Sudan acquits pastor in trial of Christians charged with capital crimes

<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/AVvXsEiqaMPk0ql5EMYNd4Di1rizE32ewhuKSQ-NHWStudaPUU8hOXbnpMcnCfGs5S9qeRaLDQEjv0_Ye09Y5E7vZlHjEsop2QNqZuSQI3ukfuol5SfCnpYOYM8hh_wkazVab9-EOQUMoZFxugg/s1600/The+Rev.+Hassan+Abduraheem+and+Rev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Rev. Hassan Abduraheem and Rev. Kuwa Shamal" border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqaMPk0ql5EMYNd4Di1rizE32ewhuKSQ-NHWStudaPUU8hOXbnpMcnCfGs5S9qeRaLDQEjv0_Ye09Y5E7vZlHjEsop2QNqZuSQI3ukfuol5SfCnpYOYM8hh_wkazVab9-EOQUMoZFxugg/s400/The+Rev.+Hassan+Abduraheem+and+Rev.jpg" title="Rev. Hassan Abduraheem and Rev. Kuwa Shamal" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rev. Hassan Abduraheem and Rev. Kuwa Shamal</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">A court in Khartoum, Sudan, on Monday released <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/2016/12/two-christian-pastors-facing-death.html" target="_blank">a pastor from prison after acquitting him of charges punishable by the death penalty</a>, sources said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rev Kwa (also transliterated Kuwa) Shamaal, head of missions of the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC), was acquitted of charges ranging from spying to inciting hatred against the government. He had been arrested without charges from his home on 18th December, 2015.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Yes, he was released today after the court found that he was not guilty of the charges brought against him," said attorney Muhanad Nur, part of the team of lawyers defending Shamaal and 3 other Christians.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The court also charged Kwa's colleague, Rev Hassan Abduraheem Taour, and 2 other Christians, Czech aid worker Petr Jasek and Abdulmonem Abdumawla of Darfu, with crimes against the state that carry death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The charges include espionage, waging war against the state and gathering false news information, as well as inciting hatred between classes. Abdelrahim Tawor was also arrested from his home on 18th December, 2015.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After the 2 pastors' arrest a year ago, Rev Shamal was released on 21st December, 2015, but was required to report daily to the offices of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), a requirement that was removed on 16th January last year. He was re-arrested on 25th May.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rev Shamaal and Rev Taour were charged with trying to tarnish the image of Sudan's government by collecting information on persecution of Christians and genocide in the Nuba Mountains. The charges included collecting information for "other parties hostile to Sudan". They were accused of conducting intelligence activities and providing material support for Nuba rebels in South Kordofan under 2 charges that carry the death penalty - waging war against the state (Article 51 of the Sudanese Criminal Code) and spying (Article 53).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Similarly charged are Czech aid worker Jasek and Abdumawla, who initially said he was Muslim but later admitted he was Christian. He was arrested in December, 2015, after he began collecting money to help a friend, Ali Omer, who had needed treatment for burns suffered in a student demonstration. Abdumawla contacted Abdelrahim Tawor, who donated money for Omer's treatment, which apparently raised the ire of Sudanese authorities, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prosecutors have charged Mr Jasek, also arrested in December, 2015, with "tarnishing Sudan's image" by documenting persecution. He is also charged with waging war against the state, reportedly based on an accusation that he gave money to "some individuals" in South Kordofan in 2012, allegedly including some rebel fighters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At one hearing, NISS official Abbas el Tahir accused the defendants of conducting "hostile activities against the state that threaten the national and social security" in Sudan, according to Netherlands-based Radio Dabanga.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Since 2012, we banned organizations or individuals working against Sudan," El Tahir reportedly said. "However, these NGOs still work and plan to threaten the national security and harm the society's interest."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He accused aid organisations of publishing false reports against Sudan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Attorney Nur said he is hopeful that the other defendants also will be released soon. The next court hearing is scheduled for 9th January.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Foreign diplomats and international rights activists have taken notice of the case since Morning Star News broke the story of the arrest of 2 pastors in December, 2015. Their arrest is seen as part of a recent upsurge in harassment of Christians.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Most SCOC members have roots among the ethnic Nuba in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan's South Kordofan state, where the government is fighting an insurgency. The Nuba along with other Christians in Sudan face discrimination, as President Omar al-Bashir has vowed to introduce a stricter version of sharia (Islamic law) and recognize only Islamic culture and Arabic language.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Al-Bashir in connection with war crimes in Darfur. Due to its treatment of Christians and other human rights violations, Sudan has been designated a Country of Particular Concern by the U.S. State Department since 1999, and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended the country remain on the list in its 2016 report.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sudan ranked 8th on Christian support organisation Open Doors 2016 World Watch List of countries where Christians face most persecution.</div><br />Source: sightmagazine.com.au, 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? 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Sudan acquits pastor in trial of Christians charged with capital crimes

