Saudi Arabia executes 81 in one day for terror offences

Source: Straits Times (12 March 2022)

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-executes-81-in-one-day-for-terror-offences

RIYADH (AFP) - Saudi Arabia said Saturday (March 12) it executed 81 people in one day on a variety of terrorism-related offences, exceeding the total number of executions in the kingdom in the whole of last year.

All had been "found guilty of committing multiple heinous crimes", the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, saying they included convicts linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group, or to Al-Qaeda, Yemen's Huthi rebel forces or "other terrorist organisations".

They had been plotting attacks on vital economic sites, or had targeted or had killed members of the security forces, or had smuggled weapons into the country, the SPA added.

Of the 81 people, 73 were Saudi citizens, seven were Yemeni and one was a Syrian national.

SPA said all those executed were tried in Saudi courts, with trials overseen by 13 judges over three separate stages for each individual.

The wealthy Gulf country has one of the world's highest execution rates.

Saturday's announcement marks the kingdom's highest number of recorded executions in one day, and more than the total of 69 executions in all of 2021.

The Singapore lawyer who defends those facing the gallows

Source: Al Jazeera (7 March 2022)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/7/death-penalty-the-singapore-lawyer

Singapore is known for being tough on crime, with some of the harshest punishments in the world, including a mandatory death sentence for certain offences, including drug-related crimes.

One lawyer, M Ravi, has been taking on the state in high-profile cases for decades.

Ravi has been diagnosed as bipolar and is currently suspended from practising law on mental health grounds, but he has been heavily involved in the case of Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a Malaysian man with a learning disability found guilty of drug offences and sentenced to death.

A last-minute appeal that attracted worldwide attention gave Nagaenthran a reprieve, and he contracted COVID-19 in November of last year, further delaying the process.

Singapore’s Court of Appeal heard his case on March 1, and has reserved judgement until an undisclosed date.

Ravi spoke to Al Jazeera about why he takes on such challenging cases. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Al Jazeera: You are one of the few lawyers involved in the defence of people facing the death penalty. Why do you take on such cases?

M Ravi: My original focus was mainly commercial and corporate cases, looking at intellectual property, technology, that kind of stuff.

In 2003, when a Malaysian boy Vignes Mourthi was facing the death penalty [for smuggling 27 grams of heroin into the country], I mounted a last-minute constitutional challenge at the request of the former opposition leader in Singapore, Mr J B Jeyaretnam. He’s almost like a Nelson Mandela of Singapore.

On the eve of the execution, I asked the then Chief Justice if we could reopen this case. He said that the case had run its course and there was little I could do.

I then asked [that] if I could show that he was innocent, would Mourthi still be hanged? He said yes. That was a horrifying statement. I saw the way the poor and the oppressed were being treated. It brought me to fight against the death penalty in Singapore.

Al Jazeera: The Law Society of Singapore has suspended you from practising law on psychiatric grounds following your diagnosis of bipolar disorder. What has happened?

M Ravi: As I was preparing to argue Nagaenthran’s appeal, my doctor said suddenly that I am unwell. And that’s it, the Law Society said I have to stop as the doctor found that I am unwell.

I’m still doing work, preparing bundles of papers. If I don’t do that, Nagaenthran will be in the gallows.

The psychiatrists that have spoken to me from around the world, and other people I have spoken to, said that I don’t need treatment and just need rest.

Of course I am frustrated. I was originally told by my doctor that I can still argue Nagaenthran’s case and my MC [medical note] should end on January 13. Then he extended it to March 13. And the court is not going to wait, the Attorney General is pressing that Nagaenthran’s case should go ahead and be rushed through.

Al Jazeera: What other challenges do you face when taking on these difficult cases, going up against the Singapore state?

M Ravi: The Law Society and the Attorney General have applied to the Court of Appeal to suspend me from practice – or even strike me off.

That’s because of a case in 2020, the case of Gobi Avedian. He was supposed to be executed, but I managed to stop it. 

The authorities are extremely frustrated because I frustrated their scheme of the death penalty. The Court of Appeal acknowledged that this is the first miscarriage of justice case in Singapore.

In this case, the Court of Appeal said we have made a mistake. The question I asked the Attorney General is ‘What if I had not come to practice law in this case?’ Gobi would have been gone. I criticised the entire administration of the death penalty.

Then there is the media. They constantly say that I am mad. There is psychological harassment about my psychiatric condition.

Al Jazeera: Will Singapore ever get rid of the death penalty?

M Ravi: It will. Just look at the case of Yong Vui Kong. He was only 19 when he was caught [trafficking heroin into Singapore in 2007].

This boy was supposed to be executed and, on the eve of the execution, I filed to stop it.

It took three, four years, but finally the law was amended [Yong was spared]. The law now gives judges some discretion.

So there is a precursor to tell us that things can change. Singapore is ripe to repeal the death penalty, most countries in the Southeast Asia region don’t practise it. Philippines is a no, Myanmar no, Thailand no, Indonesia yes but still slow.

And now we have Richard Branson taking them on and telling other rich people about it.

I think they have no choice but to get rid of it.

