Stades de mort : la FIFA alertée

<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/AVvXsEhRTb7QujpT-nSsULV7vc9Mh8HcugnaTbpcYC3hwEziid5loXIFVqg9N1gLH4CePDKrjfKja4KOfwRq1uHJ1Kn0YQfG63gJGv4r8TyE-PaI6g95eo1iRCKAlkO7VNoVhsyBicXDlMj5PnU/s1600/Public+execution+in+Iran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRTb7QujpT-nSsULV7vc9Mh8HcugnaTbpcYC3hwEziid5loXIFVqg9N1gLH4CePDKrjfKja4KOfwRq1uHJ1Kn0YQfG63gJGv4r8TyE-PaI6g95eo1iRCKAlkO7VNoVhsyBicXDlMj5PnU/s400/Public+execution+in+Iran.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Si j'étais joueur, je ne pourrais jouer là où un homme a été décapité ou pendu."</td></tr></tbody></table>[<a href="https://translate.google.com/?hl=en&tab=wT#fr/en/http%3A%2F%2Fdeathpenaltynews.blogspot.com%2F2017%2F01%2Fstades-de-mort-la-fifa-alertee.html" target="_blank">Click here to Google translate this article into your own language.</a> Choose the target language in the right-hand box and then click on Translate. Alternatively, you can use the Google translation tool at the top of this page's right sidebar.]<br /><br />En 2017, dans certains coins de la planète, on exécute toujours publiquement des gens dans des stades de foot. La FIFA, qui a récemment ajouté à ses statuts un article qui l'engage à respecter les droits de l'homme et à promouvoir leur protection, promet d'aborder la question avec la fédération iranienne.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ce matin du 22 septembre 2016, à Neyriz, ils sont quelques dizaines à s'être rendus dans le petit stade de foot de cette ville de 45 000 habitants, située dans la province de Fars, dans l'ouest iranien. Pourtant, aucun match n'est programmé ce jour-là. Installé sur un semblant de tribune, séparé du terrain par un grillage, le public, majoritairement masculin, est venu assister à une exécution. Celle de Saeed T., condamné à la peine capitale pour viol et meurtre. Exposé sur la plate-forme arrière d'un camion, le visage recouvert d'un linge noir, l'homme sera pendu en public, tracté de bas en haut par une grue. Une pratique qui n'a rien d'exceptionnel en <a href="http://www.sofoot.com/iran.html" target="_blank">Iran</a>, où une interprétation particulière de la charia fait office de code pénal. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">En 2015, sur 969 exécutions, 57 se sont déroulées dans l'espace public (selon les chiffres officiels communiqués par l'État iranien, probablement en deçà de la réalité). Cette barbarie, l'ONG française Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM) ne l'accepte pas. Et elle a décidé de le faire savoir à la FIFA, en adressant fin septembre un courrier à son président, Gianni Infantino. « Exécuter dans un stade, ce n'est pas anodin, explique Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan, le directeur d'ECPM. C'est dans ce sens que nous tentons d'alerter Infantino. La FIFA ne peut pas dire que cela ne la regarde pas. Si j'étais joueur, ce serait impossible de jouer là où un homme a été décapité ou pendu. »</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Une barbarie sans limite</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Avec l'Arabie saoudite, la <a href="http://www.sofoot.com/coree-du-nord.html" target="_blank">Corée du Nord</a> et les territoires contrôlés par Daesh, l'<a href="http://www.sofoot.com/iran.html" target="_blank">Iran</a> est l'un des derniers pays à pratiquer l'exécution publique, que ce soit sur des places ou dans des stades. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">La <a href="http://www.sofoot.com/chine.html" target="_blank">Chine</a> et l'<a href="http://www.sofoot.com/afghanistan.html">Afghanistan</a> – qui s'y adonnait à l'époque des talibans – ont récemment abandonné. « C'est la théâtralisation de la mise à mort, dans le seul but de faire peur à la population, pose Chenuil-Hazan. Le stade est ouvert. Hommes, femmes, enfants, vieillards, tout le monde est incité par la police à venir assister au "spectacle". </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">En <a href="http://www.sofoot.com/iran.html" target="_blank">Iran</a>, la peine de mort a toujours été un outil politique. La majorité des condamnés à mort sont coupables de trafic de drogue ou d'homosexualité, et sont souvent issus de minorités ethniques ou religieuses. C'est un message adressé aux Kurdes et aux Afghans, qui représentent le prolétariat local. Ils exécutent même des mineurs. Leur code pénal, c'est la charia. Et ils s'y tiennent. » </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pour rendre le « spectacle » le plus macabre possible, les autorités iraniennes, qui exécutent essentiellement par pendaison, ont décidé de mettre en place une graduation de l'horreur. Selon la sentence, la peine capitale peut s'effectuer sous deux formes différentes. La première consiste à « lâcher » le pendu. Dans sa chute, sa nuque se brise et le pauvre bougre décède rapidement. La seconde prouve que la barbarie ne connaît aucune limite. C'est celle qu'a subie Saeed T. à Neyriz. Le condamné est pendu par traction, accroché à une grue qui s'élève jusqu'à ce que ses pieds ne touche plus le sol. La mort par suffocation est alors beaucoup plus lente et douloureuse. Contacté par ECPM, le fabricant japonais de ces grues a accepté de demander à l’État iranien d'arrêter d'utiliser son matériel pour ce type d'activité. Visiblement sans succès.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">La FIFA répond enfin</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Le 6 décembre dernier, non sans quelques relances, la FIFA a enfin répondu au courrier d'ECPM. Et c'est Fatma Samoura, la secrétaire générale, qui s'y est collée. En anglais, elle indique à Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan qu'elle a bien pris note de « l'incident » qui a eu lieu à Neyriz, et que « la FIFA condamne ce type d'action, qui par sa nature, viole fondamentalement la dignité inhérente à chaque être humain » . Et par conséquent, elle ne manquera pas d'aborder le sujet « lors de ses futurs échanges avec la Fédération iranienne de football » . Enfin, la Sénégalaise conclut en signalant au directeur d'ECPM que, comme l'exige le nouvel article 3 de ses statuts, « la FIFA s'engage à respecter les droits de l'homme internationalement reconnus, et s'efforce de promouvoir leur protection. Cet engagement implique des efforts pour prévenir et atténuer les impacts négatifs sur les droits de l'homme de tiers en relation directe avec nos opérations. Dans le cadre de ces activités, nous cherchons de plus en plus à collaborer avec nos associations membres, pour les aider à mettre en place des mécanismes adéquats, afin qu'ils respectent les droits de l'homme. » </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">À la lecture du courrier venu de <a href="http://www.sofoot.com/suisse.html" target="_blank">Suisse</a>, Chenuil-Hazan se dit « satisfait que cet article 3 donne à la FIFA le pouvoir d'agir, satisfait que la FIFA ait prévu d'engager des échanges avec la fédération iranienne. Maintenant, nous attendons que la FIFA donne des suites concrètes en sanctionnant l'<a href="http://www.sofoot.com/iran.html">Iran</a>, pourquoi pas en l'excluant de compétitions internationales, puisque ses nouveaux statuts lui en donnent le droit » . En avril 2013, l'instance mondiale avait déjà mis en garde l'<a href="http://www.sofoot.com/iran.html">Iran</a> au sujet de ses exécutions sur des terrains de foot. Évidemment sans conséquence pour cette « association membre » .</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Source: <a href="http://www.sofoot.com/stades-de-shoot-437334.html" target="_blank">so foot</a>, Mathias Edwards, January 10, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Stades de mort : la FIFA alertée

