vigorous efforts to spare Hussain, lawyers who have reviewed the case have remained unconvinced.
“There is no evidence that he was under age,” said Chaudhry Faisal Hussain, a prominent lawyer. He pointed out that the plea for an investigation into Hussain’s age was dismissed by Islamabad high court judge Athar Minallah, one of the country’s most respected human rights lawyers.
“This case has been needlessly lingered by civil society who want to create a parallel judicial system by creating media trials. Unfortunately people tend to believe what the media says.”
Despite international criticism of the number of executions, the government has remained firm as the death penalty is popular among the public, who widely regard it as an effective deterrent against crime and terrorism. Even a recent threat from the European Union to reconsider an important trade pact in light of the executions has not deterred the government.
“This is another deeply sad day for Pakistan,” said David Griffiths, from the rights group Amnesty International. “A man whose age remains disputed and whose conviction was built around torture has now paid with his life – and for a crime for which the death penalty cannot be imposed under international law.”
Pakistan clearing its death row backlog
Source: DW Made for minds (4 August 2015)
Despite rights group protests, Pakistan has hanged 'teenage' convict Shafqat Hussain. But the resumption of executions as a tool in the fight against terror is just a populist pretext, says DW's Florian Weigand.
To put it bluntly, I am against the death penalty. The punishment is, in essence, inhumane. It is often forgotten that it also burdens the judges with an enormous responsibility when they have to decide over life and death, particularly in cases where there is even the slightest doubt as to the defendant's guilt.
The Pakistani judiciary does not seem to be giving much thought to this responsibility. Since the government in Islamabad lifted the moratorium on capital punishment last December, 180 people have been executed. A further 8,000 prisoners in the South Asian nation's jails are awaiting the same fate.
It is not only suspected terrorists who are facing the death sentence in Pakistan. Capital punishment was actually reinstated to send those convicted of terrorism to the gallows - a reaction to the Taliban massacre at a Peshawar school, in which more than 150 people were killed, most of them children.
But, unfortunately, it now seems as if the proponents of the death penalty used this horrible incident as a populist excuse for a general resumption of executions. Even worse is the fact that death sentences are carried out even when there are doubts regarding the guilt of the offenders, as demonstrated in the case of Shafqat Hussain.
Pakistan just seems eager to clear its death row backlog. And it affects, as is the case elsewhere in the world, the underprivileged.
Shafqat Hussain comes from a poor Kashmiri family, on the edge of the Himalayas. There is no birth certificate that could prove he was a minor at the time of the crime. The family couldn't afford an effective and professional legal defense team. And the Pakistani judges seemed unaffected by UN demands to re-examine the case.
This combination of poverty, dubious legal proceedings and contempt for international criticism sends a devastating signal for similar cases. The case of Asia Bibi, for instance, has reverberated across the world.
As a member of a Christian minority, she stands accused of committing blasphemy against Islam - a crime punishable by death in Pakistan. Asia Bibi, whose case is based solely on accusations, is also from a poor background and received rudimentary education, at best.
She can't afford an expensive lawyer, and anyone defending her potentially endangers their own lives as they will be viewed as protecting a "blasphemer." This is why international human rights organizations have stepped into the breach. Even the pope has intervened on behalf of the fellow Christian.
Should her judges proceed in the same way as in the Shafqat Hussain case, then Asia Bibi will become another victim of Pakistan's judicial system. Even worse, the latest wave of executions could serve those seeking to get rid of political opponents, disturbing peasants or common people involved in land disputes or other kinds of private squabbles.
This is yet another reason why executions must be stopped - not only in Pakistan. Whoever ends up behind bars should have the opportunity to either be released or compensated, should conditions change at a later stage. An execution, however, is irreversible.
Despite rights group protests, Pakistan has hanged 'teenage' convict Shafqat Hussain. But the resumption of executions as a tool in the fight against terror is just a populist pretext, says DW's Florian Weigand.
To put it bluntly, I am against the death penalty. The punishment is, in essence, inhumane. It is often forgotten that it also burdens the judges with an enormous responsibility when they have to decide over life and death, particularly in cases where there is even the slightest doubt as to the defendant's guilt.
The Pakistani judiciary does not seem to be giving much thought to this responsibility. Since the government in Islamabad lifted the moratorium on capital punishment last December, 180 people have been executed. A further 8,000 prisoners in the South Asian nation's jails are awaiting the same fate.
It is not only suspected terrorists who are facing the death sentence in Pakistan. Capital punishment was actually reinstated to send those convicted of terrorism to the gallows - a reaction to the Taliban massacre at a Peshawar school, in which more than 150 people were killed, most of them children.
But, unfortunately, it now seems as if the proponents of the death penalty used this horrible incident as a populist excuse for a general resumption of executions. Even worse is the fact that death sentences are carried out even when there are doubts regarding the guilt of the offenders, as demonstrated in the case of Shafqat Hussain.
Pakistan just seems eager to clear its death row backlog. And it affects, as is the case elsewhere in the world, the underprivileged.
Shafqat Hussain comes from a poor Kashmiri family, on the edge of the Himalayas. There is no birth certificate that could prove he was a minor at the time of the crime. The family couldn't afford an effective and professional legal defense team. And the Pakistani judges seemed unaffected by UN demands to re-examine the case.
This combination of poverty, dubious legal proceedings and contempt for international criticism sends a devastating signal for similar cases. The case of Asia Bibi, for instance, has reverberated across the world.
As a member of a Christian minority, she stands accused of committing blasphemy against Islam - a crime punishable by death in Pakistan. Asia Bibi, whose case is based solely on accusations, is also from a poor background and received rudimentary education, at best.
She can't afford an expensive lawyer, and anyone defending her potentially endangers their own lives as they will be viewed as protecting a "blasphemer." This is why international human rights organizations have stepped into the breach. Even the pope has intervened on behalf of the fellow Christian.