Rev. Hassan Abduraheem and Rev. Kuwa Shamal A court in Khartoum, Sudan, on Monday released a pastor from prison after acquitting him of char...

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Nigeria: Edo State Executes Three Inmates

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtYDjyxtdwKsyRyEdu5ugEeDNX4J-K5-nZrFgXj5Ii8vDzMtEW0lU4CD9MCmhaQpGFNxJIZM6EX8iHsk0W4vpTtKGyambbespgDTRAUxHRCD90Gv759TgqVIt0Vv1v3UIVYOC9loFkOPA/s1600/Nigeria+flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Nigeria flag" border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtYDjyxtdwKsyRyEdu5ugEeDNX4J-K5-nZrFgXj5Ii8vDzMtEW0lU4CD9MCmhaQpGFNxJIZM6EX8iHsk0W4vpTtKGyambbespgDTRAUxHRCD90Gv759TgqVIt0Vv1v3UIVYOC9loFkOPA/s400/Nigeria+flag.jpg" title="Nigeria flag" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">December 23, 2016: Edo State government executed three death row inmates who were sentenced to death by military tribunals under the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Decree 1971 as amended. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The state had announced its intention to execute three death row prisoners at Oko Prisons in Benin City. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Nation learnt that the execution took place December 23 as scheduled. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Those executed are – Ogbomoro Omoregie, Apostle Igene and Mark Omosowhota. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They were said to have been executed around 6:00 a.m. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A rights group, the Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), through its director Chino Obiagwu, had petitioned Governor Godwin Obaseki to halt the planned execution. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We have filed an appeal pending at the Court of Lagos seeking order that these prisoners have right of appeal under the 1999 Constitution.” </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Obiagwu told The Nation on December 27 that his clients had been executed despite the petition. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It could not be confirmed if it was Obaseki or his predecessor Adams Oshiomhole who signed their death warrants. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: thenationonlineng.net, December 27, 2016</div><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>

Nigeria: Edo State Executes Three Inmates

December 23, 2016: Edo State government executed three death row inmates who were sentenced to death by military tribunals under the Robbery...

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United Nations Confirm Request of Universal Moratorium on Executions