"Si j'étais joueur, je ne pourrais jouer là où un homme a été décapité ou pendu." [ Click here to Google translate this articl...

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Iran: 21 Hangings in 2017 and 26 Prisoners Facing Imminent Execution

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFGOu9UaNUEvPU8wIrfvrlgFSuFULtW6vRK7m2IzT61zIIp7p7Gbm0Q5ID9sz7rnDqvmxXdBH-0JAi1F9vNHaiSCTvz0oAC2ZJ20FLW3pYAGZ1etE1nzjACzGVZJUwFXSo4TAB0_rmcgo/s1600/IRAN+medieval+and+barbaric+punishments.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFGOu9UaNUEvPU8wIrfvrlgFSuFULtW6vRK7m2IzT61zIIp7p7Gbm0Q5ID9sz7rnDqvmxXdBH-0JAi1F9vNHaiSCTvz0oAC2ZJ20FLW3pYAGZ1etE1nzjACzGVZJUwFXSo4TAB0_rmcgo/s400/IRAN+medieval+and+barbaric+punishments.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On January 11, the inhumane mullahs’ regime executed a prisoner in Urmia Prison, northwest Iran. The day before another prisoner was sent to the gallows in Maraghe Prison, northwest Iran. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On January 8, two other prisoners were hanged in public on charges of theft in the town of Sarpol Zahab in Kermanshah Province, western Iran. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Youths are being hanged in public at a time when senior regime officials, their family members and close friends are involved in the largest embezzlement cases of Iran’s history. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One example amounted to nearly $3 billion, and those involved in such thefts and plundering of the Iranian people’s God-given riches remain safe and sound from any accountability.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At least 21 executions have been registered from January 1 to this day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the meantime during the past few days 22 prisoners in Central and Gohardasht prisons of Karaj have been transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Four inmates in Maraghe Prison are scheduled to be executed shortly. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Iranian Resistance calls for urgent action by international human rights organizations to save the lives of these 26 prisoners.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Iranian Resistance calls on all people across Iran, especially the brave youth, to protest barbaric executions and rise to the support of the families of those executed, families of prisoners.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: <a href="http://ncr-iran.org/en/ncri-statements/human-rights/21929-iran-21-hangings-in-2017-and-26-prisoner-facing-imminent-execution" target="_blank">NCRI</a>, January 12, 2017</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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Iran: 21 Hangings in 2017 and 26 Prisoners Facing Imminent Execution

On January 11, the inhumane mullahs’ regime executed a prisoner in Urmia Prison, northwest Iran. The day before another prisoner was sent to...

