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Indonesia: A blasphemy trial begins

Indonesia: A blasphemy trial begins

Ahok's blasphemy trial begins Welcome to the 21st century! Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama will receive legal a...

2:20 AM

Pakistani Christian faces death penalty for allegedly "desecrating Quran"

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-e66uv8K24rMCI65Q_4P54e89vQadImRcuOzgIYNSVkCwhiuKCHQjsjlnF7OFUrt3Nd2qsTdMFW70XBonaCISq5VvHgtjV7zDQVAjt4TnUKhRLtFMgH1rSnTXYmIL36XvVbvCiQsolk/s1600/Quran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-e66uv8K24rMCI65Q_4P54e89vQadImRcuOzgIYNSVkCwhiuKCHQjsjlnF7OFUrt3Nd2qsTdMFW70XBonaCISq5VvHgtjV7zDQVAjt4TnUKhRLtFMgH1rSnTXYmIL36XvVbvCiQsolk/s400/Quran.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pakistani Christian faces the death penalty after being accused of ripping pages out of a Quran by a Muslim involved in a business dispute with the arrested man's family</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A Pakistani Christian faces the death penalty after being accused of ripping pages out of a Koran, it has emerged.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Shahbaz Babu was accused of desecrating the holy book by writing his name on it and scattering torn-up pages in front of a mosque in Kamahan, near Lahore.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 41-year-old was thrown in jail on blasphemy charges following a complaint by a man who is in a business dispute with the married father-of-three's family, it has been claimed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Activists from the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) say Badu, an evangelical Christian, is illiterate and cannot have written his name on the Quran.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The organisation reports that Badu was taken to Nishtar police station before being moved to Model Town station to avoid 'possible reprisals' arising from the charges against him.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There were no eyewitnesses to him writing his name on the book while his accuser, is said to be in dispute with Badu's brother who owns a 'thriving' grocery store, the BPCA said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Others have pointed out inconsistencies in the accusations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Badu was accused of desecrating the Koran in secret - but ripping up the pages would have left public clear evidence of his alleged activities.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to Asia News, Babu was arrested on December 30 under Article 295B of the Pakistan Penal Code.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the BPCA. said: 'This latest blasphemy case highlights the little progress made by the Government of Pakistan towards improving the rights of minorities under their protection. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">'Wholly biased laws such as the notorious blasphemy laws of Pakistan have no place in egalitarian modern democracies, suggesting that the nation has moved forward little from its feudal past. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">'In every blasphemy case in Pakistan common-sense flies out of the window as a corrupt and incredibly inadequate police force goes about it's business with prejudice and avarice.'</div><br />Source: <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4101416/Pakistani-Christian-faces-death-penalty-accused-ripping-pages-Koran-Muslim-involved-business-dispute-arrested-man-s-family.html" target="_blank">Mail Online</a>, January 9, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; 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Pakistani Christian faces death penalty for allegedly "desecrating Quran"

Pakistani Christian faces the death penalty after being accused of ripping pages out of a Quran by a Muslim involved in a business dispute w...

