Thailand: NRSA approves death penalty for corruption exceeding 1 billion baht

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijllV38aGvGLPCNSINutaJhZ1TYHL0H5PCkuYlPgQl7az2JBW8ZSvHBzVb85HiiwDfSOvdzuD8KWDMDUBrvmTbtG1MkhtR1JRDDvopBnBhkgeAjrrw_JJAjPI6O5Gguv_IihJXMNFmX2E/s1600/No+more+corruption+Thailand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijllV38aGvGLPCNSINutaJhZ1TYHL0H5PCkuYlPgQl7az2JBW8ZSvHBzVb85HiiwDfSOvdzuD8KWDMDUBrvmTbtG1MkhtR1JRDDvopBnBhkgeAjrrw_JJAjPI6O5Gguv_IihJXMNFmX2E/s400/No+more+corruption+Thailand.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The National Reform Steering Assembly unanimously endorsed by 155 votes with 7 abstentions a report by its political reform panel which proposed <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/2017/01/thailand-mulls-death-penalty-for.html" target="_blank">stiffer penalties, including death, against corrupt politicians</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Seri Suwanpanont, chair of the NRSA's political reform committee, clarified after the assembly meeting that corruption has been a serious problem that has undermined the country for a long time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He claimed that his panel did not initiate the capital punishment but merely complied with the Criminal Code without any intention to hurt any particular group of people but merely intended to discourage people from getting involved in corruption.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Besides, he noted that only a handful of people who amassed more than 1 billion baht in ill-gotten gains from corrupt practices.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The report proposed varying degrees of punishments in accordance with the amount of money amassed from corruption: 5 years for amount less than 1 million baht; 10 years from amounts over 1 million baht up to 10 million baht; 20 years for amounts over 10 million baht up to 100 million baht; life imprisonment for amounts over 100 million baht up to 1 billion baht; and death penalty for amount exceeding 1 billion baht.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Seri defended that the report was meant to make it clear to political office holders of the consequences they would face if they are corrupt.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Kasit Bhiromya, an assemblyman, rejected the death penalty, saying that as a Buddhist, he disagreed with the capital punishment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The report will be fine-tuned before it is sent to the cabinet, the National Legislative Assembly, the Constitution Drafting Committee, the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the Constitutional Court, the Election Commission and the National Human Rights Commission for consideration.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Source: pattayamail.com, January 11, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Thailand: NRSA approves death penalty for corruption exceeding 1 billion baht

The National Reform Steering Assembly unanimously endorsed by 155 votes with 7 abstentions a report by its political reform panel which prop...

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Thailand mulls death penalty for corrupt public officials

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjfPjNmwFrRgRNB9vjbrK2UUmDGv_jGFpHMHMWU2dByrwbynX1eLivIGPV4JkfaQ6Ng9_7L8qy1KXBaSXSgVnQ_dByhWZguqYjZ6QmWp3EHmaB6OgBWg7GZDiMNpCD0Q0EXJaO4QueRkA/s1600/No+more+corruption+Thailand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjfPjNmwFrRgRNB9vjbrK2UUmDGv_jGFpHMHMWU2dByrwbynX1eLivIGPV4JkfaQ6Ng9_7L8qy1KXBaSXSgVnQ_dByhWZguqYjZ6QmWp3EHmaB6OgBWg7GZDiMNpCD0Q0EXJaO4QueRkA/s400/No+more+corruption+Thailand.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Corrupt public officials in Thailand could be staring on the death penalty should a proposal by the country's National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) for a stiffer sentence is adopted by the government.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Under the proposed sentence, which will be tabled tomorrow, public officials who committed graft and caused more than Baht1 billion (RM1=7.9Baht) of losses to the country could be sentenced to death.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The NRSA will consider these proposal on Jan 9 (tomorrow)," said NRSA chairperson Thinnapan Nakata, who expected heated debate on the proposal among the 200-members of the assembly, to the local media today.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The proposal was made by NRSA's political reform steering committee chaired by Seree Suwanpanont, as part of NRSA's report on the regulation and scrutiny on government power.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The committee suggested that inspections on public officials should be carried out in the same manner as that used on politicians.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Besides the proposed death sentence on convicted public officials who caused more than Baht1 billion of losses, it also proposed an imprisonment for 5 years for those who caused not more than Baht1 million losses to the state.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For officials who inflicted losses between 1 million baht to 10 million baht to the state, they could face 10 years in jail and 20 years imprisonment if they are guilty of losses between 10 million baht to 100 million baht.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, a life sentence awaits public officials who are convicted of corruption which causes the country to suffer losses amounting between 100 million baht to 1 billion baht, according to the proposal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Once the proposal is adopted by the NRSA, it will be submitted to the cabinet, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and the Constitution Drafting Committee for further deliberations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The proposal to impose the death penalty on corrupt public officials followed a recent proposal for a similar sentence on corrupt politicians for "selling and buying" political positions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The proposal by the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) under the draft organic law for political parties received strong opposition from the political parties.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">CDC chairperson Meechai Ruchupan has been quoted as saying that the maximum death penalty was aimed at deterring corrupt people from getting involved in politics.</div><br />Source: malaysiakini.com, January 8, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Thailand mulls death penalty for corrupt public officials

Corrupt public officials in Thailand could be staring on the death penalty should a proposal by the country's National Reform Steering A...