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Iran: Prisoner Hanged on Drug 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/AVvXsEjdkJvZ1IZ9lM1hQAXyBR49_ttK1us-cB6M1iwpFS0lOJuKsj5A5Dgbi2EvIJuNrLQ8qFeTAqBf4AL_5pjTGwE-Q59Mm-poF5j2_DTzuREAr7UpD1P36jMWNVUAM_Oq0g9CiF63VSXWAW8/s1600/public+hanging+IRAN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Iran: Medieval and barbaric punishments (file photo)" border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdkJvZ1IZ9lM1hQAXyBR49_ttK1us-cB6M1iwpFS0lOJuKsj5A5Dgbi2EvIJuNrLQ8qFeTAqBf4AL_5pjTGwE-Q59Mm-poF5j2_DTzuREAr7UpD1P36jMWNVUAM_Oq0g9CiF63VSXWAW8/s400/public+hanging+IRAN.jpg" title="Iran: Medieval and barbaric punishments (file photo)" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iran: Medieval and barbaric punishments</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>A prisoner was hanged at Maragheh Prison on drug related charges. Four other prisoners at this prison are currently in imminent danger of execution.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iran Human Rights (JAN 13 2017): A prisoner was reportedly hanged at Maragheh Prison on drug related charges. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to close sources, the prisoner, who has been identified as Morteza Heydari, was executed on Tuesday January 10. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Close sources say Mr. Heydari is the father of a five-year-old child.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Morteza was arrested on May 11, 2012 for possession of three kilograms of crystal meth and three kilograms and 600 grams of heroin. He was sentenced to death by the Malekan Revolutionary Court on June 10, 2013 and then he was exiled to Maragheh Prison," a confirmed source tells Iran Human Rights. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to reports received by Iran Human Rights, there are four other prisoners in Maragheh Prison who are in imminent danger of execution. They are:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">1. Iraj Ghaffouri, sentenced to death on drug related charges</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2. Akbar Moradi, sentenced to death on murder charges</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">3. Hossein Fatemi, sentenced to death on drug related charges</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>4. Ali Mosloufi, sentenced to death on drug related charges<br /><br />Source: <a href="https://iranhr.net/en/articles/2759/" target="_blank">Iran Human Rights</a>, January 13, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Iran: Prisoner Hanged on Drug Charges

Iran: Medieval and barbaric punishments A prisoner was hanged at Maragheh Prison on drug related charges. Four other prisoners at this priso...

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Saudi Arabia 'arrests two human rights activists'

<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/AVvXsEi17VPZIY7eGt7MjX2nIL_LwRdI7AbDm7J2_A5cLQyYcmSTaoTGLBxhp9zKFVhhV3RYPCPcc1r3_lsIp7o0Zq_WDBAKg5xz0mygr_F0iLIsAQaxzCo_KDVdSXhYKudWjK6-X_rIDcEeJTY/s1600/hmed+al-Musheikhis+and+Essam+Koshak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Ahmed al-Musheikhis and Essam Koshak" border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi17VPZIY7eGt7MjX2nIL_LwRdI7AbDm7J2_A5cLQyYcmSTaoTGLBxhp9zKFVhhV3RYPCPcc1r3_lsIp7o0Zq_WDBAKg5xz0mygr_F0iLIsAQaxzCo_KDVdSXhYKudWjK6-X_rIDcEeJTY/s400/hmed+al-Musheikhis+and+Essam+Koshak.jpg" title="Ahmed al-Musheikhis and Essam Koshak" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ahmed al-Musheikhis and Essam Koshak</td></tr></tbody></table>The authorities in Saudi Arabia have arrested two human rights activists so far this year, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Essam Koshak and Ahmed al-Musheikhis were summoned for questioning by police in Mecca and Qatif last week.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Officials have not disclosed the reasons for the detentions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/01/11/saudi-arabia-2-rights-advocates-arrested" target="_blank">HRW said</a> they "fit a pattern of ongoing repression" against peaceful advocates and dissidents, at least 25 of whom have been convicted since 2011.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many have been handed sentences as long as 10 or 15 years after being found guilty of charges including "breaking allegiance with the ruler", "sowing discord", "inciting public opinion", "setting up an unlicensed organisation", and violating the cybercrime law.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><h3>'Relentless persecution'</h3></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Koshak was detained after being summoned for interrogation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Mecca on 8 January.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 45-year-old was not allowed to appoint a lawyer and was being questioned about his Twitter account, which he mainly used to tweet about human rights issues,<a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/01/saudi-arabia-steps-up-ruthless-crackdown-against-human-rights-activists/" target="_blank">according to Amnesty</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Musheikhis, a founding member of the unregistered Adala Centre for Human Rights, was telephoned by CID officers and told to report to a police station in Qatif, in Eastern Province, on 5 January. He was subsequently transferred to the city of Dammam, where he remains in custody.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Amnesty said the 46-year-old was known for his work including helping relatives of those detained in Eastern Province as part of protests by members of the kingdom's Shia Muslim minority against what they say is discrimination against them by the Sunni-led government.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Musheikhis' brother, Yussuf, was <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde23/5236/2016/en/" target="_blank">sentenced to death</a> in January 2016 after being convicted of offences including "armed rebellion against the ruler". Amnesty said Yussuf al-Musheikhis was convicted after a grossly unfair trial at which he claimed he was tortured into "confessing".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Amnesty said another activist, Issa al-Nukheifi, had been detained in Mecca since 18 December after being summoned for questioning about his tweets.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Saudi Arabia's relentless persecution of human rights defenders is a blatant campaign aimed at deterring them from speaking about the human rights situation in the country and working on behalf of victims of violations," said Lynn Maalouf of Amnesty's Beirut office.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Saudi government has in the past insisted that its judiciary is independent, and that all trials are transparent and in line with Islamic law.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">HRW also reported on Tuesday that the Saudi authorities had recently banned Jamal Khashoggi, one of the country's most prominent journalists, from publishing any of his writings in the country.</div><br />Source: <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38583673" target="_blank">BBC News</a>, January 11, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Saudi Arabia 'arrests two human rights activists'

Ahmed al-Musheikhis and Essam Koshak The authorities in Saudi Arabia have arrested two human rights activists so far this year, Human Rights...