Al Jazeera: How confident are you and your team of Nagaenthran’s appeal?

M Ravi: It’s a humungous amount of work. There are five Deputy Public Prosecutors, they are all at the top. Singapore finds a lot of resources to kill people.

I think I will be able to win. Five judges are [hearing] the case. If it’s a shut case and not serious and open, they wouldn’t even come.

Secondly, psychiatric prison experts from the UK and Australia have given their expert opinion to say that the methods used by the Institute of Mental Health in Singapore are backwards. The tests are all wrong. The manner in which they are administered are very childish.

Malaysia Should Scrap the Death Penalty Once and For All

Source: The Diplomat (4 March 2022)

https://thediplomat.com/2022/03/malaysia-should-scrap-the-death-penalty-once-and-for-all/

In January, Malaysia’s Law Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the cabinet would discuss the findings of a study on alternatives to the mandatory death penalty, which applies to crimes including drug trafficking, treason, and murder.

After almost two years without any progress on death penalty reform, this is a welcome development.

For more than 40 years, Amnesty International has campaigned against the death penalty around the world, and more than two-thirds of countries have abolished it in law or in practice. Here’s why Malaysia – and other countries that retain the death penalty – should show human rights leadership and set an example by scrapping it once and for all.

Simply put, governments should not kill people. Or as the United Nations Human Rights Committee has put it, “the death penalty cannot be reconciled with full respect for the right to life.”

Every single human being has the inherent right to life and governments have an obligation to protect lives, not take them. This right is recognized under international law for all human beings, without distinctions of any kind, including for persons suspected or convicted of even the most serious crimes.

Amnesty International, and many other individuals and organizations around the world, believes that the death penalty violates this right.

In Malaysia, we have found numerous violations of the right to a fair trial. Defendants who cannot afford or are unable to hire their own lawyers are often unrepresented during police interrogations, and lack interpretation if they do not speak Bahasa Malaysia, while there are credible allegations of torture and other ill treatment at the hands of authorities, among other examples.

The imposition of the death penalty after a violation of the right to a fair trial is a violation of the right to life. There is no perfect criminal justice system and mistakes can always occur. The irreversible nature of the death penalty leaves no room for redress if an innocent person is wrongfully convicted and executed.

The death penalty also discriminates. The greater the disadvantage, the greater the risk of being sentenced to death. Our research has found that the burden of the death penalty in Malaysia has largely fallen on those convicted of drug trafficking, which has disproportionately included women and foreign nationals.

As of September 2021, 67 percent of people on death row are there for drug offenses, some for carrying as little as 15 grams of opioids. A majority of people sentenced to death are also from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, while ethnic minorities are overrepresented among those on death row.

These findings gain an even greater significance when considered in the context of laws and policies that contravene international law and standards: for example, the lack of access to interpretation from the point of arrest for foreign nationals, or the impossibility of having coercion or other mitigating circumstances taken into account at sentencing, because of the mandatory death penalty.

The application of the death penalty can also be arbitrary, particularly for those whose nationality, gender, socioeconomic background, or other characteristics can contribute, or leave them more vulnerable, to being sentenced to death.

What about the argument that the death penalty acts as a unique deterrent against crime?

This has never been backed by evidence. For instance, a study comparing the murder rates in Hong Kong and Singapore, both of a similar size and population, for a 35-year period beginning in 1973 found that the abolition of the death penalty in Hong Kong and the high execution rate in Singapore in the mid-1990s had little impact on murder levels.

It is high time the authorities focused their resources on tackling the root causes of crime and devised long-term, more effective solutions. The death penalty does not make us safer. Furthermore, we believe those found responsible for crime deserve second chances.

These beliefs are becoming mainstream. As of today, 144 countries – more than two-thirds of the world’s nations – have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. In the Asia-Pacific region, more than 20 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, with Papua New Guinea becoming the latest in January of this year.

In 2020, six Asia-Pacific countries carried out executions, the lowest since Amnesty International began keeping records. Despite voting at the U.N. General Assembly in 2018 and 2020 in favor of two resolutions calling on all countries to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty, Malaysia remains part of an increasingly isolated minority of countries that still practices capital punishment.

Given that it recently took its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council, by abolishing the death penalty, Malaysia can align itself with the global trend, improve its human rights record, and send a strong signal to other countries in ASEAN and the region that positive change on the death penalty is not only possible, but required to protect human rights.

We call on Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and his cabinet to do the right thing and abolish the death penalty in Malaysia.

Families of 30 death row inmates hopeful Putrajaya will abolish capital punishment this year

Source: Malay Mail (21 February 2022)

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2022/02/21/families-of-30-death-row-inmates-hopeful-putrajaya-will-abolish-capital-pun/2042954

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 — The families of more than 30 death row inmates are hopeful that this year they will get some form of cheer should the Malaysian government decide to abolish the death penalty.

This comes amid Putrajaya’s promise to study proposed alternatives to the death penalty before the end of this month, as mentioned by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who said a special committee tasked to review the death penalty had briefed him of its findings last month.