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbc_zsbdDalAnCERM7nttum4zrUSuCMpXhKNDF-AIa38ww8RPBYAeJEj9D5ThUCZJnVBTP263BoXqtIpmkryZzmbrIg8v3yGIlQtIw68ISLx-Zk72-GcufW8e8aqo4mZI-UZ1PLBvRyqE/s1600/Gallows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Gallows" border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbc_zsbdDalAnCERM7nttum4zrUSuCMpXhKNDF-AIa38ww8RPBYAeJEj9D5ThUCZJnVBTP263BoXqtIpmkryZzmbrIg8v3yGIlQtIw68ISLx-Zk72-GcufW8e8aqo4mZI-UZ1PLBvRyqE/s400/Gallows.jpg" title="Gallows" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">December 19, 2016: The General Assembly of the United Nations confirmed the demand for an end to the death penalty by the vote of a new resolution calling on states to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the practice. This is the sixth pro-moratorium text adopted since 2007. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The new resolution was adopted with 117 votes in favor (as in 2014), 40 no (two more than the 38 of 2014), while the abstainers were 31 (3 less than in 2014) and 5 absent at the time of vote (one more than in 2014). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Although the text contains an amendment, voted in the Third Committee in November on a proposal of Singapore, referring to the prerogatives of States to decide which type of punishment to impose in the face of the most serious crimes, the positive steps in strengthening the text are definitely more relevant. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As for new votes in favor, coming mostly from the African continent and from countries that abstained before, they were those of Guinea, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland, as well as that of the Solomon Islands and Sri Lanka. It casted a vote in favor also Nauru, that in 2014 was absent. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Zimbabwe went from a contrary vote to one of abstention. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sergio D'Elia, Secretary of Hands Off Cain said: "I want to remind that the votes in favor for the first time in Swaziland and Malawi were the result of a mission of Hands Off Cain, with the support of the Italian Foreign Ministry. The mission was aimed exactly to get a favorable vote in the General Assembly, and in 2014 Zimbabwe had been a target country of our mission." </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">[S]trengthened the front of no Burundi and South Sudan, previously in favor, and the Maldives, previously abstained. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Passed from a vote in favor to a vote of abstention the Philippines, Seychelles, Equatorial Guinea and Niger, while Lesotho, absent in 2014, abstained this year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Among the absentees are the Democratic Republic of Congo and Senegal, both abstained in 2014, and Rwanda, formerly in favor. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This year's resolution has been strengthened in the part that requires states to "make available the relevant information about the use of the death penalty" (among other things, disaggregated by sex, age and race data, and also the number of prisoners on death row, and information about scheduled executions). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The General Assembly for the first time recognized the role that national human rights bodies to support local, national and regional debates on the death penalty. The Assembly for the first time highlighted the need for those who risk the death penalty to be treated with humanity and with respect for their dignity, in accordance with the international law on human rights. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The confirmation of the votes in favor of a universal moratorium on capital punishment is very important in a time when, faced with the emergency of terrorism, there is the danger of abdicating to the principles of law rather than strengthen them. The General Assembly vote shows us that we must continue to work to raise the threshold for the protection of human dignity in compliance with international treaties” said Sergio D'Elia, Secretary of Hands Off Cain. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">D’Elia concluded: “The new vote at the Palace of Glass, the sixth at the General Assembly in nine years, demonstrates that the path of dialogue, liberal and anti-prohibitionist, of the moratorium - and not the outright abolition of the death penalty - which since 1993 Hands Off Cain and the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty have chosen to propose in all international fora, has proved to be the main way to overcome obstacles that seem insurmountable , and open doors that otherwise be inaccessible”. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sources: <a href="http://www.handsoffcain.info/news/index.php?iddocumento=20318287" target="_blank">Hands Off Cain</a>, December 19, 2016</div><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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United Nations Confirm Request of Universal Moratorium on Executions

December 19, 2016: The General Assembly of the United Nations confirmed the demand for an end to the death penalty by the vote of a new reso...

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Death penalty looms for Mauritanian blogger accused of insulting Islam