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Iran: A Prisoner Executed Before His Trial Ends

<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/AVvXsEgToNMWYE65AO4B90sHpbkqBK4G9lJpQs5nDn29NZH1eKRWSuigZ53ERtTlrnBPg8NEsGspBIi2r9hWZ2YewlText48alqSATN4VDZGPR5_Rnn1qK7KHuZTU0R4wsJhvnnz1jZS6jaDjEk/s1600/Public+hanging+Iran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Iran: Medieval and barbaric punishments" border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgToNMWYE65AO4B90sHpbkqBK4G9lJpQs5nDn29NZH1eKRWSuigZ53ERtTlrnBPg8NEsGspBIi2r9hWZ2YewlText48alqSATN4VDZGPR5_Rnn1qK7KHuZTU0R4wsJhvnnz1jZS6jaDjEk/s400/Public+hanging+Iran.jpg" title="Iran: Medieval and barbaric punishments" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Medieval and barbaric punishments</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">NCRI - A death row prisoner was executed in Qazvin last week while his family says his case was still under consideration and review by the prosecution office and his sentence was not confirmed and put on hold. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Monday, January 2, the death sentence of Nasrollah Khazaei, on the charges of “carrying and keeping drugs” was implemented in Qazvin prison before dawn.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After the family of the executed prisoner followed his case, several Judiciary officials of the Iranian regime’s Prosecution Office in Tehran said that the prisoner should not have been executed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The prisoner’s brother in an interview with a Persian language news agency explained: “My brother had no previous record (of committing a crime). The case was sent to Tehran according to Article 20 requesting a review but no answer was given yet. They said the case would take two years. Since then, implementation of the sentence was halted in his case, upon an order.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I called the prosecutor and requested an answer in this regard. They said your brother’s case is still under review and told me to call back next month. I said they have executed my brother and today is the seventh day of his memorial ceremony. They answered why did they execute him? His case is still open here and is not transferred to Qazvin. He should not have been executed. Then, they connected the phone to a number of other rooms and officials, all of whom said they shouldn’t have executed him. They said this case has received a halt of the sentence and Qazvin’s prosecution should not have done it without our permission,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nasrollah Khazaei’s brother emphasized: “On Sunday (January 1), when we went for a meeting with my brother, they neither told us nor my brother that they are going to hang him. On Monday, at around 6 a.m., my brother called us and said they are taking him for execution. I screamingly said "but the case in still being reviewed." My brother said "no matter how much I tell them, they do not accept." After that, they took him away and hanged up the phone.”</div><br />Source: <a href="http://ncr-iran.org/en/news/human-rights/21923-iran-a-prisoner-executed-before-his-trial-ends" target="_blank">NCRI</a>, January 12, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Iran: A Prisoner Executed Before His Trial Ends

Medieval and barbaric punishments NCRI - A death row prisoner was executed in Qazvin last week while his family says his case was still unde...

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Iran: Child bride faces execution by hanging