Should her judges proceed in the same way as in the Shafqat Hussain case, then Asia Bibi will become another victim of Pakistan's judicial system. Even worse, the latest wave of executions could serve those seeking to get rid of political opponents, disturbing peasants or common people involved in land disputes or other kinds of private squabbles.
This is yet another reason why executions must be stopped - not only in Pakistan. Whoever ends up behind bars should have the opportunity to either be released or compensated, should conditions change at a later stage. An execution, however, is irreversible.
Friday, 3 July 2015
Iran executes hundreds in brutal crane hangings at mega-prison outside Tehran
Source: International Business Times (2 July 2015)
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/iran-executes-hundreds-brutal-crane-hangings-mega-prison-outside-tehran-1508986
Almost 400 people were executed for drug-related charges and about 108 for murder. IHR also said at least seven prisoners, all of whom were Kurdish, were killed for their political or ideological affiliations, amid allegations of unfair trials.
The remaining 70 inmates were killed for sexual crimes, mainly rape, and for "waging war against God" and "corruption on heart".
Nearly 40% of the executions were announced by official Iranian media and 34 people were executed in public spaces.
Hanging is a 'slow torture' in Iran
All the executions were carried out by hanging. IHR spokesperson Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam told IBTimes UK that there are different ways of hanging inmates. In Iran, prisoners are usually pulled up by their necks with the use of cranes.
"It takes them many minutes to die, it's a way of torturing them along with the execution," Amiry-Moghaddam said. "Two years ago, a man had survived 14 minutes of hanging before dying. So hanging is not intended as the standard way of momentary pain. It's not that they just die, it is a slow strangulation."
IHR urged the international community to put pressure on Iran to halt pending executions and reduce its rate of use of the death penalty.
"We are talking about the worst execution surge in more than 20 years in Iran and this is happening while the relations between Iran and the European countries have not been better in many years," Amiry-Moghaddam said.
"The government of Mr Rouhani have defended the executions and in some cases members of his cabinet have asked for more. Besides the large number of executions, unfair trials and widespread use of torture to get confessions are major issues of concern."Saman Naseem was sentenced to death at the age of 17 following a gun battle in Sardasht between the Revolutionary Guards and Kurdish militant organisation PJAK(Amnesty)
Execution of juvenile offenders
The NGO also warned the Islamic republic executed at least one juvenile offender in 2015. Javad Saberi was hanged at the Rajaishahr prison of Karaj after being convicted of murder, despite the fact he suffered from mental illness.
The execution of juvenile offenders is in breach of both domestic and international laws. Iran allows capital punishment for juveniles in case of "qesas" (retribution-in-kind) and "hodoud" (offences and punishments for which there are fixed penalties under Islamic law).
However, article 91 of the Islamic Penal Code excludes the death penalty if the juvenile offender did not understand the nature of the crime or its consequences, or if there are doubts about their mental capacity.
The high-profile case of Saman Naseem, a 24-year-old man sentenced to death at the age of 17 and whose whereabouts are unknown today, prompted the international community to criticise Iran after it announced Naseem's execution.
Following pressure by several NGOs, Naseem has gone missing from his prison cell and his family do not know whether he is dead or alive.
Naseem was sentenced to death after being charged with "enmity against God" and "corruption on Earth", following a gun battle in Sardasht between the Revolutionary Guards and Kurdish militant organisation PJAK, of which he is believed to be a member.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/iran-executes-hundreds-brutal-crane-hangings-mega-prison-outside-tehran-1508986
Almost 400 people were executed for drug-related charges and about 108 for murder. IHR also said at least seven prisoners, all of whom were Kurdish, were killed for their political or ideological affiliations, amid allegations of unfair trials.
The remaining 70 inmates were killed for sexual crimes, mainly rape, and for "waging war against God" and "corruption on heart".
Nearly 40% of the executions were announced by official Iranian media and 34 people were executed in public spaces.
Hanging is a 'slow torture' in Iran
All the executions were carried out by hanging. IHR spokesperson Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam told IBTimes UK that there are different ways of hanging inmates. In Iran, prisoners are usually pulled up by their necks with the use of cranes.
"It takes them many minutes to die, it's a way of torturing them along with the execution," Amiry-Moghaddam said. "Two years ago, a man had survived 14 minutes of hanging before dying. So hanging is not intended as the standard way of momentary pain. It's not that they just die, it is a slow strangulation."
IHR urged the international community to put pressure on Iran to halt pending executions and reduce its rate of use of the death penalty.
"We are talking about the worst execution surge in more than 20 years in Iran and this is happening while the relations between Iran and the European countries have not been better in many years," Amiry-Moghaddam said.
"The government of Mr Rouhani have defended the executions and in some cases members of his cabinet have asked for more. Besides the large number of executions, unfair trials and widespread use of torture to get confessions are major issues of concern."Saman Naseem was sentenced to death at the age of 17 following a gun battle in Sardasht between the Revolutionary Guards and Kurdish militant organisation PJAK(Amnesty)
Execution of juvenile offenders
The NGO also warned the Islamic republic executed at least one juvenile offender in 2015. Javad Saberi was hanged at the Rajaishahr prison of Karaj after being convicted of murder, despite the fact he suffered from mental illness.
The execution of juvenile offenders is in breach of both domestic and international laws. Iran allows capital punishment for juveniles in case of "qesas" (retribution-in-kind) and "hodoud" (offences and punishments for which there are fixed penalties under Islamic law).
However, article 91 of the Islamic Penal Code excludes the death penalty if the juvenile offender did not understand the nature of the crime or its consequences, or if there are doubts about their mental capacity.
