Outrage Mounts as Saudi Arabia Plans Imminent Executions for 14 Accused Pro-Democracy Protesters

As President Trump vows not to let human rights concerns interfere with U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia, the country is set to execute 14 men, including Mujtaba’a al-Sweikat, who was only 17 when he was sentenced to death five years ago. He had planned to visit and attend Western Michigan University but was detained by airport authorities in Saudi Arabia for allegedly attending a pro-democracy rally earlier the same year. We speak with Maya Foa, director of the legal charity Reprieve. We also speak with Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, which is speaking out against the planned execution.

ISIS Executes 12 in Palmyra

On Jan. 19, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that ISIS executed 12 people in Palmyra

Saudi Arabia 151 Executions Number Hits 20-year Record, 50 More Planned

Saudi Arabia is planning to execute more than 50 people, found guilty of terrorism, in a single day. The move was immediately slammed by Amnesty International, which said the Saudis are “using the guise of counter-terrorism to settle political scores.”

Saudi Arabia Executes 175 People in A YEAR - So Why Does Britain Still Call Them an ALLY?

Prince Charles greets King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud

EXPRESS: SAUDI ARABIA executes one person every TWO DAYS, according to a shocking new report - which casts new scrutiny on Britain's close ties to the Middle East kingdom.

In the last 12 months 175 people were beheaded or shot for crimes including drugs confessions claimed to have been extracted through torture, said the report released by human rights charity Amnesty International.

The 43-page report titled "Killing In the Name of Justice: The Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia" revealed that between January 1985 and June 2015, at least 2,208 people were executed in the oil-rich kingdom.

The oppressive state have killed 109 people since January, compared to 83 in all of 2014.

The Saudi kingdom follows an ultra-strict interpretation of Sharia law and applies the death penalty to a number of crimes including murder, rape and drug smuggling.

Although not as common, Saudi courts also allow for people to be executed for adultery, apostasy and witchcraft.

People can also be executed for crimes committed when they were below 18 years of age. » | Rebecca Perring | Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Islamic State Jihadists Execute Dozens amid Palmyra Ruins

25 Syrian government soldiers kneel in the ancient amphitheatre
in the city of Palmyra ahead of being executed by children

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: A new Isil video shows teenage executioners using the Unesco heritage site as a theatre for death

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) have released a video purportedly showing the execution of dozens of Syrian government soldiers in the ancient ruins of Palmyra.

The footage shows 25 men kneeling on the stage of the site's historic Roman theatre, their hands tied behind their backs.

With ritualistic precision, the same numbers of executioners then step out in unison, each taking up position behind one of the condemned. A large black Isil flag is draped over the columns behind them.

Wearing matching long brown robes and brown bandannas the executioners appear to be boys or young teenagers – few look old enough to grow a beard.

Footage filmed from cameras trained on the soldiers' faces show that the men have been beaten.

Then the child jihadists transform the world-class tourist attraction into a killing ground.

Simultaneously raising their pistols, they spray bullets into the heads and backs of the men, leaving them lifeless and bloody on the ground.

An apparently unhappy crowd of onlookers, mostly dressed in civilian clothes, are gathered on the seats of the stadium watching the grisly show. » | Ruth Sherlock, Beirut | Sunday, July 5, 2015

Saudi Arabia Executes 100th Person This Year in 'Campaign of Death' - but UK Stays Silent

DAILY EXPRESS: SAUDI Arabia has executed its 100th person already this year amid a deathly silence on its human rights abuses from Britain.

Authorities in the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom were accused of waging a "campaign of death" as the number killed in the first half of this year surpassed that for the whole of 2014.

Beheading is the most popular form of execution amongst Saudi Arabia's rulers, with many carried out in public.

Just over half of those executed this year have been Saudi citizens, with many of the harshest sentences handed down to drug smugglers.

Yet Britain and America have remained largely silent over human rights abuses in the oil-rich Gulf state, which is an increasingly important political and economic ally in the unstable region. » | Nick Gutteridge | Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Saudi Arabia Advertises for Eight New Executioners

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Islamic kingdom advertises for eight new executioners amid sharp increase in number of death sentences

Saudi Arabia is advertising for eight new executioners, recruiting extra staff to carry out an increasing number of death sentences, usually done by public beheading.

