Exonerated Oklahoma death-row inmate included in John Grisham book dies

Greg Wilhoit

Greg Wilhoit, a former Oklahoma death-row inmate from Tulsa and nationally-known anti-death penalty advocate whose story was included in author John Grisham's "The Innocent Man," died Feb. 14 in Sacramento, Calif., family members said. He was 59.

A celebration of life is set for 1 p.m. Friday at the First United Methodist Church in Tulsa.

Grisham's nonfiction book, released in 2006, focused on fellow exonerated inmate Ron Williamson of Ada but also featured Wilhoit, who was on death row at the same time.

A 1972 graduate of Tulsa's Edison High School, Wilhoit was convicted and sentenced to die for the 1985 rape and murder of his estranged wife, Kathy Wilhoit, who was found dead at her Tulsa apartment.

Wilhoit proclaimed his innocence from the beginning.

He was finally released from prison in 1993, having been cleared by bite-mark evidence.

He emerged with what eventually became a new mission in life: Previously a supporter of the death penalty - even as he had faced death himself - Wilhoit had undergone a change of heart on the issue.

The change started, he recalled, in 1990 when Charles Troy Coleman was put to death, becoming the first man executed in Oklahoma since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977.

Wilhoit, whose cell was about 100 feet from the death chamber at the state penitentiary, said he had an epiphany the night Coleman was given a lethal injection.

"I realized that the sun was not going to shine any brighter and the world was not a safer place just because Chuck had been put down," he said, speaking at an anti-death penalty rally in Tulsa in 2001.

It would be a few years, though - after his release and a move to Sacramento - before Wilhoit would start speaking out against capital punishment.

As he began to realize how many exonerated former death-row inmates were out there, he appeared frequently at rallies as a speaker and on such television shows as ABC's "20/20."

Sharing his experience and calling for change, he credited his faith with helping shape his thinking: "I'm not opposed to the death penalty because I was almost a victim of it. The cornerstone of Christianity is forgiveness."

Wilhoit recalled how for his first few months in prison, he would seldom venture out of his cell because he didn't want to interact with the other inmates.

But that attitude changed, as well. After his release, he kept in contact with many of them and attended their funerals.

The late Williamson, who was ultimately cleared by DNA evidence and released, was Wilhoit's 1st friend in prison, and the 2 remained close.

Wilhoit was active with a number of efforts to abolish the death penalty, including Witness to Innocence - a group founded by anti-death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean for exonerated death-row survivors and their loved ones.

"Greg genuinely believed this all happened to him so that he could educate people," said his sister Nancy Vollertsen of Edmond, a Witness to Innocence board member.

She and the rest of Wilhoit's family stood by him from the beginning, visiting him while he was in prison.

Betsy Moore of Tulsa, another sister, said it was like her brother "was living in this parallel universe (on death row). It was surreal."

But they dealt with it, sharing laughter and faith and always believing that God had a purpose.

Eventually, Moore added, her brother was even able to get over his hard feelings against the justice system.

Said Moore: "He believed forgiveness is a choice. If he had not forgiven, he might have been out of prison physically but still imprisoned by his bitterness."

Wilhoit's survivors include his wife, Judy Wilhoit; 2 daughters, Krissy Zarn and Kim Wilhoit; a stepdaughter, Victoria Bulman; three grandchildren; his parents, Guy and Ida Mae Wilhoit; and 2 sisters, Nancy Vollertsen and Betsy Moore.

Source: Tulsa World, Feb. 24, 2014

Uganda’s president signs harsh anti-gay bill into law; original draft called for the death penalty

ENTEBBE, Uganda — Uganda’s president on Monday signed a controversial anti-gay bill that has harsh penalties for homosexual sex, saying it is needed to deter what he called the West’s “social imperialism” promoting homosexuality in Africa.

President Yoweri Museveni signed the bill at his official residence in an event witnessed by government officials, journalists and a team of Ugandan scientists whose report —which found that there is no proven genetic basis for homosexuality — cited by Museveni as his reason for backing the bill.

“We Africans never seek to impose our view on others. If only they could let us alone,” he said, talking of Western pressure not to sign the bill. “We have been disappointed for a long time by the conduct of the West. There is now an attempt at social imperialism.”

Without naming them, Museveni accused “arrogant and careless Western groups” of trying to recruit Ugandan children into homosexuality, prompting local pressure for the law.

The new law calls for first-time offenders to be sentenced to 14 years in jail. It also sets life imprisonment as the maximum penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” defined as repeated gay sex between consenting adults as well as same-sex acts involving a minor, a disabled person or where one partner is infected with HIV.

Government officials applauded after he signed the bill, which in its original draft called for the death penalty for some homosexual acts. That penalty was removed from the legislation following an international outcry. Rights groups repeatedly urged Museveni not to sign the bill, saying it is unnecessary in a country where homosexuality is already illegal under a colonial-era law that criminalized sex acts “against the order of nature.”

But the bill is widely popular in Uganda, where it has been championed by Christian clerics and many politicians.

Homosexuality is criminalized in many African countries. Nigeria last month passed an anti-gay law.

In signing the bill, Museveni said he had previously thought homosexuality was merely “abnormal” sexual behavior that some people were born with — the reason he once opposed harsh penalties against gays. Now he said he is convinced that it is a choice made by individuals who may try to influence others.

Africans are “flabbergasted” by homosexual behavior which they see as a “fundamental attack on their way of life,” he said.

Source: LGBTQ Nation, Feb. 24, 2014

Ugandan Newspaper Lists 'Top Homosexuals'; could be arrested under the new law

An Ugandan newspaper has published a list of what it calls the country's top homosexuals, a day after the president signed a new anti-gay bill into law.

The Red Pepper tabloid published the list of 200 names and several photos under a large headline that read: "Exposed!"

Ugandan gays have expressed worry about being arrested under the new law, which strengthened existing penalties for gay sex and bans the so-called "promotion" of homosexuality.

The United States on Monday urged Uganda to repeal the law, which the White House called an affront and danger to Ugandan gays that will also hamper the fight against AIDS.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. is reviewing its relationship with Uganda as a consequence of the new law.

"Now that the law has been enacted, we are beginning an internal review of our relationship with the government of Uganda to ensure that all dimensions of our engagement, including assistance programs, uphold our anti-discrimination policies and principles and reflect our values."

President Museveni defended the bill at Monday's signing ceremony, saying groups are trying to recruit young Ugandans into a gay lifestyle.

"No study has shown that you can be homosexual purely by nature. Since nurture is the main cause of homosexuality, then society can do something about it to discourage the trends. That is why I have agreed to sign the bill."

United Nations spokesman Martin Nesirky said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is "seriously concerned" about the negative impacts of the law.