<div style="text-align: justify;"><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/AVvXsEh2SWVHkGe19OxPDBtYUgr36egtzMkLH7eEgdtVTWr8nG93ZujbrZN8YjCc_djxgxEdu6Uun_y7pY-LXAdteWXEBGurpmZsKcMHtb_HvXNmW3lWtuwr5aXAmyG_4pzHrxTQsG282YFfahU/s1600/Mohamed+Ould+Cheikh+Ould+Mkhaitir.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir" border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2SWVHkGe19OxPDBtYUgr36egtzMkLH7eEgdtVTWr8nG93ZujbrZN8YjCc_djxgxEdu6Uun_y7pY-LXAdteWXEBGurpmZsKcMHtb_HvXNmW3lWtuwr5aXAmyG_4pzHrxTQsG282YFfahU/s400/Mohamed+Ould+Cheikh+Ould+Mkhaitir.jpg" title="Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir is pictured in a courtroom in<br />Nouadhibou, Mauritania, in April in a picture supplied by his sister. </td></tr></tbody></table><b>Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir awaits the final verdict for a blog seen as critical of Mauritania's caste system.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the dusty Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott, thousands of protesters armed with loudspeakers gathered outside the country’s Supreme Court on November 15. Demonstrators held messages of protests on paper, some worn around their heads to keep their hands free, and demanded the court uphold the death sentence against Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir, a Mauritanian blogger imprisoned in January 2014 on charges of apostasy. His alleged crime was to defame the name of the Prophet Muhammad. “Our first demand [is] to execute this criminal. The Prophet Muhammad is our honor, nobody has right to talk about him!” said one unidentified protester outside the court.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For Mkhaitir’s sister, the scene was almost too much to bear. “When I saw hundreds of people demanding that my brother must be executed, I felt like I could not breath anymore. I wished to be dead [rather] than to see that,” she tells Newsweek in WhatsApp messages sent to and translated by an intermediary. She requested anonymity since she fears reprisals for being associated with her brother. “I asked myself, ‘How can they be like that? Do they not have sisters or mothers? Do they not understand how we feel?’”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While the court set December 20 as the date for a final decision on Mkhaitir’s case, the 29-year-old blogger languished in a cramped cell 300 miles north of the capital in the city of Nouadhibou, isolated from family and legal counsel. His detention looks set to roll into a third year, as the removal of one of the Supreme Court’s judges means that it will likely be 2017 before the court decides whether Mkhaitir will become the first person in Mauritania to be executed for almost 30 years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The bloodthirsty protest in November was the latest instalment in a case that has become a source of national fury in Mauritania, a conservative Islamic republic and one of just eight countries where apostasy is a capital offense. But activists supporting Mkhaitir say that the case is not about Islam, but is rather an example of discrimination. And despite its similarities to more prominent cases—such as that of imprisoned Saudi blogger Raif Badawi—Mkhaitir’s supporters say his plight is at risk of being ignored by the international community.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The story goes back to December 2013, when an anonymous article appeared on a Mauritanian news website and circulated via social media. The title of the article was “Religion and Religiosity for Blacksmiths”—the Arabic word <i>maalemine</i>, rendered as blacksmiths, refers in Mauritania to people descended from craftsmen, who are among the lowest in terms of social status. In the article, the author argues that Mauritania’s ruling classes have used incidents from the Prophet Muhammad’s life to justify racial discrimination and slavery.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The article sparked public outcry and Mkhaitir was quickly revealed as its author. Mkhaitir, was by no means a prolific blogger; he worked as an accountant for a loading company in Nouadhibou at the time, according to U.S.-based advocacy group Freedom Now. He turned himself in to police on January 2, 2014, and was charged with apostasy. Eight days later, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz appeared to back calls for Mkhaitir’s execution, telling protesters: “We will apply God’s law on whoever insults the Prophet and whoever publishes such an insult.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mkhaitir was kept in detention for 12 months before his trial commenced in December 2014. Soon after his arrest, he released a public statement repenting of his alleged crime. When his trial finally began in December 2014, Mkhaitir publicly apologized and again repented. Mauritanian law allows for the death sentence to be overturned in the case of a convicted apostate who repents. However, on December 24, 2014, the court sentenced Mkhaitir to death for the crime of zendegha , or “hypocrisy”—according to Mauritanian law, this is the crime of someone committing apostasy and then repenting insincerely. He was sentenced to be executed by firing squad.<br /><br />The blogger appealed and, in April 2016, the Mauritanian court of appeal ruled that the appropriate conviction would have been apostasy, rather than “hypocrisy.” The court of appeal thus transferred the case to the Supreme Court to judge whether Mkhaitir’s repentance was sincere.</div><br /><b><a href="http://europe.newsweek.com/mauritanias-raif-badawi-slips-under-radar-death-penalty-looms-531564" target="_blank">Click here to read the full article</a></b><br /><br />Source: Newsweek, Conor Gaffey, December 19, 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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Death penalty looms for Mauritanian blogger accused of insulting Islam

Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir is pictured in a courtroom in Nouadhibou, Mauritania, in April in a picture supplied by his sister. Mohame...

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Attempt to remove UN’s LGBT rights expert defeated in narrow vote; still 10 nations where the penalty for gay sex is death

