PLAN commissions new Kaiyangxing Type 815A electronic reconnaissance ship

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The People's Liberation Army Navy has commissioned a new electronic reconnaissance ship, a PLA Navy media outlet reported on Wednesday Jan. 11, 2017 in a rare move that also made public the composition of the nation's electronic intelligence fleet. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilLqMeN2sc8D7CEeC7BW5xirmjv4UWX39H2Yc-ta-w3XalQGq6Gfp1UefEecGmeorZkJIuQy-FMTnj_I3twF21hYbuyWasHQB3BDylTX96PFK2yf5EyrCo6SRoLjZTGKP2LRnDOYMAwDE/s1600/PLAN_commissions_new_Kaiyangxing_Type_815A_electronic_reconnaissance_ship_640_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilLqMeN2sc8D7CEeC7BW5xirmjv4UWX39H2Yc-ta-w3XalQGq6Gfp1UefEecGmeorZkJIuQy-FMTnj_I3twF21hYbuyWasHQB3BDylTX96PFK2yf5EyrCo6SRoLjZTGKP2LRnDOYMAwDE/s400/PLAN_commissions_new_Kaiyangxing_Type_815A_electronic_reconnaissance_ship_640_001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #616161; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.6667px;">A commissioning ceremony for the new type electronic reconnaissance ship Kaiyangxing(Hull 856) is held at a naval port in Qingdao, north China’s Shandong province, on January 10, 2017</strong></td></tr></tbody></table><b><a href="http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/news/defence-news/2017/january-2017-navy-naval-forces-defense-industry-technology-maritime-security-global-news/4785-plan-commissions-new-kaiyangxing-type-815a-electronic-reconnaissance-ship.html">Read more</a></b></span></div>

PLAN commissions new Kaiyangxing Type 815A electronic reconnaissance ship

The People's Liberation Army Navy has commissioned a new electronic reconnaissance ship, a PLA Navy media outlet reported on Wednesday J...

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Problems Remain in China’s Death-Penalty System Even After Reforms

