Four convicts to be put to death after president announced end to 42-year-old moratorium

This article is more than 2 months old

This article is more than 2 months old

Sri Lanka has hired two executioners as it prepares to put four prisoners convicted of drug offences to death in what would be its first use of capital punishment for more than 40 years.

The executioners were picked from among 100 applicants who responded to an advertisement calling for male Sri Lankans aged between 18 and 45 with “excellent moral character” and “mental strength”.

The prisons department began the recruitment process in March after the last executioner quit in 2014, citing stress after seeing the gallows for the first time. Another, hired last year, never turned up for work.

President Maithripala Sirisena announced on Wednesday an end to a moratorium on the death penalty in force since 1976, a move political analysts said was meant to boost his chances of re-election if he stands again later this year.

Local and international rights groups, as well as the former colonial ruler Britain, Canada, the EU and UN have raised concerns about the south Asian nation’s restoration of capital punishment.

“The recruitment process is finalised and two [executioners] have been selected. The two need to go through final training which will take about two weeks,” prisons spokesman Thushara Upuldeniya said.

The prisons commissioner, TMJW Thennakoon, declined to provide details of the four convicts whose death penalties the president approved.

On Friday, a Sri Lankan journalist filed public interest litigation seeking to stop any executions, arguing that people’s rights were being violated. A court hearing will be held on 2 July, and Thennakoon pledged there would be no executions for the next seven days.

A spokesman for the UN office on drugs and crime said on Thursday international drug control conventions could not be used to justify the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences alone.

Sri Lanka advertises for two hangmen as country resumes capital punishment Read more

“Application of the death penalty may also impede international cooperation in fighting drug trafficking as there are national laws that [bar] the exchange of information and extradition with countries which may impose capital punishment for the offences concerned,” the spokesman said. </s> President Maithripala Sirisena reinstated the death penalty to boost his chances for in the upcoming election.

One day after reinstating the death penalty in Sri Lanka, two executions have been hired, prison authorities confirmed Friday.

The pair were chosen from 100 applicants, aged between 18 and 45 years, who eagerly awaited the execution of four prisoners convicted for drug offences.

“The recruitment process is finalised and two (hangmen) have been selected. The two need to go through final training which will take about two weeks,” prisons spokesman Thushara Upuldeniya said.

More than 40 years have past since the last state-sanctioned execution was performed. On Wednesday, President Maithripala Sirisena announced an end to a moratorium on the death penalty in force since 1976, a move political analysts said was meant to boost his chances of re-election if he stands again later this year.

“I signed the document to execute the drug offenders not with hatred and cruelty towards anyone, but to save the nation and the future generation from the drug menace, which is our worst social catastrophe,” Sirisena said.

A spokesman for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said on Thursday international drug control conventions cannot be used to justify the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences alone.

“Application of the death penalty may also impede international cooperation in fighting drug trafficking as there are national laws that (bar) the exchange of information and extradition with countries which may impose capital punishment for the offences concerned,” the UNODC spokesman said. </s> Prison officials in Sri Lanka Thursday said they were yet to receive the documents related to President Maithripala Sirisena's signed death warrants to hang four drug convicts.

President Sirisena on Wednesday signed the death warrants to hang four drug convicts, ending a four-decade-long moratorium on the capital punishment in Sri Lanka. The last execution in Sri Lanka was 43 years ago.

A senior prison official told reporters they have not received any written instructions for the hanging until Thursday morning.

"The president's secretary must write to the secretary to the ministry of Justice and Prison Reforms. Then the ministry secretary must intimate in writing to the Commissioner General of Prisons," said the official who did not want to be named.

He said the four convicts would be informed in writing of their death sentence and if they are currently housed in any other prison, then they would have to be brought to the Welikada prison in the capital Colombo.

Sirisena said Wednesday he was committed to bringing back capital punishment for drug offenders, months after vowing a tougher line on spiralling narcotics-related crime.

This was despite Sri Lanka having become a party to the UN moratorium on death penalty and voting in favour of the moratorium just six months back.

The international condemnation of decision to resume capital punishment has been coming since the President made his announcement.

The British government in a statement condemned the move, saying the decision would have implications on many areas including counter-terrorism cooperation.

The decision would hamper Sri Lanka's reputation as a tourist destination, the statement added. The decision will require us to review our technical assistance programme on relevant policing, defense and other security issues, it said.

Sirisena's signing of death warrants came during the ongoing 'Drug Prevention' week from June 23 to July 1.

All of Sirisena's predecessors as Presidents had refused to sign the death warrants to carry out capital punishment. The death sentences have been commuted to life terms which usually lasts 20 years.

The last hanging came in June 1976 when Siripala alias Maru Sira, a noted criminal was hanged for murder and Sri Lanka's last hangman quit in 2014 without ever having to execute anyone, citing stress after seeing the gallows for the first time. Another hangman hired last year never turned up for work.

Justice Ministry in March said there were over 450 prisoners in Sri Lankan jails, including five women. Out of that at least 48 are drug convicts. While 30 of them appealed against their death sentence, 18 of them could be hanged, officials said.