The high-profile case of Saman Naseem, a 24-year-old man sentenced to death at the age of 17 and whose whereabouts are unknown today, prompted the international community to criticise Iran after it announced Naseem's execution.
Following pressure by several NGOs, Naseem has gone missing from his prison cell and his family do not know whether he is dead or alive.
Naseem was sentenced to death after being charged with "enmity against God" and "corruption on Earth", following a gun battle in Sardasht between the Revolutionary Guards and Kurdish militant organisation PJAK, of which he is believed to be a member.
Tuesday, 12 May 2015
Iran hardliners cling to death penalty
Source: BBC News (12 May 2015)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32668950
The jailing of a well-known campaigner against the death penalty and a sharp rise in executions has once again put Iran's poor human rights record in the spotlight.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32668950
The jailing of a well-known campaigner against the death penalty and a sharp rise in executions has once again put Iran's poor human rights record in the spotlight.
Why has President Hassan Rouhani and his team failed to meet hopes for reform at home despite making gains on the international stage?
"They took my mummy to Evin prison again," says eight-year-old Kiana.
In their short lives, Kiana and her twin brother, Ali, have seen many arrests and raids on their home.
Their mother is Narges Mohammadi, a well-known human rights lawyer and campaigner, who has been in and out of jail on charges related to her work, for much of the past five years.
In 2012, after suffering severe ill-health, Ms Mohammadi was granted leave to serve the remainder of a six-year prison sentence at home.
But last week while the children were at school, intelligence officials came to the house, with no warning or explanation, and took her back to jail.
One of the charges levelled against Ms Mohammadi was that she was running an "illegal group" campaigning against the death penalty.
It is a tough cause to fight in a country that has the second highest rate of executions in the world, after China.
When President Rouhani swept to power in 2013, there were hopes his more moderate stance would mean improvements in human rights.
But since he took office, the number of executions carried out in Iran has actually risen.
The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights organisation says Iran executed 735 people in 2014 - a 10% increase on the previous year.
In April the group said it had documented 43 judicial killings in Iran in just three days.
It is impossible to independently verify these numbers, but most human right observers say they are credible.
The majority of executions carried out in Iran are for drugs-related offences And in a country with a serious addiction problem, they elicit little public sympathy.
But in the past two years, there have been a number of high-profile death row cases - mainly involving juvenile offenders or women - which have struck a chord with the public, prompting appeals for clemency.
But President Rouhani has so far kept silent about the death penalty.
The main reason is that constitutionally he has very little room to act.
Although he is the elected president, Iran's complex power structure means Mr Rouhani has no power over the judiciary, which answers instead to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Internal suspicion
The judiciary is dominated by hardliners deeply suspicious of the overtures Mr Rouhani has been making to old adversaries such as the US.
The more ground the president gains on the international stage, the more resistance the hardliners will put up to any change to the status quo at home.
Executions in Iran:
In the 18 months since the election of President Rouhani in June 2013, Iranian authorities executed more than 1,193 people. This is an average of more than two executions every day.
The number of executions in that period was 31% higher than the number in the 18 months before President Rouhani assumed power.
The number of juvenile offenders executed in 2014 was the highest since 1990.
Source: Iran Human Rights (March 2015)
"There is an internal conflict going on now between the hard-line judiciary and Rouhani's moderate administration," says Iranian human rights campaigner Taghi Rahmani.
"And it's the activists who are paying the price."
Mr Rahmani is married to Narges Mohammadi, and like his wife a veteran of the Iranian prison system. He has spent 14 years in jail for his political activities.
Ms Mohammadi is not the only campaigner to make the headlines.
In recent weeks, there has been outcry on Iranian opposition social-media sites over the judiciary's treatment of a number of well-known activists.
Ahmad Hashemi is a respected former government official in his 60s who was jailed for supporting the opposition protests in 2009.
In early May, he was allowed out of prison to visit his terminally ill wife only to discover that she had already died and he was in fact going to her funeral.
At the same time Majid Tavakoli, a charismatic student activist, was also given leave towards the end of a four-year prison sentence.
But after just three days at home with his mother, he was suddenly recalled to serve out the remaining two weeks of his sentence.
As Iran prepares to hold a general election in February 2016, the stand-off between moderates and hardliners is expected to intensify, and there are fears that this will lead to a further crackdown on opposition activists, journalists and campaigners.
Taghi Rahmani told the BBC his wife's detention was a warning shot.
"By arresting her, they are trying to send a signal to others to stay quiet," he said.
With international talks over Iran's nuclear programme now approaching a crucial June deadline, President Rouhani is focusing all his efforts on reaching a final agreement.
To clinch a deal, he needs the support of the country's supreme leader. And observers say this means that right now he has neither the time nor the will to address human rights reform or the death penalty.
Mr Rahmani says whatever happens, he and his wife are not planning to give up their political activities.
But it is clear they and their family are paying a heavy price.
Mr Rahmani now lives in self-imposed exile in France and has only seen his children once in the past three years.
With his wife back in jail, Kiana and Ali are now living with their grandmother.
"The one thing I really worry about," he told the BBC.
"Is that one day, my kids might question our decision to take a stand."
Wednesday, 6 May 2015
The Death Penalty in Iran – No Improvement and Broken Promises
Source: Death Penalty Worldwide Blog (16 April 2014)
http://blog.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/2014/04/the-death-penalty-in-iran-no-improvement-and-broken-promises.html
http://blog.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/2014/04/the-death-penalty-in-iran-no-improvement-and-broken-promises.html
Despite a change in leadership and the introduction of an amended penal code, Iran’s aggressive use of the death penalty continues unabated. Our recent assessment of Iran (which you can read here) confirms that hundreds of people are regularly executed every year. Furthermore, Iran has resumed secretly executing large groups of people, after temporarily halting the practice in 2011 due to international criticism. The number of people executed in one occasion has been as high as 50.
