Iran
13.02.03
Urgent Interventions
Iran: continuing widespread corporal punishment, executions (including that of a child) and arbitrary arrests
Case IRN 130203 / IRN 130203.CC
URGENT APPEAL / CHILD CONCERN
Death penalty / Torture / Arbitrary detention
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Iran.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source of the public hangings of four Iranians and reports of flogging and alleged arbitrary arrests in Iran.
According to the information received, on January 30th, 2003 four young men were hanged in Arak, in western Iran. The four prisoners, Mohammed Saadat Fath, Nader Ebrahimi, Ali Farsameh and Davoud Jafari were hanged in public at the same time but in different locations in the city. None of the executions was reported in state-run newspapers. It is thought that these executions were performed in order to put fear into Arak University students, who have been staging frequent demonstrations in recent months, as one of the four prisoners was executed in front of the university's main entrance.
The number of prisoners that have been executed or sentenced to death from the beginning of the year up until February 2nd, 2003, has now reached 46, with 20 persons executed and 26 on death row. The executions have been carried out across the country, including in Tehran, Ahwaz, Karaj, Gorgan, Shahroud, Ahar, Doroud and Dashti. The names of those that have been executed are reported as being as follows: Kazem Ahmadi, Reza Hamrahi, Mahmood Gozali-Reihani, Mehdi, Akbar, Mehdi M., Assi Dehlavi, Karam Abdollahi, Nader Sadati, Seyed Khalil Pouranvari, Khalil Mansouri, Ahmad Ali Golestaneh, Mostafa Ganjali, Ahmad (22 years old), Hossein Ali Amjadi, Mohammad Saadat Fath, Nader Ebrahimzadeh, Ali Farsameh, Davood Jafari, as well as two unidentified persons.
The persons that have been sentenced to death reportedly include: Mohammad B.(Franki), Abdollah Z (Hatam), Hossein, Mohammad Bakhshesh, Davoud, Farhad (27 year old), Reza, Zeinab, Sasan Al Kanaan, Mohammad Soltan Hematyar, Foad A, Reza A., Ghader, Aziz Aria, Kheirolnesa, Mahmood Mafi, Hamid Reza R, Hadi, Davood (19 years old), as well as a mother, her 16 year-old son and two other persons whose identities remain unknown. Furthermore, two persons, identified as, Azim and Alireza Bozorgi, have been sentenced to double and triple execution respectively. This means that they will be hung until they are on the brink of death and then let down and hung again once they have recovered.
In another development, it has been reported on January 28th, 2003, that three restaurant employees, whose named have yet to be confirmed, were flogged in public in Tehran. In addition, a man in Mashad was reportedly sentenced to 99 lashes and 15 years in prison, having reportedly been charged with “hostage taking”.
Furthermore, on January 29, 2003, it is reported that a senior commander of the paramilitary Bassij, a subsidiary arm of the Revolutionary Guards, announced that 223 people were arrested during an “extensive operation,” comprising more than 600 security agents at 30 “corrupted” locations in Tehran, at which time “thugs” where arrested because of alcohol drinking and possession of pornographic material. He added that such arrests, many of which OMCT fears are of an arbitrary or politically motivated nature, would continue in the coming weeks.
OMCT recalls that it is strongly opposed to the death penalty, as an extreme form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and a violation of the right to life, as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments. OMCT also wishes to reiterate that the execution under any circumstances of persons who committed their alleged crimes under the age of 18 is a violation of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and international customary law.
More generally, OMCT is gravely concerned by the apparent worsening of the human rights situation in Iran and calls upon the authorities to halt the use of repressive measures that are violations of internationally accepted human rights laws and standards.
The International Secretariat of OMCT condemns the Iranian authorities use of arbitrary arrests and methods of punishment such as flogging, which at the very least constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and in most cases constitute torture. OMCT calls on the authorities to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the persons whose death sentences are pending.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Iran urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all of the afore-mentioned persons;
ii. ensure that the currently pending death sentences are not carried out and abolish the death penalty in Iran;
iii. order the immediate release of all persons being detained as a result of the mass arrests in Tehran, due to the suspected arbitrary and politically motivated nature of these arrests;
iv. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances the afore-mentioned arrests in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout Iran in accordance with international human rights laws, notably the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and standards.
Addresses
· President Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed Mohammed Khatami, The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, E-mail: khatami@president.ir
· Minister of Justice, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: 98 21 879 6671
· Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. Kamal Kharrazi, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdolmajid Keshk-e Mesri Av, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: 98 21 390 1999
· Ambassador Mohammad Reza Alborzi, Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in Geneva, Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28, 1209 Geneva, Switzerland, fax: +41 22 7330203, e-mail: mission.iran@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Iran in your respective country.
