Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Somalia

India 

The Aprajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, which outlines the death penalty for rape resulting in the victim’s death or “vegetative state,” was adopted by the West Bengal government in eastern India on September 3, 2024. Under international law, it is unlawful to prescribe the death penalty for a crime not meeting the “most serious” crime (e.g., intentional murder) threshold.  

The measure comes amidst a wave of nationwide protests, including medical workers in several cities launching strikes on nonessential services, sparked by the August 9 rape and killing of a 31-year-old medical trainee while on duty. “The authorities must deliver justice and accountability for the horrific rape and murder of the woman doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and hospital in Kolkata in August. However, the death penalty is never the solution, nor it would offer a ‘quick fix’ to prevent violence against women. There is no evidence that it has a unique deterrent effect,” said Aakar Patel, Chair of Board at Amnesty International. “Even the Justice Verma Committee that was constituted in 2012 to reform the laws and criminal justice practices relating to crimes of sexual violence, including rape in India and Law Commission of India have opposed the death penalty in cases of violence against women.” In 2013, the Justice Verma Committee specifically said “[S]eeking of [the] death penalty would be a regressive step in the field of sentencing and reformation,” and highlighted the lack of deterrent effect in its recommendation. The Union Cabinet, the senior decision-making body of the executive branch, disregarded the recommendation at the time. 

China 

The Higher People’s Court of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region rejected the appeal of Li Jianping, who was sentenced to death in 2022 for corruption, bribery, embezzlement and engaging in organized crime. Mr. Li’s case, involving the embezzlement of 3 billion yuan (421 million USD), constitutes the nation’s largest ever corruption case. The case now moves on to the Supreme People’s Court for final review. 

Democratic Republic of the Congo 

According to the Associated Press, Military prosecutor Lieutenant Colonel Innocent Radjabu urged the judge to sentence all but one of the 50 defendants on trial for participating in an attempted coup earlier in May to death. Among those on trial are three Americans—Marcel Malanga, son of Christian Malanga who led the coup, high school friend Tyler Thompson, and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun. The DRC lifted its moratorium on the death penalty in  March.   

Iran 

According to Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), at least 100 people were executed in August, bringing the total for the year to 402. Of the 100 executions, 50 were for murder charges, 46 for drug-related charges, 3 for rape, and one for moharabeh (enmity against God). Of the 31 Afghan nationals executed this year, 11 of them were executed in August. August also saw the first public hanging of the year—21-year-old Amirreza Ajam Akrami was executed on August 26 for the murder of a lawyer—and the mass execution of 29 people on August 7. “The execution of at least 100 people in just one month should be met with backlash from the international community! The victims of the Islamic Republic’s execution machine are from the weakest and most deprived communities who are killed without due process and fair trial rights to create societal fear and intimidation,” said IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. “The public, human rights organisations and the international community must raise the political cost of these executions for Iranian authorities through protest campaigns, condemnations and political pressure.” 

Baluch and Kurdish minorities have continued to be amongst those executed with the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran highlighting the disproportionate impact they’ve faced in an August 5 advocacy paper. “There has been a striking surge in executions since the September 2022 protests, most notably in minority-populated regions, with several death sentences rendered most recently against women of ethnic minority backgrounds, adding to the chilling effect on minority rights activism.” In findings published on August 23, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed similar concerns, stating that “ethnic and ethno-religious minorities are overrepresented in the criminal justice system and are disproportionately subjected to arbitrary detention and death sentences for broadly defined offences under the Islamic Criminal Code, as well as for drug-related offences.” 

Saudi Arabia 

On August 22, 2024, the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR) raised concern over drug-related executions, which have increased 174% compared to the prior year, which only saw 2 executions. AFP reported the execution of two Egyptian nationals (Walid Farouk and Youssef Kleib), without any notice, on drug-related charges on August 21 at Tabuk General Prison, which houses more than 50 death-sentenced prisoners on drug-related charges. A prisoner named Mohammad told AFP, “We are not notified in advance to say goodbye to our loved ones or even prepare ourselves psychologically.” ESOHR notes at least 34 Egyptian nationals are amongst those awaiting execution at Tabuk. “ESOHR considers the rapid pace of executions in recent months, the terror faced by those sentenced for drug charges, and the fluctuating official stance between halting and resuming executions as a form of manipulation that exacerbates the psychological torture they endure. This also reveals a particularly harsh aspect of the death penalty that Saudi Arabia continues to implement on a large scale.” 

Singapore 

Two men, age 45 and 59, convicted of drug-trafficking were executed in early August prompting the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, along with six other organizations, to call on Singapore to “immediately establish a moratorium on all executions and cease the harassment of anti-death penalty activists, as critical first steps.” The statement highlighted that the death penalty for drug-crimes is a violation of international law, as is a mandatory death penalty, and that both men had appeals pending at the time executions were set. “The circumstances in which the authorities of Singapore set and carried out these executions violate safeguards under international law and standards to protect against the arbitrary deprivation of life.”  

Somalia 

On August 22, 2024, UNICEF expressed “deep regret” at the execution of four people who were convicted of offenses committed when they were under the age of 18 and allegedly associated with Al Shabaab. The four were sentenced to death by a military court, which the statement highlights is ill-equipped to handle child justice procedures. “UNICEF urges the Puntland authorities to treat children associated with armed groups as victims and calls for a review of current judicial procedures to ensure that children are not tried by military courts, have access to appropriate judicial procedures, and are in line with definitions of a child contained in the Puntland Juvenile Justice Act and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Somalia has ratified.”