YEMEN EXECUTION STYLE (7 JULY 2009)

            Let us learn about capital punishment in Yemen, I chose it for this day because on this date, 7 July 2009, a Yemeni pedophile was executed in public. I got the information from Wikipedia and The Daily Mail.

Capital punishment in Yemen is commonly applied for a wide variety of criminal transgressions. This includes violent acts like murder, rape, or terrorism, but it can also be used in cases of Islamic or "Hudud" offences under Sharia law such as adultery, sexual misconduct, prostitution, and apostasy. Kidnapping, robbery, drug trafficking, homosexuality, and treason carry a possible death sentence as well.

Yemen has one of the highest execution rates in the world. Capital punishment is typically carried out by shooting, although stoning remains a legally viable option for charges of adultery; however, there have been no documented cases of its application for centuries. The south Arabian republic is also one of a select few countries that continues to perform public executions. In addition to being the only individual in the country with the authority to grant clemency, the President of Yemen must ratify all executions passed down by any court before they are carried out.

Legal procedure

Like most countries, the Yemeni legal system exists within the framework of a three-tier structure. At the lowest level of jurisprudence are the courts of first instance, established to preside over all different varieties of cases. These range from criminal, civil, commercial, personal status, court-martial, and other miscellaneous offences classified as "special cases" under the penal code (e.g., kidnappings, grand larceny). After trials are held at the lower levels of the Yemeni justice system, there is the option for both the defendant and the relatives of the victim to submit an appeal to an intermediate-level appellate court, which has broad powers to elevate or commute sentences at its discretion. Finally, if legal disputes still remain, then the issue is brought to the Supreme Court of Yemen as a last resort. There are no jury trials in the country, and cases are only adjudicated by individual judges.

Although the Yemeni constitution arranges for the separation of powers between different branches of government, the judiciary is subordinate to the executive branch in practice. The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) is a small committee established by the federal government to oversee matters pertaining to the Yemeni legal system. The SJC, which is accountable only to the President of Yemen, can directly appoint or dismiss judges without any judicial oversight. In addition, the President must ratify all death sentences before they are carried out, and is the only person in the country with the authority to enact a stay of execution.

Yemen applies Sharia law, which serves as the basis for all legislation in the country. Many nonviolent capital offences, such as homosexuality or blasphemy, are at least partialy derived from a strict interpretation of select Quranic verses. Another facet of Islamic jurisprudence recognized in Yemeni courts is Qisas. As a means of legal retribution, the relatives of a murder victim have the option to either demand the death penalty for the accused party, or to pardon them for their crimes. However, the extent to which this is actually enforced remains a subject for dispute, as the Yemeni justice system has allegedly performed executions despite objections from the families of murder victims. Conversely, death sentences have been reapplied after an initial pardon issued by the President as a result of pressure from relatives.

Methods

Shooting is the only form of execution currently known to be used in Yemen. Stoning, hanging, and beheading are also permitted within the Yemeni penal code; however, stoning is not known to have been carried out for centuries.

In Yemen, the standard procedure for execution is to lie the defendant face-down on the ground and cover them with a blanket. Afterwards, a small group of security guards armed with automatic rifles carry out the sentence by firing multiple rounds into the condemned person's heart, which is pinpointed directly beforehand by a doctor. In some cases where there the defendant is found guilty of an additional Hudud offence, they may also be sentenced to flogging prior to their death. Both private and public executions are permitted in Yemen, with large crowds gathering in the event of the latter.

Criticism

Execution of juvenile offenders

The last official execution of a minor in Yemen occurred on 21 July 1993, when 13-year-old Naseer Munir Nasser al-Kirbi and three other men were hanged in the capital Sana'a on charges of murder and highway robbery. Following this, the Yemeni House of Representatives amended its penal code the following year by prohibiting death sentences for persons under the age of 18 at the time of their offence. However, the majority of Yemenis are not issued birth certificates (with a civil birth registration rate of 22.6 percent in 2006, according to the World Health Organization), and the Yemeni legal system is severely limited in its ability to adequately ascertain the age of defendants at the time of their offence. There are several reports that juvenile offenders continue to be executed in Yemen.

