Bahrainis protest over fears for three convicts on death row

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy4msNTBH5ch86442X1hdULbc8riaS_Wvputth-3rruWx3FCMQQ9-es0sF6Q2bK6pqrIfrrZh3M9t7c3jzJLNIsQOZCMQ7YbMrWfIQDjyY0-aFd7tbOl1OOtPrN2-QxfpDpr9N9YB_Wv8/s1600/Death+Penalty+News.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy4msNTBH5ch86442X1hdULbc8riaS_Wvputth-3rruWx3FCMQQ9-es0sF6Q2bK6pqrIfrrZh3M9t7c3jzJLNIsQOZCMQ7YbMrWfIQDjyY0-aFd7tbOl1OOtPrN2-QxfpDpr9N9YB_Wv8/s400/Death+Penalty+News.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of the Bahraini capital Manama on Saturday over reports on social media that the authorities may be <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/2017/01/three-executions-in-bahrain-imminent.html" target="_blank">preparing to execute three Shi'ite men</a> convicted of a deadly 2014 bomb attack.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Executions are rare in Bahrain, a Western allied kingdom tucked between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The authorities have been cracking down on dissent mainly by the Shi'ite majority complaining of discrimination by the island's Sunni rulers. The last execution was carried out in 2008.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Calls for the protests were issued on social media after the families of the three young men - Abbas al-Samea, Sami Mushaima and Ali al-Singace - said they had been summoned to visit their loved ones at Jau prison.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The men, who were convicted in 2015 of a bomb attack that killed three police officers - two Bahrainis and an Emirati - had maintained their innocence and rights groups have said confessions were obtained under torture. Bahrain denies using torture.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prison authorities did not explain the reason for the summons to the families but gave them a telephone number to collect their sons' personal belongings, according to social media reports.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">News of the possible impending executions prompted calls on social media for protests, drawing hundreds of people onto the streets. Bahraini security forces were seen deploying around areas of tension, including Duraz village, where the spiritual leader of Bahrain's Shi'ites has been confined since authorities revoked his citizenship last year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Footage on social media showed hundreds of men and women marching with placards denouncing the death sentences imposed on the three men.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"No, No to Executions," one poster carried by demonstrators in Duraz read, above pictures of the three men.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There were no reports of clashes between demonstrators and security forces, who were deployed in armored vehicles outside the village, according to social media.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Social media messages said similar protests took place in other Shi'ite villages across Bahrain.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bahrain launched a crackdown on dissidents in June last year, closing down the main Shi'ite Muslim group, al-Wefaq. It has also more than doubled a prison sentence imposed on the head of al-Wefaq, Sheikh Ali Salman, revoked the citizenship of the Shi'ite majority's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Isa Qassim, and arrested prominent activist Nabeel Rajab.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bahrain denies any discrimination against Shi'ites and accuses Iran of fanning unrest in the kingdom, a charge Tehran says is not true.</div><br />Source: Reuters, Sami Aboudi, January 14, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; 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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Bahrainis protest over fears for three convicts on death row

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of the Bahraini capital Manama on Saturday over reports on social media that the authorities may ...

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Former Aum cultist publishes memoir on gas attacks, cult leader