<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/AVvXsEipBLE0Ug4Rfnnz6Yqs197-3pi8iISWLeqJuAH5jDdKjETU-j2vNl7wWe1lMmgTVy4XMgi1ae5Ut_-g8RBdsCZfLVSf6ag5yU5m5jy8K_20bArHZiQbTwK1CVRbJoXcYHOG5uVgMkC9crA/s1600/executing+drug+trafickers+in+China.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Chinese death-row inmates" border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipBLE0Ug4Rfnnz6Yqs197-3pi8iISWLeqJuAH5jDdKjETU-j2vNl7wWe1lMmgTVy4XMgi1ae5Ut_-g8RBdsCZfLVSf6ag5yU5m5jy8K_20bArHZiQbTwK1CVRbJoXcYHOG5uVgMkC9crA/s400/executing+drug+trafickers+in+China.jpg" title="Chinese death-row inmates" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinese death-row inmates are marched to a nearby execution ground<br />where they will be put to death by firing squad.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">(Beijing) — Lai Changxing, the kingpin of a multibillion-dollar smuggling ring in the coastal city of Xiamen and once dubbed “China’s most-wanted fugitive” by state media, was given only a life sentence by a Chinese court in 2012, although more than a dozen of his accomplices had been executed by firing squad a decade earlier.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lai's network smuggled products as diverse as cigarettes, cars, oil and textiles. But the 58-year-old was able to literally dodge a bullet after Chinese authorities agreed to drop the death sentence in his case after a 12-year-long extradition battle with Canada.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Critics say Lai’s sentencing highlights the uneven implementation of the death penalty, which is used by government-controlled courts as a means to deter crime — often at the expense of justice.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Amid mounting international pressure and rising public discontent at home over its widespread use of the death penalty, China’s top court has taken a series of steps to reform the system of capital punishment in the past decade.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Chinese academics estimate the number of death sentences handed down has dropped sharply since 2007, after the Supreme People’s Court took over the system of reviewing these verdicts that was earlier left in the hands of provincial-level courts. Yet legal reformists say more changes are needed to avoid possible wrongful convictions. They point out that the review happens behind closed doors, often without the presence of defense lawyers, and so are calling for open court-style hearings instead of allowing a small group of Supreme People’s Court judges to have the final say.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“The defense lawyer’s voice must be heard during these reviews because they can make or break a life,” said Zhang Qingsong, a founding partner at Beijing’s Shangquan Law Office.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Under the current system, a person who is sentenced to death by a local court can appeal the verdict to a high court at the provincial or regional level. A death sentence upheld by a high court is then referred to the Supreme People’s Court for review.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This review process works as follows: A judge from a lower court wanting to give out a death sentence must first file an application with a three-judge panel at the Supreme People’s Court, and the panel then produces a review report either approving the verdict or disapproving it. This is then referred to a deputy president of the Supreme People’s Court for approval. Next it is submitted to an internal trial committee for the final decision, explained a Supreme People’s Court official who asked not to be named.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The public does not have access to information about the workings of this internal trial committee, which is composed of an unknown number of Supreme Court judges.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Once a death sentence is upheld, the president of the Supreme Court will issue an execution order that has to be carried out by a lower court within seven days.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But despite its lack of transparency, the current review process is a far cry from the system that existed before 2007.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">'Strike Hard'</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress, had decentralized the review system in the 1980s, allowing provincial and regional high courts to have a final say on cases involving capital punishment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The move was part of the “strike hard” anti-crime campaign launched nationwide amid a noticeable uptick in serious felonies such as murder, rape, armed robberies and arson attacks in the earlier years of the country’s reform and opening-up.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During this period, judges — many of them former police officers or demobilized soldiers without legal training — were ordered by the Communist Party to be severe. They were often told to expedite trials or to give harsh punishments, well above those prescribed in the penal code, for the sake of “maintaining social order.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The decision to decentralize reviews had eroded the credibility of the review system and the public no longer trusted it as the last resort to address potential miscarriages of justice, according to legal experts, including Li Hongjiang, a Supreme Court judge.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During this period, “the review system was made meaningless and toothless because a provincial or regional high court is unlikely to change a death sentence it had already upheld in a subsequent review,” Li wrote in 2007, in an article published by the People’s Judicature, a journal affiliated to the Supreme Court.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The string of death sentences overturned and pronounced as wrongful convictions in recent years were all reviewed and given the green light by provincial or regional courts in the 1980s and ’90s.</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/AVvXsEhmXXPzXUGrbie2ljiPK4S3QD1liVYSwNhewhrmHe750Z43rTSvVTURHdFbaOrJa4RlYmyTQxwyadTdLWPDVaCb_VLPSPP-uTZkIMDCs-4nSeiy4cGFY2BQvcQ3dHrOyOItu15e_WtBtgU/s1600/Nie+Shubin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nie Shubin" border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmXXPzXUGrbie2ljiPK4S3QD1liVYSwNhewhrmHe750Z43rTSvVTURHdFbaOrJa4RlYmyTQxwyadTdLWPDVaCb_VLPSPP-uTZkIMDCs-4nSeiy4cGFY2BQvcQ3dHrOyOItu15e_WtBtgU/s400/Nie+Shubin.jpg" title="Nie Shubin" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exonerated Nie Shubin, "hastily executed" during the "strike hard" campaign</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">The latest example is <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/search/label/Nie%20Shubin" target="_blank">the exoneration of Nie Shubin</a>, 21, from Hebei province, who was executed after being convicted of the rape and murder of a young woman in 1995.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nie was arrested, given a death sentence and hastily executed, largely based on evidence extracted via a forced confession when the “strike hard” campaign was in full force, court documents show.