No special qualifications are needed for the jobs whose main role is "executing a judgement of death" but also involve performing amputations on those convicted of lesser offences, the advert, posted on the civil service jobs portal, said. » | Reuters | Monday, May 18, 2015

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Steep rise in Saudi Arabia executions as 2015 tally reaches 45: The Gulf kingdom has executed 80 people annually since 2011, with 87 recorded in 2014 » | AFP | Saturday, May 16, 2015

Islamic State Murders 30 Ethiopian Christians in Libya

Masked militants are shown in the video released by Al-Furqan
Media, purportedly showing the execution of 30 Ethiopian
Christians captured in Libya

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A video purportedly made by Islamic State appears to show militants shooting and beheading about 30 Ethiopian Christians in Libya

A video purportedly made by Islamic State and posted on social media sites on Sunday appeared to show militants shooting and beheading about 30 Ethiopian Christians in Libya.

It was not possible to immediately verify the authenticity of the video, but the killings resemble past violence carried out by Islamic State, which has expanded its reach from strongholds in Iraq and Syria to a conflict-ridden Libya.

The video, in which militants call Christians crusaders and say they are out to kill Muslims, showed about 15 men being beheaded on a beach and another group of the same size shot in their heads in scrubland.

Both groups of men are referred to in a subtitle as "worshippers of the cross belonging to the hostile Ethiopian church".

Libyan officials were not immediately available for comment. » | Reuters | Sunday, April 19, 2015

Iran Executes Another Citizen

Oct. 25, 2014 - 0:40 - Eric Shawn on the growing list

Electric Chair Haunts US Former Executions Chief

Dr. Allen Ault tells HARDtalk why he is still haunted by the executions

BBC: Most guests come into the HARDtalk studio with their guard up, their defences prepared. Dr Allen Ault simply faced the cameras and bared his soul.

His account of supervising executions in the US state of Georgia was one of the most painful, searingly honest and courageous testimonies I have ever heard.

Dr Ault is a soft-spoken Midwesterner with steel-grey hair and a steady gaze.

As he spoke about his years as corrections commissioner for the US state of Georgia, he appeared to forget the artifice of the TV studio and relive his experiences in the execution chamber.

"I still have nightmares," he told me.

"It's the most premeditated form of murder you can possibly imagine and it stays in your psyche for ever." » | Stephen Sackur | HARDtalk | Sunday, February 23, 2014

Tried & True? Firing Squad, Electric Chair Return in US for Death Penalty

U.S. lawmakers are looking for alternatives to help them kill. The lethal-injection drugs used to execute prisoners on death row are in short supply, and there is concern over how effective they are anyway. But some of the other methods being considered are neither new, or campaigners say, humane. RT's Marina Portnaya reports.

Related »

The Return of the Firing Squad? US States Reconsider Execution Methods

THE GUARDIAN: Shortages of lethal drugs and doubts over efficacy prompt lawmakers to take fresh look at long-abandoned practices

With lethal-injection drugs in short supply and new questions looming about their effectiveness, lawmakers in some states with the death penalty are considering bringing back relics of a more gruesome past: firing squads, electrocutions and gas chambers.

Most states abandoned those execution methods more than a generation ago, in the hope of making capital punishment more palatable to the public and to a judicial system worried about inflicting cruel and unusual punishments that violate the constitution.

But to some elected officials, the shortages of lethal drugs and the recent legal challenges around them are beginning to make lethal injection seem too vulnerable to complications.

"This isn't an attempt to time warp back into the 1850s or the wild, wild west or anything like that," said the Missouri state Republican representative, Rick Brattin, who this month proposed making firing squads an option for executions. "It's just that I foresee a problem, and I'm trying to come up with a solution that will be the most humane yet most economical for our state." » | Associated Press | Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Saudi Prince Facing Execution for Murder after Senior Royalty Insisted 'There Is No Difference between Rich and Poor'

Crown Prince Salman: no-one is immune from sharia law

MAIL ONLINE: So far, the identity of the prince and his victim has not been made public / Crown Prince Salman said Islamic law shall be applied 'without exception'

A Saudi prince who murdered a fellow Saudi may be executed, a newspaper reported on Sunday, in a rare example of a member of the kingdom's ruling family facing the death penalty.

