Iran: Death Sentences of juvenile offenders and stoning sentences continue to be passed
press release, 10/20/2005
Amnesty International is outraged that Iran
is continuing to pass death sentences on minors and juvenile offenders (those
convicted of crimes committed before the age of 18), and that it is still
passing sentences of stoning to death, despite having announced a moratorium on
such executions.
Most recently, the newspaper Iran
reported on 9
October 2005 that a youth identified as “Hamid”
has been sentenced to death by Branch 71 of the Criminal Court in Tehran
for the murder of a 23-year-old man committed in 2004. The newspaper originally
published his age as 17 but the following day published a letter from the court
stating that his age is now 18. He would, however, have been under 18 at the
time of his alleged offence. His case will now be submitted to the Supreme
Court for review.
Previously, in August, “Mostafa”, a 16-year-old
student, and “Sina”, a 17-year-old musician, were
reported to have had their death sentences upheld by the Supreme Court.
According to the Iranian daily newspaper E’temad,
“Mostafa” was convicted of killing a drunken man in
the Pars district of Tehran. The drunken man was reportedly harassing a girl
when Mostafa intervened to stop him. The man
reportedly started hitting Mostafa, who eventually
killed him in the ensuing scuffle.
E’temad also reported that “Sina”, a musician inTehran,
was convicted of murder after a dispute with a man over cannabis in October
2004. “Sina” reportedly told the Court that he was
addicted to drugsand had gone to a park in Tehran
on the day of the incident to try and obtain cannabis from a drug dealer. He
allegedly stabbed the drug dealer to death during a fight.
Iran
has executed at least seven juvenile offenders in 2005 including two minors who
were under 18 at the time of their execution. Most recently, on 12 September 2005,
a 22-year-old Iranian man convicted of rape was publicly hanged in the southern
province
of Fars.
According to E’temad, he had been sentenced to
death in 2000, suggesting he was under the age of 18 when the crime was
committed.
As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Iran
has the obligation not to execute anyone for an offence committed when they
were less than 18 years old. For about fouryears,
the Iranian authorities have been considering legislation that would prohibit
the use of the death penalty for offences committed under the age of 18.
On 11 October 2005,
Minister of Justice, Jamal Karimirad, acting in his
capacity as spokesman for the Iranian Judiciary, was reported as having told
the Iranian Students’ News Agency that if this bill was passed by the Majles
(parliament), then those under the age of 18 would no longer be executed.
However, he made a distinction between “qisas”
(retribution – the sentence issued in cases where defendants are found guilty
of murder) and other crimes carrying the death penalty, stating that “qisas” was a private, not a state matter, although he did
state that attempts were being made to address the issue of “qisas” as well.
It is clear from his statement that the draft law currently under consideration
falls far short of the measures which are urgently needed in Iran
if it is to meet its international obligations under the ICCPR and the CRC. The
majority of executions of minors and juvenile offenders in Iran
are cases of “qisas” where the individual has been
found guilty of murder and it is unacceptable in this regard for the Iranian
authorities to separate cases of murder from other crimes carrying the death
penalty. Legislation is urgently required to ensure that no person in Iran
is sentenced to death for any crime, including murder, committed when they were
under the age of 18.
Amnesty International is also concerned at reports on 15 October 2005
that a woman called “Soghra” has been sentenced to
death by stoning. According to E’temad, she
was convicted of adultery by Branch 71 of the Criminal Court. She also received
a 15-year prison sentence for complicity in the murder of her husband, an
Afghan. Another Afghan man, known as “Ali Reza”, was sentenced to death for the
murder of her husband and to 100 lashes for adultery.
“Soghra” apparently maintained her innocence during
her trial. She reportedly claimed that she had been married against her will
and that her husband had ill-treated her but that she had not wanted to murder
him, and that the reason she had fled her home with “Ali Reza” after he had
killed her husband was because she feared that she would be killed by her
husband’s brother.
Iran
imposed a moratorium upon stoning in December 2002 under a directive from the
Head of the Judiciary, which was welcomed by Amnesty International. However, in
September 2003, a law was passed concerning the implementation of certain kinds
of penalties, including stoning. Amnesty International has recorded sentences
of stoning being imposed since the moratorium was announced, although it is not
aware of any such sentences being carried out. The organization has written to
the Iranian authorities on two occasions to seek clarification of the precise
status of stoning in Iran,
but has not received any reply. The organization urges the Iranian authorities
as a matter of urgency to clarify the position of stoning in Iranian law.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty as the ultimate cruel, inhuman
and degrading punishment, in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and the ICCPR, to which Iran
is a state party. Article 6 of the ICCPR states: “Sentence of death shall not
be imposed for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age”.
Methods of execution such as stoning, which are specifically designed to cause
the victim grievous pain before death are of particular concern to Amnesty
International, as the most extreme and cruel form of torture.
Amnesty International urges the Iranian authorities to commute all death
sentences in Iran,
including those of “Hamid”, “Mostafa”,
“Sina” and “Soghra”.