"He shares the view of the high commissioner for human rights that this new law violates human rights. It will institutionalize discrimination, restrict the vital work of human rights activists, and could trigger violence. It will also hamper potentially life-saving efforts to stop the spread of HIV."

Mr. Museveni has the backing of conservative Ugandan groups. Last week, the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council praised the president as "courageous" for defying Western pressure over the bill and, in the council's words, putting morality first.

The country's parliament passed the measure in December, with a 14-year sentence for first-time offenders, and life in prison for those convicted of what the law terms "aggravated homosexuality."

The original bill called for the death penalty in some cases, but that was dropped as Western nations and rights groups denounced the bill.

Amnesty International denounced the new law as "deeply offensive," and said it makes a mockery of rights enshrined in the Ugandan constitution.

Homosexuality is illegal in 37 African nations and a taboo subject across many parts of the continent. Activists say few Africans are able to be openly gay.

Source: VOA, Feb. 25, 2014

UK: Afghan citizen granted asylum for being an atheist

January 14, 2014: an Afghan citizen has been granted asylum in the United Kingdom for religious reasons - because he is an atheist.

The man fled to the UK from a conflict involving his family in Afghanistan in 2007, aged 16, and was allowed to stay in the UK until 2013.

He was brought up a Muslim, but during his time in the UK became an atheist, his legal team said. They said he would face persecution and possibly a death sentence if he was returned to Afghanistan.

The team was from the University of Kent's Law School which offers legal services through its Kent Law Clinic. They believe it is the first time a person has been granted asylum in the UK on the basis of their atheism.

Lawyers lodged a submission to the Home Office under the 1951 Refugee Convention which aims to protect people from persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

They said the man's return to Afghanistan could result in a death sentence under Sharia law as an apostate - someone who has abandoned their religious faith - unless he remained discreet about his atheist beliefs.

“The decision represents an important recognition that a lack of religious belief is in itself a thoughtful and seriously-held philosophical position.” commented Claire Splawn, part of the legal team. She added: "We argued that an atheist should be entitled to protection from persecution on the grounds of their belief in the same way as a religious person is protected."

Source: BBC News, January 14, 2014

An outrageous pending matter: Aasia Bibi case

Aasia Bibi

4 1/2 years after she was first charged with blasphemy, what exactly is happening with Aasia Bibi and her case?

People seem to have forgotten Aasia Bibi while she languishes in one jail or the other for the last 4 1/2 years. Her appeal for review of her death conviction remains pending before the Lahore High Court.

In June 2009, Aasia Bibi was asked by her co-workers to fetch water while working on a farm in Lahore's outskirts. Some of the Muslim women are said to have refused to drink it because they considered the utensil "unclean" after being touched by a Christian woman. An argument ensued where Bibi allegedly uttered derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad. A few days later Bibi was charged of blasphemy and arrested from arrested in Ittanwalai village.

Bibi, a blasphemy accused under Section 295-C of Pakistan Penal Code, was sentenced to death by a local court in December 2009.

Under the blasphemy laws, a high court must confirm a death sentence from a lower court. Due to this legal procedure, many of those who are convicted remain on death row for years.

Talking on telephone with TNS, from an undisclosed location, Aasia's husband Ashiq Masih said, "She is scared. There is no hope for her release".

He recalled how a mob dragged his wife to a local police station, where she was jailed and charged with blasphemy. "She has not done anything," he maintained.

Bibi's husband and 5 children are living in hiding. Fearing violence from extremists, they prefer to hide their identity and often relocate their home. Last June, when they went to see her in jail in Sheikhupura, they were told that Bibi had been shifted to the Central Jail in Multan. This came as a surprise both for the victim's counsel and the family.

The case of Aasia Bibi gained prominence when Salmaan Taseer, then the Punjab governor, went to jail to meet her and to assure her of all possible legal help. Taseer had maintained that the case against Bibi was fabricated and based on wrong grounds. He had moved a request to the former president of Pakistan to pardon Bibi's sentence.

Taseer's open support for Aasia Bibi cost him his life. His police guard, Mumtaz Qadri, who thought Taseer was a supporter of a blasphemer, killed him on Jan 4, 2011 in Islamabad.

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) awarded Qadri a death penalty in October 2011, nine months after he had committed the murder. His appeal against the conviction is also pending before the court.

About 2 months after the assassination of Taseer, the then federal minister for minorities Shahbaz Bhatti was also killed in the country's capital for talking about the need to revise the controversial blasphemy laws.

Aasia Bibi's case had prompted widespread international attention. Pope Benedict XVI had also issued a condemnation statement.

"Taseer was the last hope for Aasia Bibi," says Nadeem Anthony, council-member of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). "The complainant of the case, a cleric of the local mosque in Bibi's village, is not a witness in the case. He believed what the local women told him. She was sent to jail and the case was lodged a few days after the alleged incident occurred."

The HRCP has documented scores of cases in which the blasphemy laws have been misused - to settle personal scores or to victimise the marginalised sections of society and religious minorities. The mere fact of being a Christian or an Ahmadi in Pakistan makes an individual vulnerable to the misuse of blasphemy laws.

"There are enough legal grounds which can help Bibi's release conditionally, if the appellate court hears her case at the earliest on humanitarian grounds. We have moved an application for this purpose," said S.K. Chaudhry, victim's counsel.

The hearing is expected in the coming weeks and Chaudhry hopes to get justice.

"In my view, Bibi is in jail quite unnecessarily," said Hina Jilani, a human rights activist, asking: "But even if her appeal is heard and she is set free by the court, who is going to protect her in the society?"

These past couple of years, Taseer's death anniversary has been marked by thin candle light vigils in his memory, as opposed to thousands of religious extremists congregating across Pakistan in support of his murderer Qadri, upholding him as a hero.

Jilani thinks it is quite unfortunate - "Our politicians are not taking such issues seriously. First, many people, if their sentence is overturned, remain on the mercy of the society where they are unsafe and continued to be victimised by extremist elements. There are serious concerns about the safety of such people."

Source: Asian Human Rights Commission, January 9, 2014

Asia Bibi pens a letter to Pope Francis I from Pakistani prison

The Pakistani woman jailed in Pakistan, charged with blasphemy, has written a letter to Pope Francis I.

According to an article in the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines News Service (CBCP News), Asia Bibi said, “I also hope that every Christian has been able to celebrate the Christmas just past with joy. Like many other prisoners, I also celebrated the birth of the Lord in prison in Multan, here in Pakistan.”

She continued by saying that “only God will be able to free me” and made a point of thanking the Renaissance Education Foundation that helped make her “dream come true” to spend Christmas with her husband and children by bringing them to Multan.

“I would have liked to be in St Peter’s for Christmas to pray with you, but I trust in God’s plan for me and hopefully it will be achieved next year,” she told Pope Francis.

