Iran: Further Information on Fear of Execution
PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/120/2008
Further Information on UA 71/08 (MDE 13/049/2008, 13 March 2008) Fear of Execution
IRAN Naser Qasemi (m), aged 23
Mohammad Reza Haddadi (m), aged 18
Reza Hejazi (m), aged 19 - juvenile offenders
Iman Hashemi (m), aged 18
Reza Hejazi was hanged in Esfahan prison on 19 August. His lawyer was not informed that his execution was to be carried out, though under Iranian law a 48-hour notification period is required.
On 18 August Reza Hejazi's family were notified that he had been transferred to a cell for those to be executed within 24 hours, and they informed his lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaie. On 19 August 2008, the lawyer reached Esfahan prison at 4.30am, and attempted to find out when the execution was to be carried out. Prison guards informed him that executions normally took place between 7 and 8am. After attempting for several hours to secure a stay of execution, at around 10am Mohammad Mostafaie was told by the officer supervising executions that Reza Hejazi’s execution had been halted. He set off back to his office in the capital, Tehran, a five-hour journey away. While he was travelling, he was informed that Reza Hejazi had been hanged at 11am.
Reza Hejazi – then aged 15 - was among a group of people involved in a dispute with a man on 18 September 2004, which resulted in the man being fatally stabbed. Reza Hejazi was arrested and tried for murder, and on 14 November 2005 he was sentenced to qesas (retribution) by Branch 106 of the Esfahan General Court. The sentence was approved by Branch 28 of the Supreme Court in Mashhad on 6 June 2006, although under Iranian law he should have been tried in a juvenile court.
There is no further news on Naser Qasemi, Mohammad Reza Haddadi and Iman Hashemi, all of whom have been sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were under the age of 18, in violation of international law.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Since 1990 Iran has executed at least 36 juvenile offenders, eight of them in 2007 and five in 2008.
The execution of juvenile offenders is prohibited under international law, as stated in Article 6 (5) of the ICCPR and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), of which Iran is a state party to and so has undertaken not to execute anyone for crimes committed when they were under 18.
For more information about executions of child offenders in Iran, please see: Iran: The last executioner of children (MDE 13/059/2007, June 2007), http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde130592007
And also a joint press release with over 20 other organisations, please see: Iran: Spare four youths from execution, immediately enforce international prohibition on death penalty for juvenile offenders, available at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/iran-spare-four-youths-execution-immediately-enforce-international-prohi
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English, French, Arabic, Persian or your own language:
- calling for an immediate halt to the executions of Naser Qasemi, Mohammad Reza Haddadi and Iman Hashemi, all convicted of crimes allegedly committed when they were under the age of 18;
- 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), which prohibit the use of the death penalty against people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18;
- expressing dismay at the execution of Reza Hejazi in Esfahan prison on 19 August, in violation of Iran's obligations under the ICCPR and the CRC;
- calling on the authorities to explain the reasons for his execution, and for their failure to inform his lawyer of his imminent execution, in breach of Iranian law;
- calling on the authorities to commute the death sentences passed on Naser Qasemi, Mohammad Reza Haddadi and Iman Hashemi;
APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
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: [email protected] (In subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected]
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 6 649 5880
Email: [email protected]
(via website) http://www.president.ir/email/
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
His Excellency Mohammad Javad Larijani
Howzeh Riassat-e Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri, Tehran 1316814737, Iran
Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email: [email protected] (In the subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)
[email protected] (In the subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad Larijani)
and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 30 September 2008.