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgridpsJh9oYU0WYmeFPog-OJLQQtRJSfnRhHidba3v60Tuyyfwq21sEO5_MQgx1e3tEg_9oW-sdddrUCmTFqEvzSYrwaQOfK_8u3DjG9Z7_pU9qtOEk4911Qa4aBP1nb6ad3NBZueajow/s1600/UN_Headquarters_NYC_USA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="UN building NYC" border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgridpsJh9oYU0WYmeFPog-OJLQQtRJSfnRhHidba3v60Tuyyfwq21sEO5_MQgx1e3tEg_9oW-sdddrUCmTFqEvzSYrwaQOfK_8u3DjG9Z7_pU9qtOEk4911Qa4aBP1nb6ad3NBZueajow/s400/UN_Headquarters_NYC_USA.jpg" title="UN building NYC" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ten nations with large Muslim populations have laws providing for the death penalty for same-sex activity. Only a few actually impose the death sentence. Exactly how many is a difficult question.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another attempt to remove the United Nations expert on LGBT rights has been defeated.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/06/30/united-nations-votes-to-create-first-ever-lgbt-rights-watchdog/" target="_blank">The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council voted in June</a> to appoint an independent LGBT expert for the first time to monitor “violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity” around the world.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/11/05/the-uns-new-lgbt-expert-watchdog-may-lose-his-job/" target="_blank">Thai professor Vitit Muntarbhorn took up the role</a>, beginning to investigate abuse that the global LGBT community suffer.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However a number of challenges have been brought by homophobic countries attempting to revoke his position – with a plot to axe the role <a href="http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/11/22/un-vote-to-keep-first-expert-on-lgbt-rights/" target="_blank">thwarted by a narrow margin last month.</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This week, the block of countries bitterly opposed to the role – including Russia, China and a number of African states – pushed a surprise amendment to the Human Rights Council’s annual report that would have indefinitely halted the work of the LGBT rights expert.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The amendment was voted down by a narrow margin, with 77 countries voting in favour and 84 against, with 16 abstentions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">870 human rights organisations from 157 countries around the world had signed an <a href="https://www.ishr.ch/sites/default/files/article/files/joint_sogi_letter_listofsignatories12152016.pdf" target="_blank">open letter</a> urging the governments represented in the General Assembly to continue the expert’s work.</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The result has been welcomed by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.</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/AVvXsEi-Vpfk1nqxbb4Y_m4W4c9d7hZ7CybfEO0jGgZqsL25Z8uhPvTJXyiiftlhgnZ8Ho7KaDcY8QC0b41zIIbv-KBcJ_M__F16Y6Rtgmq8ihl9sOATlzXYNqT6KOweXm5-3-VmdQ1AySdfdi8/s1600/Vitit+Muntarbhorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Vitit Muntarbhorn" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Vpfk1nqxbb4Y_m4W4c9d7hZ7CybfEO0jGgZqsL25Z8uhPvTJXyiiftlhgnZ8Ho7KaDcY8QC0b41zIIbv-KBcJ_M__F16Y6Rtgmq8ihl9sOATlzXYNqT6KOweXm5-3-VmdQ1AySdfdi8/s400/Vitit+Muntarbhorn.jpg" title="Vitit Muntarbhorn" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">ILGA’s co-Secretaries General Helen Kennedy and Ruth Baldacchino said: “ILGA is delighted that the mandate has once again been safeguarded.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Once more, States have reaffirmed the importance of monitoring human rights violations against people on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity, a crucial leap towards a world where all are treated free and equal.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">André du Plessis, UN Programme and Advocacy Manager at ILGA explained: “We commend what human rights defenders from all over the world were able to do by highlighting the need for states to respect the authority of the Human Rights Council.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“This outcome is important not only because it shows that States believe that violence and discrimination faced by LGBT persons around the world deserve attention, but also because it confirms the authority of the UN Human Rights Council, the leading human rights body in the world.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Never before had a country or group of countries attempted to challenge a special procedures mandate by the Human Rights Council with a fully functioning mandate holder.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“If the General Assembly would have reopened the Council’s annual report to block or defer resolutions with a selective approach, it would have fundamentally undermined the authority granted to the Council by the General Assembly, setting a dangerous precedent for the whole human rights framework.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Renato Sabbadini, Executive Director at ILGA said: “We are confident that the SOGI Independent Expert will work to build bridges, rather than to widen the gaps between our communities and those who think that we are seeking ‘special rights’.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Now more than ever, our communities need allies to ensure that ‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,’ as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly states, is a reality and not only a dream.”</div><br />Source: <a href="http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/12/19/attempt-to-remove-uns-lgbt-rights-expert-defeated-in-narrow-vote/" target="_blank">Pink News</a>, Nick Duffy, December 19, 2016<br /><br /><h2>10 nations where the penalty for gay sex is death</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Ten nations with large Muslim populations have laws providing for the death penalty for same-sex activity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Only a few actually impose the death sentence. Exactly how many is a difficult question.