Bibi is awaiting the conclusion of an appeals process after being incarcerated for four and a half years without trial.

During 2009 she served water for some co-workers but they refused to drink it, saying that they considered Christians to be “unclean”.

Arguments reportedly followed and witnesses maintain that Bibi verbally abused the two women, their religion, and the prophet Muhammad.

A few days later, complaints were made to a cleric about these alleged derogatory comments, resulting in a mob coming to her house and beating her and members of her family.

Bibi was rescued by the police but, under pressure from the crowd, they charged her under Section 295 C of the Pakistan Penal Code, the country’s notorious anti-blasphemy law. She was sentenced to be hanged in 2010.

“I am very grateful to all the churches that are praying for me and fighting for my freedom,” CBCP News said she continued in the letter.

Bibi added, “I do not know how long I can go on and on. If I am still alive, it is thanks to the strength that your prayers give me. I have met many people who speak and fight for me. Unfortunately still to no avail. At this time I just want to trust the mercy of God, who can do everything, that all is possible. Only He can liberate me.”

Source: The Global Dispatch, January 6, 2014

Uganda PM: ‘Homosexuals should not face life imprisonment or the death penalty’

While Amama Mbabazi believes homosexuals are still 'abnormal', he says they should not face life imprisonment or the death penalty

Uganda’s Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi has said homosexuals should not be killed.

In the strongest political opposition to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill yet, the leader was speaking at the Foreign Affairs Ministry where he was meeting with Ambassadors from foreign missions.

While still describing homosexuality as ‘abnormal’, and likened LGBTI people to ‘mongrels’, Mbabazi said they should still not face life imprisonment or death.

‘I think in our tradition homosexuality is treated as an abnormality,’ he said.

‘Given that as a fact, the next question is how do we treat abnormalities in our society? Do we kill them?

‘If you identify an abnormality and you say ‘Let’s kill homos’, then my conclusion is that you are the one that is abnormal.

‘They need help. How do you treat children who are mongrels? Do you kill them, imprison them for life?’

This was one of the first times Mbabazi spoke in front of foreign officials since Uganda’s Auditor General discovered $13 million of foreign aid had been funnelled into accounts linked to the PM’s office.

Due to this, the UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark suspended foreign aid to Uganda.

The PM opposed parliament voting on the anti-gay bill at all, as there was not enough members of parliament attended to deliver a fair vote. Despite this, it was passed on 20 December.

Originally the bill punished people who had gay sex with the death penalty if they were a ‘repeat offender’, but this was dropped from the passed legislation in favor of life imprisonment.

The bill now also bans the promotion of homosexuality.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill is awaiting assent from President Yoweri Museveni.

Source: Gay Star News, January 6, 2014

IRAN 2013: 660 executions, 2/3 under Hassan Rouhani

In 2013, subsistence of Velayat-e faqih regime continued on gallows, group executions in prisons and city streets throughout the country, and torture and tormenting to death of the political prisoners. 

The ruling mullahs employed at least 60 suppressive organs, including the revolutionary guards, the anti-popular Basij force, plainclothes, variety of intelligence organs to suppressive institutions such as district police, dormitory police, intangible police, metro police, women's police, etc., and not one day went by without suppression and slaughter.

Some angles of this all encompassing suppression may be recounted as follows:

A. Executions

1. Since the beginning of 2013 till December 31, execution of at least 660 prisoners was registered in Iran with 430 of them executed after the June 14 election show. This is while news on many executions never finds its way out of the prisons. 25 of those executed were women. Public execution of 2 young men of 20 and 23 years old for stealing the equivalent of 35 Euros, execution of 3 youngsters who were 12, 15 and 17 years old at the time of their arrests, hanging a bleeding 28 year old who a few hours prior to his execution had committed suicide, hanging the body of a 23 year old in Zahedan who had already died a few hours back of a heart attack, hanging of Ms. Geitei Marami, 34, whose body was bleeding due to 100 lashes she received prior to her execution, emphasizing on the execution of a wretched prisoner who had come alive after his execution in the mortuary, are but a minute segment of mullahs' regime record replete with crimes in 2013. On December 11, head of regime's judiciary system Mullah Sadeq Larijani called reports by international bodies on degrading condition of human rights in Iran as fabricated and prejudiced and said: "Opposing the death sentence is opposing Islam's orders."

Public hanging in Tehran

2. Meanwhile thousands of prisoners throughout the country are on the death row. As an example, just in Ghezel Hessar prison, there are 3000 prisoners who are sentenced to death. To facilitate group executions, the clerical regime has put up 3 platforms each capable of concurrently hanging 12 people. In protest to these executions, it is now 2 months that a number of political prisoners who are sentenced to death have gone on a hunger strike in Ghezel Hessar. In the last weeks of 2013, several thousand other prisoners went on a 10-day hunger strike.

3. Staging horrific public group executions to intensify atmosphere of terror and fright in the society increased in 2013. Cities such as Noshahr, Babol, Ghemshahr, Tonkabon, Shiraz, Jahrom, Fasa, Ahvaz, Dehdasht, Hendijan, Shahrkord, Ilam and Karaj were witness to these horrific scenes. State-run media published horrific pictures of these executions to deepen the atmosphere of terror and fright. On many occasions, including in Lakan prison in Rasht, prisoners are forced by henchmen to participate in the dreadful scenes of hanging of their co-inmates or friends and those who refuse to participate in this anti-human action are sent to solitary confinement. 

B. Execution of political prisoners

4. Execution of political prisoners, especially the ethnic and religious minorities, showed an increase last year. On October 26, 16 Baluchi political prisoners were collectively hanged in Zahedan prison. Regime officials confessed that these people who had been in prison for a long time, were executed in revenge for a number of revolutionary guards killed in Saravan. On that same day, another Baluchi political prisoner in the prison in Hamedan, and 2 Kurdish political prisoners Habibollah Golparipour, 29, and Reza Esmaeili (Mamedi), 34, in the central prison of Urumia and Salmasrespectively, were hanged. On the next day, a Baluchi political prisoner was executed in Barsilon prison in Khorramabad. On November 3, 4 Arab prisoners from Shadegan were executed. On November 4, Shirkoo Ma'arefi, a Kurdish political prisoner was executed in city of Saghez. There is no news on a number of political prisoners who in recent months have been transferred from their cells to unknown locations. Meanwhile, execution of political prisoners as ordinary or narcotic trafficking prisoners is a known routine in the mullahs' regime. Apprehensive of social tumult, regime has refrained from handing over bodies of political prisoners to their families and secretly buried them.

