URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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14 April 2005
UA 86/05 Imminent execution/flogging
IRAN:
Rasoul Mohammadi (m), aged 17
Mousa Ali Mohammadi (m), aged 46, his father
Seventeen-year-old Rasoul Mohammadi is reportedly due
to be executed on 16 April. Iran has ratified international
treaties that prohibit it from executing anyone for crimes
committed when they were under 18. His father, Mousa Ali
Mohammadi, is due to be executed at the same time. Each
is to receive 74 lashes before he is put to death.
According to 11 April reports in the Persian-language
newspaper Iran, the Assistant Public Prosecutor for the
Office of Sentence Implementation (in Persian, Daftar-e
Ejra'-e Ahkam) has announced to the press that Mousa Ali
Mohammed will be publicly hanged in 24 Metri Street in
Esfahan at 6.30am on 16 April, and his son will be hanged
at the same time, in Esfahan Central Prison.
Rasoul Mohammadi and his father had been found guilty
by a court in the city of Esfahan of abducting 40 young
girls, stealing their jewelry and raping at least four of them.
They apparently confessed to the charges during
interrogation.
The sentence has been upheld by the Supreme Court, and
Rasoul Mohammadi and his father are now in the custody
of Esfahan General Court, which will carry out the
sentence. According to the report in Iran, because of
''complaints'' by the accused, the case has been again
referred to the Supreme Court. The report gives no further
details of this process.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Rasoul Mohammadi's parents divorced when he was one
year old, and he went to live with his grandmother. When
he was four years old he was sent to a children's home,
where he lived for several years before being returned to
the custody of his father.
As a state party to the International Convention on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the
Rights of the Child (CRC), Iran has undertaken not to
execute anyone for an offence committed when they were
under the age of 18.
Nevertheless, 11 child offenders have been executed in Iran
since 1990. On 20 January 2005 Iman Farokhi was
executed for a crime committed when he was 17 years old.
On the same day an Iranian governmental delegation
claimed that Iran does not execute people under the age of
18, in a declaration to the United Nations Committee on the
Rights of the Child.
The Committee, which monitors states' implementation of
the CRC, urged Iran to immediately stay all executions of
people convicted of crimes committed when they were
under 18, and abolish the use of the death penalty in such
cases. The Committee said that it ''deplored'' the fact that
Iran had continued to carry out such executions even after it
ratified the CRC, including the execution that had taken
place that day.
For the last three years, the Iranian authorities have been
considering legislation that would prohibit the use of the
death penalty for offences committed under the age of 18.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to
arrive as quickly as possible:
- stating that Amnesty International recognizes the right
and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those
suspected of criminal offences, but opposes the death
penalty as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading
punishment;
- urging the authorities to commute the death sentence
imposed on Rasoul Mohammadi, who is 17 years old, and
his father Mousa Ali Mohammadi, immediately;
- asking for details of the trial of Rasoul Mohammadi and
his father, including their legal representation and the
appeals against their convictions;
- reminding the authorities of their commitment to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which
states that ''sentence of death shall not be imposed for
crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age'';
- calling on the Iranian authorities to implement the
recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the
Rights of the Child, which called on Iran in January 2005 to
''immediately suspend the execution of all death penalties
imposed on persons for having committed a crime before
the age of 18, and to abolish the death penalty as a sentence
imposed on persons for having committed crimes before
the age of 18, as required by article 37 of the Convention.''
APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic:
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 21 649 5880 (please mark 'For the attention
of the Office of His Excellency, Ayatollah
al Udhma Khamenei, Qom)
Email: [email protected]
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary:
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice
Park-e Shahr
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected] (mark 'Please forward
to HE Ayatollah Shahroudi')
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Speaker of Parliament:
Gholamali Haddad Adel
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami (Parliament)
Imam Khomeini Avenue,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 21 646 1746
Salutation: Dear Sir
Iran does not presently have an embassy in this country.
Instead, please send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
2209 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 965 4990
Fax: 202 965 1073
Please send appeals immediately. Check with the
Colorado office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm,
Mountain Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after
May 26, 2005.
Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that
promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including
contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank
you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: [email protected]
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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