Iran: Further Information: Stay of Execution for Safar Angooti
Further information on UA: 275/09 Index: MDE 13/111/2009 Iran Date: 21 October 2009
URGENT ACTION
STAY OF EXECUTION FOR SAFAR ANGOOTI
Safar Angooti, now aged 20, was due to be executed on 21 October, for a crime committed when he was 17, but received a one-month stay of execution.
According to his lawyer, he was granted the one-month stay to allow time to persuade the victim’s family to agree to pardon him, in exchange forcompensation.
Safar Angooti was convicted of committing a murder when he was 17. According to Iranian newspaperE’temad, in March 2007 he stabbed a rival suitor who was talking to a girl he liked, and was sentenced to death. Safar Angooti admitted that he had killed the man but claimed that he had not done so intentionally. He had been due to be put to death on 4 May 2009, but his execution was halted at the last minute.
Execution of those under 18 at the time of their alleged offence is strictly prohibited by international law.
PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
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Welcoming the postponement of Safar Angooti’s execution, and urging the authorities to commute his death sentence without delay;
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Calling on the authorities to commute all other death sentences imposed on those under 18 at the time of their alleged offence;
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Reminding the authorities 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.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 2 DECEMBER 2009 TO:
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadeqh Larijani
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: Via website: http://www.dadiran.ir/tabid/81/Default.aspx First starred box: your given name; second starred box: your family name; third: your email address
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of Tehran Judiciary
Ali Reza Avaei
Karimkhan Zand Avenue
Sana’i Avenue,
Corner of Ally 17, No 152
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected]
Salutation: Dear Mr Avaei
And copies to:
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
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 (please keep trying)
Email: [email protected] (In the subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)
Salutation: Dear Mr Larijani
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the second update of UA 275/09 Index: MDE 13/105/2009 Issue Date: 09 October 2009. Further information: www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/103/2009/en and www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/105/2009/en.
URGENT ACTION
STAY OF EXECUTION FOR SAFAR ANGOOTI
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
In Iran a person convicted of murder 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).
The execution of juvenile offenders is prohibited under international law, as stated in Article 6(5) of the ICCPR and the 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.
In a letter to the Head of the Judiciary calling for a stay of execution for both Behnoud Shojaee and Safar Angooti, their lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei pointed out that when Iran ratified the CRC, the Council of Guardians stated that it regarded certain articles as contrary to Shari’a law, and therefore not binding, under the general reservation to the Convention entered by Iran. However, the Council of Guardians did not include Article 37 in its list, which states, “No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age.” In practice, this article has been ignored by Iranian judges.
Iran has executed at least 45 alleged juvenile offenders since 1990, eight of them in 2008 and at least four in 2009.
For more information about executions of juvenile offenders in Iran, please see Amnesty International’s report Iran: The last executioner of children (Index: MDE 13/059/2007), June 2007 (http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde130592007).
Further information on UA: 275/09 Index: MDE 13/111/2009 Issue Date: 21 October 2009