<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/AVvXsEiUu82Wnz-2IvNPcXXUKjZLqMkn7TqAnQH3vrlBrNcyvoNcoCoUaOhiq59i9SqKkMbGZLSQ1lMI9vzF4iGl9_z0DkqEdvBa6Tl_FjxoxJbSW1DWhkjB846HU_eCUWGDfZi08vAIh2ZICEc/s1600/Tokyo+Subway+Sarin+Gas+Attack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995 killed 13 and left more than 6,000 people injured." border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUu82Wnz-2IvNPcXXUKjZLqMkn7TqAnQH3vrlBrNcyvoNcoCoUaOhiq59i9SqKkMbGZLSQ1lMI9vzF4iGl9_z0DkqEdvBa6Tl_FjxoxJbSW1DWhkjB846HU_eCUWGDfZi08vAIh2ZICEc/s400/Tokyo+Subway+Sarin+Gas+Attack.jpg" title="The sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995 killed 13 and left more than 6,000 people injured." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995<br />killed 13 and left more than 6,000 people injured.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">A former executive of the Aum Shinrikyo cult who helped manufacture the sarin gas that killed 13 people and sickened more than 6,000 on the Tokyo subway system in 1995 has published a memoir.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In it, Tomomasa Nakagawa, 54, a former medical doctor and now death-row inmate, reveals the method used by the cult to manufacture the deadly nerve gas and also discusses former Aum leader Shoko Asahara, whom he cared for.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“He was a criminal before (being regarded as) a religious leader in that he transformed a religious organization into a criminal enterprise,” Nakagawa noted about Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Matsumoto, 61, is also on death row.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nakagawa <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/2016/12/japan-ex-aum-cult-member-on-death-row.html" target="_blank">published the memoir in the November issue of Gendai Kagaku</a> (Chemistry Today), urged by Anthony Tu, professor emeritus at Colorado State University and an authority of toxicology.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tu, who wrote a book on the subway attacks and also a 1994 sarin attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, that killed eight people and sickened about 600, has interviewed Nakagawa many times.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The cultist, whose death sentence was finalized in 2011, was involved in both sarin atrocities and also the abduction and murders of anti-Aum lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto and his family members in 1989.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the beginning of the memoir, whose main theme was “Why was (Aum) able to manufacture sarin?” Nakagawa apologizes to victims of the series of crimes committed by Aum cultists.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As for Asahara's skill as a leader of yoga and meditation sessions, Nakagawa writes, “His capability was extremely high."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“There were no people who joined Aum to commit murders. Including me, those who put absolute trust in Asahara in the fields of yoga and meditation became involved in the (fatal) incidents,” Nakagawa recalls.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He also reveals the chemical formulas he says were used to manufacture the sarin, which the cult began producing in around 1992.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In January 1995, the media reported that police suspected Aum was behind the sarin attack in Matsumoto. The gas was sprayed in a residential area in June the previous year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Aum members hurriedly disposed of several hundreds of tons of sarin and other chemical substances to prevent police from finding the stockpile, Nakagawa writes in the memoir.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“All of us were poisoned by sarin (while doing that). I was just about able to stand,” he recalls.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The sarin attacks on the Tokyo subway system were carried out on March 20, 1995.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nakagawa was one of the cultists who manufactured it, utilizing chemicals that were not disposed of in the January clearing out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nakagawa said in court that Yoshihiro Inoue, 47, also a former Aum executive and a death-row inmate, was responsible for storing the chemicals.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, in a court ruling on a different former executive of Aum, it was stated keeping the chemicals was Nakagawa's job.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Whatever the reason, terrorism is always intolerable,” the memoir reads.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It concludes with, “The background (of the act) of joining dangerous religious or terrorist organizations and the background (of the act) of carrying out terror acts after joining those organizations should be distinguished.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Minoru Kariya, 56, the eldest son of Kiyoshi, a notary public who was also abducted and killed by Aum in 1995 at the age of 68, said that many bereaved families still have questions after listening to the remarks made by various Aum members in court.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“If former executives of Aum release their memoirs, it could help clarify the facts (of the series of crimes committed by the organization),” said Kariya, who has repeatedly interviewed Inoue and Nakagawa.</div><br />Source: <a href="http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201701100053.html" target="_blank">Asahi Shimbun</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; 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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Former Aum cultist publishes memoir on gas attacks, cult leader

The sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995 killed 13 and left more than 6,000 people injured. A former executive of t...

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120-day Delay Requested in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Death Penalty Appeal

<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/AVvXsEhW_HsT9EnbN4j6lU6C76GCa2Ii621kL_YXbHz0fmlAIBC05nLi4Gv6Ow47YPbsYKE68j72wBBRf6oqsGB59ugjdtlLWv5YLPVeNLhRQ_QvuAcAjsi8XAczolJqNrsH0qXtUdkiLUIEXs4/s1600/D+Tsarnaev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="D. Tsarnaev" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW_HsT9EnbN4j6lU6C76GCa2Ii621kL_YXbHz0fmlAIBC05nLi4Gv6Ow47YPbsYKE68j72wBBRf6oqsGB59ugjdtlLWv5YLPVeNLhRQ_QvuAcAjsi8XAczolJqNrsH0qXtUdkiLUIEXs4/s320/D+Tsarnaev.jpg" title="D. Tsarnaev" width="277" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">D. Tsarnaev</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">As a second man <a href="http://patch.com/massachusetts/boston/gary-lee-sampson-verdict-return-death-row" target="_blank">rejoins</a> Massachusetts' short list of convicts sentenced to death, lawyers are reportedly seeking another delay in the appeals process that would spare the life of convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dhzokar Tsarnaev.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Boston Herald's Laurel Sweet <a href="https://twitter.com/Laurel_Sweet/status/818562379864821760">reports</a> Monday that the team appealing Tsarnaev's sentence is requesting another two-month delay to build their case.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Those arguments were initially due last October, but the team received a 120-day delay at that time. They requested another today, according to Sweet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tsarnaev was <a href="http://patch.com/massachusetts/newton/jury-reaches-death-penalty-verdict-boston-marathon-bomber-0" target="_blank">sentenced to the death penalty</a> in summer of 2015 for his role in the 2013 bombings that killed three people and injured 250 more. He also killed a police officer in the ensuing manhunt. The jury's unanimous decision followed 14 hours of deliberation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Also on Monday, convicted killer Gary Lee Sampson <a href="http://patch.com/massachusetts/boston/gary-lee-sampson-verdict-return-death-row" target="_blank">lost his second bid to avoid death row</a>. A jury added him back to a short list of federal convicts on death row and an even shorter list of people from Massachusetts receiving the sentence. The death penalty is illegal in Massachusetts, but both Sampson and Tsarnaev's cases are federal, and therefore an exception.</div><br />Source: <a href="http://patch.com/massachusetts/boston/another-delay-requested-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-death-penalty-appeal-report" target="_blank">Boston Patch</a>, Alison Bauter, January 9, 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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120-day Delay Requested in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Death Penalty Appeal