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'Philippines could go down as world's new top executioner' - Atienza

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ97QIqHByfr5WJ2iMphjqbb9rBLa0nVCHwRSkSCOa85r-x5JeLolRm3IynpgQXZ9yRo9TBVQQvsouM8zHjwZ5zICGqVPRCEIc-9pJahngvCfuFQ2bLoIsG6zAEuMCe8Wrfkm56QelfRA/s1600/President+Rodrigo+Duterte.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte" border="0" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ97QIqHByfr5WJ2iMphjqbb9rBLa0nVCHwRSkSCOa85r-x5JeLolRm3IynpgQXZ9yRo9TBVQQvsouM8zHjwZ5zICGqVPRCEIc-9pJahngvCfuFQ2bLoIsG6zAEuMCe8Wrfkm56QelfRA/s400/President+Rodrigo+Duterte.jpg" title="Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The real problem is clearly corruption," says Rep. Lito Atienza</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>The wish of President Rodrigo Duterte to execute 5 to 6 convicts daily would plunge the country into the dark ages of "savagery" and make the country a top executioner, a pro-life solon said. </i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a statement, Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza said the President's wish to have 5 to 6 criminals put to death every day, or more than 2,000 every year, under the death penalty would put the country into "an unprecedented era of darkness and medieval savagery."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Atienza said daily executions would make the predominantly Catholic country the world's top executioner, worse that non-Catholic countries such as China, Iran and Pakistan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"If the President had his way, our predominantly Catholic country could go down as the world's new top executioner, ahead of non-Catholic countries such as China, Iran and Pakistan," Atienza said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last month, Duterte said there would be daily executions of drug convicts once death penalty is restored.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Restore it and I will execute criminals every day - 5 or 6. That's for real," Duterte said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Atienza said moves in Congress to restore death penalty are an "anathema to our celebration of life."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We Filipinos celebrate life. In fact, we celebrate life so much that despite our usual troubles, we've been persistently rated among the happiest people in the world," Atienza said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Atienza said it is bad enough that even without the death penalty, the country is hounded with a spate of extrajudicial killings of suspected drug criminals at the height of the administration's bloody war on drugs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We do not want to be brutalized by constant bloodshed. We Filipinos loathe killings, whether judicial or extrajudicial, as much as we detest violent crime," Atienza said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It is bad enough we already have a virtual death penalty in place, with the unabated summary executions of alleged suspects sans the benefit of a full and fair trial," he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Atienza said the real problem is rampant corruption in the criminal justice system, as revealed in a House inquiry on the Bilibid drug trade and the millions of alleged kickbacks for Bureau of Correction officials.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The real problem is clearly corruption. The problem is not with the severity of the punishment for crime. In fact, corruption is the primary reason why many felons are not getting caught, and not getting punished, and this in turn has only abetted even more crime," Atienza said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The bill is expected to undergo plenary debates under second reading once Congress resumes from its Christmas break on Jan. 16.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The bill hurdled the justice committee on Dec. 7.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The bill seeks to impose death penalty for more than 20 heinous offenses, such as rape with homicide, kidnapping for ransom, and arson with death.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Duterte's staunch ally in Congress, filed the bill seeking to reimpose the death penalty after former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo abolished capital punishment in 2006 for its failure to deter crime.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Alvarez filed the bill pursuant to President Duterte's campaign promise of returning capital punishment against heinous criminals.