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DEATH PENALTY REPORT – MAY – MID-JUNE 2019Date format: day/month/yearInternational Update (1.5.19 – 13.6.19)Bangladesh – 3.5.19 – Abdul Momen, Foreign Minister, has told the BBC that Shamima Begum, stripped of her British citizenship in February, has ‘nothing to do’ with his country, and would face the death penalty for terrorism should she come to Bangladesh. (Source: BBC.)28.5.19 – 16 people are to be charged over the murder of teenager Nusrat Jahan following her refusal to withdraw a claim of sexual harassment against her Head Teacher. They will face the death penalty. (Source: The Mirror.)USANew Hampshire – 3.5.19 – Governor Chris Sununu vetoed a bill that would overturn the last law in New England allowing the death penalty. Both the State Senate and the House had passed the measure with veto-proof numbers earlier in the year, and they could still vote again and pass the law. (Source The Wall Street Journal.)23.5.19 – The Chamber over-rode Governor Sununu’s veto of a repeal, with a bare minimum of votes necessary to send the issue back to the Senate. If last month’s vote in favour of 17-6 holds, the bill will become law. Note: The State’s death penalty applies in only seven scenarios, and no-one has been executed since 1939. Only one prisoner is currently on death row – Michael Addison – and the repeal bill is not supposed to apply retroactively. (Source: CBS Boston.)30.5.19 – The State Senate passed the bill to over-ride Governor Sununu’s previous veto on abolishing the death penalty. 16 votes were achieved in support of the bill, the exact number needed. Under the new law, prisoners convicted of capital murder offences will face life in prison without the possibility of parole. New Hampshire is the 16th US State to abolish the death penalty. All New England States have now abolished capital punishment. (Note: The last execution in New Hampshire took place in 1939.) (Source: Vice News.)Texas – 8.5.19 – The House passed a measure that would allow capital murder defendants to present evidence at trial of severe mental illness at the time of the crime. Should the Jury agree, and the defendant be found guilty, he/she would then would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The bill will now go to the Senate. (Source: The Texas Tribune.) 26.5.19 – Negotiators in the Senate and House failed to find common ground by midnight on 26th May, and the legislative session would be ending on 27th May, so the bill will not become law. In 2002 the US Supreme Court ruled that executing people with intellectual disabilities amounted to ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ but it was for States to determine the definition of such disabilities. Texas has never passed the necessary legislation and has left it to the Courts to decide if a defendant is eligible for the death penalty. (Source: The Texas Tribune.)Alabama – 12.5.19 - The attorney of Michael Brandon Samra, convicted of participation in the killing of 4 people at the age of 19, has asked the Governor to halt his execution, scheduled for 16th May, while the Kentucky court weights the appropriateness of the death penalty for people under 21 at the time of their crimes . (Source: Corrections One.) Note: Mr Samra was executed on 16th May.28.5.19 – Christopher Lee Price, sentenced to death for the murder of a preacher, but whose execution was called off two months ago, is scheduled to due on Thursday 30th. Mr Price has opted for death by the nitrogen method, approved by Alabama last year but the State has yet to develop a protocol for carrying it out. (Source: Montgomery Advertiser.) Note: Mr Price was executed on 30th May.)The Justice Department – 14.5.19 – The Justice Department has declared that the FDA lacks the legal authority to regulate drugs used to carry out lethal injections, thereby opening the door for States to import scarce death penalty drugs even if the Agency has not approved their use. Relying on an exception for tobacco carved out in a 2000 ruling, death penalty drugs have been ruled not to come under the Agency’s control. (Source: The New York Times.)President Trump – 15.5.18 – In the course of his speech at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Day service on Capitol Hill, the President stated, ‘We believe that criminals who murder police officers should immediately, but with trial, get the death penalty.’ This was a promised that he made in his 2016 campaign. (Source: Fox News.)Tennessee – 16.5.19 - Donnie Edward Johnson, convicted in 1984 of the murder of his wife, was executed by lethal injection. He had asked Governor Bill Lee to stay his execution because during his time in prison he had been redeemed through Seventh-Day Adventist religious practice, and his request for clemency was supported by the Head of his Church. (Source: RTE.)Ohio – 30.5.19 – The House Criminal Justice Committee approved a measure that would prohibit the executions of defendants should they be found to have had a ‘serious mental illness’ at the time of the offence. They rejected an amendment put forward by Rep. Robert Cupp that prisoners currently on death row should be exempted from the ban. The House is now considering the bill. (Source: The Miami Herald.)Executions in the USA – 9.6.19 – Figures released by the Death Penalty Information Centre show a bleak picture of racial discrimination in the numbers of executions carried out. 50% of murder victims are white but, of the 1,499 executions carried out since 9974, 76% were for crimes against white people, compared to 15% when the victims were black. (Source: The Mirror.)Brunei – 5.5.19 – Following international criticism at his announcement that sodomy, adultery and rape would be punishable by death, the Sultan has stated that the death penalty would not be enforced in the implementation of the Sharia Penal Code Order. Some crimes, including premeditated murder and drug trafficking, already command the death penalty, but no executions have been carried out since the 1990’s. (Source: The Guardian.)6.5.19 - Responding to news of the announcement by the Brunei authorities that they will continue to refrain from implementing the death sentence, including under the newly enacted Penal Code Order, and would ratify the UN Convention Against Torture, Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Amnesty International’s Brunei Researcher, said, ‘While the announcement that the death penalty will not be implemented is a welcome first step, the Brunei authorities are still defending the new penal code and its heinous laws…..’ (Source: Amnesty International.)Bahrain – 6.5.19 – The Court of Cassation upheld the death sentences imposed on Ali al-Arab and Ahmad al-Malali. Both had been convicted of terror offences in a mass trial in January 2018 following confessions allegedly obtained through torture, and other ill-treatment.. Bahrain ended a de facto seven-year moratorium on the death penalty in January 2017 when it executed three men. Eight prisoners are reported to be currently on death row in Bahrain. (Source: Human Rights Watch.) Note: See Urgent Action below.Egypt – 7.5.19 – The Court of Cassation, Egypt’s highest Appeals Court, has upheld death sentences for 13 people convicted of terror charges following attacks in Cairo when two police officers were killed. The initial sentences were imposed in 2017. (Source: Fox News.)6.6.19 – Hatem Zaghloul, sentenced to death as a child in 2014, has now been pardoned and is back with his family. He had been falsely accused of being involved in an attack on a police station and was found guilty in a mass trial. (Source: Reprieve.)Gambia – 9.5.19 – In a welcome step towards abolition, President Adama Barrow has commuted the death sentences of 22 prisoners to life imprisonment. This followed an Amnesty International mission to Gambia to present to the authorities a series of recommendations covering 10 areas of reform to protect and promote human rights. The recommendations included the abolition of the death penalty and the commutation of all death sentences to terms of life imprisonment. (Source: Amnesty International.)Iran – 16.5.19 – A proposed new law could see those charged with serious crimes – including ones carrying death sentences – deprived of a lawyer. If passed, the amended law would permit the prosecution immediately to deprive individuals arrested on ‘national security’ – and certain other serious criminal charges – of access to a lawyer for 20 days, with the possibility of an extension to cover the entire investigation into their alleged crimes. (Source: Amnesty International.)18.5.19 – The State-owned newspaper has reported that the Country’s Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence imposed on an Iranian man, identified by his first name only – Siamak – who has been accused of the murder of an American citizen who was in Teheran visiting relatives of her Iranian husband. (Source: Fox News.)Nigeria – 25.5.19 – Reports indicate that Governor Aminu Bello Masari has signed into law an amended Penal Code Law prescribing the death sentence for cattle rustling and kidnapping in the State of Katsina. The northwest and parts of northcentral Nigeria have experienced a significant number of incidents of kidnapping and banditry. (Source: Africa News.)Iraq/France – 26.5.19 – An Iraqi Court has sentenced three French citizens to death, following guilty verdicts on the charges