D. Tsarnaev As a second man rejoins Massachusetts' short list of convicts sentenced to death, lawyers are reportedly seeking another de...

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Bahrain: Cassation Court upholds trio death sentence

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTJyeEh7GFhdCSctM7GA91pCh1Fyz0xA4xRyg3GlzdnPi19cOmR2eX2ElXEi09RVyj5ZNahjtbOOlyUB7-JUr384thNM1N3Ft9O6fGiOVRCshhfqC72QZY3X3YIHme8JiXwzotdpGxI9I/s1600/Bahrain+Cassation+Court.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Bahrain Cassation Court" border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTJyeEh7GFhdCSctM7GA91pCh1Fyz0xA4xRyg3GlzdnPi19cOmR2eX2ElXEi09RVyj5ZNahjtbOOlyUB7-JUr384thNM1N3Ft9O6fGiOVRCshhfqC72QZY3X3YIHme8JiXwzotdpGxI9I/s400/Bahrain+Cassation+Court.jpg" title="Bahrain Cassation Court" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Manama, Jan. 9 (BNA): Advocate General at the Public Prosecution's Technical Office, Haroon Alzayani, said the Court of Cassation today ruled in the case of murder of first-lieutenant Tareq Mohammed Al Shehi and policemen Mohammed Raslan and Ammar Abdu Ali Mohammed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Cassation Court accepted the objection in form and rejected it in substance, upholding the death penalty ruling against the three main convicts. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The crime dates back to 3 March 2014 when the suspects planted an explosive device, lured the policemen to its location and detonated the device killing the three policemen.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Eight terror suspects were referred to the Criminal Court, of whom five were in custody and three were still at large.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The suspects were charged with organizing, running a terror group aimed to undermine the provisions of the Constitution, prevent official institutions from working, and pursued terror blasts to achieve their purposes. They recruited elements and carried out the activities of manufacturing, detonating explosive devices and targeted the public security men to kill them so as weaken the state, stir unrest and topple the regime. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The suspects from the third to the eighth were charged with joining the terror group. They along with the second suspect implemented terroristic activities and committed the crimes of murder and attempted murdering of policemen, damaged public properties, possessed, stored, handled and used explosive substances. They committed all of these crimes to achieve terroristic purposes in addition to funding their terror group and financing its activities.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The High Criminal Court deliberated the case and sentenced three suspects with death penalty and the remaining suspects with life in jail and stripping the nationality of some of them, which was also upheld by the Court of Appeals.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The case was referred to the Court of Cassation in compliance with the provisions of Bahraini law which considers a death sentence automatically subject to referral to the Court of Cassation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Court of Cassation earlier cancelled the sentence and returned the case to the Court of Appeal to consider it anew. The case was deliberated by the latter court which upheld the same sentence in view of the incontestable material and verbal evidences and referred the case to the Court of Cassation once again which ruled as above by rejecting the objection and upholding the sentence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Source: Bahrain News Agency, January 9, 2017<br /><br /><br /><h2>Bahrain uses torture evidence to sentence three more to death</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Bahrain’s highest court has today (9th January) upheld the death sentences of three men, despite allegations that they were tortured into making false confessions. Their executions are now imminent.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Abbas al-Samea, Sami Mushaima, and Ali al-Singace were originally sentenced to death in February 2015.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">All three were tortured into signing false ‘confessions’ that were used against them in court.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Mushaima was forced to sign documents despite being illiterate. He is a relative of a prominent opposition politician, but has never been involved in activism.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr al-Samea was admitted to hospital for surgery as a result of his interrogation. He is a PE teacher and aspiring photojournalist who had taken pictures at a protest.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The three men’s death sentences were overturned in October 2016 after a court ruled that their initial sentences were “misjudgements.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, in December 2016, the appeals court reinstated their death sentences.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Human rights organization Reprieve wrote to Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May asking her to raise the issue of police torture and the death penalty ahead of her meeting in Bahrain last month.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Millions of pounds in UK government aid have been spent on training Bahrain’s police, prison guards and torture watchdog in recent years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Commenting, Maya Foa, a director of Reprieve, said:</div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">“It is extremely alarming that Bahrain, a close ally of Britain, is gearing up to execute three people, all of whom were convicted on the basis of false ‘confessions’ extracted through torture. Abbas al-Samea, Sami Mushaima, and Ali al-Singace will be the first people to be executed in Bahrain in six years. All three were charged with political offences and tortured into signing ‘confessions’ that were used against them in court - despite one of them being illiterate and not able to read the document. On her recent visit to Bahrain, Theresa May said that the UK 'does not uphold our values and human rights by turning our back on this issue' yet apparently declined to raise the cases of these prisoners facing imminent execution. The UK must do more to ensure its close allies do not render them complicit in the gravest abuses.”</blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><ul><li>The full text of the letter to the Prime Minister is available <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016_11_16_INT-Letter-to-PM-Theresa-May-about-GCC-summit-as-sent.pdf" target="_blank">on Reprieve’s website</a>.</li><li>Reprieve's research into UK support for Bahrain is available <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/BelfastToBahrain.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>, while further detail about the cases is available on request.</li></ul></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: Reprieve, January 9, 2017. 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Bahrain: Cassation Court upholds trio death sentence