Sri Lanka in March advertised to recruit two hangmen to carry out executions. There were over 100 applications received by February 25 deadline, officials said.

The New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in April that some 1299 Sri Lankan prisoners, including 84 women are on death row.

"Imposing the death penalty for drug offences would violate Sri Lanka's human rights obligations," the HRW said.

Sirisena said he would sign death warrants only for the drug convicts. PTI CORR MRJ AKJ MRJ </s> COLOMBO: The European Union has criticized Sri Lanka 's move to resume executions, saying it would directly contradict the country's commitment to maintain a 43-year moratorium on death penalty at the UN General Assembly last year.The EU said in a statement on Thursday that Sri Lanka's planned executions will send the wrong signals to the international community and investors. It said it will monitor Sri Lanka's commitments to international conventions upon which hinges a preferential trade deal with the country.Sri Lanka has a lucrative market access to the EU through the generalized scheme of preferences plus. The concessions were withdrawn over alleged abuses immediately after a long civil war, which ended in 2009. President Maithripala Sirisena 's government took steps toward reforms and commitments on human rights to secure the program back on being elected to office in 2015.But Sirisena said this week he had signed the death warrants for four drug convicts and they would be executed soon.Sirisena told a school function on Friday that he had decided to resume executions to save the youth from narcotics and that he has explained his position to UN chief Antonio Gutteres during a telephone conversation on Thursday night.Sri Lanka last executed a prisoner in 1976."The death penalty is a cruel, inhuman and a degrading punishment, and the EU unequivocally opposes its use in all circumstances and all cases," the EU statement said. "While the Sri Lankan authorities have cited the need to address drug-related offences, studies show that the death penalty fails to act as a deterrent to crime."Sri Lanka has been grappling with drug-related crimes for years and is believed to be used by the peddlers as a transit hub.In April, police publicly destroyed 770 kilograms (1,695 pounds) of drugs seized in 2016 and 2017. Police have seized 731 kilograms (1,608 pounds) of heroin , 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cocaine and 1,607 kilograms (3,535 pounds) of marijuana so far this year. </s> Tokyo, Aug 2 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Aug, 2019 ) :Japan on Friday hanged two men convicted of murder, the justice ministry said, the first executions this year after 15 death row inmates were executed in 2018.

With more than 100 inmates on death row, Japan is one of the few developed nations to retain the death penalty, and public support for it remains high despite international criticism, including from rights groups.

"I ordered the executions after very careful consideration," Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita told reporters.

The executed were 64-year-old Koichi Shoji and 50-year-old Yasunori Suzuki, a ministry official told AFP.

Shoji was convicted of killing two women and stealing cash in 2001 near Tokyo while Suzuki was convicting of murdering three women on the streets in southern Japan and stealing cash in 2004, according to media reports.

"These are extremely brutal cases in which they claimed lives of victims who had done nothing wrong for their selfish reasons," the minister said. </s> Two men sentenced to death for multiple murders have been executed in Japan -- the first time the death penalty has been used in the country this year.

Koichi Shoji, 64, and Yasunori Suzuki, 50, were executed by hanging on Friday, taking the total number of executions under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government to 38 since he took office in 2012

"These are extremely cruel cases taking the precious lives of the people who have no faults. I have ordered the execution of death penalty after giving doubly prudent consideration," Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita said.

Executions are done in secret in Japan, with no advance warning given to the prisoner, their family or legal representatives, according to Amnesty International.

Prisoners often only learn of their execution a matter of hours before it takes place.

Capital punishment is usually reserved for those who have committed multiple murders. All executions are carried out by hanging. Shoji robbed and killed two housewives in Kanagawa prefecture in 2001 together with his girlfriend. Suzuki was charged with robbing and murdering three women in separate assaults within a one month period in 2004. Japan's Code of Criminal Procedure states the death penalty should be implemented within six months of the sentence being issued, but that is almost never the case. The controversial system made global headlines in July last year when 13 members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, which carried out the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, were executed Japan and the United States are the only two developed democracies to have capital punishment. About 170 states have either abolished or put a stay on executions since the United Nations General Assembly called for a universal moratorium on the death penalty in 2007. Last year, the country's Federation of Bar Associations called for Japan's system of capital punishment to be abolished by 2020. </s> KYODO NEWS - Aug 2, 2019 - 13:12 | All, Japan

Japan hanged two death-row inmates Friday morning, the Justice Ministry said, in the country's first executions this year.

The two were identified by the ministry as Koichi Shoji, 64, who murdered two women in Kanagawa Prefecture in 2001, and Yasunori Suzuki, 50, who killed three women in Fukuoka Prefecture between 2004 and 2005.

"I ordered the executions based on careful consideration," Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita said at a press conference, noting the two "took away the lives of the victims who had done nothing wrong for very selfish reasons."

The latest hangings brought the number of executions under the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office in 2012, to 38.

They follow the executions last December of two men who were involved in the 1988 murder-robbery of the president and an employee of an investment advisory company. Japan also hanged AUM Shinrikyo cult guru Shoko Asahara, 63, and 12 former members of the doomsday cult in July last year.