Shamala T Manickarajah is a representative of the families who is spearheading the movement along with the various NGOs in order to push for the release, retrial, reduction of sentence, and ultimately, the abolishment of the death penalty of those convicted.

Shamala said she was inspired to help the families after finding out a childhood friend’s husband had been sentenced for drug possession. He has been in jail in Perlis for 13 years.

As part of her efforts, she shared how she helps the families write letters to the various agencies and to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong yearly begging for clemency for the convicted.

She said most of the families did not know how to go about getting clemency so she guided them through the process.

“After repping my friend, I was going to Bentong jail and saw many prisoners crying, waiting for family members so I decided to help them and not just my friend’s husband. I recall in the early days I helped all the makciks and pakciks fill up their forms and wrote letters for them to the prisons and so on. Most of them are poor.

“Last year, we went as a group to see Datuk Liew Vui Keong and he promised to look into our cases but he then passed away. When we went to Putrajaya to the offices, we were told they have our letters and are considering them so we are hoping for the best,” Shamala said during a press conference organised by Amnesty International Malaysia (AIM) today.

“We heard this year the Agong nominated 27 names for pardon. We are praying it is some of us because many of the victims have been in prison for more than a decade.”

In August 2019, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration formed the Special Committee to Review Alternative Punishments to the Mandatory Death Penalty to examine alternatives to the mandatory death sentence.

The PH government collapsed in February 2020, however, before the Bill for the abolition of the death penalty could be tabled in the March meeting of Parliament that year.

Wan Junaidi had said that before the government decides on any amendments, it needed to determine the effectiveness of capital punishment as a deterrent to crime while also looking at alternative punishments.

Chiara Sangiorgio, an expert on the death penalty for Amnesty International, said the general public was always hesitant to agree to abolishing the death penalty but studies show that once the rule was in place, society eventually eased into it.

“The global trend shows most countries are abolishing it as it was eight countries in 1958, now it is 108 countries that have abolished the death penalty.

“When it is abolished, public opinion changes despite the initial hesitancy; hence, we need to continue to talk about death penalty and challenge its effectiveness as there is no evidence to show it prevents further crime,” said Chiara.

In addition Chiara said from 2015 to 2020, 10 countries conducted executions and in 2020 Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iraq made up close to 90 per cent of total reported executions worldwide.

There are eight countries including Malaysia that execute people for drug offences.

“While the direction is clear, Malaysia is at a crossroads but they have the opportunity to make the change. There’s been some progress with the moratorium but what we have learnt when it comes to the use of the death penalty in Malaysia see lot of arbitrariness a lot of unfairness and discrimination.

“The key learning from this is that piecemeal reforms will not work and fixing the unfixable will not work. That’s why we call for a bold stance to be taken by the government of Malaysia and get rid of it once and for all,” she said.

Malaysia has had a moratorium on all executions since 2018 while awaiting recommendations from the committee.

Shamala said the families of the incarcerated understand that some of their actions are wrong, while others claim they were wrongly convicted; either way, she is hopeful there will be progress this year.

“I feel the Malaysian government will definitely abolish the death penalty. From the families’ side, they are hoping the sentences of their loved ones can be reduced or they are released for time served,” she said.

Malaysia must take the lead in Southeast Asia by abolishing the death penalty

Source: New Straits Times (10 February 2022)

https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2022/02/770152/malaysia-must-take-lead-southeast-asia-abolishing-death-penalty

MALAYSIA is on the path of becoming a nation that will put the dignity of human beings and human rights before any other consideration.

This would be the case if the government eliminated the death penalty from its penal code.

By the end of the month, the government could embrace the likely recommendations being provided by a committee headed by former chief justice Tun Richard Malanjun, findings that hopefully will prove that alternative sentencing to the death penalty is possible and in the best interest of the country.

Public opinion is swayed by the emotional turmoil and trauma caused by stories about the death penalty.

It is regrettable that judges kept sentencing people to death despite an official moratorium being in place and an imperfect but still positive amendment to the Dangerous Drug Act 1952 in 2017.

The amendment did away with automatic mandatory penalty and instead gave a discretion to judges to decide, based on conditions to be met for not imposing the death penalty on someone.

That's why the government must follow through and make a case for a total, unconditional abolition of the death penalty.

There should not be any hesitation on this move.

Even Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat recently said that stiff sentences did not seem to deter people from getting involved in drugs.

It is a case that criminologists around the world, together with activists, are trying to make, a case that must be built on evidence, even when it is harder to come up with solid evidence, like the role deterrence plays in drug-related crimes.

This is an effort worth taking and must continue, even if it takes time.

We know that those who suffer the worst consequences in these cases are the vulnerable.

In Malaysia, despite conservative mindsets in the judiciary, politicians — with their hesitancy and changes of positions, shifting from a bold and progressive stance to a weakened position — are mature enough to understand that capital punishment does not reflect the modern values the country stands for.

This is one of the reasons why a possible cabinet decision to abolish the death penalty has wider implications for the region as well.

We know that the Asean community works based on the principle of non-interference, but advocating against capital punishment is not about minding someone's else business but rather working to promote a better humanity, a fairer and more just global civilisation founded on unalienable human rights.

