To view the detailed list visit : www.stopchildexecutions.com/scedata.htm
Human Rights Activists in Iran reported three juveniles are facing execution. Two of the juveniles were not in the prior published lists of Stop Child Executions. There are at least 134 juveniles recorded to be facing execution in Iran.
Reza Hajizadeh now 18, was sentenced to death for being the cause of death of another child during child play when he was only 13 years old. After 5 years imprisonment Reza has not been able to obtain pardon from victim’s family and therefore now that he is 18 years of age, he is facing execution. Reza is being kept in ward 2 of Rajai-shahr prison of Karaj among dangerous criminals.
Seyed Vahid Mousavi 25 years of age, was sentenced to death for an alleged of murder at the age of 17. He has been imprisoned for 8 years and is being kept in ward 4 of Rajaishahr prison in Karaj. Vahid has been unable to obtain pardon from victims’s family and faces execution.
Human Rights activists also listed another juvenile named Benyamin Rasouli was sentenced to death for an alleged murder at the age of 16. Benyamin who was unable to obtain pardon from victim’s family is kept in ward 4 of Rajaishahr prison in city of Karaj and after 5 years imprisonment faces execution. According to SCE records, Benyamin who is now 23 years old was sentenced to death by Branch 74 of Tehran Penal Court which was approved by Iran’s Supreme Court in October 2005.
رضا حاجي زاده نوجواني که متهم است در سن 13 سالگي و بر اثر درگيري در طي بازي کودکانه مرتکب قتل همبازي خود گرديده است . بعد از تحمل 5 سال زندان به سن 18 سالگي رسيده است ، وي عليرغم سن کم خود در بين زندانيان خطرناک نگهداري ميشود ، نامبرده بعلت عدم توفيق در جلب رضايت خانواده مقتول و رسيدن به سن 18 سالگي در آستانه اعدام قرار گرفته است. نامبرده در واحد 2 زندان رجايي شهر کرج نگهداري ميشود.
سيد وحيد موسوي نوجواني که متهم به ارتکاب قتل در سن 17 سالگي گرديده است ، بيش از 8 سال است که در زندان رجايي شهر کرج به سر مي برد ، نامبرده با توجه به عدم توفيق در جلب رضايت خانواده مقتول و به دليل رسيدن به سن بالاي 18 سال که عرف دستگاه قضايي براي اعدام متهمين است در آستانه اعدام قرار دارد. وي هم اکنون در واحد 4 زندان رجايي شهر کرج به سر مي برد.
بنيامين رسولي نوجواني که متهم است در سن 16 سالگي مرتکب قتل گرديده است . اکنون بعد از طي نمودن 5 سال زندان و عدم توفيق در جلب رضايت خانواده در آستانه اعدام قرار گرفته است ، وي هم اکنون در واحد 4 زندان رجايي شهر کرج به سر مي برد.
اخبار مربوط به اعدام قریب الوقوع امیر امراللهی که به دلیل جرمی که در هنگام صغر سن مرتکب شده، محکوم به اعدام گردی
ده، موجب نگرانی شدید اتحادیه اروپاست.
این محکومیت به اعدام نقض آشکار تعهدات بین المللی جمهوری اسلامی ایران و الزاماتی است که بر وفق پیمان بین المللی مربوط به حقوق مدنی و سیاسی و کنوانسیون مربوط به حقوق کودک پذیرفته که هر دو اعدام افراد را به خاطر جرمی که در صغر سن مرتکب شده اند محکوم می کند.
از همین رو نیز اتحادیه اروپا اعدام آقایان حسن مظفری و رحمن شهیدی در بوشهر در 22 ژوئیه گذشته را که در زمان ارتکاب جرمهایی که به خاطرشان محکوم شده بودند محکوم می کند.
اتحادیه اروپا مؤکداً از ایران می خواهد به تعهدات خود عمل کند و تدابیر لازم فوری را برای جلوگیری از اعدام آقای امیر امراللهی فوری و کلاً همه کسان دیگری که به خاطر جرمی که در زمان صغر سن مرتکب شده اند با خطر اعدام رویرویند اتخاذ کند.
خبر تصمیم مقامات قضایی ایران به لغو حکم اعدام آقای علی مهین ترابی که اتحادیه اروپا در ماه های اخیر به نفع او مداخله کرده بود، و تجدید محاکمه وی موجب رفع نگرانی بوده، اتحادیه اروپا از مقامات ایرانی می خواهد همین رویه در مورد ایرانیانی که در وضعیتی مشابه گرفتارند در پیش گیرد و برای شان کیفرهای جانشین با قابلیت آموزشی و با هدف امکان بازگشت به اجتماع در نظر گیرد
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/114/2008
15 August 2008
Further Information on UA 15/08 (MDE 13/009/2008, 18 January 2008) Death Penalty/imminent execution/unfair trial
IRAN Amir Amrollahi (m), aged 17 or 18
Juvenile offender Amir Amrollahi’s death sentence received final approval from the Head of the Judiciary earlier this month, and judicial officials in Shiraz province have been asked to prepare to carry out his execution. He was sentenced to death for a murder committed when he was 16 years old.