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But after an alleged serial rapist, arrested over a similar crime in the central province of Henan a decade later, confessed to killing the victim in Nie’s case, the previous verdict was put into doubt.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It took Nie’s family another 10 years to petition various judicial authorities and courts before a retrial was granted by the Supreme Court in June, and Nie’s name was cleared in early December 2016.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Hebei Provincial People’s High Court, which upheld Nie’s death sentence during an appeal on April 25, 1995, was also in charge of the final review on the verdict. It gave the go-ahead to the execution in a review completed just two days after the appeal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The number on death row in China is a closely guarded state secret. But the number of death sentences given out has dropped sharply after the Supreme Court took charge of all reviews in 2007, down from tens of thousands to several thousand, according to estimates by Chinese academics.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The number of executions each year has also declined from five-digit figures to a several thousand as a result.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Chinese government had previously argued that the number on death row was small given China’s large population. But fewer than 40 people are sentenced to death every year in India, a country with a comparable population, according to Zhao Bingzhi, president of the College for Criminal Law Science at Beijing Normal University.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2016, 30 people were sentenced to death in the United States as of November, one-tenth of the 315 capital punishment verdicts in 1996, according to Washington-based rights group Death Penalty Information Center. There were only 20 executions in the U.S. in 2016.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China's widespread use of capital punishment remains a stumbling block when the country negotiates bilateral extradition treaties with many Western nations such as the U.S and Canada, where most Chinese fugitives are in hiding. This has hampered the anti-corruption campaign launched by President Xi Jinping in 2012.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Only a handful of developed nations, including Spain and France, are among the approximately 40 countries that have signed extradition treaties with China, government data showed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Going Easy on the Noose</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In addition to the decision to centralize the review process in 2007 by making the Supreme Court in Beijing the sole body to green light death sentences, the court also removed 22 crimes from the list of 68 capital offenses, including many white-collar financial crimes, in 2011 and 2014.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a document the court released in August 2007, lower courts were also told to “exercise caution” when giving death sentences to people who have killed a spouse over a marital dispute or in confrontations with neighbors, if they have shown remorse and adequately compensated the other party.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This stealthy reform process has cut down the number of death sentences by half and even two-thirds in some regions, according to professor Chen Guangzhong at China University for Political Science and Law.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><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/AVvXsEivDOwEFCDym47e6kBZW1IF5_W27LjCSXEG57Nm23SZCEvxh3HYnYboBP2WIe0w9Cyeh7gtd3jbI2JABoxyrbshVuydim-ao2Z1_0ujSuireItiLvDokpSct4h1OwbEYXwqkcr0oRaiUDES/s1600/chine_ex%25C3%25A9cution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Execution in China" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDOwEFCDym47e6kBZW1IF5_W27LjCSXEG57Nm23SZCEvxh3HYnYboBP2WIe0w9Cyeh7gtd3jbI2JABoxyrbshVuydim-ao2Z1_0ujSuireItiLvDokpSct4h1OwbEYXwqkcr0oRaiUDES/s400/chine_ex%25C3%25A9cution.jpg" title="Execution in China" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Liver transplants in China  primarily relied on organs harvested<br />from executed inmates." Execution by firing squad in China.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">“We are now more cautious when imposing the death sentences as the Supreme Court has significantly tightened the review process,” said a president of an intermediate court in a western region who asked not to be named.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Why should we bother if our applications for a death penalty won’t pass the reviews by the top court?”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Over 95% of the death sentences imposed since 2007 have been limited to those who committed serious crimes such as murder, drug trafficking and robberies that result in deaths, according to Zhao from Beijing Normal University, who also serves a director of criminal law research unit under the government-backed China Law Society.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China has also gradually changed the method of execution in most cases from firing squad to lethal injection. In 2015, the country dropped the controversial practice of harvesting organs from executed criminals for use in transplant operations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But given the lack of official data on people on death row, the number of livers harvested served as an indicator of the number of executions in the country for several years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The number of liver transplants, which primarily relied on organs harvested from executed inmates, dropped by one-third from 2006 to 1,822 in 2007 when the Supreme Court began to take charge of death sentence reviews, according to the China Liver Transplant Registry, an online liver transplant database backed by the Health Commission.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Despite the progress made over the last decade, the death penalty review system is still plagued by a lack of transparency, according to critics.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A search of China Judgment Online, a database affiliated with the Supreme Court, by Zhang Peng, a postgraduate student at the China University of Political Science and Law, found 320 cases between Jan.1, 2014, to Aug. 31, 2016, where review documents showed the Supreme Court had upheld the death penalty. But only 28 of the documents, or less than 9% of cases, said that a defense lawyer was involved in the final review.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some academics said that it might be impossible to add another layer of court trials to replace the review system, but the Supreme Court can turn these reviews into open hearings, which allows for greater public scrutiny.</div><br />Source: <a href="http://www.caixinglobal.com/2017-01-03/101032821.html" target="_blank">Caixin</a>, Shan Yuxiao, Wang Yiyin and Li Rongde, 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>

Problems Remain in China’s Death-Penalty System Even After Reforms

Chinese death-row inmates are marched to a nearby execution ground where they will be put to death by firing squad. (Beijing) — Lai Changxin...

