UN narcotics agency questioned over support for Saudi drugs executions

UN support for Saudi counter-narcotics policing has been questioned in light of figures which show that around half of the country’s 48 executions so far this year have been for drugs offences.

Legal charity Reprieve has unearthed a 2013 UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) document which states that it “agreed to cooperation with the [Saudi] General Directorate of Narcotics Control on drug control- related matters, including support to law enforcement efforts to combat illicit drug trafficking”.

As Saudi Arabia imposes the death penalty for non-violent drug offences, Reprieve has written to UNODC asking what, if any, safeguards it has put in place to ensure that cooperation with the country on counter-narcotics policing does not contribute to executions. Publicly-available reports analysed by Reprieve suggest that around half of the 48 executions Saudi Arabia has carried out so far in 2015 alone were for drugs offences.

Reprieve is also asking major funders of the UNODC – including the UK and other European states – to raise with it concerns over the contribution of its programmes to the death penalty in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan.

A letter sent by Reprieve to the UNODC’s Chief Executive, Yuri Fedotov, in February this year raising these concerns asks:

• Whether the UNODC made any assessment of the human rights implications – particularly in relation to the death penalty – before agreeing to provide counter-narcotics enforcement assistance to Saudi Arabia;
• Whether any assurances or measures were sought from the Saudi government to protect human right, either before or after UNODC agreed to provide assistance;
• What assistance to Saudi Arabia of this nature UNODC is currently providing, and whether – in light of the recent executions for drugs offences – it intends to re-consider its provision of counter-narcotics law enforcement support in Saudi Arabia in the future.

UNODC’s response, received on 18 March, does not answer any of these questions. Despite stating that “we do not have a programme of assistance on counter-narcotics law enforcement” with Saudi Arabia, it fails to explain the apparent contradiction between this and the agreement set out in the 2013 document.

Maya Foa, Director of Reprieve’s death penalty team said: “2015 has seen Saudi Arabia is carrying out executions at an alarming rate – around half of which appear to be for non-violent drugs offences. This must ring alarm bells for those supporting counter-narcotics policing in the Kingdom. The UNODC must stop helping countries like Saudi Arabia send ever greater numbers to the swordsman’s blade. And Britain’s Home Office, as one of UNODC’s biggest donors, can no longer remain silent on this issue. Theresa May must urgently raise this matter with UNODC, and come clean over how British money may be supporting executions carried out by some of the world’s most abusive regimes.”

Source: Reprieve, March 21, 2015

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Iran: 2 more hanged in public

Public hanging in Iran (file photo)

2 men have been hanged in public in the Iranian city of Jiroft ahead of the regime's New Year celebrations.

The executions were carried out using a crane and mechanical fork loader in one of the city's main squares, with armed men guarding from rooftops around the area.

The death sentences took place on the day after Fire Festival - known as Charshanbeh Souri - used by many Iranians to defy the clerical regime.

Fearing of public protests, prior to the Fire Festival, a senior cleric described it as 'religiously forbidden' and warned people about 'crossing God's red lines'.

In Tehran, people lit bonfires in public places, set off fireworks and launched wish lanterns as part of an annual ritual.

Elsewhere, people threw portraits of the regime's Supreme Leader into fire and chanted 'death to the dictator'.

The Iranian opposition and international rights groups have repeatedly stated that the regime is using public hangings as a way of suppressing public protests by inspiring fear in society.

Source: NCR-Iran, March 19, 2015

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Saudi Arabia: A Pakistani and two Saudis beheaded

Darkness at noon : Public beheading in Saudi Arabia

March 17, 2015: Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani and two Saudis, bringing to 48 the number of death sentences carried out this year. 

That is more than half of the 87 people executed during all of 2014.

Pakistani national Mumtaz Hussein Deen Ahmed was executed in Medina after his conviction for smuggling heroin, the interior ministry said.

Najr bin Farajal Azmial Otaibi, a Saudi, was put to death in the city of Taif for stoning and caning to death another man.

