Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: China, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, and Vietnam

China 

On August 4, a South Korean national convicted of drug-trafficking was executed in China, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who added during a press conference that this execution was “unrelated to the current bilateral relations” between the two nations. This was the first time a South Korean national was executed in China for drug-trafficking since 2014, when four were executed.   

Indonesia 

On August 8, the Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of Fredy Sambo, a former two-star general and head of Indonesia’s internal affairs department, to life in prison with the possibility of further commutation to 20 years after 15 years have been served. Mr. Sambo was convicted of premeditated murder of his 27-year-old bodyguard, Brigadier Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat, in July 2022. Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, Usman Hamid, told the South China Morning Post that although public opinion was divided, the “dominant public opinion had wanted to see him executed.”  

Three soldiers were arrested at the end of August and charged with torturing, abducting, and murdering a civilian shopkeeper named Imam Masykur. Regarding the case, Military Chief Admiral Yudo Margono told Antara News that “The maximum punishment should be the death penalty, at the very least, life in prison.” Mr. Hamid, director of Amnesty International Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post that “We want a speedy and fair probe into the incident, so that we can be assured that human rights abuse will not be tolerated.” 

Capital punishment is available for crimes such as premeditated murder, drug trafficking, corruption, and terrorism in Indonesia. 

Saudi Arabia 

On August 30, retired school teacher Mohammed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi was sentenced to death for retweeting criticism on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Court documents state the Mr. al-Ghamdi is charged with “betraying his religion,” “disturbing the security of society,” “conspiring against the government” and “impugning the kingdom and the crown prince.” 

“The death sentence against Mohammad bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, who has a total of just 10 followers on both of his anonymous Twitter accounts and is accused of nothing other than expressing his opinions on social media, is ludicrous,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa 

The brother of Mr. al-Ghamdi, Saeed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi, who lives in the United Kingdom and is a prominent critic of the Saudi Arabian government, tweeted that “This false ruling aims to spite me personally after failed attempts by the investigators to have me return to the country.”  

“Al-Ghamdi’s death sentence over tweets is extremely horrific but stands in line with the Saudi authorities’ escalating crackdown,” said Lina Alhathloul, the head of monitoring and advocacy at the London-based advocacy group ALQST. “They are sending a clear and sinister message – that nobody is safe, and even a tweet can get you killed,” she said. 

Earlier in August, Saudi Arabia executed U.S. national Bishoy Sharif Naji Naseef. According to the Saudi Press Agency Mr. Naseef was convicted of strangling his Egyptian father to death and subsequently mutilating his body. Mr. Naseef’s age and method of execution have not been shared publicly. 

Trinidad and Tobago 

On August 18, High Court Justice Margaret Mohammed vacated the death sentences for four prisoners on constitutional grounds and ordered that they be resentenced by a judge in the Criminal Assizes. The four prisoners, each of whom have been awaiting execution for at least 12 years, will now receive compensation due to the delays. 

A few weeks earlier, Justice Mohammed vacated the death sentence for Timothy Hunte, who has spent about 15 years on death row. “While the sentence under which the claimant is detained is that of a death sentence, he cannot lawfully be executed and as long as he is detained on death row, his detention would be cruel and unusual punishment and in violation of his rights under section 5 2(b) of the Constitution,” stated Mohammed’s ruling, which also mentions that “an award of damages alone cannot compensate the claimant for his detention on death row.” 

Trinidad and Tobago is the last English-speaking Caribbean country to retain the mandatory death penalty. In May 2022, the Privy Council ruled that the mandatory death penalty for murder was constitutional, albeit cruel and unusual punishment. “It is striking that there remains on the statute book a provision which, as the government accepts, is a cruel and unusual punishment because it mandates the death penalty without regard to the degree of culpability. Nonetheless, such a provision is not unconstitutional,” stated the law lords’ ruling. Any reform to existing laws must be made by Parliament, the ruling explained. 

Uganda 

On August 18, 2023, a 20-year-old man was charged with “aggravated homosexuality” under the Anti-Homosexuality Act passed in May and if convicted, may receive the death penalty. He is alleged to have engaged in sexual relations with a 41-year-old man with a disability, who was unable to provide consent for such acts, according to the Ugandan Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.  

Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa said, “It is deeply disturbing that the Ugandan authorities are prosecuting people based on their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Discrimination and persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people in the country must be halted.” 

 “This law is creating a witch hunt,” said Frank Mugisha, a prominent gay-rights activist in Uganda. 

The recent Anti-Homosexuality Act prescribes the death penalty as potential punishment for “aggravated homosexuality,” which includes same-sex activity with a minor, elderly person, or person with a disability, repeat offenses, and same-sex relations resulting in the transmission of HIV. Uganda has not carried out an execution in about 20 years. 

Vietnam 

On August 4, family members of Nguyen Van Chuong, who was sentenced to death for the murder of a police officer, were notified by the People’s Court of Hai Phong to make arrangements for Mr. Chuong’s remains. On August 14, family members were able to meet with Mr. Chuong, who has maintained his innocence throughout 16 years of imprisonment. Amnesty International, as well as the United Nations, have called for the execution to be halted. Regarding Mr. Chuong’s imminent execution, United Nations Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence, stated that “The use of confessions extracted under torture that results in a death sentence violates both the absolute prohibition of torture as well as fair trial guarantees, rendering the sentence arbitrary and a violation of the right to life, as set out in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Viet Nam is a state party.”