The committee led by Malanjun devoted considerable attention to alternative sentencing, not just for the sake of delivering less cruel punishments, but also as a way to redeem and rehabilitate convicted criminals.

This path of redemption might not be always feasible and a life sentence with no parole might be the best option available, but it is important not to forget that jails should be places for moral resto-ration and not personal destruction and demolition.

Hopefully, politicians studying Malanjun's report will make the right decision and use this as an opportunity to frame a strong, progressive strategy to promote human rights beyond the nation's borders.

While waiting for the cabinet to take a final decision, the path is already clear: Malaysia must lead the way in Southeast
Asia by getting rid of the death penalty.

In a nutshell, this column is about Malaysia taking the lead not only domestically but also internationally to promote the defence of life.

The nation should pursue this cause not from a position of moral supremacy and perfection, but from one of humility.

That's the place where Malay-sia started learning, showing itself to be able to change its mind, become better, more humane and an example to those who refuse to change.

The author writes on civic engagement, youth development, Sustainable Development Goals and regional integration in the context of the Asia Pacific

More than 100 sentenced to death in Yangon since Myanmar coup

Source: Radio Free Asia (27 January 2022)

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/deaths-01272022181610.html

Myanmar’s junta has condemned more than 100 people to death in the Yangon region alone since it seized power a year ago.

None of the people sentenced were given the right to defend themselves. Of the 101 people documented by RFA’s Myanmar Service, 50 were convicted in secretive military tribunals where they were denied access to legal representation, while the rest were sentenced in absentia.

Those convicted hailed mostly from the Yangon townships of North Okkalapa, South Dagon, North Dagon, Hlaingtharyar, Dagon Port and Shwepyithar, where martial law has been in place amid resistance to military rule.

Two of the more well-known prisoners facing the death penalty are Phyo Zeyar Thaw, a lawmaker with the deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) party, and activist Ko Jimmy, a leader of the 88 Generation Student group. Both were sentenced for violating the country’s Anti-Terrorism Law, according to a Jan. 21 announcement by the junta.

Bo Bo Oo, a former NLD lawmaker from Yangon’s Dallah township, told RFA that not only were the two men sentenced without legal representation, but photos suggested they were tortured during interrogation.

“We could say they are two of the worst cases of arbitrary arrests and torture of civilians in the country since the coup,” he said.

“Both were given maximum sentences. By closely looking at the pictures [released by the junta] of the two, we could surmise they had been severely tortured during interrogation. Arresting and torturing people anytime, anywhere, is a threat to civilization.

Bo Bo Oo said the junta is cracking down on those who oppose it and sending a message to imposing maximum penalties including death.

Ko Jimmy’s wife, Nila Thein, who is also a well-known 88 Generation Student, told RFA that she would not negotiate with the junta over her husband’s sentence and would continue to fight for democracy.

A high court lawyer in Yangon, who spoke on condition of anonymity, criticized the military council for terrifying the public with the threat of executions.

“Their judiciary has no justice and no independence. So, I’m not going to say their verdicts are right,” he said. “There have been no executions since the [last] military takeover in 1988. The junta is trying to intimidate the population.”

‘Serious rights violations’

Aung Myo Min, human rights minister for the country’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG), called the death sentences “serious human rights violations.”

“[The death penalty] is a legal procedure that must be approved by the president and the present sentences are not even in accordance with the laws of the country,” he said.

“They are arresting anyone they like and then handing out death sentences, and these are very serious [violations of Myanmar’s laws].”

NUG Minister for Defense Naing Htoo Aung called the junta’s death sentences “unacceptable.”

“The people of Myanmar and the entire world understand the true situation,” he said. “The entire [legal] process is unfair.”

Attempts by RFA to contact junta Deputy Information Minister Zaw Min Tun went unanswered Thursday.

Since orchestrating a coup on Feb. 1 last year, security forces have arrested nearly 8,800 civilians and killed close to 1,500 — mostly during nonviolent protests of junta rule, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association of Political Prisoners.

Earlier this week, the Swedish Embassy in Yangon issued a statement calling for the abolishment of the death penalty in Myanmar and the unconditional release of all political prisoners.

Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

'Thou shall not kill': Death penalty to be abolished in Papua New Guinea

Source: SBS News (12 January 2022)

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/thou-shall-not-kill-death-penalty-to-be-abolished-in-papua-new-guinea/0efdc0db-6d4f-4a73-8cde-fe242591bbab?s=03

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape says his government is doing away with the death penalty and those now on death row will instead serve life sentences without parole.

Mr Marape told members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church holding their 33rd synod in Port Moresby that PNG was a Christian nation and the death penalty was out of place.

"The Bible says thou shall not kill and the government has removed, by policy, the clause on the death penalty," PNG newspaper The National on Wednesday quoted him as saying.

"We are working on giving the maximum penalty to those who commit an offence and are sentenced to death.

"They will now receive life sentences without the possibility of parole," Mr Marape said.

Justice Minister Bryan Kramer last year said the death penalty would be reviewed.

Correctional Services Commissioner Stephen Pokanis told The National that 14 inmates in Bomana Prison in Port Moresby were on death row, while other prisons around the country also have death row inmates.