Another Saudi, Moeid bin Ali bin Moeidal Saadal Qahtani, was beheaded in Eastern Province for gunning down a man.

The ministry added that the execution of both Saudis was delayed until the children of their victims came of age to decide whether the sentences should be carried out. 

Source: Agence France-Presse, March 17, 2015

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Iran drug executions 'funded by Europe' under new UN deal

Medieval punishments: public hanging in Iran

European funds could help send drug mules to their deaths in Iran if a new funding deal is completed by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The UNODC is currently negotiating a new five-year funding agreement for Iran’s Anti-Narcotics Police (ANP), despite warnings that those arrested in the ANP’s raids are frequently sentenced to death. UNODC chief Yury Fedotov travelled to Iran last month to pledge that a deal would be finalised “in the next two months”, adding that “no country can compete with Iran when it comes to the amount of narcotics discovered and seized.”

Mr Fedotov's words came as reports suggested a surge in the number of drug offenders being hanged in Iran, with at least 141 reportedly hanged in the first two months of the year.

Research by the human rights organization Reprieve has found that at least EUR15 million in European support can be directly linked to the arrests and hangings of thousands of people – including women, children, and a number of European nationals. In one 2014 case, a 15-year old Afghan boy, Jannat Mir, was hanged for allegedly moving heroin across the Afghan/Iranian border, during a period in which the UNODC was overseeing a EUR 5 million border operation.

Denmark, Ireland, and the UK have recently withdrawn their support for UNODC programmes in Iran, but European states including France continue to contribute, providing the ANP with training, border posts, and equipment.

The UNODC’s own human rights guidance advises that if executions for drug related offences continue, the body should “employ a temporary freeze or withdrawal of support”.

Maya Foa, director of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said: “Iran has hanged more than a hundred so-called drug offenders this year, and the UN has responded by praising the efficiency of the Iranian drug police and lining them up a generous five-year funding deal. The lion’s share of this funding is set to come from European governments, who continue to condemn the death penalty while funding drug raids where those caught are hanged from cranes in public.

“This is a costly and untenable hypocrisy, and the time has come for European countries to make their counternarcotics assistance strictly conditional on the states which receive it abolishing the death penalty for drug offences”.

Reprieve’s 2014 report into European funding and executions for drug offences in Iran and Pakistan can be read here.

Source: Reprieve, March 19, 2015

UN to fund Iran anti-drugs programme despite executions of offenders

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime criticised for planning new 5-year aid deal with Tehran, which continues to use death penalty for narcotics offences

The UN anti-drug agency is finalising a multimillion-dollar funding package, including European money, for Iran's counter-narcotics trafficking programmes, despite the country's high execution rate of drug offenders.

Iranian authorities have hanged at least 2 people a day this year for drug offences, according to the human rights group Reprieve, which works for the abolition of death penalty.

Ahmed Shaheed, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, also warned this week that the Islamic republic continues to execute more people per capita than any country. At least 753 people were hanged last year in Iran, of whom more than 1/2 were drug offenders.

Reprieve and a number of other organisations have repeatedly urged the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to stop funding Iran's anti-narcotics campaign until Tehran ends its use of capital punishment for drug-related offences.

But despite their concerns, the UNODC is agreeing a new 5-year deal with Iranian officials. Reprieve says its research shows that millions of dollars of support to Iran can be directly linked to the arrest and execution of thousands of people, including children. Iran has a notorious record of juvenile executions.

"Iran has hanged more than a hundred so-called drug offenders this year, and the UN has responded by praising the efficiency of the Iranian drug police and lining them up a generous 5-year funding deal," said Maya Foa, strategic director of Reprieve's death penalty team.

The UNODC seems to be isolated and out of step with other UN agencies----Danny Kushlick, Transform Drug Policy Foundation

"The lion's share of this funding is set to come from European governments, who continue to condemn the death penalty while funding drug raids where those caught are hanged from cranes in public," she said. "This is a costly and untenable hypocrisy, and the time has come for European countries to make their counter-narcotics assistance strictly conditional on the states which receive it abolishing the death penalty for drug offences."