<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/AVvXsEhxJ4oft4mCXnERCtwJcOcafZGQQ6-3GEuF7sns5QmxqC_RN9Z3ffIzELAy5XJN7DUEB1aDb1X_jRZUDDOiwaRFegfI2N6TQs80in2X0BTmm8xy-huG2FeF22ugaRE8HF0_jzIJhDRb9T8/s1600/Zeinab+Sokian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Zeinab Sokian" border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJ4oft4mCXnERCtwJcOcafZGQQ6-3GEuF7sns5QmxqC_RN9Z3ffIzELAy5XJN7DUEB1aDb1X_jRZUDDOiwaRFegfI2N6TQs80in2X0BTmm8xy-huG2FeF22ugaRE8HF0_jzIJhDRb9T8/s320/Zeinab+Sokian.jpg" title="Zeinab Sokian" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zeinab Sokian</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Zeinab Sekaanvand Lokran comes from a poor, conservative Iranian-Kurdish family, and ran away from home at 15 to marry Hossein Sarmadi in the hope for a better life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Soon after the wedding, Hossein started beating Zeinab - she asked for a divorce, but he refused. She told police, but they ignored her. She ran away, but her family disowned her.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She was 17 when her husband died. Zeinab was arrested and "confessed" that she killed her husband after he'd abused her for months and refused her requests for divorce.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She was then held at the police station for the next 20 days and repeatedly tortured by police officers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After a grossly unfair trial, in which she was denied access to a lawyer during her entire pre-trial detention, <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/2016/10/iran-mother-of-executed-woman-pledges.html" target="_blank">Zeinab was sentenced to death by hanging</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Execution delayed during pregnancy</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2015, Zeinab married a fellow prisoner in Oroumieh Central Prison and became pregnant.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Her execution was delayed while Zeinab was expecting. Last month she gave birth to a stillborn baby, and is now at risk of execution.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Doctors said her baby died in her womb 2 days earlier due to shock, around the same time her cell mate and friend was executed on 28 September. She was returned from hospital to the prison the very next day - denied any postnatal support or care since.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Raped by her brother-in-law</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Zainab only met her state-appointed lawyer for the first time at her final trial session. It was then that she retracted confessions made when she'd had no access to a lawyer.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She told the court that her husband's brother, who she said had raped her several times, was responsible for the murder and had coerced her into confessing, promising he would pardon her (under Islamic law, murder victims' relatives have the power to pardon the offender and accept financial compensation instead).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This statement was ignored by the court, which instead relied heavily on her old "confessions" to reach its verdict.</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/AVvXsEijDRG_LCaYZOnU-4PJai9DUqw7Hf5O3A4JV1ImfLFE5vBiQbK36iZA3oaEGZRBO73ExfkMZQbhOtU3GepVORZ1Hvh5ydeBYNMTVr3Ijwv8vbxlNXgyGTVvOKEvVCiXiWPYKwYN6zQslz0/s1600/Iran+Juvenile+Offenders+Ph01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijDRG_LCaYZOnU-4PJai9DUqw7Hf5O3A4JV1ImfLFE5vBiQbK36iZA3oaEGZRBO73ExfkMZQbhOtU3GepVORZ1Hvh5ydeBYNMTVr3Ijwv8vbxlNXgyGTVvOKEvVCiXiWPYKwYN6zQslz0/s400/Iran+Juvenile+Offenders+Ph01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Iran, girls are held criminally accountable by law from the age of nine (9),<br />and can be sentenced to death by hanging for crimes such as murder,<br />drug trafficking and armed robbery. <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/2016/01/waiting-to-die-iranian-child-inmates.html" target="_blank">Click here to read their stories.</a></td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: justify;">A child at the time of the crime</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Zainab was just 17 at the time of the crime she is accused of. The courts completely failed to apply juvenile sentencing from Iran's Islamic penal code in her case.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They also failed to tell her that she could submit an application for retrial. Iran's penal code falls woefully short of what's required for juvenile offenders under international human rights law, and even the limited safeguards that do exist are not adhered to by the authorities.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The use of the death penalty for crimes committed by people under 18 is also completely prohibited under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Iran has signed up to.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Thank you</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">More than 80,000 of you signed our petition urging the Iranian authorities to halt Zeinab's execution and throw out her death sentence. Her execution, which was scheduled to go ahead as early as 13 October 2016 is no longer imminent. Zeinab now has a new lawyer working on her case. Together they will submit an application for a retrial - which is Zeinab's right under Article 91 of Iran's Islamic Penal Code.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While this is extremely good news, <b>her death sentence remains in place until a retrial is granted by the authorities</b>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Unfortunately, Zeinab's case is not an isolated case in Iran. We have recorded at least 74 executions of juvenile offenders between 2005 and 2016 in Iran. Scores of young people in Iran remain on death row for crimes committed when they were under 18.</div><br />Source: amnesty.org.uk, January 11, 2017<br /><br /><b>➤ Related content: </b><a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/2016/01/waiting-to-die-iranian-child-inmates.html" target="_blank">Waiting to die: the Iranian child inmates facing execution – in pictures</a>, The Guardian, January 8, 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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Iran: Child bride faces execution by hanging

Zeinab Sokian Zeinab Sekaanvand Lokran comes from a poor, conservative Iranian-Kurdish family, and ran away from home at 15 to marry Hossein...

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Iran: Two hanged in public for 'waging war against God'

