29 September 2006
Urgent Action 260/06 Imminent Execution
INDIA Mohammad Afzal (m)
Mohammad Afzal is due to be hanged on 20 October 2006 in Tihar jail, Delhi.
He was sentenced to death in December 2002 after being convicted of
conspiracy to attack the Parliament of India, waging war against India and
murder. A charge of being a member of a terrorist organization was dropped
by the Supreme Court for lack of evidence.
The date for his execution was confirmed by a sessions court, a city court
that handles criminal cases inside city limits, on 26 September 2006. The
order issued by the court, known as a black warrant, stated that Mohammad
Afzal "hang by neck till death" on 0600 hours on October 20, 2006. A
mercy petition is due to be filed on Tuesday, 3 October. The sentence,
initially awarded on 18 December 2002, was confirmed by the Supreme Court on
4 August 2005. The Supreme Court judge when confirming the death sentence
asserted that, "The collective conscience of the society will be satisfied
only if death penalty is awarded to Mohammad Afzal."
On 13 December 2001 five men carried out an armed attack on the Parliament
complex building as the Parliament was in session. In the ensuing gun battle
between the attackers and police, which lasted for approximately an hour,
all of the armed attackers, eight police personnel and a gardener working in
the complex were killed and 16 others, including a press photographer, were
injured.
In the following days four Kashmiris, Mohammad Afzal, Syed Abdur Rahman
Geelani, an Arabic lecturer in a New Delhi college, Shaukat Hussain Guru and
his wife, Afsan Guru, were arrested. They were charged with conspiring,
planning and abetting the attack under the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance
(POTO), which was later replaced by the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).
On 18 December 2002 Syed Abdur Rahman Geelani, Mohammad Afzal and Shaukat
Hussain Guru received death sentences. Afsan Guru was sentenced to five
years rigorous imprisonment. All were sentenced by a special court
designated under the POTA. The POTA, which was repealed by the Government of
India in September 2004 on the grounds that it had been misused, falls
considerably short of international fair trial standards. On 19 December
2002, Amnesty International condemned the death sentences and said that
justice is never served by judicial murder (see AI Index: ASA
20/024/2002).
In October 2003 the Delhi High Court heard the appeal against the
convictions and acquitted Syed Geelani and Afsan Guru of all charges for
lack of evidence, while confirming the other death sentences. On 4 August
2005 the Supreme Court upheld the verdict of the Delhi High Court,
acquitting both Afsan Guru and Syed Geelani and modifying the death sentence
imposed on Shaukat Hussain Guru to ten years of rigorous imprisonment. They
confirmed the death sentence on Mohammad Afzal under the Indian Penal Code.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
More than half the countries of the world have now abolished the death
penalty in law and many others have abolished it in practice. This worldwide
trend is reflected in the statutes of the International Criminal Court, the
Yugoslavia and the Rwanda Criminal Tribunals, which completely reject the
death penalty including for crimes against humanity and genocide. The right
to life is an inalienable human right - accorded equally to every individual
regardless of their identity or actions.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
· Expressing sympathy for the relatives of those killed in the attack on
the Indian Parliament complex in December 2001 and explaining that you are
not looking to downplay the seriousness of the crimes or the suffering
caused to the victims;
· Urging the President to commute the death sentence to a more humane
alternative;
· Expressing unconditional opposition to the death penalty as a violation
of the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment, and emphasizing that the death penalty
has never been shown to be a more effective deterrent than other (more
humane) forms of punishment;
· Highlighting to the Government of India that Amnesty International
acknowledges that the Indian government has the right and the obligation to
ensure law and order and to protect citizens from violent crime. However, in
the attempt to curb "terrorism", governments must not relegate human rights
protection to second place;
· Urging the President of India to ensure that security concerns do not
override respect for human rights.
APPEALS TO:
President:
His Excellency A P J Abdul Kalam
Office of the President
Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi 110 004 India
Fax: 011 91 11 2301 7290
Email: presidentofindia@rb.nic.in
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Shivraj V. Patil
Minister of Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
Room no. 104
North Block
New Delhi 110 001 India
Fax: 011 91 11 2309 4221
Justice Anand
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Faridkot House
Copernicus Marg
New Delhi-110001 India
Fax: 011 91 11 2338 4863
Ambassador Ranendra Sen
Embassy of India
2107 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 483 3972
Please send appeals immediately. Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office
if sending appeals after 20 October 2006.
Home