The UNODC confirmed to the Guardian that it was finalising a country partnership programme with Iran. The agency, however, refused to reveal which countries were contributing to the upcoming aid package.

"The funding is provided for two distinct areas," said David Dadge of the UNODC. "The first is that we are strengthening the capacities to interdict the illicit drugs but the country partnership programme also has a very strong social component. The focus is on prevention and treatment and that's got the support of numerous NGOs as well."

Faced with human rights concerns, an increasing number of European countries have stopped funding the Iranian campaign, including the UK, Denmark and Ireland. France and Norway continue to fund, Reprieve said, but it was not clear if other countries that have previously given money, such as Italy, Norway and Belgium, were part of the new deal.

Iran is a neighbour to Afghanistan, a leading producer and supplier of the world's drugs, and faces big challenges at home with a young population susceptible to a variety of cheap and abundant addictive drugs. Critics, however, say Iran's use of death penalty in this regard has done little, if anything, to address the issue.

Reprieve, which has monitored Iran's anti-drugs behaviour closely, said a 15-year-old Afghan boy, identified as Jannat Mir, was hanged in 2014 for allegedly moving heroin across the border from Afghanistan to Iran.

During the period the Afghan national was in Iranian custody, the UNODC was co-funding a $5.4m (3.6m pounds) project that included providing Iran with training to officers and drug detection dogs and vehicles, Reprieve said.

Danny Kushlick from the UK-based Transform Drug Policy Foundation said the application of the death penalty is the result of the policy of the global drug war that, he added, serves to dehumanise all those involved in the trade and use of prohibited drugs.

"The UNODC seems to be isolated and out of step with other UN agencies," he said. "It is the responsibility of all member states to reassert the UN principles of security, development and human rights as the foundation of all programmes emerging from the UN."

Source: The Guardian, March 19, 2015

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Iran: 5 prisoners including 3 Afghans hanged

Public execution in Iran (file photo)

At least 5 men, including 3 citizens of Afghanistan, were hanged in 2 prisons in Iran over the past weekend.

Farshid Jaafari was hanged on Sunday in Adelabad Prison in the city of Shiraz. He had been sentenced to death for drug-related offences.

A group of 4 prisoners, including 3 citizens of Afghanistan, were hanged on Saturday in the central prison in the city of Zahedan in southeastern Iran.

The Afghans - Seyed Alam Ozbak, 26, Nasimollah Ozbak, 25, and Soltan Ozbak, 30, - were hanged along with a 60-year-old Iranian man.

Some 1,400 individuals have been executed in Iran under Hassan Rouhani. The victims included political prisoners, women, juvenile offenders and citizens of Afghanistan.

The U.N.'s special investigator on Iran said on Monday that the human rights situation and repression of Iranian women and activists has worsened since Hassan Rouhani became president in 2013.

Dr. Ahmed Shaheed said in Geneva on Monday: "in my view the overall situation has worsened, as indicated by the surge in executions."

He lamented that Iran executes more people per capita than any other country in the world.

"There is a lot of concern amongst the Iranian society that the nuclear file may be casting a shadow over the human rights discussion," Shaheed told the news briefing.

Mr. Shaheed, a Muslim and former foreign minister of the Maldives, has not been allowed to visit Iran since taking up the independent post.

Source: NCR-Iran, March 17, 2015

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New Saudi execution takes year's tally to 45

Public execution in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH: A man convicted of murder was beheaded in the Saudi capital on Monday, amid a steep rise in the number of executions in the ultra-conservative Gulf kingdom this year.

The beheading of Saad bin Abdullah al-Jadid, who had shot dead fellow Saudi Abdullah bin Faraj al-Gahtani, took to 45 the number of executions since Jan. 1, according to an AFP count.

His execution was reported by the official SPA news agency, citing an interior ministry statement.

Rights group Amnesty International says the country has regularly been among the world's top five executioners and is "well on track" to far exceed previous annual records for executions.

Saudi Arabia has carried out around 80 executions annually since 2011, with 87 recorded last year by AFP.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery, homosexuality and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's version of Islamic law.

