The Return of Judical Corporal Punishment

Geneva. Africa News Service. (World Organization Against Torture/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- The International Secretariat of OMCT has received information on the following situation in Sudan.

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has been informed by the Sudanese Organisation Against Torture (SOAT) of the sentencing of 17 women in Munwashi, who have been tried for adultery, to 100 lashes of the whip each.

According to the information received, between 12 and 20 November 2002, 17 women in Munwashi, a village about 8 kilometers north of Nyala in Darfour, Western Sudan, were convicted of adultery and sentenced to 100 lashes of the whip. The charges of adultery were based solely on the fact that all of the women are unmarried but have children between the ages of 6 and 12 months. The women's names are:

1. Um Alnas Mohamed Ahmed (21) 2. Hanan Abdulrahman Mohamed (19) 3. Hagir Mohamed Ahmed (18) 4. Nimat Abakr Abdelgadir (19) 5. Rasha Bahr Aldin Adam (18) 6. Fatima Abdulla Adam (20) 7. Gada Mosa Hamid (18) 8. Shamael Omar Fadl (22) 9. Hawa Yousif Abdelgadir (18) 10. Fathia Ahmed Abdulrahman (18) 11. Laila Adam Siraj (20) 12. Kaltoum Isam Adam (22) 13. Rawda Abdelgabar Mohamed (20) 14. Zahra Hassan Ali (21) 15. Gadah Abdelgabar (19) 16. Asma Mohamed Ahmed (18) 17. Zakia Altayeb

On 12, 14 and 20 November, the women were tried by Muhaakama Ijaaziya courts, which are reportedly in violation of internationally accepted fair trial standards notably in the way they carry out summary trials. They were tried under Article 146 of Sudan's Penal Code, which states "whoever commits the offence of adultery shall be punished with (a) execution by stoning when the offender is married (mushan), or (b) one hundred lashes of the whip when the offender is not married (non-mushan)." None of the women were given legal representation at their trials and the punishments were all carried out on the same day as the trial, giving the women no opportunity seek legal advice or apply for an appeal. No men were punished in connection with these convictions.

Previously this year, two other women - Abok Alfa Akok (see OMCT Urgent Appeal Case SDN 040102.2 VAW and previous related appeals) and Alawiyah Mohamed Abdullah - were punished with lashes of the whip by the Special Court in Nyala having been charged with adultery. In both cases, the sentence was carried out on the same day as the conviction and no men were charged or punished in connection with the convictions of adultery.

OMCT is deeply concerned by the reports of sentencing to 100 lashes of the aforementioned 17 women convicted of adultery by the court in Nyala and unreservedly condemns the use of corporal punishment, which clearly violates international human rights standards that prohibit the use of torture. OMCT is also gravely concerned by the lack of legal representation given to the women throughout this process and the immediate infliction of punishment with no opportunity for appeal or legal consultation. OMCT would like to recall that the government of Sudan is a State Party to international human rights instruments which prohibit and punish torture including; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Sudan has failed to sign the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, a signal of the government's failure to adequately protect women's rights.

Fujairah, United Arab Emirates (Gulf News) - Nine people were sentenced to various prison terms and ordered to be deported for running a brothel and committing adultery.

The accused are: Nazeer Tarto Rampel, Mohammed Qasim Ahmed, Hirmala Simareedi, Riva Rafa Bashir and Mohammed Shafi Abdullah, all Indians, Mohammed Haroun Fadel and Ruya Salma Khaled, both Bangladeshis, Mohammed Ayyoub Abdul Rasheed, a Pakistani, and Bharbar Nafeesah, a Sri Lankan.

The Sharia Court sentenced Rampel and Ahmed to three years imprisonment and ordered them to be lashed 90 times for running a brothel, exploiting prostitutes, encouraging vices and committing adultery.

Both were also ordered to be lashed 80 times for drinking alcohol at the brothel.

Rampel was fined Dh600 for staying in the country illegally and working for an employer other than his sponsor. Ahmed got an additional six months imprisonment for entering the country illegally.

