SUPREME COURT SUSPENDS ALL EXECUTION WARRANTS: AMNESTY JAPAN

Update info:: 12 Jul 2019 (Suspended)
Latest info:: 26 Jun 2019

Country:: DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA
Subject:: [group of men] (he/him)
Period:: 12 Aug 2019

Distribution date:: 26 Jun 2019
UA No:: 045/2019

Amnesty International has received reports indicating that the President was due to consider signing execution warrants as early as the week of 24 June. Should this be confirmed, up to 13 prisoners would be put at imminent risk of execution There is completely secrecy around the dates of any scheduled executions, as well as identities of the death row prisoners most at risk. Amnesty International has not been able to confirm whether the individuals had fair trials, access to lawyers or whether they were able to engage in a meaningful clemency process. Sri Lanka has not implemented this ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment for more than four decades. It should continue to honour a tradition that chooses life instead of vengeance.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

In March 2019, Sri Lankan President Sirisena confirmed that he had set the dates for execution but did not reveal what they were. There was a pause in the public pursuit of the death penalty after multiple violent attacks shook the country on 21 April, but on 20 June 2019, he announced the National Drug Eradication Week, that will last until 1 July 2019. There have been several news media reports, that have been independently verified by Amnesty, that indicate that moves are being made to implement the hangings within this time frame.

Amnesty International is concerned that judicial proceedings in Sri Lanka may have not met international standards for a fair trial and resulted in the imposition of the death penalty. The National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka noted, on the basis of, the complaints it received that “torture is routinely used in all parts of the country regardless of the nature of the suspected offence for which the person is arrested. For instance, those arrested on suspicion of robbery, possession of drugs, assault, treasure hunting, dispute with family/spouse, have been subjected to torture. The prevailing culture of impunity where those accused of torture is concerned is also a contributing factor to the routine use of torture as a means of interrogation and investigation.” The widespread use of torture, and possible reliance on “confessions” extracted under torture to convict, directly violates the right to a fair trial and not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment of every individual. The UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment following his mission to Sri Lanka has similarly commented on the use of torture that could lead to “confessions” extracted under torture: “Most torture survivors indicated that the acts of torture ceased after they confessed, which sometimes included signing blank papers or documents in a language they could not read.”

The possibility that a skewed justice process could lead to a cruel and irreversible sentence being handed out, and even worse, the possibility that such a sentence could be implemented, is alarming.

The secrecy surrounding President Maithripala Sirisena’s plans to resume executions heightens the risk that due process might be violated in the cases of those most at risk – no information is presently available on the details of their cases, including judicial and clemency reviews.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases and under any circumstances, as a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. The organization has been campaigning for global abolition of the death penalty for over 40 years.

PREFERRED LANGUAGE TO ADDRESS TARGET: English or Sinhalese
You can also write in your own language.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: 6 August 2019
Please check with the Amnesty office in your country if you wish to send appeals after the deadline.

NAME AND PREFFERED PRONOUN: [group of men] (he/him)

LINK TO PREVIOUS UA: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa37/0183/2019/en/

Update info:: 12 Jul 2019 (Suspended)
Latest info:: 26 Jun 2019

Country:: DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA
Subject:: [group of men] (he/him)
Period:: 12 Aug 2019

Distribution date:: 12 Jul 2019
UA No:: 045/2019

The Sri Lankan Supreme Court, while hearing the petitions to halt executions of death row prisoners, suspended all execution warrants until 29 October, the next date of hearing. This is a huge source of relief, as the 13 prisoners are no longer in imminent danger of being hanged.

NO FURTHER ACTION IS REQUESTED. MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO SENT APPEALS.

The Sri Lankan Supreme Court announced on 5 July 2019 that it has suspended all execution warrants until its next hearing date on 29 October. The bench will then resume hearing the twelve Fundamental Rights petitions that were filed in response to the announcement by President Maithripala Sirisena on 26 June 2019 that he had signed four execution warrants, and that the hangings would be carried out in the coming days.

The petitions state that the arbitrary selection of four prisoners and that the secrecy shrouding plans and preparations for executions having violated the rights of the prisoners.

The court decision comes against the backdrop of widespread opposition to plans to implement the death penalty in Sri Lanka. There has been resistance in the courts, in the media, on the streets, on social media, from all sides of parliament, and from the international community. This was the third time that the president tried to revive the death penalty in Sri Lanka, where the last execution took place in 1976.

Amnesty International had repeatedly called on President Sirisena to halt his plans to resume executions, making clear that the death penalty does not have a unique deterrent effect on crime. You have been an important addition to that chorus of voices that have proven why we must resist injustice everywhere it happens.

NAME AND PREFFERED PRONOUN: [Group of men] (he/them)

THIS IS THE THIRD AND FINAL OUTPUT FOR UA 45/19

LINK TO PREVIOUS UA: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa37/0590/2019/en/