No executions have been carried out in PNG since 1954.

The death penalty was abolished in 1970 when PNG was under Australian administration ahead of independence in 1975 but it was reintroduced by the PNG government in 1991 for the crime of wilful murder.

Since then there has been a de facto moratorium on capital punishment.

Asia regional rights bastion Taiwan clings to capital punishment

Source: France 24 (4 January 2022)

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220104-asia-regional-rights-bastion-taiwan-clings-to-capital-punishment

Taipei (AFP) – Taiwan's claim to be a regional bastion of human rights is undermined by its retention of capital punishment, activists say as they campaign to exonerate the island's oldest death row prisoner.

Wang Xin-fu is among 38 inmates in Taiwan awaiting execution, which is carried out by gunshot and without advance notice once all appeals are exhausted.

At 69, Wang is Taiwan's most elderly prisoner on death row and has consistently maintained his innocence.

Rights groups led by the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP) have launched a campaign to exonerate Wang, arguing he was wrongfully convicted as a joint offender for the murder of a policeman in 1990.

Wang had been detained in his youth and classified by Taiwan's then authoritarian government as a "thug".

He was sentenced to death for supplying a gun to a "lackey" and ordering him to shoot the victim, based on testimonies from the shooter and witnesses.

But activists claim there are "obvious flaws" in the conviction, from inconsistent testimony, allegations of police torture against a witness, a lack of motive and no fingerprints.

"He is a so-called 'bad guy' but bad guys also have rights. He should not be sentenced for a crime that's not his doing," said Lin Hsin-yi, executive director of TAEDP.

Wang fled to mainland China after learning he was wanted and was only arrested in 2006 upon returning to Taiwan for treatment of an eye ailment.

He was convicted and the supreme court upheld his death sentence in a final ruling in 2011.
Last chance

In November activists appealed to the Control Yuan, Taiwan's top government watchdog, after the office of the top prosecutor rejected their request to file a "special appeal" for Wang -- one of the only ways to challenge a final conviction.

That tactic has previously worked.

In 2018, the Control Yuan recommended the prosecutor-general file a special appeal for death row prisoner Hsieh Chih-hung, who had been jailed for 19 years for murder. That eventually led to his acquittal.

Campaigners point to lengthy death penalty cases in which people were eventually exonerated as evidence of flaws with capital punishment Sam Yeh AFP

Now a free man, Hsieh campaigns for abolishing the death penalty, saying his and other exonerations show the capital punishment system is fallible.

Campaigners point to one of Taiwan's most disputed and lengthy cases, when a court in 2012 quashed the convictions of three men sentenced to death over the murder of a couple two decades ago, after they had undergone a string of trials and retrials.

Another high-profile case came the year before when a military court declared that an air force private executed 14 years previously for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl was innocent.

"The government thinks carrying out executions is the will of the people but does that really solve the problems?" Hsieh told AFP.

Another death row prisoner that activists campaign for is Chiou Ho-shun, who has been incarcerated for more than three decades.
Popular support

Capital punishment remains popular in Taiwan.

Despite its frequent use against dissidents during decades of martial law, most polls show Taiwanese still support the death penalty even as the island has become one of the most progressive democracies in Asia.

Some 35 prisoners have been put to death since 2010 when Taiwan resumed executions after a four-year hiatus, including two since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016.

Activists have criticised Tsai's government -- which has embraced progressive issues such as gay marriage -- for continuing with the executions.

Tsai has called abolishing capital punishment "a difficult issue to deal with" due to the lack of support from the public that would require "a long process, a long time" to change.

The justice ministry said it restarted a taskforce in 2017 aimed at facilitating gradual abolition and has been studying alternatives while trying to build a public consensus.

"Abolishing the death penalty is an international trend in recent years and it's the long-term direction our country has been working on," the ministry said in a statement to AFP.

Opponents want a moratorium on executions and a timeline for complete abolition.

"If people know there are alternatives they won't necessarily support the death penalty, especially if they are aware of wrongful convictions," activist Lin said.

One alternative is lifetime incarceration on condition that the convict work in prison with part of their wages going to the victims' families as compensation, she added.

All Wang's family can do is wait.

His sister Wen Mei-hui, 60, said she is hopeful her brother will be reunited with her as a free man.

"I am convinced he's innocent," she told AFP. "I hope the authorities will let my brother go home."

Nagaenthran case puts Singapore’s death penalty in spotlight

Source: Al Jazeera (12 November 2021)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/12/nagaenthran-case-puts-singapore-death-penalty-in-spotlight

Singapore – Nagaenthran Dharmalingam remains confined to a cell in Singapore’s Changi Prison, living on death row as he has been over the past 11 years.

This week was set to be his last, but an eleventh hour stay of execution and the discovery of a positive COVID-19 test, kept him alive — for now.

His story has caused ripples in the tiny Southeast Asian city-state, intensifying the debate around the death penalty in a country famed for its no-nonsense approach to crime.

In 2009, aged 21, Nagaenthran was caught trying to enter Singapore with just under 43 grams of diamorphine (heroin) strapped to his thigh. A year later, he was sentenced to death.