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China: Arsonist sentenced to death

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7GVelHj4_t2bKHP0veWPhkebidQnsYMwmZ87HJpQrIYLF4o3MKexTo-8bhig8CxbzQDf9LB-uY12IEitYLDtN2Z-CXmoXO6MadlA9rJNjwxwWIwV47ONJN9u0n_WGBKQoKazC4cZy16g/s1600/Chinese+flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7GVelHj4_t2bKHP0veWPhkebidQnsYMwmZ87HJpQrIYLF4o3MKexTo-8bhig8CxbzQDf9LB-uY12IEitYLDtN2Z-CXmoXO6MadlA9rJNjwxwWIwV47ONJN9u0n_WGBKQoKazC4cZy16g/s320/Chinese+flag.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">December 30, 2016: A man convicted of setting a bus on fire two years ago was sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court of Liuzhou City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The defendant Song Yanli set the bus on fire using gasoline to vent his anger over a personal dispute on Nov. 21, 2014 in Liuzhou, Guangxi. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Eleven people were injured, and the bus was left as an empty shell. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Song fled the scene but was caught by police three days later. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Song, convicted of arson, posed a severe threat to public security and showed no remorse, a court statement said. Accordingly, the court sentenced Song to the death penalty. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The statement did not mention whether the defendant would appeal. </div><br />Source: Xinhua, December 30, 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? 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>

China: Arsonist sentenced to death

December 30, 2016: A man convicted of setting a bus on fire two years ago was sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court of L...

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Countries with close links to the UK and EU continued to occupy the ranks of the world’s most prolific executioners in 2016

<div style="text-align: justify;"><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/AVvXsEia7PVPcKXWdiBk2aCILt2E2edJA8KO5Rl2_mJ1xlwL6fQ50a64w5CvM91AoXNDXiBRymdPZWjaPvy9nZc2iKrh6IWHWFZ4kJM-S7NGjJMSoNo-oBTJHcmCbYK4TseIaPWlgalMfxBp8Pc/s1600/Iran+The+Execution+Line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The execution line - Iran" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7PVPcKXWdiBk2aCILt2E2edJA8KO5Rl2_mJ1xlwL6fQ50a64w5CvM91AoXNDXiBRymdPZWjaPvy9nZc2iKrh6IWHWFZ4kJM-S7NGjJMSoNo-oBTJHcmCbYK4TseIaPWlgalMfxBp8Pc/s400/Iran+The+Execution+Line.jpg" title="The execution line - Iran" width="400" /></a></div>Global executions in 2016 - Countries with close links to the UK and EU continued to occupy the ranks of the world’s most prolific executioners in 2016, research by international human rights group Reprieve has found.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Saudi Arabia, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/18/at-least-150-people-executed-in-saudi-arabia-for-second-year-in-row" target="_blank">over 150 people were executed</a> for the second year running, including 47 people in one day in January 2016. Among those killed were juveniles and political protestors. Fears remain for the fate of at least three people sentenced to death as children – Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah al-Zaher – who still await beheading.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Pakistan, the authorities continued to execute scores of prisoners from the country’s 8,000-strong death row. A total of 419 prisoners have been hanged since a moratorium on the death penalty was lifted in December 2014. Concerns remained over the strong risk of miscarriages of justice in Pakistan: earlier this year, the Supreme Court found that <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/pakistan-acquits-two-hanged-men-insane-man-faces-execution/" target="_blank">two men who had been hanged were innocent</a>. Pakistan’s government claims its use of the death penalty is a response to terrorism, but Reprieve’s research found that <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/94-hangings-pakistan-not-terrorism-cases-new-figures/" target="_blank">94% of prisoners recently hanged in Pakistan had nothing to do with terrorism</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Iran, the government continued to hang hundreds of prisoners, nearly half of whom who were arrested for alleged drug offences. Reprieve continued to raise concerns that <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/eu-funding-could-be-linked-to-mass-executions-in-iran-a7453041.html" target="_blank">international funding for Iran’s anti-narcotics police may contribute to death sentences</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China continues to keep the number of executions a closely-guarded secret, but is widely believed to remain the world leader, with the death toll estimated in the thousands. The UK this year signed an <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/china-uk-high-level-security-dialogue-official-statement/china-uk-high-level-security-dialogue-communique" target="_blank">agreement</a> to increase cooperation with China on security and crime, leading to potential risks that British assistance could contribute to the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Other countries of concern</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The torture and sentencing to death of political protestors, and juveniles, continued apace in several countries with close ties to the UK.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Of particular concern are Bahrain – where several protestors await execution on the basis of forced ‘confessions’ – and Egypt. Reprieve has established that in the last three years, <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/egypt-death-sentences-near-2000-amid-fears-irish-student/" target="_blank">the Egyptian judiciary has sentenced 1,857 to death</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In addition, 2016 saw alarming proposals in Kuwait to <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016_11_16_INT-Letter-to-PM-Theresa-May-about-GCC-summit-as-sent.pdf">lower to 16 the age at which people can be sentenced to death</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Commenting, Maya Foa, a director of Reprieve, said:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“It is alarming that countries with close links to the UK and EU continued to occupy the ranks of the world’s most prolific executioners in 2016. From Saudi Arabia, Iran and China, to Pakistan, Egypt and Bahrain, we have found children on death row, innocent people hanged, drugs offences dealt with as capital crimes, and torture used to extract false confessions. Countries that oppose executions must do more in 2017 to ensure that their overseas security assistance does not contribute to others states use of the death penalty.”<br /><br /><h3>#1 - China. Executed: Unknown (Est. +1,000)</h3>The number of executions is a state secret, and the executions reported in the media are likely to be a fraction of those that are carried out. China continues to execute more people than any other country in the world.<br /><br /><h3>#2 - Iran. Executed: 534+</h3>The actual number of executions is likely to be higher in Iran, given the government’s underreporting of executions and the holding of secret executions. Reprieve’s research shows that at least 211 of the hangings that took place in 2016 were for drugs offences, in violation of international law.<br /><br /><h3>#3 - Saudi Arabia. Executed: 154</h3>This execution total is close to last year’s record high of 158. Among those executed this year were at least 4 juveniles who were killed as part of a mass execution of 47 people in January. One of them, Ali al-Ribh, was arrested in school, tortured into a false ‘confession’ to protest-related charges, and executed.<br /><br /><h3>#4 - Iraq. Executed: 101+</h3>Ongoing armed conflict makes it impossible to obtain exact figures for Iraq, but Reprieve was able to establish that at least 101 executions took place in 2016. However, based on unconfirmed media reports, the real figure may be more than double this total.<br /><br /><h3>#5 - Pakistan. Executed: 87</h3>According to figures gathered by Reprieve, there had been 87 executions in 2016 as of December 6. This was a decrease since 2015, which saw Pakistan embark on an unprecedented execution spree, and leapfrog Saudi Arabia to become the world’s third most prolific executioner. The country lifted a six-year moratorium on the execution of civilians in December 2014.<br /><br /><h3>#6 - USA. Executed: 20</h3>The most prolific executioner <a href="http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/" target="_blank">among US states</a> was Georgia, which executed 9 people this year. Execution numbers fell to a record low amid growing concerns about the effectiveness of capital punishment. 2016 saw public support for the death penalty fall to under 50%, death sentences drop to a record low and every FDA-approved pharmaceutical company oppose the misuse of medicines in lethal injections, causing many states to put executions on hold.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Figures correct as of 20th December 2016.</i><br /><i><br /></i>➫ For Your Information:<b> </b>Upon reading the above article, Alan Shadrake, author of "<a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/2016/07/once-jolly-hangman-singapore-justice-in.html" target="_blank">Once a Jolly Hangman, Singapore Justice in the Dock</a>", contacted Death Penalty News on December 23, and submitted the following comment: "They forgot to mention Singapore!"<br /><br />Source: Reprieve, December 23, 2016. 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Countries with close links to the UK and EU continued to occupy the ranks of the world’s most prolific executioners in 2016