Ruya Salma Khaled, Hirmala Simareedi and Riva Rafa Basheer were sentenced to three years and 90 lashes for committing adultery and working as prostitutes. They were fined Dh300 each for staying in the country illegally and another Dh300 for working for someone other than their sponsors.

Mohammed Haroun Fadel and Mohammed Ayyoub Abdul Rasheed were sentenced to nine months in jail and 95 lashes each for committing adultery.

Bharbar Nafeesa and Mohammed Shafi Abdullah were sentenced to three months each for committing adultery. The house which served as the brothel was ordered closed down.

In another case, a judge fined three Korean men for drinking alcohol.

Mon Arto Ping, Lim Song Tag and Yang Won were ordered to pay a Dh1,000 fine each, while Ping was also ordered to pay another Dh700 for driving under the influence of alcohol and causing damage to his car.

By a Staff Writer

RIYADH (Arab News) - A court has sentenced a foreign woman to 15 years in jail and 5,000 lashes for running a prostitution ring in Madinah, Al-Eqtisadiah reported yesterday.

The same court sentenced six other women and four men to prison terms ranging between five and 10 years and 1,000 to 3,000 lashes each, after they were caught by the religious police, Al-Eqtisadiah daily said.

The court also ordered the brothel where the men and women, Arabs and Africans, were arrested to be demolished and the land confiscated, while its Saudi owners will be rebuked in public.

According to the ruling, the lashes will be administered over several years.

By Saqr Al-Amri

JEDDAH (Arab News) - A Tabuk summary court has sentenced a habitual car thief to seven years in jail and 1,680 lashes after charges against him were proved beyond doubt. His accomplice, a policeman, received four years and 600 lashes.

Isa Abdullah Al-Ghayth, judge at the summary court told Arab News that "the evidences proved conclusively that the first accused stole 36 cars. The period of punishment will be from the date of his detention. The 1,680 lashes will be meted out in 42 installments with an interval of seven days between two lashing sessions."

The second accused had helped him in 14 thefts. He will be lashed 15 times with 40 strokes each time with an interval of seven days between two bouts of lashes.

The traffic patrol in Tabuk had caught the pair red-handed while driving away a stolen car after having made some alterations. The car was missing for some time and the police were on the lookout for it. On seeing the patrol the suspects sped away but they were stopped and arrested after a long chase.

The first accused denied at the time of inquiry that he had stolen the car and that he was only traveling with the other man. On the contrary, the second accused confessed his involvement with the first accused in the theft of 14 cars from various parts of the city.

The judge explained that the punishments to the two varied because of the difference in the number and degree of crimes committed by each. The first convict refused to repent though he had confessed his offenses earlier, the judge said.

The public prosecutor demanded that the court give deterrent punishments, particularly to the second accused because he was a policeman.

Iranian court sentences 45 to flogging, fines after dancing at birthday party

July 15, 2002

TEHRAN (San Francisco Chronicle) - Police arrested 45 men and women at a birthday party in Tehran where young people were drinking alcohol and dancing, and a court sentenced them to flogging and fines, an official Iranian newspaper reported Monday. Iran, a Farsi-language daily, reported the arrests were made Friday night after a neighbor called police.

The youths, aged 17-26, were held until Sunday, when they were brought before a court on charges of "illegitimate relations, promoting corruption and drinking alcohol." They denied the charges, and apart from a "few organizers," most were released, the newspaper said.

It was not immediately clear whether those released had been flogged and paid fines before being freed.

Judicial officials could not be reached for comment on the newspaper report.

Mixing of the sexes, drinking alcohol and premarital sexual relations are banned under Iran's strict Islamic laws.

Last week, a Tehran court banned an Iranian-American dancer from teaching for life and sentenced him to a 10-year suspended jail term for promoting moral corruption by holding dance classes in the United States. Mohammad Khordadian was arrested after returning to Iran for a visit.

Iranian officials have recently launched a crackdown on "acts of social immorality." Young Iranians driving around with loud music blaring from their car radios have been charged under the social immorality rules. Reformists have protested that "acts of social immorality" have not been clearly defined.