3:43 AM

Pakistan: The love of hanging

<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbc_zsbdDalAnCERM7nttum4zrUSuCMpXhKNDF-AIa38ww8RPBYAeJEj9D5ThUCZJnVBTP263BoXqtIpmkryZzmbrIg8v3yGIlQtIw68ISLx-Zk72-GcufW8e8aqo4mZI-UZ1PLBvRyqE/s1600/Gallows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Gallows" border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbc_zsbdDalAnCERM7nttum4zrUSuCMpXhKNDF-AIa38ww8RPBYAeJEj9D5ThUCZJnVBTP263BoXqtIpmkryZzmbrIg8v3yGIlQtIw68ISLx-Zk72-GcufW8e8aqo4mZI-UZ1PLBvRyqE/s400/Gallows.jpg" title="Gallows" width="400" /></a></div>Pakistan chose to vote against the recent resolution in the United Nations General Assembly that had called for a global moratorium on the death penalty and was adopted by a majority of member-states.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The gist of this resolution has been adopted by the UN General Assembly every 2 years since 2007. The resolution adopted on Dec 19, 2016 was backed by 117 states, while 40 voted against it and 31 abstained. As against the voting pattern in 2014, the new supporters of the moratorium call were Guinea, Malawi, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka and Swaziland.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">South Asia maintained its fondness for the death penalty as Pakistan joined Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Maldives in rejecting a universal moratorium, while Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka voted in favour.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Those who defend the death penalty as a principle enjoined by Islam may look at the division among the Muslim states (the category includes all members of the OIC).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Those voting in favour of a moratorium included: Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Benin, Bosnia Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mali, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Suriname, Togo, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Those who abstained included: Bahrain, Cameroon, Comoros, Djibouti, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda and the UAE.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Muslim states that voted against were: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Egypt, Guyana, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We find that 24 of the OIC's 57 member states voted in favour of the moratorium, while 13 abstained and only 18 voted against. In other words, Pakistan is in the minority group of 18 OIC member-countries that opposes the moratorium.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is for Pakistan's government and its Islamic scholars to ponder as to why a majority of the OIC members do not find any faith-based bar to the acceptance of a moratorium on capital punishment. They may also consider the possibility that, as in the case of some international treaties, reservations expressed in the name of religion are in fact dictated by the culture or custom of the countries concerned.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What is more distressing for human rights activists, abolitionist groups and promoters of humanitarian laws in Pakistan is the authorities' aversion to any scrutiny of the rationale for their love of the death penalty regime.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What one hears of references to the death penalty during the Universal Periodic Review or at talks with the European Union on the GSP+ status is not the result of any serious deliberation. Indeed, one doubts if any discussion on the subject has ever taken place in Pakistan. That there is an urgent need for such a discussion can easily be established.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The recent cases in which the Supreme Court acquitted two individuals who had already been executed, or ordered the release of persons who had spent long years on death row, have strengthened the call for abolition of the death penalty on the ground of high risk of miscarriage of justice. A number of other issues that have surfaced over the past many years also need to be addressed. These are:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">-- The view that the death sentence is not a deterrent to crime has not been challenged nor has the view that hangings brutalise society.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">-- The Qisas law has prevented the president from pardoning death convicts or commuting their sentence although his power to do so under Article 45 of the Constitution remains intact. How does one explain the fact that the army chief can pardon a person awarded the death sentence by a military court while the president cannot do so?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">-- The scholars agree that Islam prescribes the death penalty in only 2 instances. How does the state defend the fact that capital punishment is prescribed for 27 offences in the name of religion?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">-- The judiciary has pointed out the problems it faces in cases in which capital punishment is mandatory if the evidence on record warrants a lesser penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">-- The possibility of a minor or a mentally challenged person being executed keeps cropping up every now and then.