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Philippine society is left with no option but to deal with certain grievous offenders in a manner commensurate to the gravity, perversity, atrociousness and repugnance of their crimes," according to the bill. Duterte won the elections on a campaign promise to restore death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Alvarez said Congress would look into the cheapest way of carrying out the death penalty, either by firing squad, lethal injection or by hanging.</div><br />Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net, January 3, 2017<br /><br /><br /><h2>Philippines: Pro-life coalition formed vs death penalty revival</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Pro-life advocates have formed a coalition to oppose moves by the House of Representatives to revive capital punishment in line with President Duterte's tough stance against criminality, opposition lawmakers bared yesterday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said there has been a "widening coalition of legislators, religious ministers both from the Catholic Church and other religious denominations, civil society and NGO networks, and college students and youth" opposing the reimposition of the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The broad coalition of anti-death penalty advocates will sustain the campaign against the proposed reimposition of capital punishment until the archaic proposal is finally consigned to the legislative dustbin," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lagman stressed that death penalty is not a solution to criminality and the drug menace.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The prevention of heinous crimes involves a complex and multidimensional process relative to problems ranging from poverty and inequity to police corruption and brutality, inept and discriminatory prosecution, and flawed judicial system," he explained.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIiw6i03j9M6-HN8Itgq4xKTp2wAdmj1rl33Wd23jKcDb0TTR3KNOoKB4cd6E-MPrd1F3ZAObRZ5Tb_jeanvCQsJAq3FqstVL51eWM1kxFPgvP8UKF5vUW1ABYQCxe40q9r6Eoq7d3P4A/s1600/1%252C800+drugs-related+killings+recorded+since+president+Duterte+took+office+seven+weeks+ago.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Summary and drugs-related killings in the Philippines" border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIiw6i03j9M6-HN8Itgq4xKTp2wAdmj1rl33Wd23jKcDb0TTR3KNOoKB4cd6E-MPrd1F3ZAObRZ5Tb_jeanvCQsJAq3FqstVL51eWM1kxFPgvP8UKF5vUW1ABYQCxe40q9r6Eoq7d3P4A/s400/1%252C800+drugs-related+killings+recorded+since+president+Duterte+took+office+seven+weeks+ago.jpg" title="Summary and drugs-related killings in the Philippines" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"It is bad enough we already have a virtual death penalty in place, with unabated<br />summary executions of alleged suspects sans the benefit of a full and fair trial."</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">"All of these negative factors contribute to the fallibility of human justice, which ensnare to the gallows even the innocent. Consequently, punishment alone is not the solution to crimes," he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another opposition legislator, Rep. Lito Atienza of Buhay party-list, also hit Duterte's plan to execute through lethal injection 5 to 6 convicts a day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It will sink the Philippines into an unprecedented era of darkness and medieval savagery. If the President had his way, our predominantly Catholic country could go down as the world's new top executioner, ahead of non-Catholic countries such as China, Iran and Pakistan," Atienza said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Duterte's execution plan means that more than 2,000 will be undergoing state-sanctioned killings per year. Compare this to the 1,634 convicts executed in 25 countries around the world in 2015 recorded by Amnesty International (AI).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Excluding China, only 3 countries - Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia - were responsible for nearly 90 % of the executions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iran executed 977 convicts by hanging in 2015, Pakistan put 326 to death by hanging, while Saudi Arabia killed 158 by beheading. The number of executions in China is regarded a state secret.</div><br />Source: Philippine Star, January 3, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! <a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=JBVXEBZLP3WKW" target="_blank">DONATE!</a></b></div><form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post" target="_blank"><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/fr_FR/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" /></div></form><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div>

