Monday, 10 October 2011 18:11
Monday, 10 October 2011 18:03
COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
Luxembourg, 10 October 2011 15307/11 PRESSE 356
EU reinforces restrictive measures due to serious human rights violations in Iran
The Foreign Affairs Council today expressed its profound concern at the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran. It thus reinforced the EU's restrictive measures against persons responsible for serious human rights violations in that country, adding 29 persons to the list of those targeted by an assets freeze and a visa ban.
Today's decisions, together with the list of additional designations, will be published in theOfficial Journal of 11 October.
The Council adopted the following conclusions:
1. The European Union is deeply concerned that the human rights situation in Irancontinues to deteriorate. The EU is appalled by the continued dramatic increase inexecutions in Iran, including the execution of minors, and is concerned that many of those were held in public and using particularly cruel and inhumane methods. On this day, the World Day against the Death Penalty, the EU reiterates its call on Iran immediately to establish a moratorium on the death penalty with a view to its complete abolition.
Thursday, 22 September 2011 16:20
HR/11/202 22 September 2011
IRAN: UNITED NATIONS EXPERTS CONDEMN PUBLIC EXECUTION OF JUVENILE AND REITERATE CALL FOR IMMEDIATE HALT ON DEATH PENALTY
Four United Nations Experts* condemned the public execution by hanging of 17-year-old Alireza Molla Soltani, which was carried out yesterday, and the ongoing practice by the Iranian authorities of executing people charged with drug-related offences.
“We are outraged at the execution practice in Iran despite the international community’s and our repeated calls for a moratorium,” said the experts recalling that three juveniles have been executed in public so far this year in the country, according to reliable information.
The United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Iran, on summary executions, on independence of the judiciary and on torture stressed that “any judgment imposing the death penalty upon juveniles below the age of 18, and their execution, are incompatible with Iran’s international obligations.”
“There is an absolute ban on the death sentence against persons below the age of 18 at the time of commission of the offence under international human rights law”, they said referring to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party.
In 2011 alone, over 200 people have been executed in Iran, the majority of who were charged with drug-related offences. It is widely accepted that the death penalty is an extreme punishment, and exception to the right to life, and that it may only be imposed for the most serious crimes. “We, however, regret that execution is common practice for people charged with drug-related offences, which do not amount to the most serious crimes.”
In most cases brought to the Special Rapporteurs’ attention, there have been concerns regarding fair trial safeguards and access to a lawyer and families. “We reiterate this clear message to the Government of Iran,” said the human rights experts, “to immediately implement a moratorium on the death penalty particularly in drug-related and juvenile cases.”
(*) Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns; Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahmed Shaheed; Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul; Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan Méndez.
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Tuesday, 20 September 2011 19:46
Stop Child Executions organization asks you to urgently contact your local member of parliament, media and write a one-liner message to the head of Judiciary in Iran to halt the execution of juvenile Alireza Molla-Soltani. Write to Sadeq Larijani at:
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and copy the President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at:
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You could be the one to make the difference!
20 September 2011
Source: Amnesty International Press Release
Teenager accused of killing “Iran’s strongest man” set to be hanged
The Iranian authorities must halt the execution of a 17-year old accused of killing an athlete known as “Iran’s strongest man”, Amnesty International said today.
Alireza Molla-Soltani is to be hanged in public on Wednesday in the city of Karaj, near Tehran.
“The fact that Iran has decided to execute a 17-year old shows how little respect the authorities have for international human rights standards,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“What’s more, executing juvenile offenders is strictly forbidden under international treaties that Iran has signed up to. The Iranian authorities must uphold their international obligations, overturn this death sentence and review Alireza Molla-Soltani’s case,” she said.
The boy was arrested a day after Ruhollah Dadashi, a popular athlete was stabbed three times during a driving dispute on 17 July. Alireza Molla-Soltani says he panicked and stabbed Ruhollah Dadashi in self-defence after the athlete attacked him in the dark, according to local media reports.
Ruhollah Dadashi reportedly punched Alireza Molla-Soltani in the mouth and slammed him against the car while the two were arguing.
Shortly after Alireza Molla-Soltani was arrested, a state prosecutor called for “a speedy resolution” of the case. A court in Karaj convicted the boy of “intentional murder” and on 20 August sentenced him to hanging in public. Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the death sentence on 11 September.