C. Murder, secretly killing, and tormenting to death of prisoners

5. A number of prisoners lost their lives under torture or were secretly disposed of by employing various methods. Amir Moussai was killed under torture in Borazjan prison on February 1. On June 24, Alireza Shahbakhsh, a Baluchi prisoner, after spending 7 years in prison and following his vindication in regime's court, suspiciously lost his life in ward one of Zahedan prison only 1 day before he was to be released. On June 20, Afshin Ossanlou, a 42 year old labor activist, suspiciously and suddenly died in hall 12 of ward 4 of Gohardasht prison. He too had only a few months remaining from his 5-year prison term. On October 24, body of Ali Marashi from Ahvaz was handed over to his family with broken rib and skull.

6. This year, a number of prisoners lost their lives due to lack of medical treatment. In the early days of the year, Abdolrahman Rahnavard, 30, was transferred from Roudan prison in Hormozgan province to Bandar Abbas central prison for medical treatment; however, head of the prison prevented his hospitalization that led to his death. On July 15, Ahmad Bajlani, 44, and suffering from hepatitis and tuberculosis, lost his life in this same prison after tolerating 1 week of excruciating pain, in absence of least medical treatment. Political prisoner Alireza Karami, an employee of Oil Company, who had acute heart problem, lost his life on April 6 because of lack of medical treatment. During his 16 years in prison due to terrible conditions of regime's dungeons, and suffering most severe tortures, he had many diseases.

7. Condition of a great number of prisoners has deteriorated because they were deprived of medical services. In reply to protests from prisoners who are supporters of PMOI and many of them are political prisoners of the 1980s who suffer from many ailments due to many years and prison and the tortures they have endured, henchmen say: "You are Monafeq. The sentence for all of you is death."

4 members of Daneshpour Moghaddam family are in critical condition. Mohsen Daneshpour Moghadam, 72, is suffering from acute cardiac and digestive system ailments and his 41 year old son Ahmad has acute digestive system malady. Both Mohsen and Ahmad Daneshpour are condemned to death. Ms. Motahareh Bahrami, 62, suffers of acute disc prolapse and Ms. Rayhaneh Haj Ebrahim Dabbagh has severe pain in the leg and back plus acute problem of the digestive system.

Ms. Sedigeh Moradi has neck disc prolapse; Ali Moezi, 63, has cancer and severe renal problem; Mashallah Haeri, 62, has acute cardiac problem with a record of several cardiac arrests in prison as well as respiratory problems and brain hemorrhage; Mohammad Banazadeh Amirkhizi, 67, suffers from acute pain in his bones and recently experienced a cardiac arrest; Saleh Kohandel, has acute blood problem; Meisaq Yazdan Nejad, a 27 year old student, is in critical condition due to tortures and prison conditions. Ali Asghar Mahmoudian, has been sent to exile to Semnan prison and is held in the ward for ordinary dangerous prisoners that was previously a stable and has various ailments due to terrible hygienic conditions. Gholamreza Khossravi has acute pain of the vertebra, Dr. Asghar Qatan, 60, has numerous ailments such as hypertension, severe diabetics, high cholesterol, has lost vision of one eye, and suffered a cardiac arrest last month. Mohammad Saemi, 64, is suffering from various diseases, including cardiac and renal problems, arthritis, disc prolapse, and damage to the ear drum. Saeid Massouri is suffering from all kinds of diseases, including acute problem with his digestive system. Assadollah Hadi, Mohammad Davari and Mohammadali Mansouri are amongst prisoners who are in critical condition because they are deprived of medical care.

Zaniar Moradi, a Kurdish prisoner on death row, is suffering from acute disc prolapsed, Khaled Hardani, has severe heart problem, Mehdi Sajedifar, 35, has cancer of esophagus, Mohammadreza Pourshajari (Siamak Mehr) is suffering from diabetics and heart problem, Reza Shahabi, needs surgery on his neck vertebra, but he has not been allowed to have this operation. Mohammad Sediq Kaboudvand, is suffering of various diseases, but officials do not allow him to receive medical treatment outside the prison. Kayvan Samimi, a journalist,is being kept in prison despite his old age and various ailments, including arthritis of knees and back. Salaheddin Moradi, from Gonabadi Darvishes, suffers from renal pain and internal bleeding; Kassra Nouri has acute disc prolapsed; Mostafa Daneshjou, lawyer of Daravish has respiratory problems. Mohammad Saifzadeh, 66 year old lawyer, has had a brain stroke. He has numbness of hand and foot, back and neck disc prolapse, and severe chest pains. Hassan Fatali Ashtiyani, Abdolfattah Soltani, Hamidreza Moradi, Ali Saedi, Iraj Mohammadi, Ayatollah Kazemi Boroujerdi, Argjang Davoudi, Shahram and Farhang Pourmansouri, Ebrahim Babadi, Nameq Mahmoudi, Adel Naimi, Mehdi Khodaii, Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, Assadollah Assadi and Farhad Rouhi Arash Sharifi and Mohammad Nazariare some of the other patients that their ailments have intensified due to deprivation of medical treatment.

8. Meanwhile, along with the rocket attacks and massacre of PMOI members in Ashraf and Camp Liberty, arbitrary arrests and increasing pressure on PMOI supporters and their families continued on a larger scale in 2013, especially during the months before the election. Some of these people are still in prisons. On January 13, Mr. Reza AkbariMonfared and his son Ali were apprehended. His sister, Maryam Akbari Monfared, mother of 3 small children, has been imprisoned for the last 3 years on the mullahs' invented charge of Moharebeh. 4 of the brothers and sisters of Mr. Akbari have been executed by the clerical regime. Mr. Hassan Sadeqi, his wife Fatema Mossanawere arrested on charge of making arrangements for holding memorial ceremony for Gholamhossein Sadeqi, a PMOI member in Camp Liberty,Baghdad who died of a heart attack because he was deprived of medical treatment.

9. Arbitrary arrest of prisoners and their conditional release on heavy bails is one of the methods used by the regime to impose pressure on political prisoners and their families.

D. Harsh prison conditions

Public Execution in Iran

10. As confessed by regime's head of prisons organization, the official capacity of Ghezel Hessar prison is 5000, but right now there are over 22000 prisoners piled up there. Prisoners even lack enough space to sit. They rest in turns and are even compelled to use the space inside restrooms to rest. Sanitary conditions are deplorable, water is contaminated, and lack of minimum facilities to bathe has given rise to dermal and epidemic diseases among inmates. Prison's infirmary is void of minimum medical equipment and facilities; moreover, prison' henchmen deprive prisoners that most of them are suffering of various ailments from access to specialist physicians and medical services. The very limited food ration causes malnutrition and lack of heating devices in the cold season adds to prison's catastrophic conditions.