The English-language Arab News did not name the prince or his victim, but said a senior member of the family and government, Crown Prince Salman, had ‘cleared the way for the possible execution of a prince convicted of murdering a Saudi citizen’.

In a message about the case to Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, Prince Salman said: ‘Sharia (Islamic law) shall be applied to all without exception’, the daily reported.

Prince Salman's message followed a statement from the victim's father that he was not ready to pardon the killer and he was not happy with the amount offered as blood money.

The families of murder victims are encouraged by authorities to accept blood money instead of insisting on execution.

The paper quoted Crown Prince Salman's message as saying: ‘There is no difference between big and small, rich and poor ... Nobody is allowed to interfere with the judiciary's decision. This is the tradition of this state. We are committed to following the sharia.’ » | Ted Thornhill | Monday, December 30, 2013

Dozens Executed in North Korea 'For Watching Foreign Films'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Eighty people have been executed by firing squad in North Korea for watching foreign films, it has been claimed.

South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported that the co-ordinated public executions took place in seven separate cities earlier this month.

In one case, the local authorities rounded up 10,000 people, including children, and forced them to watch, it reported.

Those put to death were found guilty by the state of minor misdemeanors, including watching videos of South Korean television programmes or possessing a Bible.

Sources told the paper that witnesses saw eight people tied to stakes in the Shinpoong Stadium, in Kangwon Province, before having sacks placed over their heads and being executed by soldiers firing machineguns.

“I heard from the residents that they watched in terror as the corpses were so riddled by machinegun fire that they were hard to identify afterwards,” the source said. » | Julian Ryall, Tokyo | Monday, November 11, 2013

Iranian Man Who Survived Execution Must Be Hanged Again, Judges Say

Hassan Rouhani

THE GUARDIAN: Morgue workers spotted that 37-year-old Alireza was alive a day after he was hanged for possessing crystal meth

On an autumnal Wednesday earlier this month, Alireza, a 37-year-old man jailed for smuggling drugs and sentenced to death in Iran, woke up to what was supposed to be his last day alive. Outside his cell in Bojnurd prison, in Iran's northern Khorasan province, the gallows were waiting and the countdown had already begun.

Just before sunrise, guards hooked ropes around his neck and hanged him for possessing a kilo of crystal meth. Exactly 12 minutes later medics pronounced him dead and sent his body for burial.

But in the morgue the next day, something unusual caught the eyes of a worker who was preparing the corpse for family collection: steam in the plastic cover he was wrapped in. He was still alive.

Alireza was instantly taken to Bojnurd's Imam Ali hospital.

Now, to the dismay of his family, Iranian judicial authorities are waiting for him to make a full recovery before they hang him again, according to the state-run Jam-e-Jam newspaper, which was first to break the news of Alireza's ordeal.

Iran's judiciary has argued that he was sentenced to death, rather than to hanging, and should be re-executed. But human rights activists, already concerned about Iran's high rate of executions, say he should be spared. » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Wednesday, October 16, 2013

North Korea Denies Kim Jong-un Executed Mistress to Protect Wife

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: North Korea has angrily denied reports that Kim Jong-un ordered the execution of a former mistress in August to protect the "dignity" of his wife.

The denunciations in state media said "reptile media" were making allegations designed to "hurt the dignity" of Mr Kim, his wife, Ri Sol-ju, and the regime.

The state-run KCNA news agency claimed the reports were the work of "psychopaths" and "confrontation maniacs" in South Korea's government and the media.

"This is an unpardonable, hideous provocation hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership," KCNA stated. "Those who commit such a hideous crime ... will have to pay a very high price."

Reports in South Korea initially claimed that Hyon Song-wol, with whom Mr Kim was romantically linked around 10 years ago, was among a dozen well-known North Korean singers and musicians executed by firing squad on August 20 after appearing in pornographic videos.