Nagaenthran claimed he was coerced into carrying drugs, although he later said that he acted as a mule because he needed the money.

His legal team has argued that his low IQ of 69 indicates an intellectual disability, affecting his ability to make informed decisions.

The case has provoked widespread international condemnation from human rights groups to representatives from the European Union and British entrepreneur Richard Branson.

There was even a rare intervention from the Malaysian Prime Minister. Ismail Sabri Yaakob penned a letter to his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong, seeking leniency, according to Malaysia’s state news agency Bernama.

The plight of Nagaenthran has also generated rare criticism within the city-state itself. A petition started by a Singaporean to halt the execution has received more than 80,000 signatures.

Singapore has previously seen support for the death penalty. A 2019 survey by the Institute of Policy Studies of 2,000 residents found 70 percent agreed that execution was more of a deterrent against serious crime than a life sentence.

But this case has reignited the debate about Singapore’s death penalty.

“There are a few factors of Nagen’s case that catch people’s attention and garner sympathy,” said local activist Kirsten Han.

“The fact that he has an IQ of only 69 and other cognitive impairments, and yet has still been sentenced to death with his execution scheduled, is really alarming.”

‘Criminal mind’

Intricate details of Nagaenthran’s case have been shared and scrutinised online. In Singapore, outrage against death penalty cases is usually confined to fringe activist groups, but this story has gone mainstream.

High profile social media accounts shared photographs of the letter sent to Nagaenthran’s family in Malaysia by the Singapore Prison Service.

It briefly outlined when their son would be executed, before providing a stream of information about the logistics they need to sort in order to enter Singapore during the pandemic including quarantine procedures.

“I’ve met people who expressed shock by how cold the notice of execution to the family was. But that’s actually the standard way that such notices are delivered to families.

“The only difference with Nagen’s family is that the letter was longer because they had to include COVID regulations,” Han explained.

Singapore has a zero-tolerance attitude towards drugs, and anyone caught carrying more than 15 grams of diamorphine may face the death penalty.

There was, however, a slight relaxation of the rules in 2012. The Misuse of Drugs Act was amended, giving judges the opportunity to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment with caning in specific cases.

One of these technicalities would allow for an offender to avoid execution if they are mentally disabled. It was on this point that Nagaenthran’s appeal was launched in 2015 and failed.

Stephanie McLennan, Senior Asia Initiatives Manager at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera that Nagaenthran received no “disability-specific accommodations” during his investigation and trial, a violation of international law.

But the defence of an intellectual disability has been disputed by the Singapore courts.

In a statement, Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said: “He knew it was unlawful for him to be transporting the drugs, and he concealed the drugs to avoid it being found.

“Despite knowing the unlawfulness of his acts, he undertook the criminal endeavour so that he could pay off some part of a monetary debt. The Court of Appeal found that this was the working of a criminal mind.”

Little impact on criminal syndicates

If Nagaenthran is hanged, he will become the first person to be executed in Singapore since 2019.

Over the last eight years, 35 people have been killed by the state, according to Singapore government data. Twenty eight of them had been convicted of drug offences.

Singapore argues that its tough justice system makes it one of the safest places in the world.

Authorities say that drug traffickers are aware of the rules and given the risks faced, the quantity of illegal substances smuggled into the country is reduced.

Data from the MHA points to a 66 percent reduction in the average net weight of opium trafficked in the four-year period after the mandatory death penalty was introduced in 1990, for trafficking more than 1,200 grams of opium.

But the risk of death has not eliminated the illegal drug trade.

Last month, a Singaporean man failed in his appeal against a death sentence after he was caught smuggling one kilo (2.2 pounds) of cannabis into his homeland in 2018. And last year, another man was sentenced to death over Zoom for his role in a drug deal back in 2011.

The Singapore authorities may market the ultimate punishment as the ultimate deterrent, but anti-death penalty campaigners see things differently.

They argue that the death penalty punishes small players in a much larger game.

“Drug trafficking is still as prevalent in the region and Singapore is no different. Most of the executions witnessed over the years has largely been mules or trafficking in relatively minor quantities,” Dobby Chew, Executive Co-ordinator of the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network told Al Jazeera.

“The syndicates behind the drug trade are still very much present and in operation even with multiple executions over the years.”

Campaigners are keen for Nagaenthran’s case to stay at the top of the news agenda, possibly acting as a catalyst for more support to abolish executions.

“First they tried to execute someone who is intellectually disabled. Now they are granting him some form of mercy and treating him for COVID-19,” said Chew.

“But for all we know, once he is cured, they’ll proceed with the execution. I think that the absurdity of the turn of events would force people to rethink what they know of the death penalty.”

Kazakh Lawmakers Approve Law On Abolishing Death Penalty

Source: Malaysia Sun (24 December 2021)

https://www.malaysiasun.com/news/272011392/kazakh-lawmakers-approve-law-on-abolishing-death-penalty

NUR-SULTAN -- The upper chamber of Kazakh's parliament has approved a bill on abolishing the death penalty in the Central Asian nation.