11. Bandar Abbas prison can contain 400 prisoners, but it is now keeping 4000 prisoners that 300 of them are condemned to death. Prisoners are deprived of the least medical attention in this prison. The only medicine in this prison are Methadone and Hallucinatory pills despite outbreak of hepatitis, nothing is done to contain this disease and even medical treatment is withheld. Instead of isolating prisoners with hepatitis, prison guards intentionally distribute them in other wards. Breathing is difficult in the cells of this prison, especially during the hot season. Water is repugnant, contaminated and has a bad taste. Prison's market sells expired-date food to prisoners at very high prices. Wards contaminated with sewage, with a repugnant smell, and thrive of insidious insects are part of the catastrophic condition of this medieval prison. Mullahs' regime sends political prisoners on exile to this prison and compels them to spend their sentence amongst ordinary prisoners. The condition of solitary cells in this prison is even deadlier. The cells are so small that one cannot rest. Prisoner is kept in these cells of cement floor and wall without any blanket or floor covering. There is no natural light in these cells, food is just enough to keep the prisoner alive, and there is no sign of hygiene provisions or medical services.

12. Qerchak prison in Varaminthat is known to people as the 2nd Kahrizak, is a women's prison. To place added pressure on female political prisoners, mullahs' regime exiles them to this prison. This prison is composed of 7 buildings to house 2000 prisoners and dozens of children who are under 2 years old. These buildings are very old and they have the appearance of a rudimentary storage. Gangs within the prison freely distribute drugs to addicted prisoners. Lacking a sewage system, toilets are constantly contaminated. Water in this prison is contaminated as well and the food ration is adequate just for subsistence.

13. In Isfahan's Dastgerd prison with a capacity of 4000, over 10000 prisoners are dumped. Because of scarcity of space, the corridors leading to toilets are full of prisoners.

14. In Mashhad's Vakilabad prison over 25000 prisoners are held. The number of prisoners condemned to death in this prison is reported to be over 4000. On many occasions during 2013, regime has secretly hanged prisoners in large groups.

15. Broadcasting noise in Gohardasht is yet another method to torture political prisoners in this prison. This anti-human measure that is also cancerous has seriously endangered the health of prisoners and they have dryness of mucus, muscular pains, severe headaches, blurred vision, nausea and continuous numbness. Prisoners staged a strike to protest this anti-human measure.

E. Medieval punishments

Shiraz  public amputation,  January 24, 2013

16. Barbaric punishments such as stoning, amputations, blinding, cutting off the ear... help complete the cycle of atrocity and terror in mullahs' regime. In the past year, 4 stoning sentences, including 2 women in city of Tabriz, gouging out of the eye and cutting off the ear of an imprisoned worker in Tehran, and cutting off the hand of 8 prisoners in Shiraz, Sari and Abadanwere issued. Assadollah Jafari, regime's deputy of the judiciary, called "carrying out amputation of hand and foot as one of the honors of [mullahs'] judiciary system" (regime's news agencies - 30 January 2013). Public prosecutor of Shiraz said that amputation of hand is a "serious warning" to all those that "create insecurity". And regime's Guardian Council once again reiterated on punishment of stoning in mullahs' "new penal code" of 2013 (Spokesman for Majlis Judiciary Commission - 21 January 2013).

F. Murdering people, especially in border areas

17. While thieves and smugglers with their several billion dollar embezzlements are holding the highest state offices, suppressive forces, on a daily basis and on various pretexts, shot and killed, plundered the property, set fire on vehicles, or killed porter animals of the defenseless and deprived citizens and petty businessmen who are working in border areas or port cities such as Bandar Abbas to support their families' livelihood.

G. Arbitrary detentions

18. Arbitrary and blind arrests were conducted in different cities under pretext of suppressive projects such as "increasing social security". In Sanadaj alone, in just 4 days, 193 people were arrested. In Tehran, just on December 15, the arrestees numbered 123. In Bandar Abbas dozens were arrested in nightly assaults on the houses where young people lived.

19. Humiliating and insulting the arrestees, especially the young, by putting women's dress on them and taking them around in city streets met wide abhorrence on part of the Iranian people.

20. In the universities, suppressive measures aimed at thwarting eruption of student protests continued. Through issuing hundreds of suspension sentences, the regime deprived students on various pretexts from their right to education or sent them to its medieval prisons after least protests or student activities. Karamatollah Zaerian, a 27 year old student in Tehran University, was arrested 3 times and after his sudden disappearance was suspiciously found dead. Nonetheless, students shouted their rage and abhorrence of this anti-human regime on different occasions with slogans such as "death to dictator" or "student dies, but refuses to be humiliated" and on many occasions they disrupted speeches by regime's elements.

21. Imposing pressure and prejudice against women which has become institutionalized continued in 2013 on various arenas. Suppressive patrols, using the mullahs' fabricated excuse of "mal-veiling" harassed women especially during the summer. In order to broaden suppression of women, the clerical regime presented "national plan for veiling special to the schools" for children and girl students. Firouzabadi, Commander in Chief of regime's Armed Forces, said: to preserve "veiling and sanctity" elements of the security forces and mullahs' judiciary system ought to "confront" women. He added: "If mal-veiling and unchastity... are used to mar the revolution then they become a security matter and security organs ought to confront them." (Tasnim news agency, affiliated with IRGC - 22 November 2013)

H. Suppression of followers of religions

22. In 2013, the clerical regime added new dimension to the arrest and oppression of pastors and Christians. A number of them were arrested in Tehran, Fars, Isfahan and Azerbaijan on charges of "acting against the national security" or "evangelizing and propaganda in favor of Christianity" and participation in religious rituals. Apprehension of priest Robert Asserian, a leader of Assemblies of God Church of Iran in Tehran who was later released because of international pressures; condemnation of pastor Verveer Avanessian to 3.5 years in prison and pastor Saeid Abedini to 8 years in prison; condemning 4 Christian compatriots who were arrested in a church-house to 80 lashes in November; imposing pressure on a number of Armenian pastors to end their activities or to leave the country; closing down of many church-houses plus the principal church of Armenians in Taleghani Street in Tehran is but part of regime's crimes against Christians. In a suppressive measure on December 15, as Christmas was nearing, entry of Farsi-speaking members of the Saint Petrous Churchin Tehran to this church was barred and conducting sermons and religious rituals in Persian was declared prohibited.

23. Imposing pressures and apprehension of Zoroastrians, Gonabadi Darvishes, and followers of Yarsan faith continued. In February, 7 lawyers of and Daravish prisoners in ward 350 of Evin prison refused to attend regime's court. Subsequently, they were tortured and transferred to solitary confinement in ward 209. 2 of the Daravish prisoners in Adelabad prison in Shiraz staged a hunger strike for 90 days in protest to suppressive measures against Daravish and their lawyers. Suppressive and insulting steps against Daravish of Yarsan met a wave of protest from these compatriots.