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One ventures to suggest a look at the Indian response to the issue of the death penalty in view of the shared legal tradition.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Law Commission of India recommended in August 2015, vide its Report No. 262, that "the death penalty be abolished for all crimes other than terrorism-related offences and waging war". The commission agreed to retain capital punishment for certain offences in view of the parliamentarians' plea that "abolition of death penalty for terrorism-related offences and waging war will affect national security", although in the commission's view "there is no valid penological justification for treating terrorism differently from other crimes."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The commission noted the significant steps taken during India's decades-long efforts to restrict the use of the death penalty: removal of the requirement of giving special reasons for awarding life imprisonment instead of death (1955); introduction of the requirement of imposing the death penalty (1973); and the Supreme Court's decision that the death penalty should be restricted to the rarest of rare cases (1980). The conclusion reached by the commission was:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Informed also by the expanded and deepened contents and horizons of the right to life and strengthened due process requirements in the interactions between the state and the individual, prevailing standards of constitutional morality and human dignity, the commission feels that time has come for India to move towards abolition of the death penalty."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During the latest debate in the UN General Assembly, however, India again voted against the resolution calling for a moratorium although it could have shown some respect for the Law Commission's recommendation by abstaining. Which only goes to show that, in developing countries, state policies are often determined by authorities that are too timid to disturb the status quo or too proud of their conservatism to heed the counsel of experts who are conscious of the call of the age.</div><br />Source: dawn.com, January 6, 2017<br /><br /><br /><h2>Pakistan: Reviewing the death penalty</h2><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCMrehjtnKWFCuyKdj8RCaoNR8xtTkR8f5XYwT9Vri3mpFfiaSO3xNRb0uLpRpxDhE3qOg7eG3b_207J_3H2hz2zyf5Y1lA5r8zAoj5rhmAAufnOv7X9Q4JaEcmcvvo-Wc-JDAkabngPM/s1600/Peshawar+Central+Prison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Peshawar Central Prison" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCMrehjtnKWFCuyKdj8RCaoNR8xtTkR8f5XYwT9Vri3mpFfiaSO3xNRb0uLpRpxDhE3qOg7eG3b_207J_3H2hz2zyf5Y1lA5r8zAoj5rhmAAufnOv7X9Q4JaEcmcvvo-Wc-JDAkabngPM/s400/Peshawar+Central+Prison.jpg" title="Peshawar Central Prison" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The first thing you notice about the death penalty is how much preparation is involved. In two years, Pakistan has carried out 419 executions. 419 death row prisoners wore a hood as six warders accompanied them to the scaffold each time. 419 bodies remained suspended for 30 minutes after being hanged. Some of these bodies likely ended up in prison graveyards, unable to break free from jails even in death.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On December 17, 2014, Pakistan lifted the moratorium on the death penalty in the wake of the tragic terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar. Originally lifted for terrorism related offences in March 2015, the moratorium was lifted for all capital offences. In the face of international opposition, the government has consistently maintained that the death penalty is the only effective means of fighting terrorism.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, an analysis of the 419 executions that have occurred in less than 2 years by Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), a rights group, reveals significant flaws in this narrative. In Pakistan, criminal culpability is at best, widely misunderstood and at worst, casually measured with irreversible consequences. The numbers that confirm this are frightening.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">27 offences are liable for a black warrant in this country, explaining the macabre achievement of having one of the world’s most populated death rows.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 100th prisoner to be hanged after executions resumed was mentally ill, unaware until his death as to why he was being punished. Undiagnosed until 2014, Muneer Hussain was mentally unwell since childhood and later, killed two family members.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There have been at least six juveniles executed since the moratorium was lifted in December 2014. Between then and March 2016, at least 444 mercy petitions were sent to the President of Pakistan, including one for schizophrenic prisoner, Imdad Ali and Abdul Basit who is a paraplegic prisoner. So far, the known number of presidential pardons granted stands at zero.