<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/AVvXsEgdzplq5VMOBTnsJoN480ao8NWwc-jVae8hbIAjBlfQdmxl0YNMg8gheSvmVF8n-O8Or-CozYwQapf1OEqML70qgO1zycinoGCP_26YJ8I3tiMDVAOWIu0tVSHWJVOe3hTlumI4h2d_XFg/s1600/2+public+hangings+in+Sarpol-e+Zahab%252C+Iran%252C+8JAN2k17_Ph1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Two men were hanged in public in Sarpol-e Zahab, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2017." border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdzplq5VMOBTnsJoN480ao8NWwc-jVae8hbIAjBlfQdmxl0YNMg8gheSvmVF8n-O8Or-CozYwQapf1OEqML70qgO1zycinoGCP_26YJ8I3tiMDVAOWIu0tVSHWJVOe3hTlumI4h2d_XFg/s400/2+public+hangings+in+Sarpol-e+Zahab%252C+Iran%252C+8JAN2k17_Ph1.jpg" title="Two men were hanged in public in Sarpol-e Zahab, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2017." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two men were hanged in public in Sarpol-e Zahab, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2017.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Two prisoners were hanged in public in the Kermanshah province on Moharebeh ('waging war against God') charges.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iran Human Rights (JAN 10 2017): Two prisoners were hanged in public in the city of Sarpol-e Zahab (Kermanshah province, western Iran) on Moharebeh charges.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to a report by the Iranian state-run media IRIB, the executions were carried out in public on the morning of Sunday January 8. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The prisoners were reportedly charged with armed robbery and the murder of a police officer. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Although the state-run media has not provided the names of the prisoners, the unofficial news agency, Kurdpa, has identified the two prisoners as Rouhollah Koshtemad and Sajjad Zarsineh.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Photos of the execution (via Iran Human Rights):</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><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/AVvXsEhIZJa3HrU9YaK2EFu93huw5Hiu8mxPyntkUagSrjBi_PKBNTCUjQx3U4QBqKBi8vEsBvr3AMYpY-8kNW9J-wifZnOkdn454SBi7tWxir4uvX2Dj5GTlr9zZTjF54AWDrUZj2HD2se-VLM/s1600/2+public+hangings+in+Sarpol-e+Zahab%252C+Iran%252C+8JAN2k17_Ph2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Two men were hanged in public in Sarpol-e Zahab, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2017." border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZJa3HrU9YaK2EFu93huw5Hiu8mxPyntkUagSrjBi_PKBNTCUjQx3U4QBqKBi8vEsBvr3AMYpY-8kNW9J-wifZnOkdn454SBi7tWxir4uvX2Dj5GTlr9zZTjF54AWDrUZj2HD2se-VLM/s320/2+public+hangings+in+Sarpol-e+Zahab%252C+Iran%252C+8JAN2k17_Ph2.jpg" title="Two men were hanged in public in Sarpol-e Zahab, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2017." width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A medieval theocracy and barbaric punishments</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5-m8E-XoeNnoWLeht9exA3NWo4WfOcuA-ZhfhYX46UdV2BpwodlntZ8_d0sMKtgsumI1ZJnFPztm-YJV8smxBTwJ5GPF5q2uu93Rbf8CUL1FKVYcxvDRrPyrFkRyNDAUrizAtJrAP30A/s1600/2+public+hangings+in+Sarpol-e+Zahab%252C+Iran%252C+8JAN2k17_Ph3.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Two men were hanged in public in Sarpol-e Zahab, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2017." border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5-m8E-XoeNnoWLeht9exA3NWo4WfOcuA-ZhfhYX46UdV2BpwodlntZ8_d0sMKtgsumI1ZJnFPztm-YJV8smxBTwJ5GPF5q2uu93Rbf8CUL1FKVYcxvDRrPyrFkRyNDAUrizAtJrAP30A/s320/2+public+hangings+in+Sarpol-e+Zahab%252C+Iran%252C+8JAN2k17_Ph3.jpg" title="Two men were hanged in public in Sarpol-e Zahab, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2017." width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzRYJMSvMwUBvQ6n3tuG1sP0XVyX8MvNLyknBGekTiocZ1-nA9wBr2Oy091gBeoc6HBYcoIOPFE_LQS0W-9VgRSPWqy3GxtAwEdrzWRwMTIeIswhCR4H-iEl2wDq7mjE1g8PmBO5ITz4o/s1600/2+public+hangings+in+Sarpol-e+Zahab%252C+Iran%252C+8JAN2k17_Ph4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Two men were hanged in public in Sarpol-e Zahab, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2017." border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzRYJMSvMwUBvQ6n3tuG1sP0XVyX8MvNLyknBGekTiocZ1-nA9wBr2Oy091gBeoc6HBYcoIOPFE_LQS0W-9VgRSPWqy3GxtAwEdrzWRwMTIeIswhCR4H-iEl2wDq7mjE1g8PmBO5ITz4o/s320/2+public+hangings+in+Sarpol-e+Zahab%252C+Iran%252C+8JAN2k17_Ph4.jpg" title="Two men were hanged in public in Sarpol-e Zahab, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2017." width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br />Source: <a href="https://iranhr.net/en/articles/2755/">Iran Human Rights</a>, January 10, 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; 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Iran: Two hanged in public for 'waging war against God'

Two men were hanged in public in Sarpol-e Zahab, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2017. Two prisoners were hanged in public in the Kermanshah province on Mo...

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Iran: 2 executed for 'waging war against God', 2 over drug 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/AVvXsEgS4aa5UVT6dfx2TXAqqXFMcW-FAaiaMAITF-13oDE9jKeADNPDJU8C9PgXXJ0fTqccw0AIlr8xAq1CdAtMw6kEnd6iP8oFKbvyYpXhaCtr5mxVkWiAwjPlQq0Nnv56nkB14iV6bVspqYM/s1600/Public+hanging+Iran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Iran: Barbaric and medieval punishments" border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS4aa5UVT6dfx2TXAqqXFMcW-FAaiaMAITF-13oDE9jKeADNPDJU8C9PgXXJ0fTqccw0AIlr8xAq1CdAtMw6kEnd6iP8oFKbvyYpXhaCtr5mxVkWiAwjPlQq0Nnv56nkB14iV6bVspqYM/s400/Public+hanging+Iran.jpg" title="Iran: Barbaric and medieval punishments" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iran: Barbaric and medieval punishments</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>3 Prisoners Executed - 2 for Moharebeh 1 for Drug Charges</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">3 prisoners were reportedly executed at Rajai Shahr Prison on Wednesday January 4.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to confirmed sources, 2 of the prisoners were executed on Moharebeh charges (enmity against God) and the other prisoner was executed on drug related charges.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to the human rights news agency, HRANA, the 2 prisoners hanged on Moharebeh charges were accused of armed robbery. The names of these prisoners are Traub Rashidi and Ali Cheshmeh Noushi.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The other prisoner has been identified as "Sajad". He was reportedly transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison from Karaj Central Prison and executed on drug related charges.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have been silent on these executions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Prisoner Hanged on Drug Trafficking Charges</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At least 1 prisoner, identified as Mohammad Zebardast, was hanged at Lakan, Rasht's central prison, on drug related charges.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to close sources, Mohammad Zebardast's execution was carried out on the morning of Wednesday January 4.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A confirmed source tells Iran Human Rights that Mr. Zebardasht was arrested in 2011 for possession of 2 kilograms of crystal meth and 2 kilograms and 800 grams of opium. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He was sentenced to death in September 16, 2012 by a court in Rasht (Gilan province, northern Iran) for drug trafficking. Mr. Zebardasht was held in prison from his arrest to his execution.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have been silent about Mr. Zebardasht's execution. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Close sources say it is likely that more than 1 prisoner was hanged at Lakan Prison on Wednesday.</div><br />Source: <a href="https://iranhr.net/en/" target="_blank">Iran Human Rights</a>, January 7, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Iran: 2 executed for 'waging war against God', 2 over drug charges

Iran: Barbaric and medieval punishments 3 Prisoners Executed - 2 for Moharebeh 1 for Drug Charges 3 prisoners were reportedly executed at Ra...