of joining Islamic State. Kevin Gonot, Leonard Lopez and Salim Machou were captured in Syria by a US backed force fighting the jihadists, and are the first French Isis members to receive death sentences in Iraq, where they had been transferred. They have 30 days t appeal. (Source: The Guardian.)27.5.19 – A fourth French citizen – Mustapha Merzoughi – is reported to have been sentenced to death. France has long insisted that its adult citizens captured in Iraq or Syria must face trial locally and has refused to repatriate them despite the risk. The Foreign Ministry has said it is opposed to the death penalty ‘at all times and in all places’, and would take ‘the necessary steps’ to prevent them from executing those with French citizenship. (Source: The Guardian.) 29.5.19 – Two further French citizens – Brahim Nejara and Karam El Harchaoui – have now been sentenced to death for joining Isis. The law permits capital punishment to be imposed on anyone joining a ‘terrorist group, whether or not they actually took up arms. (Source: Metro.)2.6.19 – Two further French men – Vianney Jamal Abdelqader and Fadil Hamad Abdallah – received death sentences in Iraq for being members of Isis. They were among a group of 12 who were detained by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria, and handed over to Iraq in January. The French Government says it is trying to prevent its citizens being executed. (Source: The Independent.) Pope Francis – 5.6.19 – The revised edition of the 1993 Theological Commentary on the Catechism of the Catholic Church will contain the Pope’s new doctrine on the death penalty. (Source: Lifesite.) Saudi Arabia – 8.6.19 – Amnesty have called on Saudi Arabia to rule out the death penalty for Murtaja Qureiris, arrested five years ago at the age of 13 for participating in protests against the Government, and who has been in prison since then. Now 18, Qureiris faces possible execution for a series of offences, some of which date back to the age of 10. According to Amnesty, he was denied access to a lawyer until his first court session in August 2018. He is currently awaiting his next session in court. (Source: Al Jazeera.)Pakistan/Canada – 10.6.19 – Asia Bibi has left Pakistan for Canada a free woman (Source: Amnesty UK)For Information – As part of ITV’s Crime and Punishment strand, ITV are showing a two-part series which they say will give ‘an unprecedented look into the lives of the inmates who are on Death Row’ in the State of Texas. The first episode will be shown at 9.00 pm on Thursday 13th June (to be repeated on Tuesday 18th June at 11.05 pm, and the second on Thursday 20th June, again at 9.00 pm (date of repeat to be confirmed.)Urgent ActionsIran – UA 61/19 – Abdullah Karmollah Chab and Ghassem Abdullah, from Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority, are facing the death penalty following a grossly unfair trial. They have said their ‘confessions’ were obtained under torture and other ill-treatment . Their cases are now before the Supreme Court. Letters or emails should be sent to Ebrahim Raisi, Head of the Judiciary. (Circulated to DPLWG 10.5.19).Bahrain – UA69/17 – Update – The Court of Cassation has upheld the convictions and death sentences of Ali Mohamed Hakeem al-Arab and Ahmed Issa al-Malali, and their sentences are to go to the King for ratification. Letters of appeal should be sent to the King. (Circulated to DPLWG 27.5.19 - This month’s Group Urgent Action.)Egypt – A petition to Teresa May was received from Reprieve, asking her to intercede on behalf of Ahmed Saddouma, who was arrested at 17, charged with terrorism acts and, following a mass trial, sentenced to death. He is now 18 and is scheduled to be executed on 8th June. (Circulated to DPLWG 28.5.19.) Information was subsequently received from Reprieve that the Court finally acknowledged Ahmed was only 17 at the time of his alleged offence and should not have been facing the death penalty. His sentence has been cut down to 15 years. This is not justice, but his life is no longer under imminent threat. CampaigningCharity Witness Project – Information has now been received from James Earley that he is now involved with two Projects – Charity Witness and Witness to Innocence. He will be going to the US in September, and will let us know details once he has the exact dates and more information.In the Executioner’s Shadow – No further information has been received from Mike Quinn regarding the outcome of his contact with Sideways Film.Dates for the calendar –World Day Against the Death Penalty – 10th October50th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty in the UK – 16th December ................
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