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Pakistan, the judicial system that enables the carrying out of death sentences warrants close examination. The legal infrastructure is faulty, mired in red tape, beholden to power, creating a permissive environment for the routine miscarriage of justice.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In November this year, the Supreme Court exercised its suo moto right to reassess a case of kidnapping in Bahawalpur in Punjab, for which two brothers had been sentenced to death. Unsurprisingly, the prosecution’s case was riddled with contradictions, with insufficient evidence and incongruous eyewitness testimonies, and the SC acquitted the condemned prisoners. Only Ghulam Qadir and Ghulam Sarwar were no longer prisoners, having been executed last year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Given the Bahawalpur case, it is critical to overhaul a system that hangs the living, and exonerates the dead. The dearth of resources for law-enforcement incentivises corruption and other abuses of authority. Police lack forensic capabilities and other reliable means of investigation. As a result, there is over-reliance on confessions, easily obtained through torture.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">1,424 cases of torture have been uncovered in just one district of Faisalabad from 2006 to 2012, according to Justice Project Pakistan</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">444 mercy petitions have been sent to the president between Dec 2014 and March 2016; none have been granted so far</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">JPP uncovered 1,424 cases of torture in just one district of Faisalabad from 2006 to 2012. At 17, Abd-ur-Rehman was subject to such brutal torture following his detention that he admitted to every accusation levied at him, including being told that his name was Azam. Today, no one in Karachi Central Jail, where he remains imprisoned, knows him by the name he was born with. His involvement in an attempted burglary has kept him on death row for the last 18 years — well over half his life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Every defendant is entitled to effective legal counsel at all stages of proceedings under the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Pakistan is a signatory. Though Pakistan provides needy capital defendants with counsel at state expense, the quality of representation is poor. In fact, it is generally not perceived as acceptable for lawyers to be seen in a jail.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Such scant contact between lawyers and their clients in criminal cases actively enables the miscarriage of justice, given the former essentially forgoes the chances of uncovering potentially exculpatory evidence. But with a fee below the minimum wage (a minimum of Rs2,000, with a daily fee of Rs200), there is little motivation for a state-appointed attorney to pursue a case.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">International law dictates that capital punishment be reserved only for the most serious crimes, subject to fair and legitimate processes that protect a defendant’s basic rights and provide avenues for post-conviction relief. Pakistan has not lived up to its obligations. At each stage of a defendant’s encounter with this system, severe violations emerge.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Calling for anything short of a complete moratorium on executions means the continued killing of individuals whose rights have repeatedly been violated from the time of their arrest to their conviction and beyond. Sending even one innocent person – and the government sent two in the Bahawalpur case – to the gallows should prompt this step.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Given these systemic failings, legal reforms, while an important first step, are inadequately implemented at the local level. An executive mechanism to examine mercy petitions must be assembled which refers credible mercy petitions to the presidency.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Because of the lack of transparency, it is recommended that independent actors such as the National Human Rights Commission, a statutory body constituted under the National Human Rights Commission Act 2012, conduct investigations into cases.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Wrongful and unjust death sentences must be commuted. Because the death sentence warrants a high standard of proof, the state should also commute cases for individuals whose convictions were based primarily on confessions, in recognition of the high prevalence of custodial torture and inadequate safeguards in place.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Passing the Anti-Torture Bill, which has been pending since 2012, would be a good place to start. In short, Pakistan’s criminal justice system needs to undertake a detailed review of the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: <a href="http://www.dawn.com/news/1303817" target="_blank">Dawn</a>, Rimmel Mohydin, Zainab Malik, December 22, 2016. Rimmel Mohydin and Zainab Malik work on public and policy advocacy at Justice Project Pakistan.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td>  </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Pakistan: The love of hanging

