Death Penalty News

While a green wave sweeps the Western world, there are still some countries that have harsh penalties for cannabis possession. From prison time to beheadings, these are some of the countries you don't want to get caught with weed. In recent years, the world has seen a general loosening of cannabis laws, concerning both medicinal and recreational use of the drug. Today, over 60 countries have legalised cannabis for medicinal purposes while, earlier this year, Germany finally introduced legislation to legalise recreational cannabis, becoming just the third country in the world to do so.

MANILA – The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) assured two overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on death row in Brunei of the government’s continuing support. DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac visited OFWs Edgar Puzon and Cyrile Tagapan at the Maraburong Prison Facility 1 in Keriam, Tutong District, Brunei Darussalam last Wednesday.

Today [Oct. 10] is the 21st World Day against the Death Penalty, and a pathway towards abolition of this cruel measure in the South East Asia is not unimaginable. I don’t pen these words in response to vast mobilizations against capital punishment sweeping the region. Quite the contrary. Regrettably, we’re far from achieving that level of awareness and mobilization. This is a region where championing human rights hasn’t historically been viewed as fashionable or commendable. Yet, there’s a genuine opportunity to ignite a substantive conversation about the death penalty.

A new report from the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom identifies 95 countries with some form of blasphemy law in effect, including five countries that impose the death penalty as the maximum sanction. A separate report from the commission records the text of the 95 laws criminalizing expressions that insult or offend religious feelings or show disrespect toward religious figures or symbols. The reports show blasphemy laws are not exclusive to any single region. They document blasphemy laws in 13 countries in the Americas, 28 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, 16 European nations, 18 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, and 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

It may have started as a row with another stallholder in the market or perhaps with a remark to a beggar. But while the beginning is unclear, how the day’s events unfolded and its tragic denouement have become all too familiar in northern Nigeria – not least because the mob that murdered Usman Buda filmed him being stoned to death . Buda, a butcher and father of six, was the latest person to be lynched for ‘blaspheming’ in Sokoto, one of 12 among Nigeria’s 36 states to adopt sharia law in 2000. The Associated Press reported that it began as an argument with another trader. The accusation of blasphemy – whether true or not – quickly led to ‘a large crowd that included children pelting stones at Buda on the floor as they cursed him’.

A number of leading LGBT organisations have called on 11 countries to end the threat of the death penalty as a punishment for queer people. ILGA Asia, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and 5 other organisations condemned the use of violence against LGBT people in a statement issued to mark International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), which takes place on Tuesday (17 May). In the statement, the LGBT organisations note that 70 countries around the world continue to criminalise same-sex sexual conduct, including 22 Asian countries. Islam, sharia ILGA Asia said 11 countries – Afghanistan, Brunei, Darussalam, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen – retain the death penalty for LGBT people. Eight of those countries are in Asia. According to Human Dignity Trust, the death penalty is implemented in Iran, Northern Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen, and remains a “legal possibility” i...

The situation is particularly dire for foreign nationals who find themselves sentenced to death outside of their home countries. On March 30, Singapore executed Abdul Kahar bin Othman, a local man sentenced to death for drug offences and the first person to be executed in Singapore in since 2019. Othman had been unable to appeal his execution because he did not have a lawyer. 8 of the 35 countries that still retain the death penalty for drug offences are in South-east Asia and were responsible for a staggering 91.5 % of all confirmed death sentences given for drug offences worldwide, according to the Global Review 2021 from Harm Reduction International (HRI). The imposition of these death sentences is shrouded in secrecy and characterised by widespread human rights violations (HRI 2019), such as lack of access to legal representation (HRI 2020), as in Othman's case. Too often, there are reports of torture, ill treatment and coerced confession. The situation is particularly dire for...

U.K.’s anti-gay laws, which date back to colonial times, remain on the books in dozens of countries The U.K. is set to pardon individuals convicted under now-abolished laws criminalizing gay sex, more than 50 years after the country first began to decriminalize homosexual relationships.  An amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will expand the existing scope of past convictions that can be pardoned. Currently, the list includes just nine former offences, according to U.K. newspaper The Guardian. They are “largely focused on the repealed offenses of buggery and gross indecency between men.”  The legislation has passed the House of Commons and is currently awaiting approval from the House of Lords. Were it to become law, people will be able to have any convictions under laws that previously prohibited same-sex activity wiped from their records. People in England and Wales have been able to apply to have historical convictions for gay sex thrown out since 201...