Amendments to the Islamic Penal Code in 2013 did not limit the application of the death penalty. On the contrary, the Penal Code retained the death penalty for most crimes that were previously death-eligible and added a few more. It expanded upon the category of national security crimes, including vaguely worded crimes like “sowing corruption” and “armed rebellion,” which further criminalize political dissent. The Penal Code also continues to treat some “crimes” as capital offences even though they do not meet the “most serious” standard under international law, which requires that capital offenses result in the death of a person. Particularly troubling, the amended Penal Code retains stoning as a possible method of execution for individuals convicted of adultery and apostasy.
Iran continues to be the world’s biggest executioner of child offenders, despite requests from the former head of judiciary in 2003 and 2008 that judges not issue execution verdicts for children under eighteen. Based on reports by non-governmental organizations, we estimate that nineteen juveniles have been executed in the past five years. Although the Iranian government has stated that the amended Penal Code abolishes the execution of children, it only prohibits the execution of children for drug offenses and other “discretionary crimes.” Article 91 of the amended Islamic Penal Code permits the execution of juveniles for other offenses, such as crimes under shariah, if judges deem that the juvenile is mature enough to understand the nature and consequences of the offense. Iran Human Rights has reported that just last month, one person was executed for a murder allegedly committed when he was 17.[1]
The new Islamic Penal Code amendments do nothing to improve the administration of the death penalty in Iran. Individuals can be executed for a great number of crimes with minimal due process protections. Iran, regrettably, continues to steer further and further away from compliance with its international human rights obligations.
-- Shubra Ohri
[1] Iran Human Rights, Execution of a minor offender in Iran, http://iranhr.net/2014/03/execution-of-a-minor-offender-in-iran, Mar. 7, 2014.
Saturday, 27 November 2010
Japan: Lay judges sentence 'minor' to death
Lay judges choose ultimate penalty for minor
From: The Yomiuri Shimbun
27 November 2010
A panel of three professional and six lay judges at the Sendai District Court on Thursday sentenced to death a minor who killed two women and seriously injured a man earlier this year.
"Considering the brutality of his crime and the gravity of the harm he caused, we have no option but to choose the ultimate penalty," presiding Judge Nobuyuki Suzuki said.
This is the first death sentence handed down to a minor under the lay judge system since it began last year. Many consider the ruling to be in keeping with the recent trend to toughen punishments for juvenile offenders.
It will likely affect future rulings in lay judge trials dealing with similar cases.
Because the defendant, a former demolition worker, pleaded guilty to the charges against him, the focal point of his trial became what punishment was appropriate. In other words, the judges had to decide whether to rule that he could be rehabilitated and thereby avoid capital punishment, or to give weight to the brutality of his crime and impose the death penalty
Ultimately, the ruling condemned the defendant for committing his crimes in a "relentless, ruthless and particularly atrocious" manner.
Furthermore, the court decided that the defendant's statements of apology were "superficial" and "shallow." It said he has an "extremely low possibility of rehabilitation," and the court could find no reason not to hand down the death sentence.
The crimes took place in February in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. The defendant, who was 18 years and seven months old at the time, broke into his former girlfriend's house and tried to abduct her. When her elder sister and a friend tried to stop him, he killed them with a butcher knife.
The defendant also seriously injured a man who was present. At the time, he was on probation for injuring his own mother.
===
Tougher penalties sought
The Juvenile Law, which has as its basic principles the sound growth and protection of juveniles, was revised in 2000. The changed law made charges of deliberate murder by minors aged 16 or older subject to criminal trials, in principle, because the frequent occurrence of heinous crimes committed by minors has heightened public calls to toughen punishments for juvenile offenders.
The change in the sentence given to a minor who killed a young mother and her baby daughter in Hikari, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in 1999 symbolizes the trend toward harsher penalties for juvenile criminals.
The Hiroshima High Court handed down a ruling of life imprisonment to the defendant, who committed the murders at the age of 18, but the Supreme Court rejected this sentence and sent the case back to the high court.
In its second trial on the murders, the high court sentenced the defendant to death.
In the Miyagi case, the ruling said the defendant's age was not a decisive reason to avoid meting out capital punishment. This reflects the Supreme Court's thinking on the ruling in the mother-daughter murder case.
===
Lay judge 'almost crushed'
According to a survey compiled by the Supreme Court in 2006, more than 90 percent of professional judges said they would commute a sentence if a defendant was a minor. But half of ordinary citizens polled replied they would neither toughen nor commute a sentence against a juvenile defendant.
Only one-quarter said they would commute a sentence for a juvenile offender.
The results appear to illustrate the public's harsh view on juvenile crimes.
"I was almost crushed under the heavy pressure," said one of the lay judges, who agreed to be questioned at a press conference after the ruling in the Miyagi case. "I want the court to provide mental care for lay judges for as long as necessary."
These are serious problems the court faces every time lay judges have to hand down a heavy sentence.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 26, 2010)
(Nov. 27, 2010)
From: The Yomiuri Shimbun
27 November 2010
A panel of three professional and six lay judges at the Sendai District Court on Thursday sentenced to death a minor who killed two women and seriously injured a man earlier this year.
"Considering the brutality of his crime and the gravity of the harm he caused, we have no option but to choose the ultimate penalty," presiding Judge Nobuyuki Suzuki said.
This is the first death sentence handed down to a minor under the lay judge system since it began last year. Many consider the ruling to be in keeping with the recent trend to toughen punishments for juvenile offenders.
It will likely affect future rulings in lay judge trials dealing with similar cases.
Because the defendant, a former demolition worker, pleaded guilty to the charges against him, the focal point of his trial became what punishment was appropriate. In other words, the judges had to decide whether to rule that he could be rehabilitated and thereby avoid capital punishment, or to give weight to the brutality of his crime and impose the death penalty
Ultimately, the ruling condemned the defendant for committing his crimes in a "relentless, ruthless and particularly atrocious" manner.