The Senate's December 23 approval of the bill comes almost a year after President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev signed off on parliamentary ratification of a UN human rights protocol aimed at abolishing the death penalty worldwide.

Kazakhstan instituted an indefinite moratorium on capital punishment in 2004 but retained the death penalty for terrorism-related offenses, including plotting an assassination of the nation's first President Nursultan Nazarbaev.

In 2016, the death penalty was imposed on a man who was convicted of a mass shooting in Almaty.

Ruslan Kulekbaev had been the only person on death row in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan's lower chamber, the Mazhilis, approved the bill on December 8.

Russia, Belarus, and Tajikistan are now the only three countries in Europe and Central Asia that haven't signed or ratified the UN's Second Optional Protocol To The International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights. Belarus is the only country in the region that still carries out executions.

Japan executes three death row inmates, a first under PM Kishida -Kyodo

Source: Reuters (21 December 2021)

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-executes-three-death-row-inmates-first-under-pm-kishida-kyodo-2021-12-21/

TOKYO, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Japan executed three convicts on Tuesday, marking the first time the death penalty was carried out under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government and the first execution in the country in nearly two years, the Kyodo news agency reported.

One of those put to death was a 65-year-old man convicted of stabbing and killing seven of his relatives in 2004, according to Kyodo.

Capital punishment is carried out by hanging in Japan and prisoners are notified of their execution only hours before it is carried out. That practice that has long been decried by human rights groups for the stress it puts on death-row prisoners, for whom any day could be their last.

Two death row inmates in November launched a law suit against the government, demanding a change to the practice and compensation for the impact of it.

The United States and Japan are the only industrialised democracies that still carry capital punishment and rights groups such as Amnesty International have demanded change for decades.

The last execution in Japan was on Dec. 26, 2019, Kyodo reported.

Under scrutiny, North Korea tries to restrict news about executions - group

Source: Reuters (15 December 2021)

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/under-scrutiny-north-korea-tries-restrict-news-about-executions-group-2021-12-15/

SEOUL, Dec 15 (Reuters) - North Korea has changed the way it carries out capital punishment in response to greater international scrutiny of its human rights, holding executions away from prying eyes to stop information filtering out, a rights group said on Wednesday.

The Seoul-based Transitional Justice Working Group analysed satellite imagery and conducted interviews with 683 North Korean defectors over six years to determine how its execution practices have changed since leader Kim Jong Un took power in 2011.

"Our findings suggest that the Kim Jong Un regime is paying more attention to human rights issues due to increased international scrutiny," said Park Ah-yeong, the lead author of a report the group issued on Wednesday.

"This does not mean the human rights situation there is improving - state-led killings continue to take place in ways that may not be as publicly visible as before."

North Korea does not answer questions from foreign reporters or publish reports or data on its judicial system.

Its state media rarely reports on crime and the punishment of those convicted. North Korea has denied the existence of prison camps and accused the United States and its allies of using criticism of human rights as part of a hostile policy towards it.

In its report titled "Mapping Killings under Kim Jong Un: North Korea's Response to International Pressure", the rights group documented 27 executions, most by firing squad, on charges that included of watching or distributing South Korean videos, drugs, prostitution and human trafficking.

In the past, North Korea held executions in villages and prison camps where crowds could gather, as a public warning, the group said.

But it had increasingly avoided executions in heavily populated residential areas, where authorities had difficulty keeping track of those attending.

It had also stopped holding executions near its borders and at facilities that can be easily monitored by satellites, the group said.

"This change in location may provide an explanation of how the state's action is being influenced by the scrutiny of the international community," the group said.

But North Korea had not given up public executions - 23 of the 26 documented in the report were public - but it was more determined to ensure it could control who attended, the group said.

"Assembled audiences at public killing events are strictly monitored and controlled by state officials to prevent information on public executions from leaking," it said.

"Inhumane treatment of the accused before execution - used as a warning to the public - has persisted."

Iran: UN Experts Say Executions Of Child Offenders Must Stop

Source: Scoop (26 November 2021)

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO2111/S00314/iran-un-experts-say-executions-of-child-offenders-must-stop.htm

GENEVA (25 November 2021) UN human rights experts* today strongly condemned the execution of Arman Abdolali, convicted for an alleged murder committed when he was 17, and demanded that Iran stop sentencing children to death.

There are currently over 85 juvenile offenders on death row in Iran, sentenced to death following processes that significantly violate international human rights law. The majority of those sentenced to death are from marginalized groups or are individuals who themselves have been victims of abuse.

Arman Abdolali was executed at dawn on 24 November. He was transferred to solitary confinement the previous evening.

“We strongly deplore that the authorities proceeded with the execution of juvenile offender Arman Abdolali, in violation of an absolute prohibition under international human rights law,” the experts said.

Arman Abdolali’s execution had been scheduled and re-scheduled at least on six occasions, during which he was transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for his execution only to be returned to his cell at the last minute. Special Procedures mandate holders and experts from Treaty Bodies had on several occasions, including on 12 October, called on the Government to halt his execution.