24. The clerical regime continued imposition of pressures on and apprehension of Baha'is last year. On August 24, AtaollahRezvani, a 52 year old merchant, was finally assassinated in Bandar Abbas after he was numerously threatened by the intelligence ministry and the Office of Friday prayer Imam of the city to stop selling water pumps. In Semnan prison's women's ward, a number of Baha'i women are living in harsh conditions beside ordinary criminals. 3 of these women have their infants with them. On December 12, suppressive elements destroyed Baha'is cemetery in Sanandaj. This is the 3rd Baha'i cemetery that is being destroyed by mullahs.

I. Suppression of freedom of expression

Destroying TV satellite dishes

25. Reporters without Borders reported on December 18: Iran is 1 of the 5 large prisons for reporters in the world. The number of Iranian reporters imprisoned in Iran until the June sham elections was 71. This organization announced that since Rouhani's election, 42 more reporters or journalists have been arrested and 12 publications had to cease their activities.

26. Unable to confront the popularity of prohibited televisions, in particular Simaye Azadi (INTV) that is a dependable source for accessing information and news, the clerical regime acts with severity to limit access of people to satellite channels. Mullah Mohammad Saeidi, Qom's Friday prayer Imam, said on September 25: "Today, through a cultural assault, the enemy is targeting the core of our homes and our families." Hossein Zolfaqari, commander of border patrols of regime's security forces, reported of a 99% increase in discovery of satellite equipment (ISNA state news agency - September 26). In a suppressive act on September 26, the revolutionary guards crushed 800 satellite "antennas and receivers" under the wheels of armored personnel carriers. The regime called this act "an act of value to confront the cultural assault of enemies of revolution and the system:. In a span of 6 months in Hamedan, 32000 satellite dishes were gathered (Mehr news agency, affiliated with the Intelligence Ministry - 8 October 2013). Moreover, 5000 satellite receivers were confiscated in Bandar Abbas customs (state media - December 13).

J. Rigorous suppression of cyber space

26. In 2013, the clerical regime increased the extent of suppression of cyber space netizens. Filtering, control of the internet and sites and emails of netizens was implemented using at least 12 organs of spying and suppression. In the first weeks of 2013, in order to intensify suppression of internet, by orders from Khamenei, a new organ called "Base for Soft War" was formed in the headquarters of the armed forces. Mohammad Ali Assoudi, cultural and propaganda deputy of IRGC, said: "20000 forces of the revolutionary guards are active in different cultural areas to confront the Soft War." He added that this measure "was taken to implement commands by the supreme leader regarding confronting soft war" (Bahar state-run newspaper - 2 January 2013).

Just in the last week of July, the security forces closed down and sealed 67 coffee nets in the greater Tehran and issued warnings to more. Sajedinia, Commander of security forces in greater Tehran, stressed that offenders "would be punished without tolerance" (ISNA news agency -July 27). Previously, secretariat of regime's Supreme Council of Cyber Space had called "getting around filtering to access social networks in the internet a crime".

Access to cyber space is solely possible through IPs registered by communications company that belongs to IRGC. The suppressive FTA (Iran's space for creation and exchange of information) Police of internet conditioned any use of the internet to presenting one's national code and password. For owners of coffee nets various restrictions and prohibitions were imposed that led to closing down of a large number of coffee nets in different cities because these restrictions were not observed.

Similarly last year, a number of compatriots were arrested and tortured and underwent all kinds of pressures simply for writing articles in the internet. The arrest of 8 bloggers, including a woman in Rafsanjan, on charge of "insulting the sanctities" of the system, are among these arrests (20 November 2013).

27. This year, music studios were closed down under the pretext of "prohibited recording" and some members of musical groups were arrested on charge of "un-cultural underground activities, including production of forbidden songs and music".

What was covered in this report was but a small portion of the dreadful condition that the Iranian people are living in day in and day out. Infants are raised in death camps for sins their mothers never committed, elderly fathers and mothers are taken hostage on mullahs' fabricated-charges brought against their children and are deprived of the most rudimentary rights in regime's dungeons, and the Iranian youth and women are condemned to gradual death in torture centers and safe houses.

660 registered executions in 2013, with 2/3 during Rouhani's office, vividly shows that fanning the mirage of moderation in this regime is solely a means to deceive the international community and justify deals with and appeasement of the henchmen ruling Iran. Therefore, once again, the Iranian Resistance calls for referral of the dossier of barbaric and systematic violation of human rights in Iran to the UN Security Council and for leaders of this regime to be brought to justice. Moreover, it underscores that any continuation or expansion of economic and political relations with the mullahs should have as requisite improvement of human rights situation in Iran.

Source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, January 4, 2014

Uganda Passes Law Punishing Homosexuality With Life in Prison; removal of the death penalty is a concession

Uganda’s parliament passed a bill that seeks to punish homosexuality by giving sentences to offenders of as long as life imprisonment.

The bill was passed today after a voice vote and will become law when President Yoweri Museveni gives assent, Mohammed Katamba, a spokesman for the Parliament, said by phone from the capital, Kampala.

Lawmaker Fox Odoi will challenge the bill in court, according to the Parliament’s Twitter feed.

“Two members on the committee which drafted the bill opposed it and wrote a minority report,” Katamba said, without naming the people.

The bill initially sought a death penalty for offenders with minors, which was dropped for a life sentence because of the East African nation’s plans to ratify the United Nations convention against capital punishment, Simon Lokodo, the minister of state for ethics and integrity, said in December last year.

“The removal of the death penalty is a concession, but life imprisonment and a raft of other alarming provisions remain,” Maria Burnett, senior researcher in the Africa division of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in an e-mailed response to questions. “President Museveni should reject the bill and send a clear message that Uganda doesn’t stand for this type of intolerance and discrimination.”

Lawmaker David Bahati in February last year reintroduced the bill that he first proposed in 2009, arguing that penalties for offenders under the current laws are lenient.

Source: Bloomberg BusinessWeek, December 20, 2013

The abuse of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia

Migrant workers make up a third (8 million) of the population and over half the workforce in Saudi Arabia. They are mainly unskilled labourers and domestic workers (jobs the Saudis don’t want to do), are inadequately protected by labour laws and are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse by their employers, including excessive working hours, wages withheld for months or years on end, forced confinement, food deprivation, and severe psychological, physical and sexual abuse. Women domestic workers “are also at particular risk of sexual violence and other abuses.”

A study by the Philippines-based Committee on Workers Overseas Welfare says “70 per cent of [Filipino] workers employed as caregivers or without a specific work qualification suffers continuous physical and psychological harassment” in the oil rich gulf state.

In addition to suffering extreme discrimination and violent mistreatment, migrant workers who manage to escape abusive employers are often victims of spurious criminal accusations. According to Human Rights Watch, the “Saudi justice system is characterized by arbitrary arrests, unfair trials and harsh punishments… [the] criminal justice system violates the most basic international human rights standards and detainees routinely face systematic violations of due process and fair trial rights”.