Furthermore, the court decided that the defendant's statements of apology were "superficial" and "shallow." It said he has an "extremely low possibility of rehabilitation," and the court could find no reason not to hand down the death sentence.
The crimes took place in February in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. The defendant, who was 18 years and seven months old at the time, broke into his former girlfriend's house and tried to abduct her. When her elder sister and a friend tried to stop him, he killed them with a butcher knife.
The defendant also seriously injured a man who was present. At the time, he was on probation for injuring his own mother.
===
Tougher penalties sought
The Juvenile Law, which has as its basic principles the sound growth and protection of juveniles, was revised in 2000. The changed law made charges of deliberate murder by minors aged 16 or older subject to criminal trials, in principle, because the frequent occurrence of heinous crimes committed by minors has heightened public calls to toughen punishments for juvenile offenders.
The change in the sentence given to a minor who killed a young mother and her baby daughter in Hikari, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in 1999 symbolizes the trend toward harsher penalties for juvenile criminals.
The Hiroshima High Court handed down a ruling of life imprisonment to the defendant, who committed the murders at the age of 18, but the Supreme Court rejected this sentence and sent the case back to the high court.
In its second trial on the murders, the high court sentenced the defendant to death.
In the Miyagi case, the ruling said the defendant's age was not a decisive reason to avoid meting out capital punishment. This reflects the Supreme Court's thinking on the ruling in the mother-daughter murder case.
===
Lay judge 'almost crushed'
According to a survey compiled by the Supreme Court in 2006, more than 90 percent of professional judges said they would commute a sentence if a defendant was a minor. But half of ordinary citizens polled replied they would neither toughen nor commute a sentence against a juvenile defendant.
Only one-quarter said they would commute a sentence for a juvenile offender.
The results appear to illustrate the public's harsh view on juvenile crimes.
"I was almost crushed under the heavy pressure," said one of the lay judges, who agreed to be questioned at a press conference after the ruling in the Miyagi case. "I want the court to provide mental care for lay judges for as long as necessary."
These are serious problems the court faces every time lay judges have to hand down a heavy sentence.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 26, 2010)
(Nov. 27, 2010)
Friday, 27 August 2010
Pakistan: Asian rights group calls for abolition
PAKISTAN: Government urged to commute all death sentences and abolish the death penalty
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 26, 2010
ALRC-CWS-15-08-2010
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Fifteenth session, Agenda Item 3
A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status
The Asian Legal Resource Centre welcomes the discussion by the Human Rights Council during its 15th session concerning the report of the Secretary General on the question of the death penalty. In light of this discussion, the ALRC is hereby submitting information pertaining to the death penalty in Pakistan. The government of Pakistan has failed to abolish the death penalty in spite of the pledge it made in 2008 to commute death sentences to life imprisonment. According to estimates, there are around 7400 prisoners on death row1, the largest number in any country in the world. This number constitutes around one third of the death row prisoners in the world. It must be noted that the government has not carried out judicial executions since September 2008, which are typically carried out by hanging in Pakistan, but condemned prisoners remain seriously concerned for their future, as do their family members, while the death penalty remains in place. Many among them have already spent more than 10 years in prison. The ALRC recalls that prolonged detention on death row is at the very least cruel and inhuman treatment and therefore constitutes a violation of these persons' rights in of itself.
Prior to the present hiatus to executions, Pakistan was amongst the countries in the world which executed the highest number of persons each year. To date 128 countries have abolished the death penalty, and of those that have not, only around half carry out executions. Pakistan voted against a United Nation General Assembly resolution for a moratorium on the death penalty in December 2007.
The government of Pakistan has promised since June 21, 2008 to commute death sentences on several occasions, but little action has been taken to put this into effect. Reports have indicated that in some prisons, prisoners sentenced to death have been moved from death row cells to other barracks, but remain separated from other prisoners. Pakistan’s death penalty has been commuted before. Former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and founder of the current ruling party, the Pakistan People's Party, commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment but he was later executed by the military.
The country's parliamentary bodies - the national assembly and senate - in mid-April 2010 approved the eighteenth amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, deleting the majority of the amendments made by past military rulers, but the parliament has not touched the amendment made to the constitution by General Zia Ulhaq comprising the death penalty. In the 1970s, the government led by the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto raised the minimum term of a life sentence from 14 to 25 years with the idea that capital punishment would be abolished in the years to come. However, this did not materialize and General Zia, the country's military ruler from 1977 to 1988, kept both the death penalty and the increased life sentence intact through an ordinance which was later incorporated in the Constitution. Mr. Bhutto was later hanged in 1979. Former President Musharraf did nothing to alter either the death sentence or the minimum term.
Pakistan’s legislators also did not attempt to commute the death sentence in the eighteenth amendment, allegedly because of pressure by Islamic fundamentalist parties. The federal cabinet decided on July 2, 2008 to commute the death sentence, but due to pressure from Muslim fundamentalists and a Suo Moto action from the then-Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr. Abdul Hameed Dogar, who had been appointed by former president General Musharraf during the state of emergency, the government avoided issuing a formal notification commuting death sentences.
When Pakistan was founded 63 years ago, only murder and treason carried the death penalty. Now the death penalty can be handed to persons found guilty of 27 'crimes' including blasphemy, stripping a woman in public, terrorist acts, sabotage of sensitive installations, sabotage of railways, attacks on law enforcement personal, spreading hate against the armed forces, sedition, and many more.