(Japanese Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita)

Related coverage:

Japan hangs 2 inmates, matching highest-ever year's total of 15

Shoji was convicted of killing and taking money from Hiroko Hayashi, 54, in August 2001, and Fumiko Osawa, 42, in September that year in conspiracy with his girlfriend. His death sentence was finalized after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal in November 2007.

Suzuki was found guilty of strangling to death 18-year-old Nana Kubota in Iizuka and fatally stabbing 62-year-old Toshiko Onaka in Kitakyushu, both in December 2004, as well as stabbing to death 23-year-old Keiko Fukushima and taking her handbag in Fukuoka the following January.

His sentence was finalized after the top court rejected his appeal in March 2011.

Japan's system of capital punishment has drawn international criticism, although some polls suggest the majority of Japanese support it. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations has called for it to be abolished by 2020.

In December, dozens of lawmakers also established a group for discussing the future of Japan's death penalty system, including the potential introduction of lifetime imprisonment without parole. </s> Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita announced the executions of the two men, the first Japan has carried out this year (AFP Photo/JIJI PRESS)

Japan on Friday hanged two men convicted of murder, the justice ministry said, the first executions this year after 15 death row inmates were executed in 2018.

With more than 100 inmates on death row, Japan is one of the few developed nations to retain the death penalty, and public support for it remains high despite international criticism, including from rights groups.

"I ordered the executions after very careful consideration," Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita told reporters.

The executed were 64-year-old Koichi Shoji and 50-year-old Yasunori Suzuki, a ministry official told AFP.

Shoji was convicted of killing two women and stealing cash in 2001 near Tokyo while Suzuki was convicting of murdering three women on the streets in southern Japan and stealing cash in 2004, according to media reports.

"These are extremely brutal cases in which they claimed lives of victims who had done nothing wrong for their selfish reasons," the minister said.

Japan hanged 15 inmates in 2018, matching a 2008 record since the nation started publicly announcing executions in 1998.

Among them were a total of 13 people who belonged to the cult that carried out the fatal 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway and other crimes.

The Aum Shinrikyo cult members -- including former guru Shoko Asahara -- were executed in two stages in July 2018, drawing a line under the horrific attack which shocked the world and prompted national soul-searching over the group and its crimes.

The mass executions sparked some criticism from rights groups, including Amnesty International. </s> (CNN) -- Bahrain has executed three men convicted of killing three police officers in a 2014 bombing. The move sparked protests in the island nation and could further raise tensions between the country's Shiite majority and its Sunni rulers.

The men were killed by a firing squad Sunday morning in the presence of a judge, physician and a Muslim cleric, State news agency BNA reported, quoting the head of the Terrorist Crimes Prosecution, Ahmed El-Hamady.

The executions came less than a week after Bahrain's highest court upheld their death sentences over a bomb attack in March 2014, the agency said. The executed men belonged to a militant Shia group, the state news agency said. Seven other defendants received life terms.

"Sami Mushaima, Ali Al-Singace and Abbas Al-Samea were convicted of manufacturing and planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that were detonated remotely after luring first responders into the fatal ambush," said a statement released Sunday by Bahrain's London Embassy.

"Those convicted were members of the listed terrorist group Saraya al-Ashtar, whose members have been convicted of attempting to smuggle weapons and explosives into the kingdom to carry out similar violent attacks."

The two Bahraini police officers and one Emirati officer were killed in the attack during clashes with protesters. The Emirati policeman was part of an Arab Gulf Council force deployed to help Bahraini authorities quell a protest movement.

Demonstrations first broke out in Bahrain in 2011, during the region's wave of protests called the "Arab Spring." Bahrain's capital, Manama, saw huge -- largely nonsectarian -- street protests five years ago, with weekslong protests taking over the city's then-iconic Pearl Monument, which was subsequently torn down by the government.

Activists took to the streets Sunday to protest the death sentence.

The international rights group Amnesty International said the men were convicted in an "unfair trial."

"This is a dark day for human rights in Bahrain," wrote Samah Hadid, Amnesty International deputy director for campaigns in Beirut. "These executions, the first to be carried out since 2010, are a deeply regressive step for a country whose authorities' have repeatedly trumpeted their commitment to human rights."

Maya Foa, a director of international human rights group Reprieve, said in a statement posted on its website: "It is nothing short of an outrage -- and a disgraceful breach of international law -- that Bahrain has gone ahead with these executions. The death sentences handed to Ali, Sami and Abbas were based on 'confessions' extracted through torture, and the trial an utter sham."

Reprieve said the executions went ahead despite serious concerns that the convictions were based on evidence obtained under torture.

The three men are the first people executed in Bahrain since 2010, and the first Bahrainis executed since 1996, according to Repreive.

Iran, an overwhelmingly Shiite nation and sharp critic of Bahrain's government, also strongly condemned the execution.

Sarah Sirgany reported the story from Abu Dhabi. Chandrika Narayan reported and wrote the story from Atlanta. Yousif Basil contributed to the story.
For the first time in 43 years, Sri Lanka hires executioners to reinstate the death penalty.