Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: China, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and Yemen

The University of Oxford Death Penalty Research Unit, in collaboration with several human rights nonprofits, recently launched a database of foreign nationals sentenced to death or executed from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2021 in Asia and the Middle East. They found that Saudi Arabia leads the Middle East in sentencing foreign nationals to death (385 people) and drug-trafficking (283), closely followed by murder (257), are the top crimes for which foreign nationals in the region are capitally convicted. Among the foreign nationals sentenced to the death in the Middle East, Pakistani (155) is the most common nationality and laborer (254) is the most common occupation. Indonesia leads Asia in sentencing foreign nationals to death (142 people) and drug-trafficking (338) is the main crime for which people are capitally convicted. In Asia, Laborer (44) followed by Retail/Hospitality (35), is the main occupation of foreign nationals executed and most foreign nationals (269) are awaiting execution; in the Middle East, 379 people have already been executed and 215 people are awaiting execution. 

China 

On December 10, 2023, in honor of International Human Rights Day, the European Union Delegation in China issued a statement highlighting problematic areas of China’s human rights record, including its retention and application of the death penalty. Although data about the number of death sentences and executions is a state secret, “the estimated number of death sentences and executions in China exceeds by far that of all other countries taken together,” said the statement. “The EU calls upon China to provide more transparency in the application and imposition of the death penalty and to further reduce the number of criminal offenses punishable by death.” Maintaining its position on capital punishment, the “EU reaffirms that the death penalty remains an ineffective, unnecessary and irrevocable punishment, and therefore urges China to introduce a moratorium on executions and ultimately abolish this inhuman practice.” 

On December 18, 2023, Lao Rongzhi, a woman convicted of robbery, extortion, and the murder of seven people between 1996 and 1999, was executed. Ms. Rongzhi, who evaded arrest for 20 years, allegedly targeted victims at entertainment venues and her then-boyfriend, Fa Ziying, killed them. 

Indonesia 

On December 5, 2023, Medan District Court in North Sumatra sentenced 60-year-old Wardani Ibrahim to death for transporting 43 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine. The judge highlighted how the defendant’s actions hindered government’s efforts to eliminate narcotics distribution and endangered the younger generation; the judge found no mitigating factors in Mr. Wardani’s case, who was charged under the 2009 Narcotics Law. 

Iran 

There have so far been at least 52 executions in 2024, according to Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO). On January 23, 23-year-old Mohammad Ghobadlou was executed in Karaj. Mr. Ghobadlou was sentenced to death both in the Revolutionary Courts and the Criminal Courts for running over and killing an official during “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests in 2022 – he is at least the ninth “Woman, Life, Freedom” protester to have been executed. According to Amnesty International, Mr. Ghobadlou has been under psychiatric care for bipolar disorder since the age of 15 and for the first month of detention was denied his medication, as well as access to his lawyer. Farhad Salimi, a Kurdish-Sunni political prisoner, was also executed on January 23 in Karaj; Mr. Salimi, who was on hunger strike at the time of execution, was arrested in 2010, along with six others. The seven defendants were “physically and psychologically tortured to extract forced confessions,” according to IHRNGO. Four of the defendants have been executed – two were executed in November 2023, while Davoud Abdolllahi (executed January 2) and Mr. Salimi were executed in January 2024 – and IHRNGO warns that the remaining three are at “grave risk.” 

The judiciary’s Mizan Online news agency announced on December 10, 2023 that the trial of 33-year-old Swedish European Union employee Johan Floderus, accused of espionage for Israel and “corruption on earth,” had begun. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has called for Mr. Floderus’ release and said the charges were “completely without factual basis,” as has the European Union’s diplomatic service. An official spokesperson for the European Union stated: “We are seeking clarification and more information from them in close coordination with the Swedish authorities who bear the consular responsibility. The European Union will continue to work tirelessly to secure the release of our colleague Johan and that of other EU nationals … who are arbitrarily detained.”  

Mr. Floderus’ father told The Guardian of the “unacceptable” conditions of confinement in which his son has been kept for more than 600 days. Mr. Floderus’ has been held in a continuously lit shared cell with no bed and has not been granted routine consular visits or phone calls. “There have been calls on approximately 15 days and at least five of these have been allowed after he went on hunger strike,” said Mr. Floderus’ father. Mr. Floderus was originally detained in April 2022 during Sweden’s historic trial of former Iranian official Hamid Noury for his involvement in the 1988 summer massacres, when at least 5,000 dissidents were executed, according to 2018 numbers from Amnesty International. Under the universal jurisdiction principal, Sweden prosecuted Mr. Noury, who was convicted “for grave breaches of international humanitarian law and murder” in July 2022 and sentenced to life in prison. On December 19, the Svea Court of Appeal upheld Mr. Noury’s sentence. While several hundred protesters outside the court celebrated the decision, Mr. Noury’s son told the Iran’s Fars news agency “we will go to higher Swedish courts as well as international courts and present our evidence.” 

According to Mizan, an unnamed man was executed in Zahedan Central Prison on December 16, 2023 for “links with foreign services including Mossad.” He was convicted of “intelligence cooperation and espionage for the benefit for the hostile Zionist regime [Israel]” and “collecting and providing classified information to the Mossad spy service with the aim of disrupting public order,” according to France24. On December 29, 2023, Iran executed three men and one woman for links to Mossad; they were charged with kidnapping Iranian security forces and accused of setting the cars and homes of some agents on fire.  