Although the Pakistan Juvenile Justice System Ordinance was extended to apply nationwide in 2004, implementation remains limited. This is the case notably as, also in 2004, the High Court in Lahore revoked this ordinance, which exempted those under the age of 18 years from execution. An appeal is still pending. Pakistan is one of just five countries in the world to have executed a minor/juvenile offender in recent years. In one such case, Mutabar Khan was hanged on June 13, 2006 for a crime committed when he was 16, and the authorities of another jail, Mach Central Jail, have acknowledged holding two juvenile offenders on death row. Often, after years of trial defendants will have trouble convincing the judge that they were actually underage when they broke the law.
The country's two parallel judiciary systems, one secular and other one based on Shariah laws, creates a situation in which the death penalty has been handed out in ways that do not satisfy the requirements of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Pakistan ratified on June 23, 2010. The Islamic Shariah Courts are quick to hand out death sentences following trials that do not meet the internationally accepted standards of fair trial. The judicial bodies in the country follow Islamic injunctions and are a significant hindrance to the abolishment of the death penalty.
Pardons concerning death sentences can only be given by the victims. Death sentences are usually settled after a blood money payment called diyat and courts will often urge family members to resolve matters out of court. Human rights NGOs have branded this the 'privatisation of justice' and it tends to give the wealthy impunity. Because of diyat payments it is suspected that death penalties are dealt out more freely, because judges assume a settlement will be found.
Many among the 7,400 on death row are there as a result of the blasphemy law, under which crimes carry an obligatory death sentence, but for which evidence is often tenuous or involves personal vengeance. Section 295C of Pakistan's Penal Code provides the death penalty for "Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of The Holy Prophet (Peace be Upon Him)".
This law is vague and open to abuse, notably against non-Muslims in Pakistan. It represents a severe limitation on religious freedom, as it effectively targets religious minorities. The law is also used by Muslim fundamentalist groups against liberal Muslims. The law has also often been used by those with personal grudges, as well as against Muslims who have converted to Christianity. When Pakistan's former president, General Musharraf, considered amending the law to limit such potential abuses, pressure from Islamic hardliners caused him to abandon these amendments, so the law remains, with all its flaws. An accusation of blasphemy commonly subjects the accused, as well as police, lawyers, and judges involved in the case, to harassment, threats and attacks. An accusation is sometimes the prelude to vigilantism and rioting.
Pakistan ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in April 2010, which was signed by the President in June. While these steps are welcome, the ALRC believes that it is imperative for the government to also take immediate steps to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.
Recommendations: As stated above, Pakistan currently has around one third of the world’s death row prisoners, so any discussion of the issue of the death penalty must address this situation. The Asian Legal Resource Centre urges the Council to take all necessary steps to ensure that the government of Pakistan:
i. Provides immediate guarantees that none of the estimated 7400 death row prisoners will be executed.
ii. Commutes all death sentences to life imprisonment.
iii. Without delay abolishes the death penalty.
iv. Ratifies the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, bringing domestic legislation into line with its international obligations and ensuring the full implementation of this legislation.
v. Repeal the Blasphemy law and free all persons being detained pursuant to this law.
------------
1 According to ALRC sources as well as reports by Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan# # #
About the ALRC: The Asian Legal Resource Centre is an independent regional non-governmental organisation holding general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It is the sister organisation of the Asian Human Rights Commission. The Hong Kong-based group seeks to strengthen and encourage positive action on legal and human rights issues at the local and national levels throughout Asia.
Posted on 2010-08-26
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 26, 2010
ALRC-CWS-15-08-2010
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Fifteenth session, Agenda Item 3
A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status
The Asian Legal Resource Centre welcomes the discussion by the Human Rights Council during its 15th session concerning the report of the Secretary General on the question of the death penalty. In light of this discussion, the ALRC is hereby submitting information pertaining to the death penalty in Pakistan. The government of Pakistan has failed to abolish the death penalty in spite of the pledge it made in 2008 to commute death sentences to life imprisonment. According to estimates, there are around 7400 prisoners on death row1, the largest number in any country in the world. This number constitutes around one third of the death row prisoners in the world. It must be noted that the government has not carried out judicial executions since September 2008, which are typically carried out by hanging in Pakistan, but condemned prisoners remain seriously concerned for their future, as do their family members, while the death penalty remains in place. Many among them have already spent more than 10 years in prison. The ALRC recalls that prolonged detention on death row is at the very least cruel and inhuman treatment and therefore constitutes a violation of these persons' rights in of itself.
Prior to the present hiatus to executions, Pakistan was amongst the countries in the world which executed the highest number of persons each year. To date 128 countries have abolished the death penalty, and of those that have not, only around half carry out executions. Pakistan voted against a United Nation General Assembly resolution for a moratorium on the death penalty in December 2007.
The government of Pakistan has promised since June 21, 2008 to commute death sentences on several occasions, but little action has been taken to put this into effect. Reports have indicated that in some prisons, prisoners sentenced to death have been moved from death row cells to other barracks, but remain separated from other prisoners. Pakistan’s death penalty has been commuted before. Former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and founder of the current ruling party, the Pakistan People's Party, commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment but he was later executed by the military.
The country's parliamentary bodies - the national assembly and senate - in mid-April 2010 approved the eighteenth amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, deleting the majority of the amendments made by past military rulers, but the parliament has not touched the amendment made to the constitution by General Zia Ulhaq comprising the death penalty. In the 1970s, the government led by the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto raised the minimum term of a life sentence from 14 to 25 years with the idea that capital punishment would be abolished in the years to come. However, this did not materialize and General Zia, the country's military ruler from 1977 to 1988, kept both the death penalty and the increased life sentence intact through an ordinance which was later incorporated in the Constitution. Mr. Bhutto was later hanged in 1979. Former President Musharraf did nothing to alter either the death sentence or the minimum term.
