Tag: Nigeria

#Deathpenalty report for June


No to the death penaltyAttached is the #Deathpenalty report for June prepared for the group by Lesley.  It reports on the increasing tide of executions in .  We note again that China doesn’t feature because, although they lead the world in the number of executions, it is a state secret.

Death penalty report

NB: the date given in the report for the World Day Against the Death Penalty should be 10th not 11th October.

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Success for Amnesty campaigning in Nigeria


Moses Akatugba
Moses Akatugba

Success for local group

The Salisbury group, along with other groups around the world, has been campaigning on behalf of Moses Akatugba in Nigeria.  He was accused of stealing three mobile phones and then subjected to torture and sentenced to death.  Regrettably, torture has become endemic in Nigeria and police stations even appoint ‘torture officers’ to carry it out.

We have held many signings in Salisbury and a large number of cards were sent off to the Nigerian authorities.  We are pleased to report that this campaigning effort has been a success and he has been granted a total pardon.  Unusually, the Governor of Delta State mentioned the Amnesty campaign in his Facebook page.

Moses himself made a statement:

I am overwhelmed, I thank Amnesty International and their activists for the great support that made me a conqueror in this situation.  Amnesty International and activists are my heroes.

I want to assure them that this great effort they have shown to me will not be in vain by the special grace of God I will live up to their expectation.

I promise to be a human rights activist, to fight for others.  I am thanking the Governor for his kind gesture and for keeping to his words.

Further details of our campaign can be read on the fact sheet below;

Nigeria fact sheet

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Death penalty report: December


DEATH PENALTY SUMMARYNo to the death penalty

DECEMBER 2014

This is the summary for the group’s December meeting pulling together various news items about the use of the death penalty around the world.  We would like to draw your attention to a web site Penal Reform International, with useful information on the death penalty.  It is now in the list of links at the bottom of this site.

General

  • Ethiopia – Andrew Tsage, a political refugee in the UK since 1979, has been placed in solitary confinement and is under threat of execution.  He had been arrested at an Airport in Yemen, and sent on to Ethiopia.  International concern has been expressed at the deterioration of human rights and freedom of expression in Ethiopia.  David Cameron has written personally to the Ethiopian Prime Minister, but the Foreign Office say Tsage is not being held illegally.
  • USA –
  • Missouri – 19.11.14.  Leon Taylor was executed, despite disagreement over the type of sentence which should have been imposed.  This was the ninth execution in Missouri this year.
  • Texas – 4.12.14 – a US Federal Court issued a stay of execution hours before Scott Panetti was due to die, following representations from his lawyers regarding his mental health.
  • Saudi Arabia – 20.11.14 – the family of Simon Cumbera, an Irish national murdered while filming a news item, have expressed regret at the death sentence passed on Adil Sa’ad Al-Dubayti Al Mutayri.
  • Pakistan
  • Mohammad Asghar – David Cameron has commented in Parliament on the ‘appalling treatment’ received in prison by this Scottish man accused of blasphemy and shot while in prison.  Reprieve is trying to prevent his return from hospital to prison
  • 25.11.14 – Asia Bibi, the Christian woman sentenced to death following a conviction of ‘insulting the Prophet Muhammad, has filed her final appeal against execution
  • China – 25.11.14 – According to his lawyer, Nian Bin, a former death row prisoner acquitted of the charge of poisoning two children, is now being investigated again by the police.  They have refused to accept the Court’s decision and are restricting his movements.  Acquittals are rare in China, but this one prompted renewed calls for the abolition of the death penalty.
  • Thailand – 26.11.14 – Death sentences were passed by Pattani Provincial Court on five suspected militants convicted of killing four soldiers.  Human Rights Watch have accused Thailand of double standards, saying the Army was also responsible for rights violations.
  • Egypt – 2.12.14 following the dropping of murder charges against ex-President Hosni Mubarak, a Court sentenced 188 of his supporters to death in connection with the killing of 13 policemen in August 2013.
  • Cameroon – 3.12.14 – it was reported that Lawmakers are to vote on whether to implement the death penalty for people convicted of acts of terrorism.  This is in response to the activities of the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, on its border.
  • Indonesia – AI have called on the Indonesian Government to halt its plans to execute 5 people by the end of the year.