Source: Agence France-Presse, March 16, 2015

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2,052 Executions For Drug-Offences in the Last 5 years in Iran

Darkness at Noon: Public execution in Iran

According to a report published by Iran Human Rights (IHR) at least 2052 people charged with drug-related offences, have been executed by the Iranian authorities in the period of 2010-2014.

During the past 5 years, drug-related charges have counted for the majority of executions in Iran.[1] Based on death penalty reports, at least 2052 people have been executed for drug-related charges since 2010 in Iran. In 2013, there was a relative decrease in the number of drug-related executions compared to the previous 3 years. However, the decrease didn't continue. In 2014, at least 367 people were executed for such charges. 123 of these executions were announced by the official sources.

Iranian authorities claim that many of those sentenced to death for drug-related charges are involved in organized, armed smuggling. However, there is a general lack of transparency in the Iranian judicial system and all those convicted for drug-related charges have been tried by the Revolution Courts behind closed doors, and most of those executed are not identified by name. Human rights groups have received many reports on unfair trials and confessions under torture. An example is Saeed Sedighi[2] who was executed in October 2012 despite calls from the UN Special Rapporteurs to halt the execution.[3] Furthermore, many of those executed belonged to the most marginalized parts of society.REF

The international fight against drug trafficking and executions

The United Nations' Office for Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) has cooperated with Iran in the fight against drug trafficking for the past decades. Several European states have provided millions of dollars worth of support through UNODC to counter-narcotics forces in Iran. A recent report by Reprieve provides a direct link between the UNODC funding and thousands of executions in Iran.[4],[5] Together with several other right groups, IHR and ECPM have urged the UNODC on several occasions to freeze its counter-narcotic funding[6],[7] to Iran or condition it to a stop in drug-related executions. Several countries such as Denmark, Ireland[8] and the UK have stopped their counter-narcotic aid to the UNODC programs in Iran. However, the UNODC continues praising Iranian authorities for their efficient struggle against trafficking without taking into account the several hundred who are executed every year for such charges in Iran. Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told reporters that "Iran takes a very active role to fight against illicit drugs," [9] before an international meeting on global efforts to combat narcotics in Vienna on March 13-14. "It is very impressive," Fedotov said referring to the reports showing that in 2012, Iran seized 388 tons of opium, the equivalent of 72 percent of all such seizures around the world. Commenting on Mr. Fedotov's praise of Iran's fight against drugs, IHR spokesperson Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: "The amount of seized drugs is the only positive result UNODC and the Iranian authorities can present. But there is no evidence that the UNODC cooperation with Iran has led to a decrease in drug trafficking. Besides, UNODC cannot be indifferent to the indiscriminate execution of hundreds of prisoners under the pretext of fighting the drug trafficking. UNODC must take its share of responsibility." [10]

Although there has not been a significant reduction in the number of executions for drug-related charges, the growing international attention seems to have some impact on the Iranian authorities' rhetoric regarding this issue.

Change in the Anti-Narcotic Law: a change in rhetoric or practice?

In previous years, Iranian authorities proudly presented the high number of executions for drug offences as a sign of their efficient struggle against international drug trafficking. As late as March 2014, referring to the drug-related executions, Javad Larijani, head of the Iranian Judiciary's "Human Rights Council" said: "We expect the world to be grateful for this great service to humanity". He continued: "Unfortunately, instead of celebrating Iran, international organizations see the increased number of executions caused by Iran's assertive confrontation with drugs as a vehicle for human rights attacks on the Islamic Republic of Iran." [11],[12]

However, the rhetoric has clearly changed in the last months of 2014. On December 4, in an English-language interview with France 24, Javad Larijani said, "No one is happy to see that the number of executions is high." Javad Larijani continued, "We are crusading to change this law. If we are successful, if the law passes in Parliament, almost 80% of the executions will go away.[13] This is big news for us, regardless of Western criticism." Interestingly, his statement was published also by the state-run Fars News Agency.[14]

This has been echoed by the judiciary. Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, Javad Larijani's brother and the head of Iran's Judiciary, addressed the need to change the country's drug laws. During a December 2 meeting of judiciary officials, he said, "On the issue of drugs and trafficking, it seems necessary that we need a change in the legislation because the ultimate goal of the law should be implementing justice, while in reality, this goal is often not realized".[15],[16]

Based on these statements, one can conclude that the Iranian authorities have at least publicly admitted that the executions have not been an efficient mean in the fight against drug trafficking.