Geneva, February 13th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
URGENT APPEAL / CHILD CONCERN
Death penalty / Torture / Arbitrary detention
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Iran.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source of the public hangings of four Iranians and reports of flogging and alleged arbitrary arrests in Iran.
According to the information received, on January 30th, 2003 four young men were hanged in Arak, in western Iran. The four prisoners, Mohammed Saadat Fath, Nader Ebrahimi, Ali Farsameh and Davoud Jafari were hanged in public at the same time but in different locations in the city. None of the executions was reported in state-run newspapers. It is thought that these executions were performed in order to put fear into Arak University students, who have been staging frequent demonstrations in recent months, as one of the four prisoners was executed in front of the university's main entrance.
The number of prisoners that have been executed or sentenced to death from the beginning of the year up until February 2nd, 2003, has now reached 46, with 20 persons executed and 26 on death row. The executions have been carried out across the country, including in Tehran, Ahwaz, Karaj, Gorgan, Shahroud, Ahar, Doroud and Dashti. The names of those that have been executed are reported as being as follows: Kazem Ahmadi, Reza Hamrahi, Mahmood Gozali-Reihani, Mehdi, Akbar, Mehdi M., Assi Dehlavi, Karam Abdollahi, Nader Sadati, Seyed Khalil Pouranvari, Khalil Mansouri, Ahmad Ali Golestaneh, Mostafa Ganjali, Ahmad (22 years old), Hossein Ali Amjadi, Mohammad Saadat Fath, Nader Ebrahimzadeh, Ali Farsameh, Davood Jafari, as well as two unidentified persons.
The persons that have been sentenced to death reportedly include: Mohammad B.(Franki), Abdollah Z (Hatam), Hossein, Mohammad Bakhshesh, Davoud, Farhad (27 year old), Reza, Zeinab, Sasan Al Kanaan, Mohammad Soltan Hematyar, Foad A, Reza A., Ghader, Aziz Aria, Kheirolnesa, Mahmood Mafi, Hamid Reza R, Hadi, Davood (19 years old), as well as a mother, her 16 year-old son and two other persons whose identities remain unknown. Furthermore, two persons, identified as, Azim and Alireza Bozorgi, have been sentenced to double and triple execution respectively. This means that they will be hung until they are on the brink of death and then let down and hung again once they have recovered.
In another development, it has been reported on January 28th, 2003, that three restaurant employees, whose named have yet to be confirmed, were flogged in public in Tehran. In addition, a man in Mashad was reportedly sentenced to 99 lashes and 15 years in prison, having reportedly been charged with “hostage taking”.
Furthermore, on January 29, 2003, it is reported that a senior commander of the paramilitary Bassij, a subsidiary arm of the Revolutionary Guards, announced that 223 people were arrested during an “extensive operation,” comprising more than 600 security agents at 30 “corrupted” locations in Tehran, at which time “thugs” where arrested because of alcohol drinking and possession of pornographic material. He added that such arrests, many of which OMCT fears are of an arbitrary or politically motivated nature, would continue in the coming weeks.
OMCT recalls that it is strongly opposed to the death penalty, as an extreme form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and a violation of the right to life, as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments. OMCT also wishes to reiterate that the execution under any circumstances of persons who committed their alleged crimes under the age of 18 is a violation of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and international customary law.
More generally, OMCT is gravely concerned by the apparent worsening of the human rights situation in Iran and calls upon the authorities to halt the use of repressive measures that are violations of internationally accepted human rights laws and standards.
The International Secretariat of OMCT condemns the Iranian authorities use of arbitrary arrests and methods of punishment such as flogging, which at the very least constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and in most cases constitute torture. OMCT calls on the authorities to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the persons whose death sentences are pending.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Iran urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all of the afore-mentioned persons;
ii. ensure that the currently pending death sentences are not carried out and abolish the death penalty in Iran;
iii. order the immediate release of all persons being detained as a result of the mass arrests in Tehran, due to the suspected arbitrary and politically motivated nature of these arrests;
iv. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances the afore-mentioned arrests in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout Iran in accordance with international human rights laws, notably the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and standards.
Addresses
· President Hojjatoleslam val Moslemin Sayed Mohammed Khatami, The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, E-mail: khatami@president.ir
· Minister of Justice, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: 98 21 879 6671
· Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. Kamal Kharrazi, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdolmajid Keshk-e Mesri Av, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Fax: 98 21 390 1999
· Ambassador Mohammad Reza Alborzi, Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in Geneva, Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28, 1209 Geneva, Switzerland, fax: +41 22 7330203, e-mail: mission.iran@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Iran in your respective country.
Geneva, February 13th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.