Manama, Jan. 9 (BNA): Advocate General at the Public Prosecution's Technical Office, Haroon Alzayani, said the Court of Cassation today ...

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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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Iraq: 88 executed over terrorism charges in 2016

<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg06Hyxprlzrq7VZKp1CytZa1qClMrGEeAbcq0GFIW7whiu8AVfCRsZ4igInjnEjbGjFZt5VRibmGeP-BMdLQpRFKDR3Qquc64PBtfFZsK-ZMApzRRkJNRKPdr2zHbojoQTf8yKsiWvEFQ/s1600/noose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg06Hyxprlzrq7VZKp1CytZa1qClMrGEeAbcq0GFIW7whiu8AVfCRsZ4igInjnEjbGjFZt5VRibmGeP-BMdLQpRFKDR3Qquc64PBtfFZsK-ZMApzRRkJNRKPdr2zHbojoQTf8yKsiWvEFQ/s400/noose.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>December 30, 2016: The Iraqi authorities executed 88 terrorists convicts in 2016, despite the international calls to stop this punishment in this country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the beginning of 2016, Iraqi Justice ministry announced the execution of the first convict on 3 February, after three years of his conviction and issuance of capital punishment against him.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On 24 May, 2016, 22 convicts were executed after the approval of the Iraqi president on the verdicts, but no details were given on their identities. In 3 July, the Shiite parties attacked the Iraqi presidency and government for not executing terrorist convicts following an explosion in mid of Baghdad (Karrada area) that resulted in killing 300 and wounding 200 more, according Iraqi Health Ministry estimates.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After one day of Karrada explosion, Iraqi Justice Ministry announced executing 5 terrorists, thus the total of the executed convicts reached to 37 till that date.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Justice Ministry used to execute criminals without determining dates in order not to stir the criticism of the international ant-death penalty organizations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On 5 July, Justice Minister announced executing two convicted terrorists, as well as announcing on 18 July, 2016 that the number of the executed convicts reached to 45.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Due to the internal criticism against Iraqi President Foad Ma'soum, it was announced on 13 July the approval on execution verdicts against terrorist, without announcing their numbers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On 23 July, Premier Haidar al-Ibadi formed a governmental committee to "finalize the dossiers of death-convicted criminals and expedite endorsing and implementing them".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On 21 August, Justice Ministry announced the execution of 36 convicts following Spicher's massacre. The convicts were executed in Nassiriya Central Prison, Thi Qar province, south east of the country, thus the total figure jumped to 81 convicts. According to official Iraqi sources, about 1700 military cadets in Spicher Base were killed on 12 June, 2014, following Da'ish (ISIS) control of Tikrit city, Salahal-din province, north of Baghdad, where Da'ish gunmen controlled the air academy and killed the cadets present there.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On 31 August, 2016, 7 convicts were also executed in Nassiriya Central Prison. It was reported that the convicts were from Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, the Sudan, Palestine, Syria and Jordan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">By this last convicted group, the figure reached to 88 executed convicts, according to official sources.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the other side, the Justice Ministry disclosed that there are about 300 death-convicts in Iraqi prisons, but the execution verdicts were not implemented till now.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Iraqi government restored death punishment in 2004, after its suspension following the entry of the US forces into Iraq in 2003.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The return of the executions stirred international anti-death-verdicts and called for their abrogation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to UNAMI reports, more that 12.000 Iraqis were killed, mostly military and 14.000 were wounded in violent and terrorist attacks in 2016. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sources: Iraq TradeLink, HOC, December 30, 2016</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Iraq: 88 executed over terrorism charges in 2016

December 30, 2016: The Iraqi authorities executed 88 terrorists convicts in 2016, despite the international calls to stop this punishment in...