However, it remains to be seen to what extent these statements represent a real willingness for policy change and are not just a change of rhetoric by the Iranian authorities. Iran's response to the UPR recommendations regarding the drug-related executions will be indicative of where Iran is heading.

UPR Recommendations on drug-related executions:

Several countries have recommended Iran to respect the ICCPR, which restricts the death penalty for the most serious offences. Below are the recommendations that directly mention the drug-related executions.

• Amend the Penal Code to exclude drug-trafficking related crimes from those punished by the death penalty (Spain);
• Consider introducing a moratorium on the death penalty, with a view to its abolition, in particular for drug-related offences and other crimes that cannot be labelled as "most serious" according to international standards (Italy);

-----

[1] http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/090/2011/en/0564f064-e965-4fad-b062-6de232a08162/mde130902011en.pdf
[2] http://iranhr.net/2012/10/urgent-saeed-sedighi-and-several-other-prisoners-scheduled-to-be-executed-tomorrow-ihr-urges-un-and-eu-to-react-now/
[3] http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12688&LangID=E
[4] European Aid for Executions - Reprieve, 2014
[5] Daily mail, Special report, 14. December 2014
[6] http://iranhr.net/2014/12/human-rights-groups-urge-un-to-freeze-funding-of-iran-counter-narcotic-efforts/
[7] http://iranhr.net/2012/10/rights-groups-urge-un-to-cease-anti-drug-trafficking-funding-iran-death-penalty/
[8] http://www.thejournal.ie/ireland-iran-drugs-1166152-Nov2013/
[9] http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/11/uk-iran-drugs-un-idUKBREA2A0PA20140311
[10] http://iranhr.net/2014/03/despite-328-executions-for-drug-related-charges-in-2013-unodc-praises-irans-drug-fight/
[11] http://www.tasnimnews.com/Home/Single/302871
[12] http://www.iranhumanrights.org/2014/03/larijani-executions/
[13] Mohammad Javad Larijani's interview with France24, December 4, 2014
[14] http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=13930914000637
[15] http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=13930912000412
[16] http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/12/iran-end-death-penalty-drug-cases.html#

Source: Iran Human Rights, March 16, 2015

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Saudi Arabia: Three men executed for drug trafficking

March 11, 2015: Three people were beheaded in Saudi Arabia for drug trafficking.

Hammud Hajuri from Yemen and Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi national, were executed in the province of Jizan after being convicted of smuggling amphetamines and hashish into the kingdom.

In a separate case, Fadi Abdulrazzaq, a Syrian national, was executed in the province of Jawf for smuggling amphetamines.

These executions bring the total to 43 so far this year. That is four times the number of people executed in the Gulf Kingdom during the same period last year – 11.

Around half of the executions carried out so far this year were for drug-related offences. 

Sources: ibtimes.com and presstv.ir, March 11, 2015

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France identifies man, boy in Daesh killing video as citizens

"Cubs of the Caliphate" - The boy in the video is shown
shooting a Palestinian in the head for "being a Mossad agent."

Paris: A man and a boy featured in an Daesh propaganda video that threatens Jews and shows the killing of a Palestinian have been identified as French citizens, and investigators are looking into whether the man is related to an extremist who attacked a Jewish school in southern France in 2012, an official said on Wednesday.

The extremist group claimed the Palestinian was an agent for the Mossad and the adult in the video made reference to the targeting of Jews both in Europe and ultimately in territories claimed by the Israelis. But the man’s father said he had simply regretted his decision to join Daesh and was killed because he wanted to go home.