The murder took place in November 2006 during a fight with another boy, who was fatally stabbed. According to his lawyer, who took up his case this year, Amir Amrollahi ran off in a panic after stabbing the boy, who he thought was about to attack him. Medical help did not arrive for half an hour, by which time it was too late. Amir Amrollahi told his father what had happened, the same day, and later presented himself to the police.
His family could not afford adequate legal representation at his trial. According to his new lawyer, the court did not hear that the killing had been unintentional, or that he was prescribed heavy doses of sedatives while in prison awaiting trial. His mental state at the time of the trial was not properly considered.
On 6 August 2007, Branch 5 of Fars province criminal court sentenced him to death, although one of the court advisors had expressed concern about his age and his ability to understand and recognise what was going on. The sentence was upheld by Branch 27 of Supreme Court on 11 October.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The execution of juvenile offenders is prohibited by international law. Since 1990 Iran has executed at least 35 juvenile offenders, eight of them in 2007 and four in 2008.
The family of a murder victim have the right either to insist on execution, or to pardon the killer and receive financial compensation. A convicted murderer has no right to seek pardon or commutation from the state, in violation of Article 6(4) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English or your own language:
– calling on the authorities to halt the execution of Amir Amrollahi immediately;
– expressing concern that he was sentenced to death for a crime committed when he was under 18;
– calling on the authorities to commute his death sentence;
– reminding the authorities that Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibit the use of the death penalty against people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18;
– urging the authorities to pass legislation to abolish the death penalty for offences committed by people under the age of 18, so bringing Iran’s domestic law in line with its obligations under international law.
APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 6 649 5880
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
(via website) http://www.president.ir/email/
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
His Excellency Mohammad Javad Larijani
C/o Office of the Deputy for International Affairs
Ministry of Justice,
Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad (Ark) Square,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 5 537 8827 (please keep trying)
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 26 September 2008.
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/117/2008 15 August 2008
Further Information on UA 114/08 (MDE 13/065/2008, 29 April 2008) and follow-ups (MDE 13/066/2008, 8 May 2008; MDE 13/081/2008, 12 June 2008; MDE 13/101/2008, 25 July 2008) – Imminent execution
IRAN Behnoud Shojaee (m), aged 20, juvenile offender
Behnoud Shojaee is again in imminent danger of execution: his family was unable to afford the diyeh, or financial compensation, required to obtain a pardon. His execution, which was due to take place on or around 12 August has been postponed until the end of August 2008.
Behnoud Shojaee was sentenced to qesas (retribution) by Branch 74 of the Criminal Court in Tehran on 2 October 2006, after he was found guilty of killing a boy named Omid the previous year, when he was 17. Behnoud Shojaee had no legal representation at his trial.
He was twice granted a stay of execution by the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, to allow time for further negotiations over diyeh between his and Omid’s families. However, although the Omid’s family agreed to reduce the diyeh they demanded, from US$2,085,000 to US$625,000, this is still more than Behnoud Shojaee’s family can afford.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Since 1990 Iran has executed at least 35 juvenile offenders, eight of them in 2007 and four in 2008.
The family of a murder victim have the right either to insist on execution, or to pardon the killer and receive financial compensation. A convicted murderer has no right to seek pardon or commutation from the state, in violation of Article 6(4) of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The execution of juvenile offenders is prohibited under international law, as stated in Article 6 (5) of the ICCPR and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), of which Iran is a state party to and so has undertaken not to execute anyone for crimes committed when they were under 18.
On 8 July 2008, during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Amnesty International published a joint statement with over 20 other international and regional human rights organizations calling on Iranian authorities to stop imposing the death penalty for crimes committed by juvenile offenders, and to uphold their international obligation to enforce the absolute prohibition on the death penalty in such cases. See Iran: Spare four youths from execution, immediately enforce international prohibition on death penalty for juvenile offenders, available at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/iran-spare-four-youths-execution-immediately-enforce-international-prohi
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English or your own language:
– expressing concern that Behnoud Shojaee is at risk of execution for a crime committed when he was under 18;
– calling on the authorities to commute his death sentence;
– reminding them that Iran is a state party to both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibit the use of the death penalty against those under the age of 18 at the time of offence, and that to execute Behnoud Shojaee would therefore be a violation of international law;
– urging the authorities to pass legislation to abolish the death penalty for offences committed by people under the age of 18, so bringing Iran’s domestic law in line with its obligations under international law.
APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 6 649 5880
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
(via website) http://www.president.ir/email/
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
His Excellency Mohammad Javad Larijani
C/o Office of the Deputy for International Affairs
Ministry of Justice,
Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad (Ark) Square,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 5 537 8827 (please keep trying)
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 26 September 2008.
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC
AI Index: MDE 13/115/2008
14 August 2008
UA 228/08
Death Penalty
IRAN
Kamal (m), aged 17, barber’s assistant
Seventeen-year-old barber’s assistant Kamal was sentenced to death for murder on 12 April. His death sentence was approved by the Supreme Court at the beginning of August, and his file has since been sent to the Head of the Judiciary for final approval. He is in imminent danger of execution.
According to local press, in the evening of 10 April 2007 Kamal was standing in front of the barber’s shop where he worked with two friends, including the barber’s son, Mehdi. They noticed a man named Shahin verbally harassing a young girl. A fight broke out between Mehdi and Shahin. When Mehdi’s father arrived Shahin pushed him, and Mehdi asked Kamal to get a knife from the shop, which he did. Shahin then attacked Kamal and they both fell to the floor: Shahin was stabbed in the back. The blade hit his heart, and he died in hospital.
Under Article 206 (b) of Iran’s Criminal Code, any killing is classed as “premeditated murder,” and thus attracts a death sentence, “in cases where the murderer intentionally makes an action which is inherently lethal, even if [the murderer] does not intend to kill the person.”
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The family of a murder victim have the right either to insist on execution, or to pardon the killer and receive financial compensation. A convicted murderer has no right to seek pardon or commutation from the state, in violation of Article 6(4) of the ICCPR.
The execution of juvenile offenders is prohibited under international law. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases, and supports the global trend away from the use of the death penalty, powerfully expressed in the UN General Assembly’s resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions on 18 December 2007.
On 8 July 2008, during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Amnesty International issued a joint statement with over 20 other international and regional human rights organizations calling on Iranian authorities to stop imposing the death penalty for crimes committed by juvenile offenders, and to uphold their international obligation to enforce the absolute prohibition on the death penalty in such cases. See Iran: Spare four youths from execution, immediately enforce international prohibition on death penalty for juvenile offenders, available at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/iran-spare-four-youths-execution-immediately-enforce-international-prohi
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals in your own words to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English or your own language:
– expressing concern that Kamal is at risk of execution for a crime committed when he was under 18;
– calling on the authorities to commute his death sentence;
– reminding them that Iran is a state party to both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibit the use of the death penalty against those under the age of 18 at the time of offence, and that to execute Kamal would therefore be a violation of international law;
– urging the authorities to pass legislation to abolish the death penalty for offences committed by people under the age of 18, so bringing Iran’s domestic law in line with its obligations under international law;
– stating that Amnesty International acknowledges the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offences, but unconditionally opposes the death penalty.
APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Panzdah Khordad (Ark) Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Fax: 011 98 21 3390 4986 (may be difficult. If a voice answers, say, “Fax please”)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 21 6 649 5880
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir (via website) http://www.president.ir/email/
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
His Excellency Mohammad Javad Larijani
C/o Office of the Deputy for International Affairs
Ministry of Justice,
Ministry of Justice Building, Panzdah-Khordad (Ark) Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 21 5 537 8827 (may be difficult)
Mr Seyed Mahdi Mohebi
Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy for the Islamic Republic of Iran
245 Metcalfe Street
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2K2
Fax: (613) 232-5712
Please send appeals immediately. Thank you.
Hopes for life did not last long for Iranian juvenile Mohammad Fadaee whose execution was indefintely postponed for the third time by the head of Iran’s judiciary on July 24, 2008. (http://scenews.blog.com/3385122)
After submitting documents by Mohammad’s current attorney proving that the prior attorney’s who represented Mohammad were not licensed , Ayatollah Shahrudi had ordered futher review of the file . However without much considerations and full re-trial, supreme court again re-issued the prior death penalty verdict.
Mohammad’s attoney now has 30 days to appeal the new decision or obtain pardon by the victim’s family. Mohammad’s initial death sentence was only issued after one hearing while being inadequently presented by fake attorney’s!
For more details about Fadaee’s case visit:
http://scenews.blog.com/Mohammad%20Fadaee/
AMNESTY INTERNATIONALdeath, rejected the recommendations of the Court of Cassation to review their sentences. The case has now been passed back to the Court of Cassation, who could pass it back to the General Court for review again or uphold the sentences. If upheld, the death sentences would be passed to the Supreme Judicial Council for approval. The two men could be executed within weeks.