One particularly notable case is that of Ibb native Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum, who was charged with a murder committed in June 1999 and subsequently sentenced to death in September 2001. His sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Judicial Council and ratified by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Samoum is alleged to have been 13 at the time of the offence, and the case of his imminent execution was given particular emphasis in a February 2011 European Parliament resolution regarding the human rights situation in Yemen.

Allegations of unfair trials

In addition to the execution of juvenile offenders, human rights organizations have expressed concern that death sentences are passed after unfair trials. Authorities have at times allegedly extracted confessions through duress, using methods such as severe beatings, prolonged suspension, threats of rape, incommunicado detention, and inadequate access to food and water.

Number of executions per year

 

Year	Number of executions
2011	41+[33]
2010	53+[34]
2009	30+[35]
2008	13+[29]
2007	15+[36]
2006	30+[37]
2005	24+[38]
2004	6+[39]
2003	30+[40]
2002	10+[41]
2001	56+[42]
2000	13+[43]
1999	35[44]
1998	17+[45]
1997	5+[46]
1996	1+[47]
1995	41+[48]
1994	25+[49]
1993	30+[50]

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1197900/Justice-Yemen-style-Paedophile-raped-boy-11-shot-head-hundreds-spectators.html

Justice Yemen-style: Paedophile who raped boy, 11, shot in the head in front of hundreds of spectators 

By Tamara Cohen

UPDATED: 14:14 GMT, 7 July 2009 

This is criminal justice, Yemen style. A man accused of raping and murdering an 11-year-old boy is paraded through his home town before being shot dead by an executioner. 

Hundreds of onlookers lined the streets to watch the gruesome scene, cheering and shouting abuse at Yehya Hussein al-Raghwah.

The boy, Hamdi al-Kabas, had reportedly come into his shop for a haircut last December during the Muslim festival of Eid. After brutally attacking him, the barber cut his body into pieces and dumped them outside the capital Sana'a. 

Yemenis gather to watch a Yemeni soldier execute a man, lying face down on a large piece of red cloth, his hands bound behind him

He was given the death penalty by a Yemeni court a month later after apparently admitting his crime.

Shocking images of his final moments were released following the execution yesterday.

First he leaves the city's central prison, handcuffed and dressed in white robes. Fear etched on his face, he is surrounded by soldiers as he is led towards a ceremonial red carpet.

He is allowed to say a final prayer, his shirt is then ripped open before he is laid face down.

As a police official reads out his sentence for the last time, a doctor oversees his treatment and crowds - which appear to include children - jeer and punch the air, some filming his final moment on their mobile phones.

Yahya Hussein al-Raghwah prepares himself before the execution

Yemeni police officers, accompanied by a doctor, left, place al-Raghwah face down prior to his execution in front of the central prison in San'a

A soldier brandishes his machine gun at the nape of the barber's neck, and within a split second it is all over. His death brings the number of executions in the country this year to nine.

Yemen is one of 59 countries which retains the death penalty, and one of its most prolific users, according to Amnesty International.

It is deployed for a variety of violent and non-violent crimes including apostasy and adultery.

Last year Yemen executed 13 people, according to those Amnesty has verified. But as no official figures are released the real toll could be far higher.

All of those died by firing squad but in recent years there have been reports of stonings and beheadings.

The deeply religious desert country has a poor human rights record and it is unclear if the barber had a fair trial.

Under sharia law, which applies in Yemen, relatives of the victims of certain categories of murder have the power to pardon the offender in exchange for compensation, grant a pardon freely or request his or her execution. 

The executioner prepares to shoot al-Raghwah in the back of the head

CHECK THIS VIDEO TO SEE A FILMED EXECUTION IN YEMEN (WARNING: IMAGES ARE DISTURBING)