The White House noted the video comes amid signs of dissent within Daesh ranks and reports of Daesh fighters being executed while trying to flee and defect, suggesting the group was flailing under increased pressure.

Meanwhile, Iraqi soldiers and allied Shiite militiamen swept into the Daesh-held city of Tikrit on Wednesday, launching a two-front offensive to squeeze the extremists out of Saddam Hussain’s hometown.

The man in the video, released late Tuesday, speaks with a southern French accent and investigators are probing if he could be a person who has been identified variously as the step-brother or half-brother of Mohammad Merah, who killed seven people in attacks on a Jewish school and paratroopers in the south of France beginning on March 11, 2012 - exactly three years ago.

In photos from Merah’s funeral after his death in a shootout with police, the relative is identified as Sabri Essid, whose father was married to Merah’s mother. Essid strongly resembles the man in the Daesh video, notably in the shape of the eyes.

In the video, the man praises attacks on Jews “in your own stronghold in France” as he and the boy stand behind the man about to be killed.

The French official, who has close ties to intelligence services but was not authorised to speak publicly about the inquiry, also said another French fighter whose death was announced this week by Daesh is a young teenager.

But the boy seen in the video on Tuesday, who appears to be a young adolescent, and the death announced earlier this week of the French teen appeared to mark a new emphasis on foreign children.

“Here are the cubs of the caliphate,” the man says in the video. Soon afterward, the child is shown shooting the man in the head.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest called the killing an “abhorrent and unjustifiable action,” adding that the compelling of a child to kill further demonstrated the Daesh’s “disregard for all human decency.”

“That is an indication that we’re continuing to apply pressure to [Daesh] in a way that is actually succeeding in degrading their ability to wreak havoc in that part of the world,” Earnest said.

The father of the Palestinian killed said that his son was no Israeli spy but was tricked into joining the militants and then regretted his decision. Said Musalam said Daesh lured his 19-year-old son Mohammad with promises of women, money and cars.

“They promised a lot of things and then I came here and there is nothing,” Musalam recalled his son saying in a phone call to his East Jerusalem home from Syria.

The son said he was in Raqqa, the de-facto capital of Daesh, and had heard his mother was sick and wanted to come back, the father added.

Musalam told said that his son left for Syria four months ago without telling his family and later told his brother that he was going to fight with Daesh. More than a month ago, the family received a call from an unidentified person who said Musalam had fled Daesh, was caught at a Turkish checkpoint, and was put in Daesh jail.

“They did not want to let him leave because if he comes back, he might be caught by the Israelis and tell them what he had seen. So they wanted to get rid of him,” the father said. “I know my son. I raised him well. I am sure he’s not working for the Mossad.”

Musalam said he wished his son’s fate upon the family of Daesh’s leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi.

“I will leave it to God and what happened to my son Mohammad I hope God will do the same for you, your sons and your family,” Musalam said in Arabic, addressing Al Baghdadi. “God knows that one day we’ll meet, whether in paradise or in hell, and we’ll settle the accounts.”

French government spokesman Stephane Le Foll described the video as a “dreadful” killing, but refused to comment Wednesday on the nationalities or identities of the man and boy.

The French official with intelligence ties said the French fighter whose death was announced this week by Daesh was Abu Baker Al Firansi - a young teen.

According to Europe 1 radio, the child’s entire family left last year from the city of Strasbourg to recover the remains of an older brother in Syria, and a second older brother was also killed in the war zone.

About 1,400 people, including entire families, have left France to join extremists in Syria and Iraq, and many have returned. Security officials fear some will arrive with honed skills as fighters, and with passports that allow free travel. Since the Jan. 7-9 attacks in the Paris region, France has deployed tens of thousands of security forces to protect religious, tourist and travel sites - measures the government said Wednesday would be extended until at least early summer.

“Nearly 90 French citizens have died there, weapons in hand to fight against our values,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told France’s iTele on Sunday.

About 3,000 Europeans are part of the fight, Valls said, adding: “There could be 5,000 before the summer and without a doubt 10,000 by the end of the year.”

Source: Agence France-Presse, March 12, 2015

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