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The <a href="http://ilga.org/downloads/02_ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2016_ENG_WEB_150516.pdf" target="_blank">2016 State-Sponsored Homophobia report</a> from ILGA, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, lists 13-14 places that threaten the death penalty for homosexuality, including the basic 10 plus several specific variations:</div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>One where executions occur — and go unpunished — despite the fact that there is no death-penalty law (Iraq);</li><li>One that has approved a death-penalty provision but has not yet incorporated it into the nation’s laws (Brunei);</li><li>One that conducts executions but is not recognized as a nation (the Islamic State, also known as Daesh, ISIS and ISIL);</li><li>One where, in theory, a particular interpretation of its laws would provide for the death penalty but, in practice, no executions have been reported (United Arab Emirates)</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The ILGA list is quite similar to this blog’s list of those 14 countries, printed below:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A best-information-available list of countries/regions where executions for homosexual activity are carried out or are provided by current or future law:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Nations with such laws on the books; executions have been carried out</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/saudi-arabia/" target="_blank">1. Iran</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/saudi-arabia/" target="_blank">2. Saudi Arabia</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Nations with such laws on the books; no recent executions reported</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/sudan/" target="_blank">3. Sudan</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/yemen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">4. Yemen</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Nations with such laws on the books in part of the country; no verified executions for homosexual activity</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/nigeria/" target="_blank">5. Nigeria</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/somalia/" target="_blank">6. Somalia</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Nations with such laws on the books; no executions reported</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/mauritania/" target="_blank">7. Afghanistan</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/mauritania/" target="_blank">8. Mauritania</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/pakistan/" target="_blank">9. Pakistan</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/qatar/" target="_blank">10. Qatar</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Those are the “ten nations with large Muslim populations” mentioned in this article’s first paragraph.” In addition, executions and possible executions are an issue in four other places:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Nation with no such a law on the books; executions are carried out by militias and others</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/iraq/" target="_blank">11. Iraq</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Not recognized as a nation; carries out executions</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">12. Daesh/the <a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/islamic-state/" target="_blank">Islamic State</a> (ISIS/ISIL)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Nation where such a law was scheduled to take effect in 2016 (but might not)</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/brunei/" target="_blank">13. Brunei Darussalam</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Nation where some interpretations of existing law would provide for the death penalty, but no executions have been reported</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/united-arab-emirates/" target="_blank">14. United Arab Emirates</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">News coverage in all of those nations is unreliable at best, so specific evidence of executions for same-sex intimacy is rare. What’s known about some specific countries is cited below.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Somalia, <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/2013/03/gay-teen-stoned-to-death-in-somalia.html" target="_blank">a gay teenager was reportedly stoned to death</a> in 2013, but those reports have not been verified.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Nigeria, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6940061.stm" target="_blank">the BBC reported in 2007</a>, “More than a dozen Nigerian Muslims have been sentenced to death by stoning and for sexual offences ranging from adultery and homosexuality. But none of these death sentences has actually been carried out as they were either thrown out on appeal or commuted to prison terms as a result of pressure from human rights groups.