URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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06 January 2006
UA 05/06 Death penalty
UGANDA Joel Lubangakene (m), soldier
Private Joel Lubangakene was sentenced to death by hanging by a
military court on 2 January, for reportedly shooting dead an 18-
year-old student on 26 December in northern Uganda. Some
reports indicate that Lubangakene could be executed on 8 January.
President Museveni has the power to commute the sentence.
Lubangakene reportedly claimed he had shot the student, 18-year-
old Ojok Ojara, on the orders of his commanding officer, which he
could not disobey. However, the court apparently agreed with the
prosecutor that soldiers were only bound to obey lawful orders,
while this order would have been unlawful; and also that
Lubangakene had been lying, as he had not been ordered to shoot
Ojara, but had done so "maliciously".
The hearing, before an 11-member court, took place inside the
Lalogi internally displaced people's camp, where Ojara was
reportedly shot.
The Lalogi camp is home to some 300,000 people who have been
forced to flee their homes by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army,
which has been operating in the region since the mid-1980s.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive
as quickly as possible:
- urging President Museveni to commute the death sentence of
Private Joel Lubangakene, who is reportedly due to be executed
imminently.
APPEALS TO:
President:
Kaguta Yoweri Museveni
President of the Republic
Office of the President of Uganda
Parliament Building
PO Box 7168
Kampala, Uganda
Fax: 011 256 41 346102
Email: a...@statehouse.go.ug
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Attorney General and Minister of Justice:
Hon. Kiddhu Makubuya
Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs
Parliament Avenue
P.O.Box 7183
Kampala, Uganda
Fax: 011 256 41 254829
Email: mo...@africaonline.co.ug
Salutation: Dear Minister
Commander of the Ugandan Army:
Lieutenant-General Aronda Nyakairima
P.O. Box 132
Bombo
Fax: 011 256 41 356641
Salutation: Dear Sir
Ambassador Edith Grace Ssempala
Embassy of the Republic of Uganda
5911 -16th St. NW
Washington DC 20011
Fax: 1 202 726 1727
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
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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: u...@aiusa.org
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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URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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06 January 2006
UA 04/06 Death penalty/ legal concern
IRAN
Delara Darabi (f), aged 19, child offender
Delara Darabi, aged 19, is at risk of execution for a murder that
took place when she was 17 years old. She denies committing
the crime. Iran is a state party to international treaties that
expressly prohibit the use of the death penalty for crimes
committed by those under the age of 18.
According to reports in the Persian language news service Aftab,
Delara Darabi and a 19-year-old man named Amir Hossein
broke into a woman's house to commit a burglary. Amir
Hossein allegedly killed the woman during the burglary. Delara
Darabi initially confessed to the murder, but has since retracted
her confession. She claims that Amir Hossein asked her to admit
responsibility for the murder to protect him from execution,
believing that as she was under the age of 18, she could not be
sentenced to death.
A lower court in the northern city of Rasht sentenced Delara
Darabi to death. The Supreme Court has reportedly upheld the
sentence. She maintains her innocence, and has claimed that she
was under the influence of sedatives during the burglary. At this
stage the Head of the Judiciary has the power to order a stay of
execution and a review of the case.
Amir Hossein has reportedly received a prison sentence of 10
years for his involvement in the crime.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
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, since 1990, Iran has executed at least 18 people
for crimes committed when they were children. In 2005 alone,
despite being urged in January by the United Nations
Committee on the Rights of the Child to suspend the practice
immediately, at least eight child offenders were executed,
including two who were still under 18 at the time of their
execution. The last recorded execution of a child offender,
Rostam Tajik, was on 10 December 2005 - ironically, the day
that the UN has marked annually as Human Rights Day (see UA
306/05, MDE 13/075/2005, 06 December 2005, and follow-up).
On 9 December, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial,
summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, called on the
Iranian authorities not to proceed with the execution of Rostam
Tajik, stating: "At a time when virtually every other country in
the world has firmly and clearly renounced the execution of
people for crimes they committed as children, the Iranian
approach is particularly unacceptable ... It is all the more
surprising because the obligation to refrain from such
executions is not only clear and incontrovertible, but the
Government of Iran has itself stated that it will cease this
practice."
For the last four years, Iran has been considering legislation to
prohibit this practice, but despite this, over the past two years
the number of child offenders executed has increased. Recent
comments by a judiciary spokesperson suggest that the new law
would in any case only prohibit the death penalty for certain
crimes when committed by children.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to
arrive as quickly as possible:
- urging the authorities to commute the death sentence imposed
on Delara Darabi immediately;
- 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";
- asking for details of her trial and any appeals;
- expressing concern at reports that Delara Darabi confessed to
the murder in order to protect her co-accused;
- 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";
- acknowledging that governments have a responsibility to bring
to justice those suspected of criminal offences such as murder,
but stating your unconditional opposition to the death penalty,
as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and
violation of the right to life.
APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic:
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street
Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 251 7 774 2228 (mark "FAO the Office of His
Excellency, Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei")
Email: i...@leader.ir , istif...@wilayah.org
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: ir...@iranjudiciary.org (mark "Please forward to
His Excellency Ayatollah Shahroudi") Please note that
this email address can be unreliable. If you are unable
to email this address, please send your appeal via the
judiciary website:
www.iranjudiciary.org/feedback_en.html
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Speaker of Parliament:
Gholamali Haddad Adel
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami
Imam Khomeini Avenue
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 21 6 646 1746
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 17 February 2006.
POSTAGE RATES:
(for post mailed on or before January 7, 2006):
Within the United States:
$0.23 - Postcards
$0.37 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico and Canada:
$0.50 - Postcards
$0.60 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.70 - Postcards
$0.80 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
** NEW! POSTAGE RATES **
(as of January 8, 2006):
Within the United States:
$0.24 - Postcards
$0.39 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico and Canada:
$0.55 - Postcards
$0.63 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
$0.75 - Aerogrammes
To all other destination countries:
$0.75 - Postcards
$0.84 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
$0.75 - Aerogrammes
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: u...@aiusa.org
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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