“This case is emblematic of the deep flaws of the juvenile justice system in the Islamic Republic of Iran and we call on the Government to undertake reforms as a matter of priority,” the experts said. Human rights mechanisms have consistently called on Iran to abolish the death penalty, in particular for juvenile offenders.

“In the meantime, we call on the Government to commute all death sentences issued against juvenile offenders, in line with its international obligations.”

* The experts: Javaid Rehman, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran; Mikiko Otani, Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Nils Melzer, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Japan death row inmates sue over 'inhumane' same-day notification

Source: Reuters (5 November 2021)

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-death-row-inmates-sue-over-inhumane-same-day-notification-media-2021-11-05/

TOKYO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Two death row inmates in Japan are suing the country over how prisoners are notified only hours before the death penalty is carried out, demanding change and seeking compensation for the impact of the "inhumane" practice, their lawyer said on Friday.

Capital punishment in Japan is conducted by hanging, and the practice of not informing inmates of the timing until shortly before execution has long been decried by international human rights organisations for the stress it places on prisoners, for whom any day could be their last.

On Thursday, in what is believed to be a first, two prisoners sentenced to death filed a suit in a district court in the western city of Osaka saying the practice was illegal because it did not allow prisoners time to file an objection, demanding the practice be changed and asking for 22 million yen ($193,594) in compensation, lawyer Yutaka Ueda said.

"Death row prisoners live in fear every morning that that day will be their last. It's extremely inhumane," he added.

"Japan is really behind the international community on this."

The United States and Japan are the only industrialised democracies that still carry out the death penalty, and human rights groups such as Amnesty International have demanded change for decades.

Ueda said there is no law mandating that prisoners can only be told of their execution hours before it takes place, and that the practice actually goes against Japan's criminal code.

"The central government has said this is meant to keep prisoners from suffering before their execution, but that's no explanation and a big problem, and we really need to see how they respond to the suit," he added.

"Overseas, prisoners are given time to contemplate the end of their lives and mentally prepare. It's as if Japan is trying as hard as possible not to let anybody know."

There are currently 112 people sentenced to death in Japan, the Justice Ministry said, though none have been executed for nearly two years. Public opinion polls regularly show a vast majority of the population in favour of capital punishment, which is usually imposed in connection with murders.

Ueda said he hopes the lawsuit could spark discussion in Japan about the issue, though this is not its main goal.

"This system is badly mistaken - and we would like the public to turn their eyes to the issue," he added.

Mercy petition seeks support to save Malaysian-Indian from gallows in Singapore

Source: The Indian Express (5 November 2021)

https://indianexpress.com/article/world/singapore-malaysian-indian-nagaenthran-k-dharmalingam-death-sentence-appeal-petition-7608025/

An online petition to save an Indian-origin Malaysian from gallows next week has gathered nearly 40,000 signatures with human rights activists urging the government to halt the execution, saying the man is intellectually disabled.

Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, who is on death row at Singapore’s Changi Prison, was convicted in 2010 for drug trafficking.

Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday said that the High Court and the Court of Appeal held that Nagaenthran’s mental responsibility for his offence was not substantially impaired.

He was found to have clearly understood that what he did was a crime and took the “calculated risk” to pay off his debt.

This was the finding by the High Court while sentencing the convict to death in 2010 for importing drugs into Singapore and it was upheld by the Court of Appeal, which “flatly rejected his account of being coerced under duress”, TODAY newspaper quoted the MHA as saying.

The MHA also said it is helping Nagaenthran’s family with travel arrangements from Malaysia to Singapore and that his visitors will be granted extended face-to-face visits daily, according to the Singapore tabloid.

Nagaenthran was convicted and given the death penalty in November 2010 for importing 42.72 grams of heroin a year before.

“His petition to the President for clemency was unsuccessful,” the MHA said.

An online report, cited by media outlets, said Nagaenthran would be hanged on November 10.

The petition to President Halimah Yacob to pardon Nagaenthran was started on October 29. It seeks 50,000 signatures in support of the clemency plea to the president. It has gathered 39,962 signatures as of Thursday.

The petition states that the convict should be pardoned because he had testified that he was “coerced” into drug trafficking by a man who had threatened to kill his girlfriend.

It also states that Nagaenthran has an intellectual disability and a low IQ, impaired executive functioning and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

“Given that Nagaenthran is intellectually disabled, committed a non-violent crime and was allegedly coerced by assaults and threats, we sincerely appeal for President Halimah Yacob to uphold Singapore’s commitment to the UNCRPD (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) by pardoning Nagaenthran’s death sentence,” media reports said, citing the petition.

Nagaenthran had first appealed to be resentenced under amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act that were passed in 2012.

The amendments allow a court to sentence a drug offender to life imprisonment instead of death if he is merely a courier on the condition that the public prosecutor issues the offender a certificate of substantive assistance for helping the Central Narcotics Bureau disrupt drug-trafficking activities.

Nagaenthran then lodged a second appeal for a judicial review into the public prosecutor’s decision not to issue him a certificate of substantive assistance.

The High Court dismissed both applications and in 2019, the Court of Appeal dismissed both of Nageanthran’s appeals against the High Court’s decision.