Pakistan’s legislators also did not attempt to commute the death sentence in the eighteenth amendment, allegedly because of pressure by Islamic fundamentalist parties. The federal cabinet decided on July 2, 2008 to commute the death sentence, but due to pressure from Muslim fundamentalists and a Suo Moto action from the then-Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr. Abdul Hameed Dogar, who had been appointed by former president General Musharraf during the state of emergency, the government avoided issuing a formal notification commuting death sentences.
When Pakistan was founded 63 years ago, only murder and treason carried the death penalty. Now the death penalty can be handed to persons found guilty of 27 'crimes' including blasphemy, stripping a woman in public, terrorist acts, sabotage of sensitive installations, sabotage of railways, attacks on law enforcement personal, spreading hate against the armed forces, sedition, and many more.
Although the Pakistan Juvenile Justice System Ordinance was extended to apply nationwide in 2004, implementation remains limited. This is the case notably as, also in 2004, the High Court in Lahore revoked this ordinance, which exempted those under the age of 18 years from execution. An appeal is still pending. Pakistan is one of just five countries in the world to have executed a minor/juvenile offender in recent years. In one such case, Mutabar Khan was hanged on June 13, 2006 for a crime committed when he was 16, and the authorities of another jail, Mach Central Jail, have acknowledged holding two juvenile offenders on death row. Often, after years of trial defendants will have trouble convincing the judge that they were actually underage when they broke the law.
The country's two parallel judiciary systems, one secular and other one based on Shariah laws, creates a situation in which the death penalty has been handed out in ways that do not satisfy the requirements of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Pakistan ratified on June 23, 2010. The Islamic Shariah Courts are quick to hand out death sentences following trials that do not meet the internationally accepted standards of fair trial. The judicial bodies in the country follow Islamic injunctions and are a significant hindrance to the abolishment of the death penalty.
Pardons concerning death sentences can only be given by the victims. Death sentences are usually settled after a blood money payment called diyat and courts will often urge family members to resolve matters out of court. Human rights NGOs have branded this the 'privatisation of justice' and it tends to give the wealthy impunity. Because of diyat payments it is suspected that death penalties are dealt out more freely, because judges assume a settlement will be found.
Many among the 7,400 on death row are there as a result of the blasphemy law, under which crimes carry an obligatory death sentence, but for which evidence is often tenuous or involves personal vengeance. Section 295C of Pakistan's Penal Code provides the death penalty for "Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of The Holy Prophet (Peace be Upon Him)".
This law is vague and open to abuse, notably against non-Muslims in Pakistan. It represents a severe limitation on religious freedom, as it effectively targets religious minorities. The law is also used by Muslim fundamentalist groups against liberal Muslims. The law has also often been used by those with personal grudges, as well as against Muslims who have converted to Christianity. When Pakistan's former president, General Musharraf, considered amending the law to limit such potential abuses, pressure from Islamic hardliners caused him to abandon these amendments, so the law remains, with all its flaws. An accusation of blasphemy commonly subjects the accused, as well as police, lawyers, and judges involved in the case, to harassment, threats and attacks. An accusation is sometimes the prelude to vigilantism and rioting.
Pakistan ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in April 2010, which was signed by the President in June. While these steps are welcome, the ALRC believes that it is imperative for the government to also take immediate steps to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.
Recommendations: As stated above, Pakistan currently has around one third of the world’s death row prisoners, so any discussion of the issue of the death penalty must address this situation. The Asian Legal Resource Centre urges the Council to take all necessary steps to ensure that the government of Pakistan:
i. Provides immediate guarantees that none of the estimated 7400 death row prisoners will be executed.
ii. Commutes all death sentences to life imprisonment.
iii. Without delay abolishes the death penalty.
iv. Ratifies the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, bringing domestic legislation into line with its international obligations and ensuring the full implementation of this legislation.
v. Repeal the Blasphemy law and free all persons being detained pursuant to this law.
------------
1 According to ALRC sources as well as reports by Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan# # #
About the ALRC: The Asian Legal Resource Centre is an independent regional non-governmental organisation holding general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It is the sister organisation of the Asian Human Rights Commission. The Hong Kong-based group seeks to strengthen and encourage positive action on legal and human rights issues at the local and national levels throughout Asia.
Posted on 2010-08-26
Wednesday, 17 January 2007
Iran: Good news points to legal flaws
The acquittal of an Iranian teenager who killed a man when he attacked her has highlighted the need for "urgent legal reforms" to protect juveniles accused of a crime, according to Amnesty International.
Mahabad Fatehi, known as Nazanin, was cleared of murder by a Tehran court on 14 January. In March 2005, when she was 17 years old, she stabbed one man in a group of three who attempted to rape her and her 15 year-old neice in a Tehran park.
In January 2006 Nazanin was convicted of pre-meditated murder and sentenced to death.
Following an international campaign against her death sentence, including a global petition organised by Canadian singer and former beauty contestant Nazanin Afshin-Jam, who was born in Iran, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial in May 2006.
Amnesty International said the latest court verdict highlighted the need for changes to the law to ensure people accused of crimes committed before they were 18 years old could not be sentenced to death.
For several years Iran has considered legislation that would ban the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders. Amnesty International said a reform bill had "not yet been approved by the Council of Guardians, which vets Iran's legislation for conformity with Islamic principles".
Sina Paymard was scheduled to be executed in September 2006, but he was spared at the gallows by the family of his victim. Family members were reportedly moved to mercy when he played the ney, a Middle Eastern flute.
In November 2006 his lawyer requested a review of the case and submitted new evidence that Sina Paymard suffered from mental illness.
Twenty-three more
Amnesty International reported that at least 23 other child offenders are reportedly on death row in Iran.
In December, the organisation said that Hossein Gharabaghloo was at risk of imminent execution for a murder committed when he was 16. The Supreme Court had confirmed his death sentence on 13 December, and AI said "he could now be executed at any time".