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Indonesia secures release of man on death row in Saudi Arabia

<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/AVvXsEgEyIeCbSFDX-xFveWN7Wfjpkpkhf0RMJYGpmBkSaD-zC6jN5o-0RZJr7YGbAODbAHhe3cvAp3M6cOLkhkjLzCSwYu0mC14CallOmwncwBv8eQm53w2TXHsTqD8ToXf4pwrD2XOyiQViUc/s1600/Syarif+Hidayat+Anang+%2528center%2529%252C+arrives+in+Jakarta+after+being+spared+from+death+row+in+Saudi+Arabia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Syarif Hidayat Anang (center), arrives in Jakarta after being spared from death row in Saudi Arabia." border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEyIeCbSFDX-xFveWN7Wfjpkpkhf0RMJYGpmBkSaD-zC6jN5o-0RZJr7YGbAODbAHhe3cvAp3M6cOLkhkjLzCSwYu0mC14CallOmwncwBv8eQm53w2TXHsTqD8ToXf4pwrD2XOyiQViUc/s400/Syarif+Hidayat+Anang+%2528center%2529%252C+arrives+in+Jakarta+after+being+spared+from+death+row+in+Saudi+Arabia.jpg" title="Syarif Hidayat Anang (center), arrives in Jakarta after being spared from death row in Saudi Arabia." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Syarif Hidayat Anang (center) arrives in Jakarta after being spared<br />from death row in Saudi Arabia.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">The Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh has secured the release of an Indonesian man who had been on death row in Saudi Arabia for alleged murder, the Foreign Ministry revealed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The man, identified as Syarif Hidayat Anang, was arrested by Saudi authorities in 2013 on allegations of being complicit in the murder of another Indonesian citizen, Enah Nurhasan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He was detained alongside three Saudi citizens in Ahsa in the country's east, according to a statement by the ministry's directorate for the protection of Indonesian nationals and entities abroad.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">From the outset, the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh had provided legal assistance, having appointed Saudi lawyer Abdullah Al Mohaemeed to represent Syarif until 2015. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since May 2016, defense duties were taken over by Muhammad Ahmad al-Qarni, another legal adviser.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"From the results of an investigation into the case files by the Indonesian Embassy's protection team, we were certain that Syarif was not involved in the murder, and that's why we went all out to secure his release," Dede Rifai, the embassy's consular attaché who coordinated the legal efforts, said on Saturday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Syarif was acquitted on all charges on Dec. 12 last year, while the remaining suspects remained on death row. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He arrived in Jakarta late on Friday in the company of his legal adviser, following the issuance of his release earlier this week, the ministry revealed. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Source: <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/01/07/indonesian-spared-from-death-row-in-saudi-arabia.html" target="_blank">The Jakarta Post</a>, Tama Salim, January 7, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Indonesia secures release of man on death row in Saudi Arabia

Syarif Hidayat Anang (center) arrives in Jakarta after being spared from death row in Saudi Arabia. The Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh has sec...

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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...

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Iran: Seven executed on drug charges

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxEVg69q-aWn1PE-sO_R0oi67QIQA-UdHsoipk4rO5N1UlMciq9SMLAXqT8ZdJDiEarGtej83NDhvCuRSoPKWyfSSjRVJc_a5NJHQwmIK-LBd_xOr_MTJUgzdKOoLfunQFlmFq5JxZeBU/s1600/Iran+Death+Penalty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxEVg69q-aWn1PE-sO_R0oi67QIQA-UdHsoipk4rO5N1UlMciq9SMLAXqT8ZdJDiEarGtej83NDhvCuRSoPKWyfSSjRVJc_a5NJHQwmIK-LBd_xOr_MTJUgzdKOoLfunQFlmFq5JxZeBU/s400/Iran+Death+Penalty.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Seven prisoners were executed on drug related charges in northern Iran.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iran Human Rights (JAN 4 2017): Four prisoners were reportedly executed at Karaj Central Prison (northern Iran) and three prisoners were reportedly executed at Karaj's Ghezel Hesar Prison (northern Iran). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />All seven prisoners were sentenced to death on drug related charges.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to close sources, on Wednesday January 4, the execution sentences of three prisoners were carried out at Ghezel Hesar Prison for drug related offenses. The prisoners are Khashiar Behrouzi, Mehdi Kavousi, and Anoush Baluch. These three prisoners and another prisoner identified as Harif Gholami were transferred to solitary confinement on Monday in preparation of their executions. According to reports, Mr. Gholami was transferred to Ghezel Hesar Prison from Tehran's central prison for execution; however, prior to his transfer, Mr. Gholami reportedly killed another prisoner. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As a result of the murder he committed, his death sentence for the drug related charges was stopped pending investigation into the murder charges. Mr. Gholami is currently being held in solitary confinement in Ghezel Hesar Prison. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are numerous cases of death row prisoners in Iran committing acts of murder in order to delay or quash their execution sentence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Tuesday January 3, four prisoners were reportedly executed at Karaj Central Prison on drug related charges. Close sources report the names of the prisoners as: Hadi Moghaddam, Ali Nouri, Alireza Haj Firouzabadi, Ali Nouri.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have been silent about these seven executions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iranian authorities continue to implement death sentences for drug related offenses at a high rate even when an urgent plan was approved in the Iranian Parliament last week calling for a halt to the execution of prisoners on death row for drug related offenses. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Additionally, Iranian Parliament members recently sent a joint letter to the head of Iran's Judiciary asking for the imminent execution of approximately five thousand drug-related prisoners to be stopped pending further review of their cases.</div><br />Source: <a href="https://iranhr.net/en/articles/2749/" target="_blank">Iran Human Rights</a>, January 4, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Iran: Seven executed on drug charges