Mohamed Kohail and Mehanna Sa’d were charged with the murder of a Syrian boy, who died in a schoolyard brawl in January 2007. They were held incommunicado for approximately one and a half months, and beaten in an attempt to make them confess. Their trial before the General Court took place over nine sessions. Their lawyer was allowed to attend only the last one or two, and was not allowed to challenge the evidence brought against his clients. They were sentenced to death in March 2008, and launched an appeal against the sentences, which have failed.
Sultan Kohail, who was arrested with the two others, was sentenced to 200 lashes and one year’s imprisonment by the Jeddah Summary Court in April 2008. The case was then passed to the Court of Cassation, which recommended that the case be re-tried by a General Court, which has the power to pass the death sentence against him. His case is now awaiting retrial at a General Court.
A new trial date has not yet been set but Amnesty International has previously expressed concern that if the case was to be re-tried at a General Court, Sultan Kohail could be sentenced to death. As he is 17 years old, sentencing him to death would violate Saudi Arabia’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which prohibits the execution of those under 18 at the time of the crime.
Saudi Arabia applies the death penalty for a wide range of offences, including offences with no lethal consequences, and does so following trials which invariably fall short of the most basic international standards. Hearings are often held in secret, and defendants are permitted barely any formal legal representation. They may be convicted solely on the basis of confessions obtained under duress or deception. In many cases defendants and their families are not informed of the progress of legal proceedings against them. Prisoners under sentence of death may not be informed of the date of execution until the morning when they are taken out and beheaded.
The number of executions in 2008 is increasing fast. In 2007 the authorities executed at least 158 people, of whom 76 were foreign nationals. At least 66 people have been executed so far this year, almost half of whom have been foreign nationals.
– urging the King to commute the death sentences of Mohamed Kohail and Mehanna Sa’d;
– reminding the authorities that they are bound by international standards for fair trial in capital cases, in particular the UN Safeguards Guaranteeing the Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty, which guarantee adequate opportunity for defence and appeal, and prohibits the imposition of the death penalty when there is room for alternative interpretation of the evidence;
– expressing concern that 17-year-old Sultan Kohail may still be at risk of being sentenced to death and asking the authorities to guarantee that this will not happen, as Saudi Arabia is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
APPEALS TO:
Please note that you may experience difficulties sending faxes on Thursdays and Fridays, which are the weekend in Saudi Arabia.
His Majesty King Abdullah Bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud
The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques
Office of His Majesty the King
Royal Court, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Fax: (via Ministry of the Interior) +966 1 403 1185 (please keep trying)
Salutation: Your Majesty
His Royal Highness Prince Naif bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud
Minister of the Interior
Ministry of the Interior
P.O. Box 2933
Airport Road, Riyadh 11134
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Fax: +966 1 403 1185 (please keep trying)
Salutation: Your Royal Highness
His Royal Highness Prince Saud al-Faisal bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Nasseriya Street
Riyadh 11124
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Fax: +966 1 403 0645
Salutation: Your Royal Highness
Mr Turki bin Khaled Al-Sudairy
President
Human Rights Commission
PO Box 58889, Riyadh 11515
King Fahad Road, Building No.373
Riyadh
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Fax: +966 1 4612061
and to diplomatic representatives of Saudi Arabia, accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 24 September 2008.
Following is a letter that Stop Child Executions received today from the family of Behnoud Shojaee:
17 year old Behnoud in 25/5/1384 tried to stop a fight between 15 young people. During the incident unintentionally become involved in murdering a 19 year young man. The victim was killed by two different hits from two different weapons which could not be done by same person. Behnoud in a very fast investigation, and followed by that trail without the presence of his lawyer was convicted to first class murder, and death penalty. Behnoud lost his mother who was from diabetics when he was only 10 years old and lived with his father, who was heavily depressed due to grief of losing his wife. So he moved to live with his grandparents and he had a happy life with them who were well educated and religious people. He was a very talented, fresh, young man, and his hobbies were playing team sport activities and he had no criminal record up to the date of the incident.
Now he has been moved to the especial department of the jail to wait for the execution.
The victim’s family has been contacted many times by different group of people including, charities, cinema stars, NGO, human rights activists, etc to ask for their forgiveness, as by the domestic law they are the only one who can forgive Behnoud and stop the execution permanently. Initially they agreed to receive $2,085,000 and forgive Behnoud, but then they reduced it to $625,000. Still Behnoud’s family who are mostly retired people, living on pension, can not afford to pay this amount of money and if they fail to do so Behnound will be executed.
(A bank account has been opened in Iran attempting to collect funds at Melli Bank, BaghFerdous branch, Account Number 717865 )