Related story:
Iran world leader executing juveniles -- 04 October, 2006
Mahabad Fatehi, known as Nazanin, was cleared of murder by a Tehran court on 14 January. In March 2005, when she was 17 years old, she stabbed one man in a group of three who attempted to rape her and her 15 year-old neice in a Tehran park.
In January 2006 Nazanin was convicted of pre-meditated murder and sentenced to death.
Following an international campaign against her death sentence, including a global petition organised by Canadian singer and former beauty contestant Nazanin Afshin-Jam, who was born in Iran, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial in May 2006.
Amnesty International said the latest court verdict highlighted the need for changes to the law to ensure people accused of crimes committed before they were 18 years old could not be sentenced to death.
For several years Iran has considered legislation that would ban the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders. Amnesty International said a reform bill had "not yet been approved by the Council of Guardians, which vets Iran's legislation for conformity with Islamic principles".
The human rights organisation said Iran and Pakistan were the only countries in the world to execute child offenders in 2006, and Iran had executed at least 21 child offenders since 1990.
But as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Iran had committed not to execute juvenile offenders.
Stay of execution for musician
In a second case, Sina Paymard, who was convicted of a murder committed when he was 16, was reportedly granted a stay of execution by the Head of the Judiciary.Sina Paymard was scheduled to be executed in September 2006, but he was spared at the gallows by the family of his victim. Family members were reportedly moved to mercy when he played the ney, a Middle Eastern flute.
In November 2006 his lawyer requested a review of the case and submitted new evidence that Sina Paymard suffered from mental illness.
Twenty-three more
Amnesty International reported that at least 23 other child offenders are reportedly on death row in Iran.
In December, the organisation said that Hossein Gharabaghloo was at risk of imminent execution for a murder committed when he was 16. The Supreme Court had confirmed his death sentence on 13 December, and AI said "he could now be executed at any time".
Related story:
Iran world leader executing juveniles -- 04 October, 2006
Wednesday, 4 October 2006
Iran world leader executing juveniles
Human rights groups have declared Iran the world's leader in executing child offenders, despite the last-minute repreive granted to two young men in late September.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced on 23 September that Iran had executed "more juvenile offenders in the last five years than any other nation".
It said 14 juvenile offenders were known to have been executed in Iran since 2001, including at least one in 2006 and eight in 2005. About 30 juvenile offenders remain on death row in the country.
Sina Paymard was scheduled to be hanged on 20 September, two weeks after he turned 18. "According to Paymard’s lawyer, the sentencing court did not properly consider evidence that Paymard suffered from a mental disorder," HRW said.
Nineteen year old Ali Alijan was also scheduled to be executed.
Both men were convicted of murders committed when they were under 18 years old. They were reportedly spared after the families of the victims exercised their right under Islamic law to seek blood money instead of the death penalty.
HRW said Paymard was granted a repreive "after he was granted a final request to play the ney, a Middle Eastern flute". Press reports said his playing affected the people present to witness his execution, including members of the victim's family.
Clarisa Bencomo, children’s rights researcher for HRW, said: "Although these two youths were spared by last-minute acts of mercy, Iran has earned the dubious distinction as the world leader in executing child offenders."
"The Iranian authorities should abolish this repugnant practice at once," she said.
Piers Bannister, coordinater of Amnesty International's death penalty team in London, told IPS News: "Iran is the only country which still executed minors in 2005."
"The international community has recognised that children are special and require special attention," he said. "The world is united on this matter."
Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have urged Iran's parliament to pass proposed legislation that would prohibit the use of the death penalty for crimes committed under the age of 18.
Iran has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, two key international human rights standards that prohibit the execution of child offenders -- people who were under 18 years old at the time of the crime.
HRW said only three other countries -- the United States, China, and Pakistan -- were known to have executed juvenile offenders since 2001. It said Pakistan had conducted two executions, including one this year, and China had executed two.
The United States executed five juvenile offenders between 2001 and March 2005, when the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the death penalty for juveniles.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced on 23 September that Iran had executed "more juvenile offenders in the last five years than any other nation".
It said 14 juvenile offenders were known to have been executed in Iran since 2001, including at least one in 2006 and eight in 2005. About 30 juvenile offenders remain on death row in the country.
Sina Paymard was scheduled to be hanged on 20 September, two weeks after he turned 18. "According to Paymard’s lawyer, the sentencing court did not properly consider evidence that Paymard suffered from a mental disorder," HRW said.
Nineteen year old Ali Alijan was also scheduled to be executed.
Both men were convicted of murders committed when they were under 18 years old. They were reportedly spared after the families of the victims exercised their right under Islamic law to seek blood money instead of the death penalty.
HRW said Paymard was granted a repreive "after he was granted a final request to play the ney, a Middle Eastern flute". Press reports said his playing affected the people present to witness his execution, including members of the victim's family.
Clarisa Bencomo, children’s rights researcher for HRW, said: "Although these two youths were spared by last-minute acts of mercy, Iran has earned the dubious distinction as the world leader in executing child offenders."
"The Iranian authorities should abolish this repugnant practice at once," she said.
Piers Bannister, coordinater of Amnesty International's death penalty team in London, told IPS News: "Iran is the only country which still executed minors in 2005."
"The international community has recognised that children are special and require special attention," he said. "The world is united on this matter."
Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have urged Iran's parliament to pass proposed legislation that would prohibit the use of the death penalty for crimes committed under the age of 18.
Iran has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, two key international human rights standards that prohibit the execution of child offenders -- people who were under 18 years old at the time of the crime.
HRW said only three other countries -- the United States, China, and Pakistan -- were known to have executed juvenile offenders since 2001. It said Pakistan had conducted two executions, including one this year, and China had executed two.
The United States executed five juvenile offenders between 2001 and March 2005, when the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the death penalty for juveniles.
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