Iran: Further information: Appeal for Iranian man rejected: Ja’far Kazemi
Further information on UA: 102/10 Index: MDE 13/081/2010
Iran's Supreme Court has rejected Ja'far Kazemi's request to appeal against his death sentence. The sentence was imposed for his alleged participation in anti-government demonstrations and links with a banned organization. His sentence may be carried out at any time. Six other people with alleged links to the same organization are said to be under sentence of death.
Ja’far Kazemi was arrested on 18 September 2009 and interrogated and possibly tortured for months in Evin prison in Tehran. He was accused of participating in protests which followed the disputed outcome of Iran’s presidential election in June 2009, but was not accused of committing any violent acts; and for his alleged contact with banned opposition group the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI). He was sentenced to death for "enmity against God", and is also believed to have been convicted of “propaganda against the system”. On 26 April, he learned that his death sentence had been confirmed by an appeal court. A further appeal was apparently rejected in late July.
Amnesty International is aware of six other men sentenced to death in Iran for alleged links to the PMOI. Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei, Ali Saremi (or Sarami), Abdolreza Ghanbari, Ahmad Daneshpour Moghaddam and Mohsen Daneshpour Moghaddam were reportedly also found guilty of "enmity against God", possibly in the same case as Ja'far Kazemi. Information received on 4 August indicated that another man, Javad Lari, a merchant in the Tehran bazaar, had been sentenced to "death, without pardon" for "enmity against God". He is also held in Evin prison, where he was reportedly tortured and forced to ‘confess’.
PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Persian, English, or your own language (Please refer to Ja’far Kazemi as "Ja’far Kazemi, son of Bahman" in your appeals, as this will help the authorities to identify him):
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Urging the Iranian authorities not to execute Ja’far Kazemi, Javad Lari, Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei, Ali Saremi (or Sarami), Abdolreza Ghanbari, Ahmad Daneshpour Moghaddam and Mohsen Daneshpour Moghaddam;
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Reminding the Iranian authorities that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party, states that the death penalty can only be carried out for “the most serious crimes”, which the Human Rights Committee has clarified must be “intentional crimes with lethal or other extremely grave consequences."
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Stating that Amnesty International recognizes the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice, in conformity with international standards for fair trial, those suspected of criminal offences, but opposes the death penalty as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 16 SEPTEMBER 2010 TO:
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran, 1316814737
Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: Via website: http://www.dadiran.ir/tabid/75/Default.aspx
First starred box: your given name; second starred box: your family name; third: your email address
Salutation: Your Excellency
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected]
via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
Salutation: Your Excellency
And copies to:
Secretary General, High Council for Human Rights
Mohammad Javad Larijani
Howzeh Riassat-e Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri
Tehran 1316814737
Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986
Email: [email protected] (In subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the second update of UA 102/10 (MDE 13/047/2010). Further information: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/047/2010/enand http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/056/2010/en
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Ja’far Kazemi is reported to have been interrogated by security forces for months, and was pressured to make a televised “confession”, which he refused to do. He was previously imprisoned for membership of the PMOI in the 1980s or 1990s. One of his sons is a PMOI member and lives in Camp Ashraf, which houses PMOI members in Iraq. On 1 August, his wife, Roudabeh visited the Judiciary’s office in order to deliver a letter. They refused to accept it and informed her that the death sentence would be carried out.
Tehran’s prosecutor announced on 15 May that the death sentences of Ja’far Kazemi, Mohammad Ali Haj Aghaei, Mohammad Ali Saremi (or Sarami), Abdolreza Ghanbari (or Qanbari) and father and son, Ahmad and Mohsen Daneshpour Moghaddam, were upheld by the Appeal Court after they were found guilty of "enmity against God" in relation to their alleged links to the PMOI. In some cases, these links may amount to no more than having contact with family members linked to the PMOI
Two women, Motahareh (Simin) Bahrami and Rayhaneh Haj Ebrahim, and one other man, Hadi Gha’emi have had their death sentences commuted to prison terms. Mohammad Amin Valian was acquitted of "enmity against God" on appeal and his sentence commuted to imprisonment and payment of a fine.
Teacher Abdolreza Ghanbari, aged 42, was arrested after the demonstrations which took place in later December 2009 marking the Ashoura religious commemorations, in which he was accused of participating. Held in section 2A of Evin Prison, which is under the control of the Revolutionary Guards, he was tried on 30 January 2010 and made a “confession” which is believed to have been made under duress.
Ali Saremi (or Sarami), aged 62, has a son in the PMOI who lives in Camp Ashraf, Iraq, whom he has visited. Ali Saremi has spent 23 years in prison for his political activities both before and after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran (see http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/007/2010/en).