Pakistan chose to vote against the recent resolution in the United Nations General Assembly that had called for a global moratorium on the d...

8:28 AM

Sudan acquits pastor in trial of Christians charged with capital crimes

Sudan acquits pastor in trial of Christians charged with capital crimes

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

9:31 AM

A Look at the 6 Inmates on US Military Death Row

A Look at the 6 Inmates on US Military Death Row

U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas A look at the six inmates on U.S. military death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, acc...

1:07 PM

Christian Mother Asia Bibi Spends 7th Christmas on Death Row in Pakistan for Blasphemy

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTc27d7GTaZWvODgflbvMPlJ2Xh6HvH0RtwcxrzBy3PunpfNwGlkOilnNmJOltkT4G_gjOV25YD3r13EHInd3gWMmt47uJeolRxycSE2cKmsjuqDibhb3GbeZlCgRdjB-rvbk4I8y7Xiw/s1600/Asia+Bibi+PAKISTAN+Blasphemy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTc27d7GTaZWvODgflbvMPlJ2Xh6HvH0RtwcxrzBy3PunpfNwGlkOilnNmJOltkT4G_gjOV25YD3r13EHInd3gWMmt47uJeolRxycSE2cKmsjuqDibhb3GbeZlCgRdjB-rvbk4I8y7Xiw/s400/Asia+Bibi+PAKISTAN+Blasphemy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Pakistani Christian mother of five Asia Bibi is spending her seventh Christmas in prison after her death sentence appeal was put on hold in October when a judge abruptly recused himself from hearing her case.   </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bibi, 45, was sentenced to death in 2010 on allegations of blasphemy after two Muslim co-workers accused her of insulting the Muslim prophet Muhammad, something which she denies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bibi's blasphemy allegation stems from an altercation in June 2009 that she had with a group of Muslim women in the town of Sheikhupura in the Punjab province. As the women were picking berries, the Muslim women became enraged when Bibi drank from the same water bowl that they women drank out of.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since Bibi was a Christian, the women considered her unclean. After an argument between the women ensued, the Muslim women went to the police and <a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-mother-of-5-asia-bibis-death-sentence-appeal-date-finally-set-by-pakistans-supreme-court-168435/" target="_blank">accused Bibi of saying something along the lines</a> of "My Christ died for me, what did Muhammad do for you?"</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bibi was supposed to find out in October at a final appeal hearing at Pakistan's Supreme Court whether or not she would be executed, but that decision was delayed indefinitely after one of the senior judges, who was set to preside over her appeal, s<a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/asia-bibis-supreme-court-judge-suddenly-quits-over-apparent-fear-of-pakistani-mob-attack-171162/" target="_blank">uddenly resigned</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Local media said that Justice Iqbal Hameed recused himself from the case without giving a specific reason.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">William Stark, a regional manager for South Asia for International Christian Concern, which advocates for persecuted Christians around the world, said in a phone interview with The Christian Post that Bibi's struggle is "the premier case for why blasphemy laws are a problem."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bibi's case, as it now stands, is in what he calls a "wait-and-see" period.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Hopefully in 2017, the Pakistani Supreme Court will form a new bench and will be able to hear her case," Stark said. "And, frankly, if the case is actually heard on the merits, the Supreme Court has no other option but to find for her and actually let her go." </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Stark told CP that he's somewhat optimistic for Bibi's case based on recent court rulings on the rights of religious minorities and conversations he's had with her attorney, Saif Malook, who is a Muslim. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If the court rejects her appeal, however, Bibi would be the first woman in Pakistan to be executed for blasphemy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Asia's case is very much a lightning rod within Pakistan itself," Stark said, referencing the 2011 assassination of Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer, a supporter of Bibi who had planned to reform the country's <a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/pakistani-muslims-cheer-executed-murderer-salman-taseer-158838/" target="_blank">strict blasphemy law</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Taseer had been accused by hardline groups of committing blasphemy himself by criticizing the law, which is supposed to protect Muslim sentiments, but according to human rights groups is often used to settle personal scores and oppress Christians and other religious minorities.</div><br /><b><a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-mother-asia-bibi-spends-7th-christmas-death-row-pakistan-blasphemy-172314/" target="_blank">Click here to read the full article</a></b><br /><br />Source: The Christian Post, December 25, 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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Christian Mother Asia Bibi Spends 7th Christmas on Death Row in Pakistan for Blasphemy

Pakistani Christian mother of five Asia Bibi is spending her seventh Christmas in prison after her death sentence appeal was put on hold in ...