Global executions in 2016 - Countries with close links to the UK and EU continued to occupy the ranks of the world’s most prolific execution...

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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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Expanding number of Australians potentially facing execution for drug smuggling in Asian countries

<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/AVvXsEgl1yYtKTaJud9qmNaZwcof388MVpewV6L9SI-SCyZ49hAZ58ztN7o5ZlFp71fVAFLXDKAJWIvJkmm9xvknbeH8nkvwW5qJGNTxwUOxShpjMFs72_e9fUX_JU3cu4bw-oKpSA6uDObDwd8/s1600/Return+to+Paradise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screenshot from "Return to Paradise" by Joseph Ruben, 1998" border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl1yYtKTaJud9qmNaZwcof388MVpewV6L9SI-SCyZ49hAZ58ztN7o5ZlFp71fVAFLXDKAJWIvJkmm9xvknbeH8nkvwW5qJGNTxwUOxShpjMFs72_e9fUX_JU3cu4bw-oKpSA6uDObDwd8/s400/Return+to+Paradise.jpg" title="Screenshot from "Return to Paradise" by Joseph Ruben, 1998" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshot from "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0124595/" target="_blank">Return to Paradise</a>" by Joseph Ruben, 1998</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Death by firing squad, hanging or lethal injection are the possible fates of an expanding number of Australians who could face execution for drug smuggling in Asian countries. <br /><br />Last year, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said that the number of Australians on death row around the world was 17, with more than half detained in China and the others in countries including Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore. <br /><br />On Wednesday, DFAT refused to reveal just how many Australians are on death row in several Asian countries. <br /><br />However, last year's total of 17 is believed to have grown, following the arrest of 2 women in Vietnam allegedly with large amounts of heroin. <br /><br />DFAT did reveal 36 of the 40 Australians in custody in Vietnam were on drug charges, but would only say "a number of these face the death penalty". <br /><br />Vietnam applies the death penalty is cases of trafficking of 100 grams of heroin or more, replacing firing squads with lethal injection 3 years ago. <br /><br />Australian Nguyen Thi Huong who was sentenced to execution has had her death penalty commuted to life, which means the 73-year-old will die in a Ho Chi Min prison. <br /><br />Peter Gardner was arrested with Sydney woman, Kalynda Davis who was later released by Chinese prison authorities without charge. <br /><br />But a second Australian woman aged 37, who was arrested in Vietnam in June this year, has yet to be publicly named but will face death by lethal injection if convicted. <br /><br />DFAT media would only say that 77 Australians are under arrest, detention or in prison in China, and 17 of those are on drug charges. <br /><br />Under China's drug laws, anyone convicted of possessing more than 50g of heroin or methamphetamines can be sentenced to death. The Chinese government uses lethal injection and the firing squad, with the latter more common for drug crimes. <br /><br />Australian/New Zealand dual national Peter Gardner is expected to learn his fate in late January when a Guangzhou Court may deliver its verdict on his case. <br /><br />Gardner, 27, was arrested at Guangzhou airport in November 2014 with Australian woman Kalynda Davis. <br /><br />Davis was later freed without charge, but Gardner was indicted for allegedly attempting to smuggle a massive 30kg of methamphetamine from China to Australia. <br /><br />Australian grandmother Nguyen Thi Huong had 2.8kg of heroin in soap bars. <br /><br />At least 4 other Australians are believed to have received death sentences, or suspended death sentences in China, which may be commuted to life imprisonment. <br /><br />The conditions in Chinese prisons are harsh, with 15 prisoners sharing a 6m x 3m cell, taking turns on a sleeping platform and sharing a single open toilet. <br /><br />Australian woman Maria Exposto faced charges in court last month in Malaysia, which strictly imposes mandatory death by hanging for those possessing 15g of heroin or 40g of cocaine. <br /><br />Malaysia has hanged three Australians for drug trafficking, Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers in 1986 and Michael McAuliffe in 1993. <br /><br />Australian man Van Tuong Nguyen hanged in Singapore in 2005. Indonesia executed Bali 9 ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. <br /><br />China has also cracked down on people carrying drugs to be sold for profit rather than for personal use. <br /><br /></div><h3>PETER GARDNER, 27 </h3><br />Charge: Attempt to smuggle 30kg methamphetamine in suitcases on Sydney flight at Guangzhou airport in November 2014 <br /><br />Death penalty: China/ Firing squad <br /><br />Dual Australian and New Zealand citizen, Peter Gardner was arrested with his then girlfriend, Sydney promotions representative Kalynda Davis, at Guangzhou Airport in November 2014. <br /><br />Gardner allegedly tried to board a Sydney flight with Davis and two suitcases full of 3kg of ice worth $20 million in bags. <br /><br />Guangzhou authorities say the suitcases, which were superglued, contained the biggest haul of methamphetamine recorded at the airport. <br /><br />Davis' policeman father made a mercy dash to China and his daughter was released without charge and sent home in December. <br /><br />But Gardner has been languishing in a Guangzhou prison since. <br /><br />Gardner told a Guangzhou court earlier this year that he thought the suitcases contained the performance enhancing sport drugs, peptides, and that this was "the biggest mistake of my life". <br /><br />He reportedly faces another hearing in January 2017, at which he may learn whether he will be convicted and sentenced