Relatives of the condemned musicians and other members of the Unhasu Orchestra, the Wangjaesan Light Band and the Moranbong Band were forced to watch the executions before being sent to labour camps. » | Julian Ryall, Tokyo | Monday, September 23, 2013

Brutality of Syrian Rebels Posing Dilemma in West

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Syrian rebels posed casually, standing over their prisoners with firearms pointed down at the shirtless and terrified men.

The prisoners, seven in all, were captured Syrian soldiers. Five were trussed, their backs marked with red welts. They kept their faces pressed to the dirt as the rebels’ commander recited a bitter revolutionary verse.

“For fifty years, they are companions to corruption,” he said. “We swear to the Lord of the Throne, that this is our oath: We will take revenge.”

The moment the poem ended, the commander, known as “the Uncle,” fired a bullet into the back of the first prisoner’s head. His gunmen followed suit, promptly killing all the men at their feet.

This scene, documented in a video smuggled out of Syria a few days ago by a former rebel who grew disgusted by the killings, offers a dark insight into how many rebels have adopted some of the same brutal and ruthless tactics as the regime they are trying to overthrow.

As the United States debates whether to support the Obama administration’s proposal that Syrian forces should be attacked for using chemical weapons against civilians, this video, shot in the spring of 2012, joins a growing body of evidence of an increasingly criminal environment populated by gangs of highwaymen, kidnappers and killers. » | C. J. Chivers | Thursday, September 05, 2013

Watch graphic and brutal video here

Kim Jong-un's Ex-lover 'Executed by Firing Squad'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Kim Jong-un's ex-girlfriend was among a dozen well-known North Korean performers who were executed by firing squad nine days ago, according to South Korean reports.

Hyon Song-wol, a singer, rumoured to be a former lover of the North Korean leader, is said to have been arrested on Aug 17 with 11 others for violating laws against pornography.

The reports in South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper indicate that Hyon, a singer with the Unhasu Orchestra, was among those arrested on August 17 for violating domestic laws on pornography.

All 12 were machine-gunned three days later, with other members of North Korea's most famous pop groups and their immediate families forced to watch. The onlookers were then sent to prison camps, victims of the regime's assumption of guilt by association, the reports stated.

“They were executed with machine guns while the key members of the Unhasu Orchestra, Wangjaesan Light Band and Moranbong Band as well as the families of the victims looked on,” said a Chinese source reported in the newspaper.

Hyon's band was responsible for a string of patriotic hits in North Korea, including "Footsteps of Soldiers," "I Love Pyongyang," "She is a Discharged Soldier" and "We are Troops of the Party." Her popularity reportedly peaked in 2005 with the song "Excellent Horse-Like Lady."

The 12 who were executed were singers, musicians or dancers with the Hyon's band,, the Unhasu Orchestra or the Wanghaesan Light Music Band and were accused of making videos of themselves performing sex acts and then selling the recordings. Read on and comment » | Julian Ryall, Tokyo | Thursday, August 29, 2013

Iranian Authorities Hang Two 'Spies' Convicted of Working for U.S. and Israel

MAIL ONLINE: Mohammad Heidari and Kourosh Ahmadi were hanged at dawn in Tehran / It is not known when they were arrested or where a trial took place / Iran had the second-highest rate of executions last year, killing 314 people

Iranian authorities have executed two men convicted of spying for Israel's Mossad and the American CIA spy agency, according to the country's state radio.

Mohammad Heidari, accused of passing security-related information and secrets to Mossad agents in exchange for money, and Kourosh Ahmadi, accused of gathering information for the CIA, were hanged at dawn, it said.

The sentence for their execution was handed down by Tehran's Revolutionary Court and confirmed by the country's Supreme Court.

The report did not say when the pair were arrested nor when their trial took place.

Iran has in the past said it had successfully detected and dismantled spy networks operating inside the country. » | Helen Lawson | Sunday, May 19, 2013

Graphic Footage: Rebels Execute Régime Officers in the Street in Syria

Read the article here | Jill Reilly | Thursday, May 16, 2013