In a December 21, 2023 video interview, member of parliament Yahya Ebrahimi raised concern over the imminent execution of thousands in a county with a population of 144,000. Mr. Ebrahimi said: “1000 to 2000 young people in Delfan county have unfortunately been sentenced to death for selling drugs and their cases are at the implementation stage.” Upon publication of the interview, Mr. Ebrahimi retracted his statement, saying the information he received was false. 

Israel 

The Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset, or parliament, held a closed door session to discuss legislation mandating the death penalty for those convicted of terrorism, despite pushback from relatives of hostages held by Hamas during parliamentary discussions in November. The next day, Knesset member (KM) Ariel Kallner of the Likud party confirmed that the death penalty remains an option for those involved in the October 7 attack, according to the Jerusalem Post. “Our primary goal is to ensure their conviction. The system swiftly adjusted itself to combat these inhuman monsters. As Knesset members, we fully support this effort,” said KM Kallner. “We hope that the High Court of Justice judges also comprehend the gravity of the situation.” 

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who advanced the proposal last month, reiterated calls for executing imprisoned members of Hamas, tweeting: “he death penalty must be applied against the terrorists. Prisoners from elite Hamas forces must be executed for each day that passes in which the kidnapped are not released.”  

Japan 

On January 18, the Kofu District Court sentenced 21-year-old Endo Yuki to death on murder and arson charges for killing the parents of female classmate who rejected his romantic advances in 2021. Mr. Endo, who committed the crime at age 19, is the first person sentenced to death for a committing a crime when age 18 or 19 under the newly revised juvenile law in 2022 lowered the legal age of adulthood from 20 to 18. Presiding Judge Jun Mikami said that the defendant’s “age is not a reason to avoid the death penalty.” 

On December 8, 2023 five judges on the Supreme Court’s Third Petty Bench unanimously upheld the death sentence of former policeman, Mitsuru Nakata. Mr. Nakata was convicted of murdering his wife, age 38, and two children, aged nine and six, in 2017. According to Kyodo News, Presiding Judge Yasumasa Nagamine commented that Mr. Nakata’s disregard for human life was “extreme, based on his determined and strong intention to kill” and highlighted his lack of remorse. 

Pakistan 

The Islamabad District and Sessions Court sentenced Shahnawaz Amir to death and imposed a penalty of $1million rupees on December 14. Mr. Amir was convicted on December 9 of murdering his 37-year-old Canadian-Pakistani wife, Sarah Inman, at their farmhouse in November 2022.  

Qatar 

On December 28, 2023, the Court of Appeal of Qatar dropped the death sentence against eight Indian former naval officers, who were originally sentenced in October on charges of espionage. Although the court orders have not been made public, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a press briefing: “What we can tell you, confirm to you is, that the death penalty has now been converted into varying prison sentences for the eight Indian nationals.” 

Saudi Arabia 

In 2023, the official news agency reported that, according to the Ministry of the Interior, 172 executions were carried out, marking a 15% increase from the official figure reported in 2022; as the capital punishment system still lacks transparency, the actual figure of executions is likely to be higher, according to the Saudi European Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR). The highest number of executions took place in the month of December (42) and unprecedented executions were carried out during the holy month of Ramadan. 70% of executions were for charges not meeting the international threshold of a “most-serious” offense and common unfair trial practices included torture, ill-treatment, and the denial of the right to adequate self-defense. According to the ESOHR, “the percentage of discretionary death sentences from the total executions decreased in 2023 compared to the previous 11 years by approximately 16%. ESOHR highlights that successive official promises, affirming that reducing discretionary death sentences would contribute to an overall reduction in execution numbers, demonstrate the ineffectiveness of these assurances.” 

Taiwan 

On December 7, 2023, Taiwan High Court’s Taichung Branch Court upheld the Nantou District Court’s death sentence and life-long suspension of civil rights for Lee Hung-yuan. In its ruling, the Taichung Branch Court pointed to the Taiwan Forensic Psychology Association’s forensic psychiatric examination that determined the unlikelihood of Mr. Lee’s rehabilitation and identified the crime as a “most serious crime” under international law. Mr. Lee, who is able to appeal the decision, was convicted of shooting five employees, resulting in four dead and one critically injured, at a biotechnology company at which he used to work. 

Yemen 

On December 5, 35-year-old Fatema Saleh al-Arwali, child and women human rights activist and former head of the Yemeni office of the Arab League’s Arab Women Leadership Council, was sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Prosecution in Houthi-controlled Sanaa on espionage charges. Ms. al-Arawali was arrested in August 2022, shortly after returning from visiting her family in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and accused of providing the UAE with intelligence. 

Dozens of local activists, lawyers, and academics signed a petition condemning the denial of legal representation during Ms. al-Arawali’s first trial, inhumane detention in a lightless underground cell and urged her release. “We urge that the death sentence imposed on her be overturned. We urge human rights and civil society groups to unite in opposition to this unfair sentencing that undermines justice,” said the petition. 

International organizations, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties have criticized the sentence and urged her release. Human Rights Watch Yemen and Bahrain researcher, Niku Jafarnia, said “Repression of human rights defenders and women’s rights activists in Houthi-controlled territories is reaching terrifying new levels. Instead of providing people in their territory with basic necessities such as food and water, the Houthis are suppressing human rights and freedoms.”