to death. <br /><br /><h3>PHAM TRUNG DUNG, 37 </h3><br />Charge: Smuggling 4kg heroin in suitcases onto a Sydney-bound flight <br /><br />Death penalty: Vietnam/ Lethal injection <br /><br />Dung was discovered with more than 4kg of heroin in 2 suitcases as he boarded a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Australia in May 2013. <br /><br />Dung told a Ho Chi Minh City court that he had been living in Australia with his partner and 2 sons and was made an offer he couldn't refuse. <br /><br />An unidentified man paid him $40,000 to transport the drugs back to Australia and deliver them to an acquaintance. <br /><br />Sentenced to death in June 2014, Dung may appeal but faces lethal injection. <br /><br />Death by hanging could be the fate of Maria Exposto for trafficking 1.1kg of ice if a Malaysian court convicts the Melbourne woman. <br /><br /><h3>MARIA ELVIRA PINTO EXPOSTO, 52 </h3><br />Charge: 1.1kg methamphetamine in 2014 <br /><br />Death penalty: Malaysia/ Hanging <br /><br />Sydney grandmother Maria Exposto was stopped at the Kuala Lumpur airport customs desk on December 7, 2014. <br /><br />Exposto was in transit from Shanghai and about to catch a Malaysian Airlines flight to Melbourne. <br /><br />Customs officer Mohd Noor Nashariq scanned her bag and allegedly found 1.1kg of methamphetamine secreted in a hand stitched compartment. <br /><br />In Malaysia, death by hanging is mandatory for anyone convicted of carrying more than 50g of drugs. <br /><br />Exposto has maintained her innocence since her arrest, claiming she travelled to Shanghai for romance with a man claiming to be a US serviceman, but who turned out to be a scammer. <br /><br />She says a stranger duped her into carrying a backpack, which she believed was full of clothes, not drugs, to Melbourne. <br /><br />Customs officers found the ice stitched into the pack. <br /><br />Exposto faced hearings at the Shah Alam High Court last month but no decision has been made as to her verdict or fate. <br /><br /><h3>NGUYEN THI HUONG, 73 </h3><br />Charge: Boarding a December 2014 flight for Sydney with 2.8kg of heroin hidden in 36 bars of soap <br /><br />Death penalty: Vietnam/ Lethal injection <br /><br />Sentenced to death by lethal injection in June this year after the Ho Chi Minh City People???s Court found her guilty of attempting to smuggle 2.8kg of heroin in bars of soap 2 years ago. <br /><br />Huong said a woman gave her the soap and she planned to take them back to Australia as gifts for family. <br /><br />She said she did not know it contained heroin, but the Ho Chi Minh City court rejected her defence in a half day trial. <br /><br />Late last month, the People's High Court reduced the great grandmother???s death sentence to life in prison, which means she will die in Chi Hoa prison, which is infamous for its harsh and squalid conditions. <br /><br /><h3>UNNAMED AUSTRALIAN WOMAN, 37 </h3><br />Charge: Trafficking 4.8kg of heroin in her luggage. <br /><br />Death penalty: Vietnam/Lethal injection <br /><br />Arrested in June this year, the 37-year-old Australian of Vietnamese origin was detained at Tan Son Nhut Airport in the southern hub of Ho Chi Minh City. <br /><br />Officials claim they found nearly 5kg of heroin hidden in picture frames in her luggage. <br /><br />The woman allegedly told officers she was paid $33,500 to transport the heroin to Australia. <br /><br />She has yet to face trial, but Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws and trafficking even small amounts of heroin is punishable by death. <br /><br />Queensland man Ibrahim Jalloh is reportedly awaiting trial in China on drug charges. <br /><br /><h3>BENGALI SHERRIF AND IBRAHIM JALLOH </h3><br />Charge: in June 2014 <br /><br />Death penalty: China/ Firing squad <br /><br />Chinese officials arrested the 2 young men from Queensland at Guangzhou airport in June 2014 in possession of methamphetamine. <br /><br />Sherrif has received a "suspended" death sentence, but the outcome is uncertain. <br /><br />Jalloh, who has an intellectual disability, has received a suspended death sentence, which may be commuted to life in prison. <br /><br /><h3>HENRY CHHIN </h3><br />Charge: concealing 270g of methamphetamine in computer equipment in May 2004/ 700g of meth in furniture in 2014 <br /><br />Death penalty: China/ Firing squad <br /><br />Shanghai police intercepted 270g of ice concealed in computer equipment which they alleged Chhin tried to send from China to Australia in 2005. <br /><br />Chhin was sentenced to death and his sentence was suspended for 2 years. <br /><br />But Shenzen police uncovered a further 700g of meth in cabinets at Chhin's residence, and his fate is currently unclear. <br /><br /><h3>ANTHONY BANNISTER, 43 </h3><br />Charge: Attempt to smuggle 3kg of methamphetamine to Australia <br /><br />Death penalty: China/ Firing squad <br /><br />Former Adelaide jockey Bannister was arrested at Guangzhou International Airport in March 2014. <br /><br />Customs officers claim they found 3kg of methamphetamine in envelopes inside 8 handbags in his luggage. <br /><br />Bannister claims he was set up by online conmen who convinced him he could obtain a lucrative divorce settlement from his former wife. <br /><br />Bannister's lawyer told a court that he was given a suitcase containing women's handbags to take back to Australia as a favour. <br /><br />Given a suspended death sentence, he may end up with life in a Chinese prison, but is appealing his conviction. <br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/courts-law/aussies-on-death-row-for-drugs-in-asian-countries-grows/news-story/1e90e472b139606a5fba985b8cc66b87" target="_blank">abs.com.au</a>, December 16, 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" 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Expanding number of Australians potentially facing execution for drug smuggling in Asian countries