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Saudi executes 153 in 2016: Amnesty International

<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/AVvXsEhDfN8wQG-3XirCKSl7YLHJNwzBPuGFa-E7OFgn14eN09eUA-os_fEH_JFDh0-8wbzlve4BEV8y0135chbHMEwkQfX5wsdcxWtAhcz-1CuSuk5P3UNwoaz5x0cyEhzICv5K-WsembhZQN0/s1600/Public+execution+of+a+Burmese+woman+in+KSA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Public execution of a Burmese woman in Saudi Arabia in 2016" border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDfN8wQG-3XirCKSl7YLHJNwzBPuGFa-E7OFgn14eN09eUA-os_fEH_JFDh0-8wbzlve4BEV8y0135chbHMEwkQfX5wsdcxWtAhcz-1CuSuk5P3UNwoaz5x0cyEhzICv5K-WsembhZQN0/s400/Public+execution+of+a+Burmese+woman+in+KSA.jpg" title="Public execution of a Burmese woman in Saudi Arabia in 2016" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Public execution of a Burmese woman in Saudi Arabia in 2016</td></tr></tbody></table><i>Saudi Arabia executed more than 150 prisoners in 2016 for breaking kingdom's strict Islamic laws</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Saudi Arabia executed more than 150 prisoners under their strict Islamic laws, new figures have shown.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The ultra-conservative kingdom, one of the world's most prolific executioners, punishes crimes such as murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape, homosexuality and apostasy with the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to Amnesty International a total of 153 executions were carried out in 2016, slightly down in the 158 carried out the previous year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Murder and drug trafficking cases account for the majority of Saudi executions, although 47 people were put to death for 'terrorism' offences on a single day last January.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They included prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, whose execution prompted Iranian protesters to torch Saudi diplomatic missions, leading Riyadh to sever relations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Most people put to death in Saudi Arabia are beheaded with a sword and the grisly event can often draw a small crowd.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Human rights group Amnesty International says the number of executions in Saudi Arabia last year was the highest for 2 decades.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And the level of executions was criticised today by Allan Hogarth, Amnesty International UK's head of policy and government affairs, who said the kingdom is 'making a mockery of justice'.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Hogarth told the Independent: 'The death penalty is always cruel and unnecessary, but the Saudi justice system lacks evens the basics of a fair trial system.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">'It's truly frightening that its courts are sentencing so many people to death... Saudi Arabia is making a mockery of justice and dozens of people are paying with their lives.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">'It's time that 'strategic allies' like the UK started speaking out about this shocking state of affairs. For too long Downing Street has bent over backwards to avoid 'offending' the Saudi royals.'</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: dailymail.co.uk, December 31, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><h2>Saudi executes 153 in 2016</h2></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Saudi Arabia carried out 153 executions in 2016, according to an AFP tally based on official announcements, slightly down from the year before.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The ultra-conservative kingdom is one of the world's most prolific executioners and has a strict Islamic legal code under which murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape, homosexuality and apostasy are all punishable by death.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rights group Amnesty International said Saudi Arabia carried out at least 158 death sentences in 2015, coming third after Iran and Pakistan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Amnesty's figures do not include secretive China.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Murder and drug trafficking cases account for the majority of Saudi executions, although 47 people were put to death for "terrorism" offences on a single day in January.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They included prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, whose execution prompted Iranian protesters to torch Saudi diplomatic missions, leading Riyadh to sever relations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: Agence France-Presse, December 31, 2016<br /><br /><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;">Saudi Arabia: Generosity of Saudi Man Saves Indian from Execution</h2><br />December 28, 2016: Limbadri, an Indian worker, never had it in his wildest dreams that he would escape death sentence especially after he had spent eight years behind bars waiting for execution. <br /><br />He thought his head would be separated from his body in an implantation of a court rule which sentenced him to capital punishment after killing a Saudi during a fight. <br /><br />With the date of execution coming closer, Awad bin Guraiah Al-Yami, a Saudi businessman, intervened with the family of the victim to pardon the killer offering them SR1.3 million as diyah (blood money). <br /><br />Yami’s good offices were fruitful when the family accepted the blood money and pardoned the murderer. <br /><br />The court endorsed the pardon and the Indian worker is now waiting to be released from prison. <br /><br />The Indian was working in a farm in Najran.<br /><br />Source: saudigazette.com.sa, December 18, 2016</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Saudi executes 153 in 2016: Amnesty International

Public execution of a Burmese woman in Saudi Arabia in 2016 Saudi Arabia executed more than 150 prisoners in 2016 for breaking kingdom's...