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibMZHK-o0UzZoXtkw3L9fnIiAHYqJ0vLmH5MgICH7pLc8Td43JlTdjsTRUi-x64eSmOSnJbcmtaSJxRjxxe2RokmuW-rNkX6LT0wEVLSrVkt3oaVjV3yOdsz21sKDn-FLKVxP3MUxgR8A/s1600/Homophobe+Bar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibMZHK-o0UzZoXtkw3L9fnIiAHYqJ0vLmH5MgICH7pLc8Td43JlTdjsTRUi-x64eSmOSnJbcmtaSJxRjxxe2RokmuW-rNkX6LT0wEVLSrVkt3oaVjV3yOdsz21sKDn-FLKVxP3MUxgR8A/s400/Homophobe+Bar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Sudan, the death penalty is in frequent use, but there are no recent reports of executions for same-sex intimacy. In 2014, Sudan ranked at No. 6 worldwide in number of executions (23+) for various offenses, just below the United States, with 35, <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/0001/2015/en/" target="_blank">according to Amnesty International</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Similarly, Yemen is No. 7 in frequency of executions overall, but the death penalty apparently has not been imposed recently for homosexual activity. <a href="http://www.refworld.org/docid/41501c7615.html" target="_blank">Researchers for Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board reported</a> more than 10 years ago, “Information on whether such sentences have been carried out was not found.” More recently <a href="http://www.thetower.org/article/will-yemens-gay-community-survive-the-iran-backed-militias-trying-to-take-over/" target="_blank">an article on Yemen’s gay community</a> in The Tower magazine stated, “Traditionally, that death penalty is not enforced, but citizens have been imprisoned for their sexual orientation.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Saudi Arabia is No. 3 among the world’s most avid executioners, with 90+ in 2014. At least in the past, beheadings were imposed for homosexual behavior, including <a href="http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?docid=3f7d4e1238" target="_blank">three men in 2002</a>. Imprisonment and lashings are <a href="http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Persecution_of_Homosexuals_%28Saudi_Arabia%29" target="_blank">a more common punishment for same-sex activity</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iran is No. 2 in the world for frequency of executions, behind China. Those include executions for homosexual activity, although the facts are often unclear or misrepresented in such cases. (See, for example, <a href="https://76crimes.com/2015/07/20/bogus-hanging-in-iran-bogus-tweets-in-egypt/" target="_blank">“Bogus hanging in Iran, bogus tweets in Egypt”</a> and <a href="https://76crimes.com/2014/08/11/series-of-public-hangings-in-iran-including-2-for-sodomy/" target="_blank">“Series of public hangings in Iran, including 2 for sodomy.”)</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Evidence is a bit clearer about two war-torn areas — <a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/iraq/" target="_blank">Iraq</a> and the territory controlled by Daesh/the <a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/islamic-state/" target="_blank">Islamic State</a> (ISIS/ISIL). The ILGA report of 2015 noted that “Iraq, although [the death penalty is] not in the civil code, clearly has judges and militias throughout the country that issue the death sentence for same-sex sexual behaviours. … We are also aware that in the Daesh(ISIS/ISIL)-held areas the death penalty is implemented (although a non-State actor, it is listed in the report). ” For examples, see:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><a href="https://76crimes.com/2012/09/28/iraq-has-become-a-death-trap-for-gay-men/" target="_blank">Iraq has become a death trap for gay men</a> (September 2012)</li><li><a href="https://76crimes.com/2015/05/07/islamic-state-has-reported-15-lgbti-executions/" target="_blank">‘Islamic State’ has reported 15 LGBTI executions</a> (May 2015)</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In some nations, the death penalty is on the books but is not imposed. ILGA in 2015 stated:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Brunei Darussalam is <a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/brunei/" target="_blank">due to activate the death penalty for same-sex sexual acts in 2016</a>, but it seems likely that like <a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/pakistan/" target="_blank">Pakistan</a>, <a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/afghanistan/" target="_blank">Afghanistan</a> and <a href="https://76crimes.com/tag/qatar/" target="_blank">Qatar</a> although it is on the statute, it will not be implemented.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">ILGA reported in 2016 about Brunei: “there is no sign that the threatened death penalty is to be implemented.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to the U.S. Department of State, Mauritania belongs in this category too. A <a href="https://cablegatesearch.wikileaks.org/cable.php?id=09NOUAKCHOTT815" target="_blank">U.S. Department of State cable from 2009, released by WikiLeaks in 2011,</a>indicated that Mauritania has never imposed the death penalty for homosexual activity or any other crime.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">ILGA reported in 2016 that “although is understood that the United Arab Emirates has not implemented [the death penalty] under the Sharia code, it remains a possibility under interpretations current in the Emirates.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>For more information:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/02/24/here-are-the-10-countries-where-homosexuality-may-be-punished-by-death/" target="_blank">Here are the 10 countries where homosexuality may be punished by death</a> (Washington Post)</li><li><a href="http://old.ilga.org/Statehomophobia/ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2015.pdf" target="_blank">State-Sponsored Homophobia — 2015</a> (pdf) (ILGA)</li><li><a href="http://ilga.org/downloads/02_ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2016_ENG_WEB_150516.pdf" target="_blank">State-Sponsored Homophobia — 2016</a> (pdf) (ILGA)</li><li><a href="https://76crimes.com/2016/02/16/report-somalia-too-risky-for-lgbt-people/" target="_blank">Report: Somalia too risky for LGBT people</a> (February 2016, 76crimes.com)</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: <a href="https://76crimes.com/10-nations-where-the-penalty-for-gay-sex-is-death/" target="_blank">76Crimes.com</a>, Colin Stewart, December 2016 (?)</div><div><br /></div><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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Attempt to remove UN’s LGBT rights expert defeated in narrow vote; still 10 nations where the penalty for gay sex is death