Screenshot from " Return to Paradise " by Joseph Ruben, 1998 Death by firing squad, hanging or lethal injection are the possible f...

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How censorship aids China’s execution machine

<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/AVvXsEihas13R7-iIANQqb209okYppXyjRqSCXazFmhqbbKhI3qfC5f9-Pcgwi_h4ZbMXA3dkunWjNvYx1oJAgCzWPtmomv442lOnQtb1GmBDlr4MhtfPK18ZG_GysU1b0PaQ3eCT1R4nOkOokuM/s1600/execution+china.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A Chinese police officer lights a prisoner's last cigarette, moments before his execution." border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihas13R7-iIANQqb209okYppXyjRqSCXazFmhqbbKhI3qfC5f9-Pcgwi_h4ZbMXA3dkunWjNvYx1oJAgCzWPtmomv442lOnQtb1GmBDlr4MhtfPK18ZG_GysU1b0PaQ3eCT1R4nOkOokuM/s400/execution+china.jpg" title="A Chinese police officer lights a prisoner's last cigarette, moments before his execution." width="258" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Chinese police officer lights a prisoner's last<br />cigarette, moments before his execution.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">The executions of Nie Shubin and Jia Jinglong occurred more than 20 years apart, yet the Chinese authorities have used the plight of both men to send starkly different messages on the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/search/label/Nie%20Shubin" target="_blank">Nie Shubin, who was executed in 1995 for rape and murder</a>, received a <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/2016/12/nie-shubin-china-clears-man-21-years.html" target="_blank">rare posthumous exoneration</a> earlier this month. Officials made much of how this wrongful execution had been corrected and that lessons had been learnt. State media highlighted how the verdict was overturned based on a presumption of innocence, a principle that China’s judicial system has only just started to recognize.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2005, a domestic media outlet revealed that another man, Wang Shujin, confessed to the murder and rape Nie had supposedly committed. The news sent shock waves throughout China, and has created immense public interest and media coverage ever since. It still took more than a decade of persistent campaigning by Nie’s family, lawyers, journalists, and academics to finally clear his name.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This may seem like an advance for justice, but the authorities did not look kindly on another campaign this past month <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/2016/11/outcry-as-china-executes-symbol-of.html" target="_blank">to spare the life of Jia Jinglong</a>. A frantic last-ditch effort on Chinese social media eventually came to nothing. Jia, who killed a local village official, was executed on 15 November.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Not only were the authorities intent on ending Jia’s life, they were intent on ending any debate about his plight that –in the view of many- would have warranted some leniency. The same type of activism that brought about a reversal in the verdict for Nie Shubin was not tolerated this time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the day Jia Jinglong was executed, the government’s propaganda machine went into overdrive, with state-media describing the campaign to save his life as “attacking judicial authority.” Social media posts were heavily censored and state-run press published threatening articles to intimidate Jia’s supporters.</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/AVvXsEgn4Ku_fJ-PFcMx3OI76YsTrDyQvdoddIti3oEB0WPKUDv-1S3v3Nw_xtsMvRAgKNjCJf60T9SAes2LepLXbS-7VMp4Di204dA5EotL3ujI7j7WIHKFEJ7EMYpDyu1nyDX6bsUayEt6s90/s1600/Jia+Jinglong+CHINA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Jia Jinglong" border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4Ku_fJ-PFcMx3OI76YsTrDyQvdoddIti3oEB0WPKUDv-1S3v3Nw_xtsMvRAgKNjCJf60T9SAes2LepLXbS-7VMp4Di204dA5EotL3ujI7j7WIHKFEJ7EMYpDyu1nyDX6bsUayEt6s90/s400/Jia+Jinglong+CHINA.jpg" title="Jia Jinglong" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jia Jinglong</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Jia, a farmer in China’s northern Hebei province, killed a local village chief, He Jianhua, on 19 February 2015 with a modified nail gun.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The village chief had ordered the demolition of Jia’s three-story home, which he had just meticulously decorated to prepare for his upcoming marriage. Following the murder, Jia reportedly attempted to turn himself in. According to supporters, the courts should have considered these potential mitigating factors when deciding whether to execute him.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For Jia’s supporters, China’s default death penalty policy first set out by authorities in 2006 – “killing fewer, killing cautiously” – seemed to hold out a glimmer of hope that the Supreme People’s Court might spare his life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But state censors made sure that those living in mainland China, were not able to read many of the online articles presenting the legal case as to why Jia’s life should be spared.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Twelve of China’s most prominent legal scholars wrote a passionate open letter asking the country’s Supreme People’s Court to grant Jia a reprieve. But their open petition was censored – as were many other posts about Jia Jinglong that were shared on WeChat – China’s main social media platform.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This censorship was accompanied by an ominous editorial in the People’s Daily – the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party – signalling that the online debate had gone too far and that some people could be punished. It said that the scope of freedom of expression extended to people talking about cases in private or over meals, but not on the internet, where they could influence public opinion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The editorial slammed those who spoke out while only “half-understanding” the case, and it warned of consequences for those who harmed the credibility of the legal system or harmed judicial authority by transmitting so-called “untruthful information.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nie Shubin’s case showed that the government is taking some positive moves by redressing emblematic cases of wrongful convictions, but the authorities still control the narrative.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><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/AVvXsEi7_pyLAj2j3TjT15bH_AC0rJJyg88bfETVTBPVUtQYexhskh6nBNrt28wBCe-BXSlV2DtSeewYxZd26QiatCni_ZFj_FaAnhzEwyFj5AGd3n2wnGqqky4fgNrputJ8br0JLoX05GYzq88/s1600/Nie-Shubin_CHINA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nie Shubin" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_pyLAj2j3TjT15bH_AC0rJJyg88bfETVTBPVUtQYexhskh6nBNrt28wBCe-BXSlV2DtSeewYxZd26QiatCni_ZFj_FaAnhzEwyFj5AGd3n2wnGqqky4fgNrputJ8br0JLoX05GYzq88/s400/Nie-Shubin_CHINA.jpg" title="Nie Shubin" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nie Shubin</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">China remained the world’s top executioner last year. The true extent of the use of the death penalty in the country is unknown as the authorities hide data on death sentences and executions claiming it to be a state secret, manipulate public opinion on specific cases like the Jia Jinglong case, and thereby stymie rigorous debate and empirical analysis.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Such censorship is one of the most ironic and tragic aspects of China’s death penalty system. The government demands that people “comprehensively understand” the details of a death penalty case before commenting, and yet the government’s own laws and policies fuel the ignorance it criticizes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is this government secrecy, and not the valiant campaigns that attempt to save people like Jia Jinglong from execution, that cause the real harm to the credibility of China’s legal system.</div><br />Source: <a href="http://www.atimes.com/censorship-aids-chinas-execution-machine/" target="_blank">Asia Times</a>, William Nee, December 15, 2016. Mr. Nee is the China Researcher at Amnesty International.<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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How censorship aids China’s execution machine

