GENEVA (28 June 2012) – Three United Nations
Special Rapporteurs* on Iran, summary executions
and torture condemned the recent execution of
four members of the Ahwazi Arab minority in
Ahwaz’s Karoun Prison in the Islamic Republic of
Iran. Following a reportedly unfair trial, they
were sentenced to death and executed on or
around 19 June 2012.
“Given the lack of transparency in court
proceedings, major concerns remain about due
process and fairness of trials in cases
involving the death penalty in Iran,” said the
independent human rights experts, recalling the
execution of Abdul Rahman Heidarian, Abbas
Heidarian, Taha Heidarian and Ali Sharif. The
four men, three of whom are brothers, were
reportedly arrested in April 2011 during a
protest in Khuzestan and convicted of Moharebeh
(enmity against God) and Fasad-fil Arz
(corruption on earth).
“Under international law, the death penalty is
the most extreme form of punishment, which, if
it is used at all, should be imposed only for
the most serious crimes,” they said. “Defendants
in death penalty cases should also receive fair
trial guarantees stipulated in the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified
by Iran in 1975.”
“Any death sentence undertaken in contravention
of those international obligations is tantamount
to an arbitrary execution,” the three UN Special
Rapporteurs stressed.
The rights experts noted with concern the high
numbers of executions carried out in public,
despite a circular issued in January 2008 by the
Iranian Chief Justice that banned public
executions. At least 25 executions have been
carried out in public this year.
“Executions in public add to the already cruel,
inhuman and degrading nature of the death
penalty and can only have a dehumanizing effect
on the victim and a brutalizing effect on those
who witness the execution,” the independent
experts underscored.
The Special Rapporteurs regretted that the
authorities continue to apply the death penalty
with alarming frequency, despite numerous calls
to the Government of the Islamic Republic of
Iran to establish a moratorium on executions. At
least 140 executions are known to have been
carried out since the beginning of 2012, with
some sources indicating the figure to be as high
as 220. The majority of these are for
drug-related offences, which the experts do not
believe constitute the "most serious crimes" as
required by international law.
The UN independent experts urged the Iranian
authorities “to halt immediately the imposition
of the death penalty for crimes which do not
constitute the most serious crimes, as well as
ensure stringent respect for fair trial
guarantees.”
(*) The Special Rapporteur on the situation of
human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Ahmed Shaheed; the Special Rapporteur on
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions,
Christof Heyns; and the Special Rapporteur on
torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez.
ENDS
UN Human Rights, country page - Iran:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AsiaRegion/Pages/IRIndex.aspx
Check the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm
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Special Rapporteur on Iran:
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Summary executions:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Executions/Pages/SRExecutionsIndex.aspx
Torture:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Torture/SRTorture/Pages/SRTortureIndex.aspx
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