Sweeping social restrictions imposed after the 1979 Islamic revolution have gradually been eased since the election of President Mohammad Khatami in 1997.

After losing control of parliament in February 2000 legislative elections, hard-line followers of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have tried to protect their eroding power by thwarting Khatami's growing reform movement.

June 8, 2002

By A Staff Reporter

RAS AL KHAIMAH (Gulf News, Dubai) - The Sharia Court yesterday sentenced a man and a woman to two months in prison and to be lashed 60 times each on charges of immorality - but the sentence might be dropped because they have agreed to marry each other.

A senior court official said the Public Prosecution earlier levelled charges of immorality and having illicit relationship against four suspects. Two of them were acquitted.

An Indonesian woman, identified as S.W. was arrested on April 15 in a compromising situation. She was then with an Indian national, identified as A.M. They were caught in the house of A.M.'s sponsor.

He said S.W. confessed of having an illicit relationship with the Indian. She also admitted involvement with a Pakistani national, identified as L.A. On the orders of the Public Prosecution, police arrested him.

She confessed to having had an illicit relationship with the Pakistani, who has been sneaking into the house at night. She said L.A. cut off his relationship with her for a Filipina housemaid, also living in the house of her sponsor.

S.W. told the court that L.A. was involved with the Filipina housemaid for a long time.

During investigations L.A. denied any kind of relationship with S.W. He also claimed that he did not know the Filipina housemaid.

The Filipina housemaid was also arrested and questioned. She did not recognise L.A. and did not admit to any kind of relationship with him.

Not finding any proof or evidence against the two, except for the claims of S.W., the court acquitted them.

In order to spare himself the penalty, A.M submitted a petition in the Sharia Court proposing to marry S.W.

He told the court he was ready to be deported from the country if he was spared the prison sentence and the lashes.

The court accepted the petition of A.M. and told him in the event of marriage to S.W., all the charges against him will be dropped.

When the court asked S.W., she accepted the marriage proposal but refused to be deported. She said she wanted to stay in the UAE and continue her work.

LONDON (BBC News Online) - The United Nations Committee against Torture has criticised Saudi Arabia over the amputations and floggings it carries out under Sharia Islamic law.

At a meeting in Geneva, the committee said such penalties violated international conventions against cruel and degrading treatment.

The criticism was presented to Saudi delegates who immediately rejected it, saying Sharia law expressly forbade torture.

All signatories to the Geneva conventions are required to inform the committee about their records in upholding international laws on the treatment of prisoners.

Long-established practice

The BBC correspondent in Switzerland, Imogen Foulkes, says it is perhaps not surprising that Saudi Arabia came in for criticism, given its well-known policy of corporal punishment.

But the Saudi delegation in Geneva said it could not accept interference in its legal system, aspects of which have been practised in the region for more than 1,400 years, it said.

The committee dismissed Saudi protestations that Shari law expressly prohibited torture, pointing out that if this was the case it was not reflected in Saudi Arabia's domestic law.

The human rights group Amnesty International issued a major report on Saudi Arabia in 2000.

It said the kingdom was guilty of widespread human rights abuses, with the silent consent of western powers which are reliant on Saudi oil.

Amnesty said the criminal justice system facilitated torture - often to extract confessions and enforce discipline - while lack of judicial supervision, denial of access to relatives, doctors and lawyers leave prisoners extremely vulnerable to abuse.

Expat jailed for stealing medicines

JEDDAH (By Saqr Al-Amri - Arab News Staff) - A Shariah court in Jeddah has sentenced an expatriate worker to 18 months jail and 750 lashes for stealing medicines from the Health Ministry's warehouse, according to Dr. Samir Lingawi, director of health in Jeddah. He said the Pakistani, an air-conditioner mechanic, entered the warehouse in the morning under the pretext of fixing a technical problem. Authorities questioned the man when they found considerable shortage in stocks. Officials later seized a large quantity of medicines from the expatriate's possession.