A Chinese police officer lights a prisoner's last cigarette, moments before his execution. The executions of Nie Shubin and Jia Jinglong...

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Pakistan: Only 7 % of executions related to terror charges

<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/AVvXsEgKWDk3hNkc-EvNElfdfttOv_CRPz-rIcZFaNqMJkHHRbK2UyybsCjK3QFsw84N4Wt_gNOHCpo43JpoiIU1eLEba1YdAjLmJNNyvydnZRf7asIjNyp5dWYS80w2Q2M3y_-xaL90uA-keAw/s1600/pakistan-lifts-moratorium-on-death-penalty-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Pakistan comes in a world ranking in executions" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKWDk3hNkc-EvNElfdfttOv_CRPz-rIcZFaNqMJkHHRbK2UyybsCjK3QFsw84N4Wt_gNOHCpo43JpoiIU1eLEba1YdAjLmJNNyvydnZRf7asIjNyp5dWYS80w2Q2M3y_-xaL90uA-keAw/s400/pakistan-lifts-moratorium-on-death-penalty-.jpg" title="Pakistan comes in a world ranking in executions" width="340" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"After China and KSA, Pakistan comes in world ranking of executions."</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Since Dec 2014, 426 criminals executed, mostly in cases unrelated to terrorism; after China and KSA, Pakistan comes in world ranking of executions in 2016</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Execution of convicted terrorists", the 1st point in National Action Plan, was included as a deterrent against the terrorists but only 7 % of the total 426 have been executed on the charges of terrorism.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) data shows that from December 2014 to November 2016, only 29 out of 426 people have been executed under the Anti Terrorism Act. Vast majority of the 426 executions carried out since the moratorium was ended for the death penalty in December 2014 has been for crimes unrelated to terrorism.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is an ideological debate on the issue of execution in the country as one side believes the death penalty serve the purpose of deterrent against crimes. The other side claims that execution can never be a deterrent against the crimes and this could be justified through the crime data of western countries where execution is banned.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The legal and constitutional experts also believe there are legal shortcomings and serious problems in the criminal justice system. Therefore, they say under these circumstances the extreme punishment is unjustified and illegal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Syed Nayyar Abbas Kazmi was one of person executed after the moratorium was ended for the death penalty. His number was 182 on the list of those who executed in year 2015 and was hanged on July 29, 2015 in Multan jail. He was charged in murder case and arrested in 1996. According to his family, they were in negotiation with the victim's family for settlement but before they reached any agreement he was hanged.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Talking to The News, Syed Naeem Abbas Kazmi brother of Syed Nayyar Abbas, a resident of a small village Kotla Haji Shah (Layyah), said he was 18 when he was jailed and spent 19 years in the jail.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We tried a lot for settlement and were paying the blood money to the bereaved family. Initially they did not agree for the settlement but when he (Nayyar) spent more than 1/2 of his life in jail they agreed for the talks. We were almost in the middle of the negotiation but before we reached an agreement he (Nayyar) was hanged", commented Naeem Shah.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Soon after the terrorists attack on Army Public School Peshawar in December 2014, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif addressed the nation and announced a 20-point National Action Plan (NAP) whereof executing the terrorists was the 1st point.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2014, 7 people were hanged. All of them were executed on terrorism charges. 3 of them were involved in attack on General Musharraf. Dr Usman, the mastermind of GHQ attack and 3 other persons were accused of suicide attack on Musharraf's convoy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Similarly, 333 people were hanged in 2015, out of which 15 were executed on the charges of terrorism whereas the remaining 318 were hanged on murder charges. 3 out of the 15 have been hanged on the charges of attack on Musharraf. 3 have been charged for highjacking PIA plane whereas 4 people have been hanged on the charges of attack on Army Public School Peshawar.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">From January to November 2016, total 86 people have been executed, out of which total 7 were hanged on the charges of terrorism. More than 90 % of the execution occurred in jails of Punjab province. According to the data obtained from Justice Project Pakistan, a local NGO, 46 persons have been hanged in Faisalabad,39 in Rawalpindi, 52 in Lahore, 10 in Karachi, 25 in Multan, 31 in Sahiwal, 33 in Bahawalpur, 4 in Mirpur, 9 in Jhang, 2 in Peshawar, 6 in Jahlum, 7 in Harripur, 5 in Sukkur, 1 in Larkana, 14 in Gujranwala, 13 in Sargodha, 19 in Attock, 6 in Toba Tek Singh, 17 in Mianwali, 7 in Mach, 16 in Gujrat, 9 in Vehari, 17 in Sialkot, 2 in Haiderabad, 9 in DG Khan, 6 in Kasur, 11 in Kohat and one in Teemer Graha.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Chairman Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Leader of the House in Senate, Senator Raja Zafarul Haq, while commenting on the execution says, Islam teaches to avoid awarding death penalty at first place and it should be applied as a last resort.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Sometimes perceptions and human errors cause to make mistakes therefore awarding death penalty should be avoided. This is such an extreme punishment which cannot be overturned so easily keeping our criminal and justice system in view. We have seen many cases when people are wrongly executed. Because of having no influence and lack of resources they could not challenge the verdict at the level of apex courts. This is the reason Islam has asked to avoid awarding extreme punishment as 1st choice," Raja Zafarul Haq remarked.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Though there is a proper system of punishments for any crime in Islam but these penalties are used as last resort. For instance there are 12 or 13 precautions which needed to be checked before awarding sentence of cutting hand of a thief. Similarly death penalty is even the extreme punishment which should be avoided unless it is necessary. There are many other ways to control the crimes and bring reforms in the society. The punishment should be awarded keeping justice system and course of evidence in view", he commented.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We need to review the capital punishment law and bring changes in it accordingly keeping our criminal justice system in view," recommended Raja Zafarul Haq.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Analysis of the official data of Lahore High Court for the year 2014 shows that total 1105 execution petitions were instituted across the province whereas 458 petitions were pending from the previous years. The courts disposed of 988 (63 %) execution petitions whereas 575 (37 %) remained pending for the next year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Similarly, the same year 1456 new cases were instituted in anti-terrorism courts whereas 380 cases were pending from the previous years. The courts disposed of 1400 (76 %) cases whereas 436 (24 %) cases remained undecided.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to the Justice Project Pakistan's data, after China and Iran, Pakistan has become the 3rd ranking country in terms of executing people. In 2016, there is no exact data of executions in China, but 57 people hanged in Iran whereas Pakistan has executed 86 and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 93.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The data further shows that till 2013, Pakistan has the largest death row population in the world as total 8,568 were waiting for death penalties. According to JPP's data, total 800 prisoners on death row in Pakistan were tried as 'terrorists'. In 86% of these cases, there was no link to anything reasonably defined as 'terrorism'. Hence, the 'terrorism' cases represent more than 1 in 10 of Pakistan's death row in the figures from 2012. However, this is now estimated to be as high as 30% whereas in the province of Sindh the figure is as much as 40 %. It is pertinent to mention here that there are currently over 17,000 pending 'terrorism' cases in Pakistan</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Barrister Sarah Belal, director Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) believes executions can never serve as deterrent against crimes. This could be justified while analyzing the crime data of entire world as crime has no relation with hanging someone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Our criminal justice system is full of problems. We have problems in investigation system; there is capacity problem in our police department whereas bribery and political pressures further add to the miseries of the people. How can we execute a person when the criminal justice system is problematic? Therefore first we need to take measures to improve the system and then think about executing the criminals", commented Barrister Sarah.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The government officials on the other hand have a totally different perspective on the death penalty. They claim that policy of execution has proven effective as deterrence against terrorism. According to the official statistics the number of terrorist attacks has decreased from 1,823 in 2014 to 1,009 in 2015. Fatalities from attacks have also decreased from 1,761 in 2014 to 1,081 in 2015.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Source: The News, December 14, 2016<br /><br /><h2>Death penalty: LHC rejects appeals of 7 military court convicts</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The Lahore High Court dismissed on Tuesday the appeals of 7 militants convicted by military courts in cases of targeted killings.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An LHC division bench comprising Justices Shahid Mahmood Abbasi and Shahid Mehmood Sethi dismissed the writ petitions of the 7 convicts associated with proscribed organisations after going through the record of the military court's proceedings and arguments presented in-camera by the federal government.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The military courts had awarded death penalty to Sabir Shah, Abdul Rauf, Awais Gujjar, Suleman Pathan, Rafiullah and Sheikh Farhan, but the heirs of the convicts challenged their sentences before the high court.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On behalf of the appellants, Advocate Ali Zia Bajwa argued the trial of the convicts was under way in anti-terrorism courts when their cases were shifted to the military authorities from Kot Lakhpat jail. Neither the convicts were allowed to meet their families nor given a chance to engage a counsel to defend themselves before the military courts, he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The counsel contended the families of the convicts only come to know about the military courts' decision through a press release issued by the military's media cell. He requested the court to set aside the conviction by the military courts and acquit the petitioners.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The LHC judges, however, rejected the appeal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Model Town inquiry</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Lahore High Court has dismissed the petition filed by the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) seeking the public release of the judicial inquiry into the Model Town carnage.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Tuesday, an LHC full bench dismissed the plea for making the yet-to-be-released report a part of the religio-political party's private complaint pending in an anti-terrorism court.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Through its complaint, the PAT seeks the trial of prime minister, Punjab chief minister and others on charges of killing 14 party workers in a standoff with Lahore police on June 17, 2014.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">PAT's counsel Rai Bashir Ahmad argued the Punjab government with mala fide intention restricted the publication of the report of the inquiry held by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said if the report became a part of the ATC proceedings, it would strengthen the statements of the witnesses.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The lawyer asked the bench to dismiss an order of the trial court and order it to make the inquiry report a necessary part of the proceedings on the complaint.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Minhajul Quran Administration Director Jawwad Hamid had filed the petition against dismissal of their application by the ATC.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The LHC bench headed by Justice Muhammad Yawar Ali dismissed the petition, announcing a reserved verdict.</div><br />Source: The Express Tribune, 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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Pakistan: Only 7 % of executions related to terror charges

"After China and KSA, Pakistan comes in world ranking of executions." Since Dec 2014, 426 criminals executed, mostly in cases unre...

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