'Those 10 countries where you can’t be yourself should not be allowed to compete at the Olympic Games. My mission is to try and change that' Tom Daley has called for countries that punish being gay with death to be banned from the 2024 Olympics. Britain’s Olympic diving champion said he was making it his mission to “create change” before the Paris Games in three years' time. “There were more out LGBT athletes in Tokyo than any of the previous Olympics combined, which is a great step forward,” Daley told the Attitude Awards in London. “Yet there are still 10 countries that punish being gay with death that were still allowed to compete at the Olympic Games. I think that is quite shocking to a lot of people. “I want to make it my mission, hopefully before the Paris Olympics, to make it so that the countries that criminalise and punish by death LGBT people are not allowed to compete.” According to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association the deat...

An author has expertly explained why Tom Daley saying he’s proud to be gay at the Olympics is necessary, actually. Following Tom Daley’s groundbreaking victory in the men’s synchronised 10m platform dive during the Tokyo Olympics, the Team GB athlete said: “I am proud to say I am a gay man and an Olympic champion.” While many celebrated Daley’s win and his pride in being a part of the LBGT+ community, others were critical and argued that “mentioning his sexuality” wasn’t necessary. One particular troll tweeted: “His sexual preference bears no relation to his skills.” Author of The Complete David Bowie Nicholas Pegg expertly replied to the thread, explaining that it was in fact “necessary” for Daley to mention his sexuality at the Olympics because many countries competing oppose LGBT+ rights. He wrote: “There are 10 nations taking part in this year’s Tokyo Olympics which prescribe the death penalty for homosexuality. “They would literally execute Tom Daley.” The list includes Afghanista...

An investigation by The Associated Press (AP) in 2020 found police reports, known in Pakistan as First Information Reports, alleging sexual harassment, rape and physical abuse by Islamic clerics teaching in madrassas or religious schools throughout the country. It is in these schools - known as Madaris-e-Deeniya in Urdu - that many of the country’s poorest, and most vulnerable, study. There are believed to be as many as 40,000 such establishments in Pakistan - including those that are unregistered - with some, particularly those funded by Saudi Arabia, being associated with Islamic radicalisation. AP documented a number of cases of abuse through interviews with law enforcement officials, abuse victims, and their parents. "There are more than 22,000 registered madrassas in Pakistan, teaching more than 2 million children. But there are many more religious schools that are unregistered. They are typically started by a local cleric in a poor neighbourhood, attracting students with a p...

Saif Malook left Pakistan’s Lahore High Court with his head held high on June 3. He had secured freedom for his clients, Shagufta Kausar and her husband Shafqat Emmanuel, impoverished Pakistani Christians sentenced to death for blasphemy. Their convictions had just been overturned on appeal. But almost immediately, Malook’s smile faded as extremists took to social media with threats to end his life. “They called me an agent of the Jews, and many of the threats the Pakistani government determined to be credible,” he said from his home in Lahore. “They even post pictures of the two judges who heard the case and declared them infidels too. This could have long-term implications. Judges will be scared after seeing this.” While Malook, a Muslim, accepts the consequences of his work as one of the last lawyers willing to represent Christians on blasphemy charges, the impact spreads to his wife, a mathematics college professor, and his 15-year-old daughter in high school, both of whom also end...

The Muslim world and non-Muslim African nations lead the way in criminalising homosexuality, a new report has confirmed. The annual State Sponsored Homophobia report found that the death penalty is the legally prescribed punishment for consensual same-sex sexual acts in Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria (12 Northern states only), Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Under the Iran Islamic Penal Code, the death penalty can be imposed for acts of liwat (sodomy), tafkhiz (rubbing penis between thighs or buttocks), and musaheqeh (lesbian sex). Article 237 of the Penal Code also criminalises “homosexual acts of a male person,” which includes “kissing or touching as a result of lust.” This is punishable by 31 to 74 lashes. There is no codified Penal Law in Saudi Arabia with Sharia law being the law of the land. All sexual relations outside of marriage are illegal and the penalty for a married man who engages in consensual same-sex intercourse is generally understood to be death by stoning. Under Article...