Sharia: Woman Gets 100 Strokes Over Pregnancy

LAGOS (This Day) - A 19-year-old woman from Zaki local government area of Bauchi State, Adama Yunusa, who dragged her fiancé, Isa Katagum, before a sharia court over unwanted pregnancy, would receive 100 strokes for indulging in immoral act.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that a Bauchi Sharia court of appeal, sitting in Bauchi, passed the judgment on Yunusa because she reported herself to the authority for committing fornication.

She went to court with the case. According to the reports, when she was already pregnant for four months, and her failure to produce four eyewitnesses, who could confirm that they had seen Katagum having sex with her turned her into the accused.

The three judges who decided Yunusa's fate, Khadis Abdullahi Maraga, Abdu Azare and Aminu Usman upheld the ruling of the Katagum upper Sharia court, which prescribed the punishment, but said the accused should not be banished from the area.

The judgment also stipulated that the punishment, which must be effected after Yunusa had delivered her baby in about four months, should be done publicly at Zaki, moderately because she is a female, adding that this would serve as a deterrent to others in line with Islamic rites.

Yunusa had earlier sued Katagum for impregnating her and refusing to marry her, but he was let off the hook for lack of evidence.

Katagun had denied the allegations, saying he never had any sexual intercourse with the complainant.

Pressure on Saudis as Briton faces 800 lashes

LONDON (By Richard Eden - Daily Telegraph) - The Foreign Office said yesterday that it was applying diplomatic pressure on Saudi Arabia to commute a sentence of 800 lashes and eight years in jail for a Briton accused of running an illegal drinking den.

Gary O'Nions, a 56-year-old businessman, was also fined £400,000 at the sentencing, which British officials did not know had taken place until the next day.

Though it would be the first reported flogging of a Briton in Saudi Arabia since 1985, it is believed that one Briton was among several Westerners flogged - with a bamboo stick - during the last year.

"We believe that corporal punishment is a violation of human rights and we have made that clear to the Saudi Arabian authorities on a number of occasions," said a Foreign Office spokesman. It has also requested that the Saudi authorities give officials prior warning of any court appearances by Britons.

O'Nions, who was born in London, is understood to be planning an appeal but he may face a harsher sentence if he does so. His family described the sentence as brutal and unfair. "I'm absolutely devastated," said his wife, Mary. "He's done nothing to warrant such an outrageous sentence.

"He was not even allowed a lawyer. We just sit back and let the Saudis do what they want. Gary is still in solitary: he can't write letters or make phone calls and he doesn't know what happens next. He can't pay that sort of fine."

The Saudis claimed that O'Nions's Empire Club in the capital, Riyadh, was the most successful drinking club in the kingdom. British troops serving in the Gulf war helped build the club, which was popular with foreign diplomats and expatriates.

O'Nions fled to Dubai in the summer of 2000 after the premises were raided and the club was closed down. He was extradited to Saudi Arabia in March last year and his wife was also held for a time.

Flogging is regularly imposed in Saudi Arabia for offences related to alcohol, theft or the breaking of the country's strict moral codes. Anything from 50 to several thousand lashes are inflicted in public squares or prisons.

A sentence of 800 lashes is usually administered in stages. In the case of the harshest flogging recorded by Amnesty International - an Egyptian sentenced to 4,000 lashes for robbery in 1990 - the punishment was reportedly implemented at 50 strokes every two weeks. After each beating, the man was left with bruised and bleeding buttocks, unable to sit for three or four days afterwards.

Avan Wadia, spokesman for Prisoners Abroad, said it was shocked at the severity of O'Nions's sentence. "This is extremely harsh," she said. "I can only imagine that it was increased because he fled the country."

She expressed alarm at the claim by Mrs O'Nions that her husband had been refused access to a lawyer and kept in solitary confinement. The group had been in contact with the Foreign Office to try to ensure that his rights were respected.

Five other Britons face the death penalty for their alleged involvement in a campaign to plant bombs as part of a dispute between rival bootleggers.

