Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: China, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Zimbabwe

On May 7, 2024, Harm Reduction International (HRI) released a special global overview report on the use of the death penalty for drug offenses, which is a violation of international law because drug offenses do not meet the “most serious” crimes threshold. HRI found that by the end of 2023, there were 34 countries which still retained the death penalty for drug-related offenses; Pakistan was the only country to recently eliminate the death penalty for such offenses – the first country in more than a decade to do so. At least 467 executions for drug offenses were confirmed in five countries (China, Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore), marking a 44% worldwide increase from 2022 and comprising 42% of the worldwide execution total. At least 375 death sentences were confirmed to have been imposed in 16 countries, marking a 20% increase from the year prior. There are at least 3000 people under sentence of death for drug-related offenses in 19 countries. A lack of transparency in several retentionist countries means that the numbers of executions, death sentences, and death row prisoners are likely an undercount. 

Amnesty International also published its 2023 death penalty annual report in May. Sixteen countries carried out 1,153 known executions last year, constituting the lowest number of executing countries on record with the organization but the highest recorded execution numbers since 2015. To learn more, see DPIC’s summary. 

China 

On May 28, 2024, Bai Tianhui, former general manager of China Huarong International Holdings, a state-owned asset management firm, was sentenced to “death, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property” for accepting 1.1 billion yuan ($151 million) in bribes from 2014 to 2018. In exchange for these bribes, Mr. Bai reportedly used his position to aid with project acquisition and financing. Although Mr. Bai cooperated with authorities, the court would not provide a lighter sentence due to the severity of his crime, which was said to be “particularly pernicious, causing serious losses to the interests of the state and the people.” Mr. Bai’s former supervisor, Lai Xiaomin, was similarly convicted of bribery ($247 million), embezzlement ($3.46 million), and bigamy and sentenced to death in 2021; Mr. Lai was executed a month following sentencing, marking the first execution of a state official for corruption since 2011. 

Iran 

According to Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), there have been at least 240 executions in 2024. From April 17 to May 15, at least 103 people were executed, 63 of whom were executed on drug-related charges. Following a typical slowdown in executions during Norouz (Persian New Year) and Ramadan, the last two weeks of April experienced a sharp increase with at least 63 executions carried out. “In the last two weeks [of April], the Islamic Republic has executed one person every five hours without any political cost,” said IHRNGO Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.

Amnesty International has expressed concern for the lives of eight individuals under sentence of death in connection with “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests that occurred from September to December 2022. “The authorities have severely violated their fair trial rights and subjected many to torture and other ill-treatment, including beatings, electric shocks and sexual violence. Concerns of further protest-related executions are mounting amid an ongoing execution spree,” states Amnesty. Among those eight under sentence of death is dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi, who was sentenced to death in April. His case continues to garner widespread international support, with more than 100 artists, writers, and human rights activists, including Sting and Coldplay, signing onto the Index on Censorship’s letter calling for his release. Four U.S. Congressional Representatives (Rep. Young Kim (R), David Troone (D), Mike Lawler (R), and Adam Schiff (D)) have introduced the TOOMAJ Act which would impose sanctions on judges, prosecutors, and investigators of the Revolutionary Courts who “are involved in sham trials, torture, and inhumane treatment and sentencing of Iranian protesters and political dissidents.”

Malaysia 

On May 28, 2024, a three-judge panel at the Federal Court reduced the death sentence for 50-year-old, Japanese national Mariko Takeuchi, who was convicted of drug-trafficking, to a 30-year prison term, including time served since her arrest in 2009. Ms. Takeuchi was convicted of trafficking 3.5 kilograms of methamphetamines, the first Japanese person sentenced to death for drug-trafficking in the country. Ms. Takeuchi’s lawyer, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, said that she could be released as early as 2029 following good behavior, which forgives one-third of a prison term. Her sentence, which was previously upheld on appeal in 2015, was re-reviewed under the judicial reforms passed last July. Similarly, Teh Kim Hong’s death sentence was reviewed and commuted to a 40-year prison term to run concurrently from the time of arrest in 2008; Mr. Teh, who was a hairstylist, was convicted of kidnapping and killing a salesperson.

Nigeria 

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which makes importing and distributing hard drugs (e.g., cocaine, heroin) death-eligible offenses, was passed in the Senate and now awaits approval in the House of Representatives. The House Deputy spokesperson, Philip Agbese, says he expects the legislation will pass. During a media personnel training, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Country Representative, Oliver Stolpe, criticized the bill, emphasizing that “[t]here is no proof of the effectiveness of [the] death penalty.” He explained the UN’s stance of being “principally and categorically against” capital punishment and highlighted the use of a 2018 national drug use report, the most recent carried out. He stated: “The drug use survey of 2018 remains as far as I can tell the most cited study in the media, this data is outdated and I think a very critical question that media could ask at that point is really well, how can we still refer to 2018 data to describe today’s levels of drug use?”

Saudi Arabia 

According to the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR), there were 55 executions carried out in the first four months of the year, constituting a 189% increase from the same period in 2023 and signaling “another bloody year.” While 35 individuals were sentenced to death for murder, 20 were convicted for non-serious crimes such as “covering up crimes, participating in terrorist cell formations, endangering national unity, and undermining societal security.” The specialized criminal court for terrorism tried 19 of these 20 cases. ESOHR has expressed concern over the transparency of government figures, noting that sentences were omitted in these 20 cases – a first since 2004. “ESOHR believes that the hiding of the type of sentence in official statements regarding executions, likely punitive “Taazir” in nature, is a new tactic adopted by the Saudi government to evade and deny its promises, and a deceitful attempt to conceal the truth rather than abolish the punishment.”

On May 11, 2024, Saudi Arabia carried out its first drug-related execution since August 2023. Syrian nationals Emad Mahmoud Hussein and Mustafa Mahmoud Hussein, who were convicted of smuggling banned amphetamine pills, were executed.

Zimbabwe 

During May, public hearings were held for Death Penalty Abolition Bill H.B. 5. The Parliamentary Legal Committee, which had previously raised concerns over the technical implementation of the bill, withdrew their adverse report and submitted a new, non-adverse report following the hearings which addressed these concerns; to avoid a constitutional amendment, the bill will now amend existing law to eliminate the death penalty as potential punishment for all crimes. Legislator Edwin Mushoriwa, who introduced the bill last November, was hopeful that “Zimbabwe [could] enact a Death Penalty Abolishment Act as early as June. We are on the verge of abolishing the death penalty.”