Urgent Actions

  • Bangladesh – UA283/14 – Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, a leading member of an opposition party, is at imminent risk of execution before being able to lodge an appeal.  Circulated to DPLWG 17.11.14
  • Iraq – UA300/14 – Ahmed Al-Alwani, a former member of Iraq’s Parliament, has been sentenced to death for killing two soldiers, following a trial marred with irregularities.  He has only a month to appeal.  Circulated to DPLWG 28.11.14. (This month’s Group DP Urgent Action)
  • Saudi Arabia – UA 309/09 – Ali Agirdas, convicted of drug trafficking after an unfair trial, was executed on 20th November.  His family learned of this through the media, and the authorities are refusing to release his body to them.  Circulated to DPLWG 28.11.14.
  • USA – Florida – UA 162/14 – the execution of Shane Kormondy has been scheduled for 15th January.  Kormondy was found guilty of the murder of Gary McAdams in 1993.  This would be the 21st execution under the governorship of Rick Scott.

Campaigning

  • Reggie Clemons – there has been no further news.  The Justice for Reggie website has not been updated since August.
Moses Akatugba
Moses Akatugba
  • Moses Akatugba – further cards were signed for Moses at the Amnesty Film Night at the Arts Centre
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Death penalty


#stoptorture #deathpenalty.  The November report on the death penalty is attached thanks to groupNo to the death penalty member Lesley for compiling this.

Death Penalty Report

Don’t forget you can access other sites with a human rights theme from the blog roll at the bottom of this page.

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#Nigeria #stoptorture


Card signing
Card signing

We held a stall in the Library tunnel on Saturday 11 October in aid of the #stoptorture campaign and in particular, to highlight the case of

Moses Akatugba in .  He was arrested for allegedly stealing mobile phones, shot in the hand and tortured by the Nigerian Army.  He has been in prison now for eight years and is on death row awaiting execution.  Torture is routine in Nigeria and it is reported that police stations even have a ‘torture officer’.

We collected 189 signatures in three hours which is a good haul for a difficult subject which has received next to no publicity.  We shall be sending the cards in two batches to the Governor of Delta state in Nigeria where Moses is being held.  We have sent a report of the signing to the Nigerian Embassy in London (see under Update below).

If you would like to know more about this case then you can find it here: Nigeria fact sheet

We are grateful to all those who stopped to sign a card.  The great majority of passers-by did not to sign it has to be noted for

Moses Akatugba
Moses Akatugba

reasons that are never clear or revealed.  155 countries around the world have signed the UN protocol against the use of torture but according to Amnesty International figures, it is still practised in 141 of them. In other words, they sign treaties to end it but continue to use it.

Thanks to all the Salisbury Group’s team for taking part and their help in making this a success: Michael; Jonathan; Andrew; Lesley; Peter; Fiona; Eddie; Cynthia; Tony and Karen.

UPDATE 13 October  Nigerian Embassy letter

Some of the signed cards
Some of the signed cards
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Nigeria


Moses Akatugba
Moses Akatugba

On Saturday 11 October we shall be manning a stall in Salisbury market to highlight the human rights situation in .  In particular, the case of Moses Akatugba who was tortured by Nigerian police to secure a conviction.  He was 16 when arrested, shot in the hand, beaten, and hung in an interrogation room for hours.  Pliers were used to extract his finger and toe nails.  His alleged crime was to steal three mobile phones.  Unfortunately, this ill-treatment is now a commonplace in Nigeria and there are reported to be ‘torture officers’ in police stations.

Executions were resumed in June last year when four men were executed in Benin city.  The bodies were not returned to the families for burial nor is the location of the graves known.

Amnesty has serious concerns about the increasing use of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment in Nigeria.  Recent research by Amnesty indicates that police and military personnel routinely use torture and other ill-treatment to extract confessions and to punish and exhaust detainees.

Nigeria fact sheet (pdf)

You can also read about corruption in Nigeria here: Human Rights Watch: Nigeria

We look forward to seeing you in the market place on 11th.

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