'Philippines could go down as world's new top executioner' - Atienza

"The real problem is clearly corruption," says Rep. Lito Atienza The wish of President Rodrigo Duterte to execute 5 to 6 convicts ...

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Pakistan: Army chief signs death warrants of 13 terrorists

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLDh0vIx2vh6VESZ7Qxe6Ffxi-uL41_6J_8seX7WTPA7hsNxvJLToMr-ZroK6VHhkYf4XLWY53SB4RyVEahk6L7HXutNAR-5fUlELI2Tq2UuJuAKgx4WTAJQHvcDChy6rUNCnoJ4LryI/s1600/Gallows+Malaysia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Gallows" border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLDh0vIx2vh6VESZ7Qxe6Ffxi-uL41_6J_8seX7WTPA7hsNxvJLToMr-ZroK6VHhkYf4XLWY53SB4RyVEahk6L7HXutNAR-5fUlELI2Tq2UuJuAKgx4WTAJQHvcDChy6rUNCnoJ4LryI/s400/Gallows+Malaysia.jpg" title="Gallows" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday signed death warrants of another 13 'hardcore terrorists' who were found guilty of being behind a series of terrorist attacks, including those on Charsadda's Bacha Khan University, Rawalpindi's Parade Lane Mosque and the Marriot Hotel in Islamabad.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The death warrants signed by Gen Qamar are his 1st since he assumed command of the army on November 29 and came on a day when the country was observing the 2nd anniversary of the Peshawar Army Public School attack.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that those who were handed the death penalty were involved in heinous offences related to terrorism, including killing and slaughtering of innocent civilians and officials of law enforcement agencies and armed forces of Pakistan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"These terrorists also include those who planned and executed attacks on Bacha Khan University Charsadda, Parade Lane Mosque Rawalpindi, Marriott Hotel Islamabad, Office of World Vision NGO in Mansehra and an educational institution at Nawagai Buner," the military's media wing added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the whole, they were involved in killing 325 people and in causing injuries to 366 others. Firearms and explosives were also recovered from their possession. These convicts were tried by military courts, the ISPR said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Those who were handed down death sentence are identified as Latifullah Mehsud, Arafat, Wahid Ali, Abdul Rehman, Mian Said Raheem, Noor Muhammad, Sher Ali, Syed Qasim Shah, Muhammad Usman, Muhammad Riaz, Noorullah, Gul Zarin and Akbar Ali.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Unlike the previous announcements about military courts' verdicts, the ISPR this time specifically did not identify convicts' affiliation with any militant group. Instead it said all convicts were members of a proscribed organisation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to ISPR, Latif Ullah Mehsud, Abdul Rehman, Sher Ali and Noor Muhammad were involved in killing of innocent civilians and attacking law enforcement agencies of Pakistan,</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The charge-sheet against Arafat includes attacking Marriott Hotel Islamabad and Parade Lane Mosque Rawalpindi, which resulted in death of 110 people. Wahid Ali, Akbar Ali, Muhammad Riaz and Noorullah were convicted for being behind Bacha Khan University Charsadda attack. Mian Said Raheem was involved in killing of 15 civilians</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Syed Qasim Shah was involved in attacking Office of World Vision NGO, which resulted in death of 6 employees of said NGO.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Muhammad Waqar Faisal was given the death sentence for the killing of police constable Asad Abbas and in injuring a police constable and 2 civilians.</div><br />Source: The Express Tribune, December 18, 2016<br /><br /><h2>Call to end capital punishment</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">It has been 2 years since the tragic attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar. No amount of commiseration or time can ever mitigate the horror of that day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In response, Pakistan ended its 6-year-old moratorium on capital punishment as part of its National Action Plan (NAP). The government was adamant that only those convicted of terrorism would be executed. This was false, as the moratorium for all capital crimes was lifted just 3 months later in March 2015 - widely sounded by the state as the only effective means of fighting terrorism.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An analysis of the 419 executions that have occurred so far reveals significant flaws in that narrative.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to data collected by Justice Project Pakistan, only 16 % of the executions carried out since December 2014 were related to terrorism charges.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The remainder have included several cases of wrongful execution such as juveniles, the mentally ill and the physically disabled, all of which are expressly forbidden in light of Pakistan's international legal obligations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This figure is even more problematic when considering that in as many as 88 percent of 'terrorism' cases, there was no link to a terrorist organisation or anything that can reasonably be defined as terrorism.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is a dishonour to the memory of the APS attack victims for the state to take lives in their name, when they have no bearing on curbing the menace that caused their deaths.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pakistan has retained its notorious status of being the 3rd most prolific executioner in the world 2 years in a row. Under Pakistani law, 27 crimes carry the death sentence and an average of 258 death sentences have been imposed yearly from 2007 to 2015, explaining why the country has the highest populated death row in the world. Given these statistics, it is clear that Pakistan does not reserve the death penalty for 'the most serious crimes' as required by international law.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The criminal justice system that so eagerly imposes death sentences in the country warrants close examination. Pakistan's faulty legal infrastructure remains inaccessible, corrupt, mired in red tape, beholden to power and usurped by influence and wealth, creating a permissive environment for the routine miscarriage of justice.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is compounded by the lack of a meaningful appellate process for capital cases, a blatant violation of Pakistan's international human rights obligations. Until March this year, the Presidency had 444 pending mercy petitions. So far, the known number of presidential pardons granted stands at zero.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">NAP correctly observed that there is a need to "revamp and reform Pakistan's criminal justice system" but no significant effort has been made to do this so far. Like last year, even more cases of wrongful executions have come to light in 2016. In October, the Supreme Court acquitted 2 brothers in Bahawalpur after they spent 11 years on death row, only to find they had already been executed the year before. Another prisoner was found innocent a year after he had been found dead in his cell. There are likely many more cases like this, considering a condemned prisoner will spend an average of 11.41 years on death row.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pakistan has a series of upcoming UN reviews in 2017, where its adherence to its international legal commitments such as the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Convention Against Torture (CAT) and Universal Periodic Review (UPR) will be evaluated.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Needless to say, Pakistan's broad scope of its application of the death penalty will feature heavily, and the country's representatives will have to explain why the innocent, the mentally ill, the physically disabled and juveniles have been executed under its watch. This will have a direct bearing on Pakistan's eligibility for the GSP plus trade status.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sarah Belal, Executive Director of Justice Project Pakistan adds: "Widespread and fundamental failings of the criminal justice system warrant an immediate suspension of the capital punishment regime in Pakistan. JPP will always stand with the families of those affected by terrorism, and hopes that their sacrifice is honoured appropriately. This cannot be the case if Pakistan continues to wrongfully execute innocent individuals, juveniles and persons with mental and physical disabilities."</div><br />Source: The Nation, December 18, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Pakistan: Army chief signs death warrants of 13 terrorists

Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday signed death warrants of another 13 'hardcore terrorists' who were found guilty of be...

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