1:39 AM

Death penalty looms for Mauritanian blogger accused of insulting Islam

<div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2SWVHkGe19OxPDBtYUgr36egtzMkLH7eEgdtVTWr8nG93ZujbrZN8YjCc_djxgxEdu6Uun_y7pY-LXAdteWXEBGurpmZsKcMHtb_HvXNmW3lWtuwr5aXAmyG_4pzHrxTQsG282YFfahU/s1600/Mohamed+Ould+Cheikh+Ould+Mkhaitir.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir" border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2SWVHkGe19OxPDBtYUgr36egtzMkLH7eEgdtVTWr8nG93ZujbrZN8YjCc_djxgxEdu6Uun_y7pY-LXAdteWXEBGurpmZsKcMHtb_HvXNmW3lWtuwr5aXAmyG_4pzHrxTQsG282YFfahU/s400/Mohamed+Ould+Cheikh+Ould+Mkhaitir.jpg" title="Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir is pictured in a courtroom in<br />Nouadhibou, Mauritania, in April in a picture supplied by his sister. </td></tr></tbody></table><b>Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir awaits the final verdict for a blog seen as critical of Mauritania's caste system.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the dusty Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott, thousands of protesters armed with loudspeakers gathered outside the country’s Supreme Court on November 15. Demonstrators held messages of protests on paper, some worn around their heads to keep their hands free, and demanded the court uphold the death sentence against Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir, a Mauritanian blogger imprisoned in January 2014 on charges of apostasy. His alleged crime was to defame the name of the Prophet Muhammad. “Our first demand [is] to execute this criminal. The Prophet Muhammad is our honor, nobody has right to talk about him!” said one unidentified protester outside the court.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For Mkhaitir’s sister, the scene was almost too much to bear. “When I saw hundreds of people demanding that my brother must be executed, I felt like I could not breath anymore. I wished to be dead [rather] than to see that,” she tells Newsweek in WhatsApp messages sent to and translated by an intermediary. She requested anonymity since she fears reprisals for being associated with her brother. “I asked myself, ‘How can they be like that? Do they not have sisters or mothers? Do they not understand how we feel?’”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While the court set December 20 as the date for a final decision on Mkhaitir’s case, the 29-year-old blogger languished in a cramped cell 300 miles north of the capital in the city of Nouadhibou, isolated from family and legal counsel. His detention looks set to roll into a third year, as the removal of one of the Supreme Court’s judges means that it will likely be 2017 before the court decides whether Mkhaitir will become the first person in Mauritania to be executed for almost 30 years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The bloodthirsty protest in November was the latest instalment in a case that has become a source of national fury in Mauritania, a conservative Islamic republic and one of just eight countries where apostasy is a capital offense. But activists supporting Mkhaitir say that the case is not about Islam, but is rather an example of discrimination. And despite its similarities to more prominent cases—such as that of imprisoned Saudi blogger Raif Badawi—Mkhaitir’s supporters say his plight is at risk of being ignored by the international community.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The story goes back to December 2013, when an anonymous article appeared on a Mauritanian news website and circulated via social media. The title of the article was “Religion and Religiosity for Blacksmiths”—the Arabic word <i>maalemine</i>, rendered as blacksmiths, refers in Mauritania to people descended from craftsmen, who are among the lowest in terms of social status. In the article, the author argues that Mauritania’s ruling classes have used incidents from the Prophet Muhammad’s life to justify racial discrimination and slavery.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The article sparked public outcry and Mkhaitir was quickly revealed as its author. Mkhaitir, was by no means a prolific blogger; he worked as an accountant for a loading company in Nouadhibou at the time, according to U.S.-based advocacy group Freedom Now. He turned himself in to police on January 2, 2014, and was charged with apostasy. Eight days later, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz appeared to back calls for Mkhaitir’s execution, telling protesters: “We will apply God’s law on whoever insults the Prophet and whoever publishes such an insult.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mkhaitir was kept in detention for 12 months before his trial commenced in December 2014. Soon after his arrest, he released a public statement repenting of his alleged crime. When his trial finally began in December 2014, Mkhaitir publicly apologized and again repented. Mauritanian law allows for the death sentence to be overturned in the case of a convicted apostate who repents. However, on December 24, 2014, the court sentenced Mkhaitir to death for the crime of zendegha , or “hypocrisy”—according to Mauritanian law, this is the crime of someone committing apostasy and then repenting insincerely. He was sentenced to be executed by firing squad.<br /><br />The blogger appealed and, in April 2016, the Mauritanian court of appeal ruled that the appropriate conviction would have been apostasy, rather than “hypocrisy.” The court of appeal thus transferred the case to the Supreme Court to judge whether Mkhaitir’s repentance was sincere.</div><br /><b><a href="http://europe.newsweek.com/mauritanias-raif-badawi-slips-under-radar-death-penalty-looms-531564" target="_blank">Click here to read the full article</a></b><br /><br />Source: Newsweek, Conor Gaffey, December 19, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td>   <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td>  </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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>

Death penalty looms for Mauritanian blogger accused of insulting Islam

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

6:38 AM

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...

4:30 AM

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

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

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

2:37 AM

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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