Seven prisoners were executed on drug related charges in northern Iran. Iran Human Rights (JAN 4 2017): Four prisoners were reportedly execu...

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Islamic Group Calls for Death of Son of Murdered Pakistani Politician After He Criticized Blasphemy Law

<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/AVvXsEjT64NZKMHWoGvcf2sEllCGTn55g_NS8aFlpSPU-wUJhMjCg7oJBXRdJI5KlkJDOzw_um-MGeoIl0m4msdp71HPXkztDwPfka8uFY-BQmq2pp25WqliZUVqncNhR7bWJ-4izBNraLg_zV0/s1600/Blasphemy+law+supporters+PAKISTAN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Blasphemy law supporters, Pakistan" border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT64NZKMHWoGvcf2sEllCGTn55g_NS8aFlpSPU-wUJhMjCg7oJBXRdJI5KlkJDOzw_um-MGeoIl0m4msdp71HPXkztDwPfka8uFY-BQmq2pp25WqliZUVqncNhR7bWJ-4izBNraLg_zV0/s400/Blasphemy+law+supporters+PAKISTAN.jpg" title="Blasphemy law supporters, Pakistan" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blasphemy law supporters, Pakistan</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Shaan Taseer was condemned after recording Christmas message that was critical of the country's law</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Shaan Taseer, the son of a prominent Pakistani politician assassinated over blasphemy allegations, is himself now the target of a police case and a fatwa calling for his killing after he recorded a Christmas message criticizing the country's blasphemy law.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr. Taseer, a human-rights activist, was condemned in the religious edict by an Islamic group from the country's mainstream religious tradition, after he recorded the message for Pakistan's Christian minority.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the video message, he called the country's blasphemy law "inhumane" and expressed sympathy for Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death by Pakistan's courts on blasphemy charges.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Pakistan, blasphemy is illegal and it carries the death penalty. Activists say that the threat of being accused of blasphemy has created a climate of fear, where anyone can be targeted and the law can't be discussed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I'm now in a position something like Salman Rushdie," said Mr. Taseer, referring to the novelist who has had to live in hiding since a 1989 edict condemned him to death. "They have called for my assassination."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">His father, Salmaan Taseer, then governor of Punjab province, was shot dead in 2011 by his own bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri, after he criticized Pakistan's blasphemy laws. Mr. Qadri was executed last year after a Supreme Court verdict, but his funeral was attended by huge crowds, and his followers are building an ornate shrine just outside Islamabad over his grave.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to the fatwa, issued by a group called Tehreek Labaik Ya Rasool Allah, the younger Mr. Taseer has "crossed all limits of insulting God and the prophet" and is now "condemnable to death". The group, which is legal, is from the Barelvi sect, the biggest Muslim denomination in the country, which is normally considered moderate but on the issue of blasphemy, it is the most hardline.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"In no unclear terms, they've told their supporters to prepare another Mumtaz Qadri," said Mr. Taseer, adding that he had received hundreds of messages of hate and death threats since he was accused.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Police in Lahore also registered a case against Mr. Taseer under the blasphemy law. The case is under a section of the law meant for hate speech.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to the charge, dated Dec. 30, police found a recording on a memory stick left outside a police station in which a person "ridiculed a religious law, which may cause provocation."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nasir Hameed, the police officer in charge of the Islampura police station in Lahore where the case is registered, said officers were investigating further. The case doesn't name Shaan Taseer, but he identifies himself by name in the recording.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Having a fatwa and a blasphemy case against you is putting a target on your back," said Jibran Nasir, a lawyer and activist. "These fanatics can motivate people to get you anywhere."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr. Taseer, aged 45, is currently outside Pakistan and asked for his location not to be revealed. Activists fear that the fatwa still puts him in danger abroad and also prevents his ability to return.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Pakistan, crowds often surround police stations to pressure police into registering blasphemy cases, in which both Muslims and non-Muslims are targeted. Activists say that the evidence is usually flimsy and the blasphemy law is regularly used to settle personal scores. Allegations of blasphemy have repeatedly in the past motivated mobs to kill the accused.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Separately, the same religious group threatened on Dec. 31 to issue a fatwa against leading opposition politician Imran Khan, unless he apologizes for a supposed insult to the Prophet Mohammad in a speech. There was no immediate response from Mr. Khan's spokesperson.</div><br />Source: Wall Street Journal, January 3, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Islamic Group Calls for Death of Son of Murdered Pakistani Politician After He Criticized Blasphemy Law

Blasphemy law supporters, Pakistan Shaan Taseer was condemned after recording Christmas message that was critical of the country's law S...

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