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Pakistan to hang 'butcher of Swat' Muslim Khan

<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/AVvXsEiS6UX9B5NAolsP-_3AO63_l3_vW5wfpUBkqm4Yd7LTVbK8hF2rz1BWky2lHay_alvXSh8k1LuV5GI64521vD2GaNYQPUSGrUo8UIf24bSfl1YjP7glGw3eyQi_DZfRWvG_0kU53gkqlx8/s1600/Muslim+Khan+was+the+face+of+the+Swat+Taliban+for+many+months+PAKISTAN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Muslim Khan was the face of the Swat Taliban for many months" border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS6UX9B5NAolsP-_3AO63_l3_vW5wfpUBkqm4Yd7LTVbK8hF2rz1BWky2lHay_alvXSh8k1LuV5GI64521vD2GaNYQPUSGrUo8UIf24bSfl1YjP7glGw3eyQi_DZfRWvG_0kU53gkqlx8/s400/Muslim+Khan+was+the+face+of+the+Swat+Taliban+for+many+months+PAKISTAN.jpg" title="Muslim Khan was the face of the Swat Taliban for many months" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Muslim Khan was the face of the Swat Taliban for many months.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">A military court in Pakistan has sentenced a top Pakistani Taliban leader from the Swat region to death.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Muslim Khan, a former spokesman for the militants, was convicted of killing 31 people, including civilians and security personnel, the military said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He is among eight "terrorists" whose death penalty was confirmed by army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The military courts were set up in the aftermath of the 2014 Peshawar school massacre. Their term expires next week.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Others whose convictions were confirmed by the army chief on Wednesday include four gunmen sentenced for involvement in a 2015 bus massacre of Ismaili Shias in Karachi, and the assassination of social activist Sabeen Mahmud, also in Karachi the same year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Why 'butcher of Swat'?</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Muslim Khan, 62, started out as a student activist of a left-wing secular party in the 1960s, but underwent an ideological transformation in the early 1990s when a pre-Taliban Islamist movement briefly emerged in his native Swat region.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2007, he became the chief spokesman of the Swat Taliban, and was the movement's public face during its stranglehold over the region which continued until the winter of 2009.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">His forceful defence of the Taliban's policy of killings, beheadings and the destruction of schools in Swat earned him and Swat Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah the title of "butcher of Swat".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The military's statement described him as "a spokesman of a proscribed organisation [who] was involved in killing innocent civilians, attacking armed forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These attacks resulted in the death of 31 people and injuries to 69 others, the statement said, adding that he was involved in "slaughtering" four soldiers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"He was also involved in kidnapping two Chinese engineers and a local civilian for ransom. The convict admitted his offences before the Magistrate and the trial court. He was awarded the death sentence."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A former BBC Urdu correspondent, Abdul Hai Kakar, who met him in September 2009, reported that he spoke several languages, including Urdu, English, Arabic and Persian, in addition to his mother tongue Pashto.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He had lived in or travelled across more than a dozen countries in the Middle East, Europe, the US and the Far East.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He has been in custody since his arrest in 2009 during the military operation that drove the Taliban out of Swat.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: justify;">Was the trial fair?</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The military court trials are held in secret, and prisoners on trial are held in internment centres run by the military, away from the mainstream jail population.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Scores of suspects have been convicted by the military courts since they were set up in January 2015 - obtaining accurate information is difficult because secrecy makes it almost impossible to scrutinise the process.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dawn newspaper said more than 270 cases had been sent to the military courts in the past two years. They gave death sentences to 161 people, while 116 were given jail terms, mostly life sentences.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A report by the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in June had a lower figure, saying the military courts had convicted 81 people during the 18 months of their existence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So far only 12 suspects have been executed by the military courts.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Others have gone to the courts to challenge the fairness of the trials, but judges have failed to intervene.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The ICJ has accused the Pakistani authorities of failing to make public key information about the trials, with similar objections raised by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and other groups.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The BBC asked the Interior Ministry for information on cases tried by the military courts but has not yet received a response.</div><h3 style="text-align: justify;"><br />What happens to military courts now?</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The convictions made public on Wednesday are believed to be the last by military courts before their legal term expires in January 2017.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is not clear if their term will be extended.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Elements within the military want the term of the military courts extended, believing the government is not up to dealing with terrorism-related offences.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But rights groups and some political circles say law and order has improved and the justification for military courts no longer exists.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Source: <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38462706" target="_blank">BBC News</a>, December 29, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Pakistan to hang 'butcher of Swat' Muslim Khan

Muslim Khan was the face of the Swat Taliban for many months. A military court in Pakistan has sentenced a top Pakistani Taliban leader from...