Ten nations with large Muslim populations have laws providing for the death penalty for same-sex activity. Only a few actually impose the de...

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Two Christian Pastors Facing Death Penalty in Sudan for Their Faith: Global Petition Launched

<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/AVvXsEg3VvxmKYONszg3KoeL1Ft1CXU4OK9bWhqUjT27Dc_iS_uuGlzpErgNHTKpp4VJhqXk0C3jdcHtJ3CcQqYLLp2aQD_osmeT4rAsipVomwrWjDpv80rQeyM5uTiTlIyce-2ZtQHcJgWiPr0/s1600/The+Rev.+Hassan+Abduraheem+and+Rev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Rev. Hassan Abduraheem and Rev. Kuwa Shamal" border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3VvxmKYONszg3KoeL1Ft1CXU4OK9bWhqUjT27Dc_iS_uuGlzpErgNHTKpp4VJhqXk0C3jdcHtJ3CcQqYLLp2aQD_osmeT4rAsipVomwrWjDpv80rQeyM5uTiTlIyce-2ZtQHcJgWiPr0/s400/The+Rev.+Hassan+Abduraheem+and+Rev.jpg" title="Rev. Hassan Abduraheem and Rev. Kuwa Shamal" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rev. Hassan Abduraheem and Rev. Kuwa Shamal</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Time is running out for two Christian pastors facing a possible death penalty in Sudan, the American Center for Law and Justice is warning as it launches a global petition asking the world to help save the 2 men.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Rev. Hassan Abduraheem and Rev. Kuwa Shamal have been arrested, transferred, and re-arrested on multiple occasions this past year in the Islamic-majority country of Sudan, with government officials accusing them of national security crimes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow is arguing, however, that the imprisonment and the threat of a death penalty punishment are directly linked to the pastors' Christian faith, and has warned that if other believers don't speak up, the government of Sudan will send them to their deaths.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"They could be sentenced to hang for their faith if the world is silent," Sekulow wrote in an email, linking to the <a href="https://aclj.org/persecuted-church/save-christian-pastors-from-possible-death?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=d-12122016_top-PC_seg-REexBHRE_typ-PT" target="_blank">petition</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Christian Pastors Hassan and Kuwa need your voice now. Time is of the essence, as the trial continues. Our silence could be their death," he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Other Christians facing death in Sudan are now free because you spoke out. Be heard now for these persecuted Christians."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sudanese authorities have arrested numerous Christian pastors in the past couple of years, with South Sudanese Presbyterian Pastors Yat Michael and Peter Yein Reith also facing a possible death penalty until they were freed from prison in August 2015.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The ACLJ's newest petition, which has already been signed by 56,000 people, warns that there is a "deadly crackdown" on Christians in Sudan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The petition also notes that Abduraheem and Shamal have spent 12 months in very poor conditions, with their situation unlikely to improve unless others speak out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Other persecution watchdog groups, such as Christian Solidarity Worldwide, have also been reporting on the case against the two pastors. Back in May, lawyers who are representing the two men noted that the clergymen are being held in small rooms "with intermittent electricity supply and limited ventilation."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Shamal and Abduraheem are reportedly both from the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan, an area which the central government has targeted since 2011 in an aerial bombardment campaign against the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, leading to many civilian deaths.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">CSW's Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said back then that the treatment of the two pastors is "indicative of a government campaign to harass and restrict the rights of the Christian community."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We urge the authorities to end the judicial harassment of the Christian community and to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief for every citizen. We also call on the Sudanese authorities to rectify any derogation from constitutional and international fair trial principles and ensure that the men are detained in a safe and habitable environment," Thomas added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Source: christianpost.com, December 14, 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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Two Christian Pastors Facing Death Penalty in Sudan for Their Faith: Global Petition Launched

Rev. Hassan Abduraheem and Rev. Kuwa Shamal Time is running out for two Christian pastors facing a possible death penalty in Sudan, the Amer...

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