Christopher Rodway, a British businessman, was killed by a car bomb in one of the attacks, in Riyadh, in November 2000, which also maimed six other expatriate workers.

The British nurse Lucille McLauchlan was sentenced to 500 lashes and eight years in jail as an accessory to the murder of Yvonne Gilford by their colleague Deborah Parry in 1996. Parry was sentenced to death, but they were freed after King Fahd commuted the sentences to the 17 months they had served.

Sharia Court Orders Housewife to Pay Mate N50,000

ABUJA (Daily Traust) - A Sharia court in Kayan Maradun, Zamfara State, has ordered a housewife, Luba Mainasara, to pay N50,000 as compensation to her mate, Inno Mainasara, for beating her with a pestle.

Delivering judgement yesterday in Kayan Maradun, in Maradun Local Government Area of the state, the judge, Alhaji Sani Mohammed, sentenced Luba to 20 strokes of the cane and a fine of N3,000, in addition.

Mohammed said the convict got the severe punishment because she confessed that she committed the offence.

He advised Luba to fear God always and desist from committing such an un-Islamic act.

Noose tightens on drug runners

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (by Liza Mohamad, Borneo Bulletin). In a further attempt to curb the scourge of drug menace, Brunei has intensified the deterrent with stiffer penalties against offenders.

Foremost among these is the imposition of death penalty to anyone caught trafficking or smuggling more than 50 grammes of methylamphetamine, locally known as Syabu.

Effective February 2002, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam has consented to amend the laws against drug offences.

Before the amendment, the law stated that if anyone was caught trafficking or smuggling more than 200 grammes of Syabu he/she will face death penalty.

But in order to protect the country from drugs, His Majesty has pronounced that anyone caught trafficking or smuggling more than 50 grammes of Syabu now will face the gallows.

That is a massive 150 grammes drop from the previous provision of law under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Fifty grammes of Syabu used to be the minimum quantity for any trafficker or smuggler to earn a minimum sentence of 20 years in jail and 15 strokes of the rattan.

However, His Majesty has pronounced that 20 grammes of Syabu would now be the minimum quantity enough to call for a minimum jail sentence of 20 years and 15 strokes of the rattan.

Before, trafficking less than 50 grammes of Syabu called for a minimum sentence of 5 years in jail and 5 strokes of the rattan.

Observing drug traffickers who have been brought to court over these years, the quantity of 20 to 50 grammes looks a routine affair.

Anyone who is caught possessing more than 100 grammes of Syabu for the purpose of trafficking would be sent to the gallows, the new law provided.

That is a 150 grammes drop from the previous provision of law that stated anyone caught possessing more than 250 grammes faced death penalty.

The recent case would be when the High Court imposed a minimum sentence of 20 years in jail and 15 strokes of the rattan on two security guards who were caught delivering more than 100 grammes of Syabu for the purpose of trafficking. If they were to face the charges now, the High Court would have no choice but to impose a death sentence against them.

There has also been a 50-gramme reduction for the court to impose a minimum sentence of 20 years in jail and 15 strokes of the rattan against anyone caught possessing a minimum amount of 40 grammes of Syabu for the purpose of trafficking. The sentence of the mentioned offence used to carry a minimum jail term of 5 years and 5 strokes of the rattan.

Its is hoped the strict amendments, which took effect from February 2 this year, would deter the public from committing drug activities.

The Narcotics Control Bureau has informed the public many times regarding the risk of drug abuses and threat it poses to the peace of the country.

The NCB has advised the public to cooperate with the government in helping them to provide information straight to them relating to drug activities in Brunei.

S. Arabia Man to Get 4,750 Lashes

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (Washington Post) - A Saudi court has sentenced a man to six years in prison and 4,750 lashes for having sex with his wife's sister, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The woman involved in the case was sentenced to six months in jail and 65 lashes, the paper Al-Eqtisadiah reported, though the court found she had not consented to the relationship. She had also reported the affair to the police.

Having a relationship with one's in-law is considered a serious offense under the strict Islamic judicial code that Saudi Arabia follows.