Alireza Molla-Soltani is to be hanged in Karaj’s Golshiri Square, where the incident happened, according to media reports quoting the victim’s brother who, by law, must be present at the execution.
Two of the boy’s friends who were with him on the night of the incident are reportedly to receive 80 lashings each in public at the same time.
“While we acknowledge the seriousness of the crime for which Alireza Molla-Soltani has been convicted, hanging a minor for acting in what appears to be self-defence is wrong and legally dubious,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui
“Furthermore, the Iranian authorities must immediately order a halt to these floggings, and to review the conviction and sentence of all three. Floggings are cruel punishments amounting to torture which are also forbidden under international law,” she added.
According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, international treaties to which Iran is a state party, sentencing someone under the age of 18 at the time of their offence to death is unlawful.
Iran is one of the very few countries still to execute juvenile offenders. Two were executed in the southern port of Bandar Abbas in April this year. Amnesty International also received reports that a third, 16-year-old Hashem Hamidi, was executed near Hamidiya, Khuzestan province in April. The authorities did not announce his execution.
Public Document
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For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 or email:
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International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW, UK
www.amnesty.org
Monday, 19 September 2011 19:29
According to Iran Human Rights 22 prisoners were hanged yesterday and among them possibly two minors. Source: http://iranhr.net/spip.php?article2268
Iran Human Rights, September 19: According to the Iranian government daily "Iran", 22 prisoners were hanged in the prisons of Evin (Tehran) and Rajaei Shahr (Karaj, west of Tehran) yesterday morning.
According to official Iranian sources at least 50 people are executed since the beginning of September. Iran Human Rights had previously warned about the scheduled wave of executions after the month of Ramedan.
Iran Human Rights (IHR) urges the international community to react to the execution wave in Iran. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR strongly condemned yesterday’s mass executions and asked the UN to intervene.
The human rights group "Iranian activists for human rights and democracy" (IAHD) has reported about transfer of 37 prisoners from the Ghezel hesar prison of Karaj to Evin and Rajaei Shahr prisons for execution. According to IAHD, two of those executed yesterday were minor offenders and identified as Vahid Moslemi and Mohammad Norouzi (both Afghan citizens and 17 years old when arrested).
According to this report several of those executed are Afghan citizens.
The executions that were confirmed by the official Iranian sources seem to include the same prisoners that were reported by IAHD. However, the number of the executions reported by the official sources is lower than IAHD reported.
According to the government newspaper Iran, the 22 prisoners who were executed yesterday are identified as:
Muhammad Kh. for selling 59 kilograms of opium, Muhammad N. for transfer of 480 grams of heroin into the prison (Minor?), Avaz P. for organizing a drug smuggling gang and keeping 683 kilograms of opium, Agha H. for membership in a drug trafficking gang and keeping drugs, Jan B. for transfer of 425 grams of heroin into the prison, Ali J. for transfer of 385 grams of crack inside the prison, Saadi S. for keeping 908 grams of crack and 7,5 grams of opium and 15 grams of burnt opium, Ismail M. for distribution of 150 kilograms of opium, selling 50 kg "drugs" and keeping 20 kg of opium, Hassan T. for transfer of 265 grams of heroin into the prison, Mehdi P. for keeping 67 kg crack and 36 kg opium, Muhammad A. participation in trafficking of 702 grams of concentrated heroin and transferring 50 grams of heroin inside the prison, Abbas A. for keeping 2 kg and 200 grams of heroin, Omid Kh. for selling 4 kg heroin, Vahid M. (minor?) for transfer of 307 grams of crack into the prison, Saeed M. for participation in the carrying one kilogram of concentrated heroin, Ali P. for transfer of 410 grams of concentrated heroin inside the prison, Sharam Sh. for transfer of 670 grams of concentrated heroin into the prison, Abdulmajid M. for transfer of 391 grams of concentrated heroin into the prison, Karim Gh. for selling 49 kg and 500 grams of opium, Majid F. for transfer of 346 grams of concentrated heroin into the prison, Ali N. for transfer of 420 grams of concentrated heroin into the prison, and Hatem M. for transfer of 290 grams of concentrated heroin into the prison.
Thursday, 16 June 2011 17:38
IRAN: 17 EXECUTED AMONG THEM ONE MINOR
May 13, 2011: 17 people, among them one minor, have been hanged recently in Iran.
