Juvenile Offender Nearing Execution
Juvenile offender Razieh Ebrahimi has been sentenced to death for the murder of her husband in 2010 when she was 17 years old. Her death sentence has been sent to the Office of the Implementation of Sentences, so it could be carried out at any time.
Razieh Ebrahimi was sentenced to death in 2010 under qesas (retribution-in-kind) by Branch 17 of the Criminal Court in Ahvaz, which found her guilty of killing her husband the same year, when she was 17. She is reported to have admitted killing her husband while he was asleep. She has said that she did so after years of being abused, physically and psychologically. Razieh Ebrahimi was married to her husband at the age of 14.
Amnesty International understands that the execution of Razieh Ebrahimi was to be implemented a few months ago, but was stopped after she told the authorities that she had committed the crime when she was 17. Her lawyer has since submitted a retrial request to the Supreme Court on the grounds that she was under 18 at the time of the crime. The Supreme Court has refused this request.
Sentences of qesas are not open to pardon or amnesty by the Supreme Leader. Once a qesassentence has been upheld by the Supreme Court, it can be implemented at the request of the family of the murder victim at any time.
Please write immediately in Persian, English, Spanish or your own language:
Urging the Iranian authorities to immediately halt the execution of Razieh Ebrahimi;
Calling on them to ensure her case is reviewed urgently with a view to overturning her death sentence and that any extenuating circumstances relating to allegations of domestic violence are considered;
Reminding them that Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), both of which prohibit the use of the death penalty
against people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18;
Reminding them that under Article 6(4) of the ICCPR, anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 31 JULY 2014 TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street- End of Shahid KeshvarDoust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Twitter: @khamenei_ir
Email: [email protected]
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani
c/o Public Relations Office
Number 4, 2 Azizi Street intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
(Subject line: FAO
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani)
Salutation: Your Excellency
And copies to:
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Hassan Rouhani
The Presidency
Pasteur Street, Pasteur Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @HassanRouhani (English) and @Rouhani_ir (Persian)�
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:
Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.
URGENT ACTION
JUVENILE OFFENDER NEARING EXECUTION
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Razie Ebrahimi was arrested in 2010. She is now held in Sepidar Prison in the southern province of Khuzestan.
Child and early forced marriage remains an issue for girls in Iran. According to Article 1041 of the Iranian Civil Code, the legal age of marriage for girls is 13 years. However, the father or a paternal grandfather can legally marry a girl under the age of 13 to the person of their choosing with the permission of a court. As a state party to ICCPR and the CRC, the Iranian authorities are obliged to protect women and girls from violations of their human rights including domestic violence and forced marriages as committed by non-state perpetrators.
Under the revised Islamic Penal Code (IPC), passed into law in May 2013, the execution of offenders under the age of 18 is prohibited for a limited number of crimes such as drug-related offences. The IPC, however, continues to provide for the death penalty for murder, which falls under the qesas (retribution-in-kind) and hodoud punishments, for which there are fixed penalties under Islamic law. For juvenile offenders, Article 91 of the revised IPC excludes the death penalty for crimes that fall under hodoud orqesas where a juvenile offender does not understand the nature of the crime, its consequences, or if there are doubts about their mental capacity.
The use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders is prohibited under international law, as stated in Article 6(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Iran is a state party to both treaties and so has undertaken not to execute anyone for crimes committed when they were under 18.
A person convicted of murder in Iran has no right to seek pardon or commutation from the state, in violation of Article 6(4) of the ICCPR. The family of a murder victim have the right either to insist on execution, or to pardon the killer and receive financial compensation (diyeh).
Iran remains the second biggest executioner in the world, after China. In 2013, the Iranian authorities or state-controlled or state-sanctioned media officially acknowledged 369 executions; however, at least 335 additional executions were carried out, according to reliable sources. This would bring the total for 2013 to at least 704. Reports indicate that at least 11 of the executed may have been under the age of 18 at the time of their alleged crimes. As of 10 June 2014, 157 executions have been acknowledged by the authorities or state-sanctioned media. However, reliable sources have reported at least 197 additional executions.
Name: Razieh Ebrahimi
Gender m/f: f
UA: 158/14 Index: MDE 13/037/2014 Issue Date: 19 June 2014