The court, in the port city of Jiddah, ordered that the lashes be administered to the man at a rate of 95 at a time.

Lashes are often handed out by Saudi courts, although rarely in such large numbers.

The court also ruled he was not eligible for a pardon "because of the ugliness and seriousness of his crime."

Forum on drug abuse held in school

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (by June Ong, Borneo Bulletin). Secondary Three students from the Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College attended a forum on drug abuse with ample time allocated for a question and answer session.

Students looking at anti-smoking brochures and literature.

A demonstration of how caning is carried out

The forum had been organised by the counselling and guidance department of the Ministry of Education in collaboration with various government units, namely, the Narcotics Control Bureau, Royal Brunei Police Force, Ministry of Health, Drug Rehabilitation Centre and the Prison Department.

The aim of the forum was to educate students with regards to the effects and consequences of misusing drugs. Statistics have clearly shown that teenagers are not exempted from misusing drugs.

The highlight of the event came was when the students were given a demonstration of how a caning as a punishment is conducted.

The demonstration was conducted using a dummy. Pictures of 'bleeding bottoms' were also shown to the audience.

During the break, a mini-exhibition with billboards, brochures and pamphlets was held to teach the students to stay away from drugs as well as bad activities such as smoking.

JEDDAH (By Saeed Al-Abyad, Arab News Staff) - The Court of Grievances has sentenced a female jailer to 18 months in jail and 300 lashes for managing a brothel.

She was also found guilty of causing a 33-year-old female colleague to be away from her family and work for four days without their knowledge.

Police mounted a search for the jailer’s colleague and took several suspects into custody. Subsequent investigations revealed that the jailer was involved in "immoral activities", and had been responsible for leading the missing woman astray.

The woman herself admitted that she had been in the company of the jailer during her absence.

The court ordered that the female jailer be terminated from her employment once she completed her prison term.

Amended penal code endorsed by FNC

(extracts)

DUBAI (by Muawia E. Ibrahim, Khaleej Times). The Federal National Council (FNC) has endorsed the amended penal code of the country. Amendments to the Federal Law No. (3) for 1987 included 33 articles some of which stipulated more rigorous penalties, while others moderated punishments stipulated in the current law. Three additional articles have been incorporated in the law.

The law was approved by the house at its session on Tuesday, which was chaired by Speaker Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Habtoor, after a marathon debate. Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Auqaf Mohammed Nakhira Al Dhahiri clarified amendments made by the government to the house and answered questions by members of the council.

Under the new law, the punishment for homicide is life imprisonment in accordance with Article 332, but the punishment can be elevated to a death sentence if the crime is premeditated, connected to another crime, committed against a public official while discharging his/her duty, or one in which a poisonous substance is used. The perpetrator will get a jail term of not less than one year even if the guardians of the victim agree to pardon.

Article 85 stipulates that a suspension or revocation of an execution order, can also be nullified by the court if the accused commits a premeditated crime and receives a jail sentence of more than two months, or a sentence by flogging. The execution order can also be nullified at the request of the prosecutor if the accused had earlier received a sentence, about which the court issuing the suspension of execution order was unaware.

In Article 147, the law states that unless clearly stated, the court can pardon an accused if the misdemeanor is tantamount to a scuffle during which the parties involved exchanged assaults and sustained minor injuries, or when the complainant offers a pardon. The articles makes it clear that the judge cannot grant a pardon in instances or crimes involving slandering and alcohol consumption.

The amended Article No. 91 concerning punishment for criminals who committed a number of crimes stipulates that Ta'zeer (rebuke) slashes should not exceed 200. In another articles, the legislation stipulates that if the original punishment for the crime is Ta'zeer slashes, the court can increase the maximum penalty or sentence the culprit for a jail term of a minimum of six months. The amended Article No. 106 regarding repeated crimes reduced from five years to three the imprisonment term for anyone sentenced for a six-month jail term or more and commits a misdemeanour before completing three years after the end of the original punishment.

Rob Miller

Part 4:

ACTUAL 2002