On May 10, authorities have hanged five convicted drug-traffickers in the country's northwest area.
The hanging was carried out immediately after the convicts were awarded death sentence by a court in Orumieh, the capital of West Azerbaijan Province.
Esfandiar Mandahki, Teimur Aiubian, Aref Rashid-pour and two other unnamed men were hanged in the main prison of Orumieh, Iranpressnews reported.
On May 9, three people were hanged in the prison of Miandoab, in west of Iran, official Iranian news agency IRNA reported.
Quoting the prosecutor of Miandoab the report said: "Three men, two of them from Oroumieh and one from Miandoab, were hanged in the prison of Miandoab in the morning". They were convicted of drug trafficking said the report without mentioning their names and other details regarding their charges.
The Kurdish news agency Moukarian identified two of the men as "Fathollah Darvishi" and "Fekri Teymori".
According to the reports from Iran nine people, among them one minor, were executed in the city of Ahvaz on May 5.
According to the Persian section of Alarabiya (the news website of Alarabiya TV channel), Iran’s Judiciary announced that nine people charged with murder of the security officers and committing acts against chastity, were executed.
Quoting the website Ahvaz news, Alarabiya reported that three of the men were hanged in public in Ahvaz, while the other six were hanged inside the prison of Ahvaz. According to these reports one of those hanged in the prison was 16 years old.
According to Ahvaz news the nine men executed were identified as follows:
Three brothers identified as Ali Heydari (25), Jasem Heydari (23) and Naser Heydari (23) were hanged in public in the Hamidiyeh area west of Ahvaz.
Five out of six others who were hanged inside the Karoun prison of Ahvaz were identified as Amir Moavi, Ali Na’ami, Amir Badvi, Ahmad Naseri (22) and Hashem Hamidi (16 years).
All those executed had been arrested in connection to the unrests in April 2011 in Ahvaz, where several people had been killed in clashes between the security forces and the inhabitants of an Arab neighborhood in Ahvaz.
For further information : http://www.iranhr.net/
Thursday, 16 June 2011 17:36
Egypt teenager’s death sentence condemned
Amnesty International today condemned the death sentence handed down by a Cairo military court against a 17-year-old boy, warning that unfair military trials are corroding Egypt’s criminal justice system.
Ahmed Marous Ibrahim was one of four people sentenced to death by hanging by Cairo’s Supreme Military Court for abducting and raping a 17-year-old girl.
“The military cannot be judge, prosecutor and executioner in post-uprising Egypt,” said Amnesty International.
“If justice is truly to be done for this terrible crime, the accused must first have a fair and public hearing before a criminal court and the victim be granted the right to confront the suspects,” said the organization.
“Sentencing a minor to death is frankly abhorrent and goes against a very clear prohibition in international law“.
The other three men convicted in the case are Mohamed Tarek Ragheb, 33, Karim Dahrouj Ahmed el-Sawy, 28, and Mahmoud Ramadan Abdul Hussein, 21.
Amnesty International is calling for Ahmed Marous Ibrahim and the three others to be re-tried before a civilian court. The organization has also urged the Egyptian authorities to ensure that the girl who was sexually assaulted is offered support, including counselling, and sees justice being done in a open and fair trial.
Hundreds of civilians have been tried before military courts since the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Egypt’s governing military body, took power in February 2011. The SCAF has pledged to hand over power to civilians before the end of this year.
Amnesty International opposes trials of civilians before military courts, whose judges are serving members of the military.
“These courts flout international standards for fair trial, and are grossly unjust. The faith of many Egyptians in the criminal justice system is being sorely tested by military courts”.
“Law and order cannot be restored with the summary trials and sentencing of hundreds of civilians”.
Those convicted face an uncertain future. In military trials, the right to appeal to a higher tribunal is limited to hearings before the Supreme Court for Military Appeals (SCMA) which is composed exclusively of military officers.
The SCMA only examines the law and its interpretation, rather than the evidence itself or the factual basis of the charges. The right to an effective appeal is a fundamental judicial guarantee.
On 1 April, the SCAF announced that it would permit the death penalty for convicted rapists if the victim was under 18. The law would apply to minors under 18 as well. Both Egyptian and international law prohibit the death penalty for minors.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as the ultimate form of inhumane and degrading punishment.
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