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Jordan: Five ISIS militants, four drug traffickers sentenced to death

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGaoZq7QNEnAnhKYsUEkPyY5wp-9pq2pzeXualAPariFsq3o0hwiPmidpqhLjiE_KNibnxC3ozRfHx7j4G-CxbomzvK92gc-A-sPPISlnndNhJifJxFG4ZYShIlLkYI0smRR4xUYvHtzo/s1600/Jordanian_Police_Officers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jordanian police officers" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGaoZq7QNEnAnhKYsUEkPyY5wp-9pq2pzeXualAPariFsq3o0hwiPmidpqhLjiE_KNibnxC3ozRfHx7j4G-CxbomzvK92gc-A-sPPISlnndNhJifJxFG4ZYShIlLkYI0smRR4xUYvHtzo/s400/Jordanian_Police_Officers.jpg" title="Jordanian police officers" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">December 28, 2016: A Jordanian court sentenced five members of an ISIL cell to death by hanging for acts of terrorism. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The state security court in Amman also handed jail terms of between three and 15 years to another 16 Jordanians in the same case. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They were found guilty of deadly "acts of terrorism", the manufacture of explosives and "possession of weapons and ammunition for use in terrorist acts" and recruiting people for "terrorist organisations". </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The group of 21 were members of an ISIL cell that was broken up in March during a large-scale security operation in the northern town of Irbid, near the border with Syria. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Seven suspected militants and a member of the Jordanian security forces were killed during the operation. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The authorities announced later that they had foiled ISIL attacks in the kingdom, which had already been hit by deadly attacks over the past year. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ten people were killed in a shooting rampage on December 18 in the popular tourist destination of Karak. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The attack was claimed by ISIL and marked the first time the group had targeted civilians in Jordan. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Two days later, the authorities arrested a man suspected of funding the attack in a raid on a house in Karak province.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">December 26, 2016: A state security court sentenced four Jordanians to death for murdering a member of the security forces involved in the fight against drugs trafficking, a judicial source said. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, the source said the four were sentenced to die by hanging for killing the policeman in September in Aqaba province some 300 kilometres (180 miles) south of Amman. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The four were also convicted of "possession of automatic weapons... leading to the death of a person", the source added. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A fifth defendant in the same case was sentenced to 18 months in jail for possessing an unlicensed firearm. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The policeman had been taking part in an operation to arrest a person accused of drugs possession when he was fired on by gunmen in two cars. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In August, the authorities said more than six tonnes of illegal drugs had been seized and more than 13,000 people suspected of smuggling, possessing or using drugs were arrested during the first half of the year. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The interior ministry says 85 percent of drugs seized in Jordan are destined to be smuggled abroad. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: Agence France-Presse, December 26-28, 2016<br /><br /><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;">Security Court hands down death sentence for killer of slain writer Nahed Hattar</h2><br />December 20, 2016: Jordan's Deputy Director General of the State Security Court sentenced the killer of writer Nahed Hattar to death by hanging, al-Ghad newspaper reported. <br /><br />Military judge Ziad al-Adwan added in a statement that the court had also investigated a second defendant who sold the weapon to the murderer, and a third defendant who acted as a middle-man in buying the weapon. Each were sentenced to one year in jail and fines. <br /><br />Riad Ismail Abdullah, the primary suspect in Hattar's murder was convicted on charges of carrying out acts of terrorism, murder, and carrying and possession of a firearm without a license. <br /><br />Hattar was gunned down on September 25 on the steps of the supreme court, and Abdullah was arrested immediately after committing the crime. <br /><br />The prosecutor general of the State Security Court concluded its investigation on October 18 and referred the case file to the court for sentencing.<br /><br />Source: albawaba.com, December 20, 2016</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Jordan: Five ISIS militants, four drug traffickers sentenced to death

December 28, 2016: A Jordanian court sentenced five members of an ISIL cell to death by hanging for acts of terrorism. The state security co...

