Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: Afghanistan, China, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United States, Vietnam, Yemen, and Zimbabwe

In the aftermath of Idaho’s failed execution of Thomas Creech and Texas’ execution of Ivan Cantu on February 28, the European Union released a statement expressing its regret and reiterating its unequivocal opposition to the death penalty.. “[The death penalty] is a violation of the right to life and fails to act as a deterrent to crime. It represents the ultimate punishment that makes miscarriages of justice irreversible,” said the statement. “[W]e are concerned by the fact that the number of executions in the US increased last year, as 24 people were executed in five states despite a steady, overall decline of the use of capital punishment in the US since 2020. The EU calls for states that maintain the death penalty to implement a moratorium and move towards abolition, in line with the worldwide trend.” 

Afghanistan 

In the span of just five days, three public executions were carried out in sports stadiums. On February 22, 2024, Syed Jamal and Gul Khan, who were convicted of murder in separate incidents, were shot repeatedly by their victims’ relatives as thousands watched in Ghazni. On February 26, 2024, Nazar Mohammad was shot five times by the murder victim’s brother in a stadium in Sheberghan. Mr. Mohammed’s execution marks the fifth public execution since the Taliban seized power in August 2021; the first occurred in December 2022 and the second in June 2023, with both instances the subject of international condemnation. 

“We are appalled by the public executions of three people at sports stadiums in Afghanistan in the past week,” said UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence. “Public executions are a form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Such executions are also arbitrary in nature and contrary to the right to life protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Afghanistan is a State party. They must cease immediately.”  

Amnesty International also called upon the “Taliban de-facto authorities” to “halt all executions.” Interim Deputy Regional Director for South Asia, Livia Saccardi, said in a statement: “We oppose all executions as a violation of the right to life. The Taliban has been repeatedly carrying them out publicly which is a gross affront to human dignity as well as a violation of international laws and standards and cannot be tolerated.”

China 

Chinese-Australian pro-democracy activist Yang Hengjun, who was found guilty of espionage and given a suspended death sentence on February 5, 2024, has decided to forego an appeal. A statement from the 57-year-old’s family and close friends expresses support and provides reasoning for his decision. “First, there are no grounds to believe that the system that enabled Yang’s sustained torture and fabricated the charges against him is capable of remedying the injustice of his sentence,” said the statement published on Capital Punishment Justice Project. “Second, commencing an appeal would only delay the possibility of adequate and supervised medical care, after five years of inhumane treatment and abject medical neglect.” The statement requests that Mr. Yang be released on medical parole or transferred to Australia. As it stands, Mr. Yang’s suspended death sentence could be converted to a life sentence or fixed-term sentence after two years if no other serious crimes are committed.  

Iran 

Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) published its 2023 report on March 5, 2024. 2023 saw the second highest number of executions in more than 20 years with at least 834 people executed, marking a 43% increase from the prior year. Executions for drug-related charges rose by 84%, from 256 to 471, constituting more than half (56%) of the total number of executions last year. There were seven public hangings in 2023, about triple the amount in 2022, eight executions of protesters, and at least two confirmed cases – three more are undergoing confirmation by IHRNGO – where juveniles were executed in violation of international law. For the first time in 10 years, two men were executed on blasphemy charges and one on adultery charges. 

“Instilling societal fear is the regime’s only way to hold on to power, and the death penalty is its most important instrument,” said IHRNGO director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. “Increasing the political cost of the executions by international pressure can slow down the regime’s killing machine. The inconsistency in the international community’s reaction to the executions in Iran is unfortunate and sends the wrong signal to the authorities.” Executions in Iran spiked during the month of May (115), when nationwide protests for International Workers’ Day and National’s Teachers Day typically occur, and following the onset of the war in Gaza, when the average number of daily executions rose from 2 to 3-4. The report notes that “the executions in the second half of the year failed to elicit the same level of condemnation and backlash” and was “especially evident after the onset of the war in Gaza.”  

Arrested during the Women, Life, Freedom movement, Kurdish-Iranian dissident rapper Saman Yasin, who continues to wait for a retrial granted in December 2022, addressed the judiciary in an open letter posted to his Instagram account. The letter complains about the current “limbo” and pleads with the judiciary for clarity on his case, which has been marred by numerous claims of torture and violations of his right to due process. “I ask you to execute me. I cannot endure imprisonment and uncertainty for a crime that neither you nor I know. … My life has been shattered, you have robbed me of my physical and mental well-being, subjected me to an artificial execution and taken me to the psychiatric hospital,” wrote Mr. Yasin. “What is left for you to do to me that you have not already done? Take my life too – end it! For 18 months I have been worn down by your false promises and lies. I am tired, put an end to it all!” As of March 6, 2024, there have been 85 executions reported by IHRNGO. 

