U.S. State Department releases its annual report on human rights

On Friday, April 8, the U.S. State Department released its annual report on human rights. The report included sharp criticism of the human rights records of China, North Korea, Cuba, Burma and Belarus, among others.

The US is arguably a/the leader of the free world, and it is correct to point out serious human rights issues and violations in other countries. But the report would be more meaningful if our own national human rights record was seriously improved, and if the US itself was a model of human rights and ethical consistency at home and abroad.

The USA (other than Somalia) is the only country in the world which has not ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child; we have not signed the Landmine Treaty, the Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and a host of other major human rights instruments.

Most blatantly, the USA remains a major human rights violator with its ongoing and despicable usage of the death penalty. This nation consistenly ranks in the top 5 executing jurisdictions in the world behind China and Iran; we have and use more methods of execution than any country in the world, and, as has long been documented, the system of capital punishment in the US is plagued with issues of racism, prejudice, mistakes, arbitrariness, and numerous examples of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.

It is not a cliche...human rights begin at home. The USA needs to commit itself to (seriously) improving its own human rights record before it tries to claim any moral high ground while criticizing the human rights record of others.

Source: Rick Halperin, Amnesty International, Letter to the Editor, Dallas Morning News, April 9, 2011

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Somali pirates face death sentence in Malaysia

7 Somalis, 4 adults and 3 15-year-olds, face charges of shooting at Royal Malaysian Navy personnel last month.

4 of the 7 who were charged at the Magistrate's Court here today face a death sentence if found guilty of the offence under Section 3 of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act.

The 7 are Ahmed Othman Jamal, 25, Abdil Eid Hasan, 20, 18-year-olds Koore Mohamed Abdile and Abdi Hakim Mohd Abdi, while the 3 15-year-olds are Hasan Yusuf Ahmed, Kasayah Dhalin Hussein and Mohd Abdi Ibrahim.

No plea was recorded from the orange jumpsuit-clad 7 when the charge was translated for them by a Somali student of Universiti Utara Malaysia as offences such as this one, where the accused face the death penalty, can only be tried by the High Court.

The 7 are charged with discharging a firearm in the commission or abetting of a scheduled offence, namely robbery in the direction of a Malaysian Armed Forces team with the intent to cause death or injury between 8.10pm and 10.00pm on Jan 20.

They are charged with committing the offence on the ship Bunga Laurel at 250 nautical miles off Omanian waters. The Malaysian-owned chemical tanker was Singapore-bound with a cargo of lubricating oil and ethylene dichloride worth an estimated RM30 million when it was attacked.

Magistrate Siti Shakirah Mohtaruddin set March 15 for mention and transfer to the High Court and to allow for a qualified Somali interpreter to be found.

Speaking to reporters after the charging, DPP Mohd Abazafree Mohd Abbas said that the 7 could be tried in Malaysia as a certificate under Section 127A(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code was issued by the attorney-general.

"The offence has been certified by the attorney-general to affect the security of Malaysia, as it was made against Malaysian citizens, i.e the Royal Malaysian Navy. That makes the offence triable here," added Abazafree, when asked about the chances of a successful prosecution.

"The fact that we charged them, I believe, shows that we have a good case," he said.

This is the 1st charging of Somalis for acts of piracy by an Asian nation.

Source: The Sun Daily, February 11, 2011

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Three soldiers executed in Mogadishu, Somalia

Somalia executed three soldiers of transitional federal government on Saturday who were found guilty of murder. Scores of local residents packed the square in Mogadishu’s Hamar-jajab where a government firing squad carried out the death penalty in public.

After the execution, military court Judge Hassan Mohammed Hussein Mungab held a press conference in a police center not far from where the execution took place. “Abdul Azeez Mohyidiin Ga’al, a policeman, was found guilty of murdering another soldier of Somali police forces,” Mungab said, adding that he was sentenced to death in December. “The second executed man, Antob Arabow Addan, killed Hassan Mohammed Sabiye, a civilian, last year.” The third man executed, Wowlid Mohammed, confessed to murdering a civil servant in 2010, according to Mungab. 

The court martial judge cautioned government soldiers against the harassment and murder of innocent civilians and said the court was determined to deal with any soldier involved in misconduct.

Sources: www.allheadlinenews.com; BBC, January 15, 2011

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