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

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

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

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Japan: Ex-Aum cult member on death row calls founder 'criminal' in memoir

<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/AVvXsEjOJiSdP8dnYiUFtD1Ron9mY5maQB9m9eoNCHoy0erITRhA8Zcj8aPEkLome6LaDzlfSvtT7lWWcjKXuFLMr4oZMkjEkHjmHGPqlZ-R7mxUF9PC0oDX9Mcya1RbFBhEWttC6Rh_RJkliTk/s1600/Former+leader+of+the+Aum+Shinrikyo+cult+Shoko+Asahara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Former leader of the Aum Shinrikyo cult Shoko Asahara" border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJiSdP8dnYiUFtD1Ron9mY5maQB9m9eoNCHoy0erITRhA8Zcj8aPEkLome6LaDzlfSvtT7lWWcjKXuFLMr4oZMkjEkHjmHGPqlZ-R7mxUF9PC0oDX9Mcya1RbFBhEWttC6Rh_RJkliTk/s400/Former+leader+of+the+Aum+Shinrikyo+cult+Shoko+Asahara.jpg" title="Former leader of the Aum Shinrikyo cult Shoko Asahara" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Former leader of the Aum Shinrikyo cult Shoko Asahara</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">TOKYO — A former senior member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult who is on death row has described the founder and “guru” he once revered, Shoko Asahara, as a “criminal” in a recently published memoir.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tomomasa Nakagawa, convicted for his role in producing sarin used in the deadly nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995, said in the six-page article in the November edition of Japanese magazine Chemistry Today that Asahara transformed what was otherwise a religious group into one that produced chemical weapons and perpetrated murder.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The terror attack on the subway system killed 13 and left more than 6,000 people injured.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the memoir, Nakagawa, 54, referred to the founder as “Mr Asahara” and said he “chose those who deeply trusted him and ordered them to take actions” such as committing murder and manufacturing chemical weapons.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said Asahara’s “ability to lead yoga and meditation was extremely high” and that none of the cult members, including himself, imagined they would become involved in such actions as killing when they joined the group.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nakagawa’s death sentence was finalized in 2011. The 61-year-old Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, is also still on death row.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">His memoir also carried a personal apology to victims of the attack, as well as details of sarin production.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nakagawa decided to write the article after being encouraged by Anthony Tu, a Colorado State University emeritus professor and toxicologist researching a string of incidents involving the cult. Tu, 86, has been visiting Nakagawa while in prison since 2011.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><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/AVvXsEhcU4hqyrzogH3c9F2INBaIpELQoju0u1pYlxaRGEw5uXHjI1hwrXpqrjO06VGsHSUs7IwlCYBIm0re11AeiAgc43Op-uH2fLnRQ0Mo57T7Ci3VIpoXsZ04oXJT1_L6e2ja_8IentR_UlQ/s1600/Tokyo+Subway+Sarin+Gas+Attack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995 killed 13 and left more than 6,000 injured." border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcU4hqyrzogH3c9F2INBaIpELQoju0u1pYlxaRGEw5uXHjI1hwrXpqrjO06VGsHSUs7IwlCYBIm0re11AeiAgc43Op-uH2fLnRQ0Mo57T7Ci3VIpoXsZ04oXJT1_L6e2ja_8IentR_UlQ/s400/Tokyo+Subway+Sarin+Gas+Attack.jpg" title="The sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995 killed 13 and left more than 6,000 injured." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995<br />killed 13 and left more than 6,000 people injured.</td></tr></tbody></table>Nakagawa recounted that after succeeding in manufacturing about 30 kilograms of sarin compound in February 1994, they spread about 12 liters of it in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture in June that year. This eventually resulted in a “major incident,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Aum Shinrikyo is also known for having staged a sarin gas attack in a residential area of Matsumoto in central Japan on June 27, 1994, which killed eight people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In producing sarin, one needs to have graduate school-level knowledge and experience in chemistry, and special equipment and systems must be in place to treat those who may have been poisoned by sarin, Nakagawa said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He added, however, that it is hard now to obtain raw materials for sarin production and ruled out the possibility of another terror attack with sarin in Japan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“If the investigative authorities pay close attention, it would be nearly impossible for such an act to be carried out,” Nakagawa said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Death sentences have been finalized for 10 members of the cult in connection with the attack and other crimes, while sentences of life in prison have been finalized for four others.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2000, Aum Shinrikyo was renamed Aleph. In 2007, senior Alegh member Fumihiro Joyu left the group to establish a separate group—Hikarinowa, or the Circle of Rainbow.</div><br />Source: Japan Today, December 18, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Japan: Ex-Aum cult member on death row calls founder 'criminal' in memoir

Former leader of the Aum Shinrikyo cult Shoko Asahara TOKYO — A former senior member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult who is on death row has descr...

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