Migrants, who often don’t speak Arabic, are denied access to translators and lawyers, and frequently are not allowed to contact their embassies. In 2011 a 54-year old Indonesian worker, Ruyati Binti Satubi Saruna, was tried, sentenced and decapitated without being able to consult her government. More than 45 Indonesian foreign maids are said to be on death row. Saudi families are known to ask for up to 2 million US dollars in blood money in exchange for the release of incarcerated women awaiting execution.

In 2012, the Guardian newspaper reported, Saudi Arabia executed at least 69 people. The previous year it executed at least 79, including five women, The death toll included one woman beheaded for witchcraft and sorcery. The Saudi authorities are not forthcoming with the total numbers imprisoned and living under the shadow of the death penalty; however, Amnesty International said it knew of more than 120 people – mostly foreign nationals – on death row.

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Source: maareg.com, December 9, 2013

Ohio: Kasich, Fitzgerald Oppose Effort To Repeal Death Penalty

Ohio Death Chamber

There is rare issue of agreement in the 2014 gubernatorial campaign: Both Republican incumbent John Kasich and his likely Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald oppose legislative efforts to eliminate the death penalty in Ohio.

At the statehouse Tuesday, representatives of the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish religions joined two Ohio Democratic lawmakers who are attempting to end the death penalty in the state.

The group points to a shortage of the drug used during executions, along with the costs associated with keeping prisoners on death row.

"The death penalty is expensive so if we have fiscal conservatives among us, this is a bill for them," said Democratic Representative Nickie Antonio of Cleveland. "We have people who believe in the sanctity of life and this is a bill that they should support, even the most conservative among us. And Ohio is struggling with even how to execute someone. This is the right time to address this issue on so many levels."

Church leaders in attendance said the morality of the death penalty should be debated.

"In the United States we set ourselves up as being a moral and just society, and then we kill people in the name of the state," said the Rev. Dr. Lee Anne Reat of St John's Episcopal Church in Columbus. "It's just wrong."

This bill is likely headed nowhere soon at the statehouse.

Even if a majority of the pro-death penalty Republican lawmakers changed their view, Governor John Kasich's spokesman told 10TV he would not support it.

The likely Democratic nominee for governor, Ed FitzGerald, also would not endorse it.

"Through his experience in law enforcement, Ed has come to know that there are certain people whose crimes are so heinous that they forfeit their right to live," said Matt McGrath, Ohio Democratic Party spokesman. "Therefore society ought to reserve the right to carry out the death penalty."

Kasich's spokesman Rob Nichols says the governor remains a supporter of the death penalty. As a legislator he voted against a bill that would have replaced it with life imprisonment.

Source: 10tv.com, December 4, 2013

After Geneva, the world must focus on Iran's deteriorating human rights

Public execution in Iran

1. December 2013 - Human rights should now be the focus of international dialogue with Iran following the break-through on nuclear talks in Geneva, says the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group.

IHR points to a worrying trend in human rights abuse with a surge in executions since President Hassan Rouhani took office in August.

IHR founder and spokesperson Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: "We welcome an agreement on the nuclear issue. The Iranian people do not want a war, but they also want respect for human rights, ethnic rights and the tackling of serious environmental problems". "The talks are an opportunity to press the human rights case. The international community urgently needs to press for a moratorium on executions and encourage the relevant Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council to seek invitations for the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, to visit Iran. "Sustainable peace and stability in Iran and the Middle East can not be achieved as long as Iranian people’s human rights are not secured.»

While the latest round of P5+1 talks was taking place in Geneva from mid-October, IHR has documented 90 executions. Fifty of these were carried out in ethnic areas of Iran or were members of ethnic minorities executed in central parts of the country. They included three Kurdish and 17 Balochi prisoners convicted of Moharebeh, enmity with God, which is a charge commonly used against opponents of the government.

Many other political prisoners are also facing imminent execution, including three Ahwazi Arabs who gave forced confessions on the government’s Press TV channel allegedly following months of torture in the custody of the intelligence services.

Religious minorities also continued to suffer violent persecution while the world concentrated on talks over the nuclear issue. Following raids on 14 Baha’i homes in the Iranian city of Abadeh in October, residents were interrogated by government agents who told them to leave town or face being summoned for questioning and told them to leave town or they would be knifed to death in the street.

Christians, Alawites and Sunnis also subjected to continued persecution and state violence in spite of President Rouhani’s pledge to allow greater freedom of worship.

Source: Iran Human Rights, December 1, 2013

From Death Row to Restorative Justice

In June this year Texas marked a solemn moment in criminal justice history when it executed its 500th inmate since resuming capital punishment in 1982. Over coffee, on a misty November morning in Houston, Reverend Richard Lopez tells me he has witnessed nearly a hundred such deaths. Like Sister Helen Prejean he has stood by the side of the condemned, shared their last meal, laid one hand on their ankle as the lethal fluid is administered -- and prayed for God's grace.

As he recounts the stories of several of the men who he has attended to, he frequently falters, his eyes thick with emotion. Here is a man still deeply troubled by what he has witnessed. His original calling was to offer solace to the condemned, encourage repentance and show the way to God's forgiveness. Even the hardest and most brutal of men have softened to Rev. Lopez's gentle kindness. He went on to create support systems for the families who come to witness their loved one's last moments. Observing how devastated the mothers were as they watched their adult children move rapidly from a state of relative health to sudden death, he also created a system whereby family members could immediately after the execution visit the funeral home to say their good-byes in privacy.

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Source: Huff Post-Crime, November 29, 2013

The Execution Standard

As the oldest constitutional democracy in the world, the United States is often criticized for continuing to carry out state-sanctioned executions. Over the past couple of generations, every European country, with the exception of Belarus, has outlawed the death penalty. The principle is enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

But we have not always been the throwbacks. In fact, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the English colonies had far fewer capital laws than England and other European states.

My students have been reading the Massachusetts Body of Liberties, written in 1641 as a guide for the colony's General Court. It included 12 capital laws. Religious crimes such as witchcraft and blasphemy came first, then murder (three different types), then sex crimes (rape was not among them), followed by kidnapping, bearing false witness in a capital case, and treason. That seemed like a lot, until we discovered that the list of capital crimes back in the old country was more than 10 times as long.

The Puritans were certainly not free thinkers. They harassed and tortured religious and political dissenters, and they were perfectly willing to execute criminals in capital cases. But they radically reduced the number of offenses punishable by death under English law.

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Source: philly.com, October 9, 2013

Faiths plan united effort to repeal death penalty in Ohio

Ohio Death Chamber

The head of a statewide anti-death-penalty group says a “major initiative” is in the works to unite religious organizations in a campaign to abolish executions in Ohio.

