Abdorrahman Boroumand Center

for Human Rights in Iran

https://www.iranrights.org
Promoting tolerance and justice through knowledge and understanding
Flogging

Flogging, 11 Individuals, Tehran, Kayhan, February 3, 1980

Kayhan
February 3, 1980
Newspaper article

Kayhan Newspaper

Archive/Scan/Page 124

February 3, 1980

Last page/ 12

From the Imam's Court of Guilds

Several Profiteers Flogged

Yesterday, several profiteers were flogged in Behjat Abad Square and some other places in the city by the mobile courts of the Imam's Komiteh for Trade Guild Affairs.

One of the members of the Imam's Komiteh for Trade Guild Affairs said in this context: This committee will expand its actions until profiteering is completely uprooted and we will never allow profiteers and opportunists to rob people as they did in the past.

He added: From today, we will go to the big producers and monopolists and we will treat the big producers like small traders.

Kayhan’s correspondent Amiruz has been informed that people in the neighborhoods of the city have formed committees to monitor the distribution of goods as well as their prices, and these committees have given the profiteers week to stop overcharging.

According to the same report, yesterday several profiteering traders were punished by the mobile team in Imam Hossein Square for overcharging, their names and crimesare as follows:

Mirza Barati (Supermarket), Sablan St., profiteer, chicken,

Kheirollah Ebrahimi Golkhoran [shopkeeper, chicken and egg profiteer]

Mohammad Ali Rouhani, shopkeeper, chicken and egg profiteer

Abbas Manujehri, butcher

Fatollah Nuri, poultry seller, 30 meters away from Naram, a convicted chicken profiteer

Mostafa Tousi, convicted of profiteering and not having a ticket

Ebrahim Khodadad, nylon seller in Imam Hossein Square, not having a ticket and profiteering

Saeed Omrani, Shahrashtani Street, profiteer

Qasem Lari, poultry seller

Hossein Ali Kalashi, fishmonger

Ali Rad Qazvininejad

Each was sentenced to 5 days imprisonment for profiteering.

ABF Note

 

Findings of guilt in the Islamic Republic of Iran's Judicial Proceedings

The Islamic Republic of Iran's criminal justice system regularly falls short of the standards for due process necessary for impartiality, fairness, and efficacy. Suspects are often held incommunicado and not told of the reason for their detainment. Defendants are frequently prohibited from examining the evidence used against them. Defendants are sometimes prohibited from having their lawyers present in court. Additionally, confessions, made under duress or torture, are commonly admitted as proof of guilt. Because Iran's courts regularly disregard principles essential to the proper administration of justice, findings of guilt may not be evaluated with certainty.

Corporal Punishment: the Legal context in the Islamic Republic of Iran

The Islamic Republic's criminal code recognizes corporal punishment for a wide range of offenses: consumption of alcohol, theft, adultery, "flouting" of public morals, and mixing of the sexes in public. Judges have the latitude to mete out corporal punishment for those sentenced to death. In such cases, the flogging is carried out before death to maximize the suffering of defendant. Aside from flogging, the Islamic Republic also employs amputations as a punishment for theft. In such cases, the defendant is taken to a hospital and put under anesthesia as his hand or foot is amputated. In some cases the left foot and right hand are cut off, making it difficult for the condemned to walk, even with the assistance of a cane or crutches.

The Islamic Republic's Systematic Violation of its International Obligations under International Law

The use of corporal punishment is contrary to international law and is addressed in several international agreements. Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Iran has ratified, states that, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." Identical language is also used in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Iran is also a party to. The strongest expression of international disapproval is contained in the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). This treaty defines torture as, "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as ... punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed." Although the Islamic Republic of Iran has yet to sign the CAT, the prohibition on torture is now considered jus cogens and, therefore, part of customary international law. Furthermore, even though the norm against corporal punishment is not yet a jus cogens, there is increasing evidence that it is illegal under international human rights law.[1] In Osbourne v. Jamaica, the Committee Against Torture (a body of experts responsible for monitoring compliance with the Convention) held that "corporal punishment constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment contrary to Article 7 of the Convention." The Islamic Republic of Iran's systematic violations of its obligations under international law have been addressed by the UN General Assembly multiple times, most recently in December 2007. In Resolution 62/168, the UN expressed deep concern with Iran's continued flouting of international human rights law, particularly, "confirmed instances of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including flogging and amputations."