Qatar 

Eight Indian former naval officers, who were originally sentenced in October 2023, were released from prison after having their death sentences converted into prison sentences. “The Government of India welcomes the release of eight Indian nationals working for the Dahra Global company who were detained in Qatar. Seven out of the eight of them have returned to India. We appreciate the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals,” said the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in a statement published on February 12, 2024. 

Saudi Arabia 

Five Pakistani nationals were executed for committing murder during an armed robbery. According to The Daily Jang, the Pakistan’s government has expressed its regret over the decision and has demanded the case be reviewed.  

Five Yemeni nationals – Hassan Fatini, Ibrahim Ali, Abdullah Darwish, Abdullah Majari and Hamoud Shuai – charged with murder and robbery of fellow Yemeni national Ahmed al-Aradi were executed, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. A day prior to the announcement, seven were executed for “establishing and financing terrorist organisations.” According to AFP, there have been 34 executions so far in 2024, a figure that has increased given the additional executions that were carried out after publication. 

On February 10, the Saudi Press Agency reported the execution of Hassan bin Thabit Al-Hazouber, likely resulting from a Taazir punishment, where sentences are solely at the judges’ discretion, according to the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR). In its statement, ESOHR explains that Mr. Al-Hazouber was charged with “shielding and communicating with a deceased terrorist, as well as meeting with him while being aware of his criminal schemes,” though the official Saudi Press Agency statement failed to disclose sentencing specifics as is generally typical indicating “Saudi Arabia is moving towards more ambiguity regarding the execution of punishment and the surrounding information.” ESOHR warns: “The ambiguity and lack of transparency in dealing with information about sentences, along with intimidation and coercion practiced against families to prevent any documentation of cases and violations, may indicate a multiplication of violations.” 

Singapore 

35-year-old Bangladeshi national Ahmed Salim was executed on February 28, 2024 in the nation’s first execution for murder since 2019 and its first execution this year, according to a Singapore Prison Service spokesperson. Mr. Salim, whose petition for presidential clemency was unsuccessful, was convicted of strangling his former fiancée, Indonesian national Nurhidayati Wartono Surata, in 2018. 

Vietnam 

On February 6, 2024, President Vo Van Thuong commuted the death sentences of five prisoners to life imprisonment. President Thuong similarly commuted the death sentences of 18 prisoners to life in prison terms in late December 2023. Human rights activists and lawyers alike have warned that these actions should not be viewed as indicative of an improving human rights record. “Every year, Vietnam hands out hundreds of death sentences to drug traffickers and murderers,” told veteran Hanoi-based lawyer Nguyen Van Dai to Radio Free Asia (RFA). “If all the death inmates were executed, the international community would pillory Vietnam. So they find inmates who were sentenced to death for less heinous criminal acts and grant them amnesty.” California-based activist Nguyen Ba Tung of the Vietnam Human Rights Network shared similar sentiments with RFA, stating, “The government retains the death penalty as a way to menace the people. At the end of the year, or on special holidays, they let the president grant an amnesty to show that they are ‘humane.’ But international human rights groups can see through this act.” 

Yemen 

On February 1, 2024, 13 students were sentenced to death on charges of “spreading homosexuality,” while three others were sentenced to flogging by the court of first instance in Ibb in southern Yemen. An anonymous source told the Associate French Press that another 35 people have been detained on homosexuality charges in Ibb. A little more than a week prior, a criminal court in Dhamar in northern Yemen sentenced nine individuals to death, seven to be executed by stoning and two by crucifixion, on similar charges of homosexuality, spreading immorality, and immoral acts. 

UN experts and Amnesty International raised concerns about the scheduled execution of Fatima Al-Arwali, head of the Habitat Organization for Human Rights Development and the former head of the Yemen office of the Women’s Leadership Union. Ms. Al-Arwali who was detained since August 2022 and sentenced to death on charges of “espionage and aiding hostile parties,” was scheduled for a February 21 execution in Tahrir Square in Sana’a, according to reports obtained by the UN. “Al-Arwali’s death sentence appears to violate fundamental principles and rules of international law and must not be carried out,” said a statement by 15 UN Special Rapporteurs. “We remain concerned about credible allegations of Fatima Al-Arwali’s ill-treatment in detention, including gender-based violence, and serious violations of due process guarantees and the right to a defence during her trial,” the experts said. It is unclear whether the execution has been carried out. 

Zimbabwe 

Following the cabinet’s support of a death penalty abolition bill on February 6, 2024, the parliament has continued to debate the details of the bill. “The way forward is that the Bill will be going for a second reading stage in the National Assembly very soon. Currently we are engaging the Parliamentary Legal Committee to iron out some issues they raised in their report,” legislator Dzivarasekwa Edwin Mushoriwa, who initiated the parliamentary discussion on the bill last year, told NewsDay. In their report, the Parliamentary Legal Committee has said that the bill needs to be removed and replaced with a Constitutional Amendment Bill or reworded.