Kevin Werner, executive director of Ohioans to Stop Executions, said yesterday that details are being worked out, but he expects events to begin in 2014. “What you’re going to see is a lively and invigorated campaign from the faith communities in Ohio to repeal the death penalty,” he said.

Werner and other members of his group discussed plans with a small number of faith leaders yesterday at the Summit on 16th United Methodist Church in the University District.

The private meeting followed a discussion during which Werner said Ohio’s capital-punishment system is “broken beyond repair” and “broken beyond compare.”

“When we’re looking across the region, Ohio behaves like a Deep South state when it comes to the death penalty. It sticks out like a sore thumb,” Werner said. “We are very outside the norm for traditional Midwest values.”

He said the time is right to gather support from faith communities as more and more issues are being raised about the death penalty in Ohio.

A death-penalty task force formed by the Ohio Supreme Court and the Ohio State Bar Association in 2011 is set to wrap up its review of the state’s system this fall. And Ohio officials are expected to reveal today a new death-penalty protocol, the latest in a string of changes to the procedure since 2006.

Ohio has executed 52 inmates since 1976, ranking it eighth among the states, according to data updated on Wednesday by the Death Penalty Information Center. Texas has had the most executions, with 505, followed by Virginia (110), Oklahoma (106), Florida (79), Missouri (68), Alabama (56) and Georgia (53).

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Source: The Colombus Dispatch, October 4, 2013

Saudi Arabia's War on Witchcraft

Members of the religious police
attend a training course.

A special unit of the religious police pursues magical crime aggressively, and the convicted face death sentences.

In 2007, Egyptian pharmacist Mustafa Ibrahim was beheaded in Riyadh after his conviction on charges of "practicing magic and sorcery as well as adultery and desecration of the Holy Quran."

The charges of "magic and sorcery" are not euphemisms for some other kind of egregious crime he committed; they alone were enough to qualify him for a death sentence. He first came to the attention of the religious authorities when members of a mosque in the northern town of Arar voiced concerns over the placement of the holy book in the restroom. After being accused of disrupting a man's marriage through spellwork, and the discovery of "books on black magic, a candle with an incantation 'to summon devils,' and 'foul-smelling herbs,'" the case -- and eventually his life -- were swallowed by the black hole of the discretionary Saudi court system.

The campaign of persecution has shown no signs of fizzling. In May, two Asian maids were sentenced to 1,000 lashings and 10 years in prison after their bosses claimed that they had suffered from their magic.

Just a few weeks ago, Saudi newspapers began running the image of an Indonesian maid being pursued on accusations that she produced a spell that made her male boss's family subject to fainting and epileptic fits. "I swear that we do not want to hurt her but to stop her evil acts against us and others," the man told the news site Emirates 24/7.

According to Adam Coogle, a Jordan-based Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch who monitors Saudi Arabia, the relentless witch hunts reveal the hollowness of the country's long-standing promises about liberalizing its justice system.

In a country where public observance of any religion besides Islam is strictly forbidden, foreign domestic workers who bring unfamiliar traditional religious or folk customs from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Africa, or elsewhere can make especially vulnerable and easy targets.

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Source: The Atlantic, August 19, 2013

Despite 'Kill the Gays' Bill, Uganda prepares for its second Gay Pride

Uganda 2011 Gay Pride

Last year, despite the climate of fervent anti-gay hostility, Ugandan volunteer LGBT activists accomplished what seemed impossible – they launched the first every Gay Pride celebration in Uganda. Cloaked in secrecy, the Pride preparations began some months in advance, with a core few leading a determined community toward that successful day, which became known as Beach Pride Uganda. Almost a year has passed since, and the community is determined to hold its second such annual event.

Until the U.S. Evangelicals, Lou Engle and Scott Lively went into Uganda preaching anti-gay hate back in 2008, Ugandans tolerated homosexuality, without giving it much attention and Uganda was not on the international LGBT map. Most of Africa had seemed not to care about gay relationships, notwithstanding that the British colonialists had left their mark, with penal codes that criminalized what was termed “acts against the order of nature,” which intended to criminalize the act of sodomy, and began to be interpreted as criminalizing homosexual relationships.

The aftermath of crazed workshops led by the Christian religious extremists Engle and Lively, as well as their meetings with and support of Ugandan politicians, led to the introduction of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda, which, despite numerous introductions into parliament, and enormous popularity, has yet to be made law. The Bill if passed, could impose the death penalty for so called “aggravated homosexuality,” life in prison for gays, lesbian bisexual and transgender people, as well as lengthy prison terms for families, friends, landlords, teachers, doctors and anyone in the community who fail to report “known homosexuals.” The new legislation would also make the so-called, (though impossible to define) act of “promoting” homosexuality, illegal.

The Ugandan LGBT community is acutely aware that the government authorities, albeit unconstitutional, and despite a current lawsuit against Minister Lokodo, will do everything in their power to undermine Pride, with probable raids and arrests, just like last year. So again, as organizing continues, and despite the fact that there is nothing illegal under current law to prevent Pride, much must be done in privacy and secret.

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Source: O-blog-dee-o-blog-daa, Melanie Nathan, June 4, 2013

Amnesty International Report Bashes Indonesia

Amnesty International has decried a repressive human rights climate in Indonesia and a worrying lack of progress in addressing past abuses, in a report that is also the third in as many weeks to criticize rising religious intolerance in the country.

The 2013 report on “The State of the World’s Human Rights,” released today, cited problems in six areas, including “persistent allegations” of rights violations by police, repressive legislation invoked against peaceful political activists and the continued criminalization of freedom of religion.

Other problem areas were women’s rights, where Amnesty identified various setbacks and obstacles, as well as scant progress in delivering justice for past rights violations and the continued practice of handing down the death penalty — although no executions were carried out in 2012, the year in review in the report.

On the issue of rights violations by police and security forces, the report cited “excessive use of force and firearms, and torture and other ill-treatement.”

“Internal and external police accountability mechanisms failed to adequately deal with cases of abuses committed by police, and investigations into human rights violations were rare,” it said.

It also found that at least 76 “prisoners of conscience” remained behind bars, mostly from the regions of Papua and Maluku, where low-level separatist insurgencies are being waged, and accused the authorities of using “repressive legislation to criminalize peaceful political activists.”

Rights activists and journalists also fell victim to violations of freedom of expression, while news and nongovernmental organizations were “denied free and unimpeded access to the Papua region.”

There was a glimmer of positive news on the sixth and final point in the report, in that no executions were carried out in 2012, the fourth straight year, while one death row inmate even had their sentence commuted.

However, the government resumed the practice this year, executing four people so far, with plans to put to death another six.

Amnesty also noted that at least 12 death sentences were handed down last year and at least 130 people remained on death row.

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Source: Jakarta Globe, May 23, 2013