URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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6 December 2005
UA 306/05 Imminent Execution
IRAN: Rostam Tajik (m), Afghan national, aged 20
Afghan national Rostam Tajik is reportedly scheduled for
execution on 10 December for a murder committed when
he was 16. Iran is a state party to international treaties that
expressly prohibit the use of the death penalty for crimes
committed below the age of 18.
Rostam Tajik was reportedly sentenced to qisas
(retribution specified by the victim's family) by Branch 9 of
the General Court of Esfahan for the May 2001 murder of a
woman, Nafiseh Rafi'i, carried out when he was 16 years
old. The sentence was reportedly upheld by the Supreme
Court.
Rostom Tajik, an apprentice with Nafiseh Rafi'I's husband,
reportedly went into the couple's house to burgle it.
However, once inside he killed Nafiseh Rafi'i and cut the
throat of her 11-year-old daughter, whose screms alerted
the neighbours. Rostam Tajik fled, and the neighbours
took the daughter to hospital for treatment that saved her
life. Rostam Tajik reportedly fled to Qazvin, west of
Tehran, but was later arrested.
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, Iran has executed at least seven juvenile
offenders so far this year, two of whom were still under 18
at the time they were executed. Most recently, on 12
September, a 22-year-old Iranian man convicted of rape
was publicly hanged in the southern province of Fars.
According to the daily newspaper E'temad, he had been
sentenced to death in 2000, suggesting he was under the
age of 18 when the crime was committed.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 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. On 19 January
2005 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, of Iman Farokhi for an offence committed
when he was 17 years old.
Legislation that would prohibit the use of the death penalty
for offences committed under the age of 18 was put before
parliament four years ago, but has been trapped in
discussions.
On 11 October 2005, Minister of Justice Jamal Karimirad,
acting in his capacity as spokesman for the Iranian
Judiciary, was reported by the Iranian Students' News
Agency to have said that if this bill was passed by the
Majles (parliament), then those under the age of 18 would
no longer be executed. However, he made a distinction
between murder (for which the punishment is qisas) and
other crimes carrying the death penalty, stating that qisas
was a private, not a state matter, although he did say that
attempts were being made to address the issue of qisas as
well.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to
arrive as quickly as possible:
- urging the authorities to commute the death sentence
imposed on Rostam Tajik immediately, as it was handed
down for a murder committed when he was aged 16;
- 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 Rostam Tajik's trial, including his
legal representation and the appeals against his
conviction;
- 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'';
- 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.
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 6 649 5880 (mark ''FAO the Office of His
Excellency, Ayatollah al Udhma
Khamenei'')
Email: i...@wilayah.org; i...@leader.ir
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'')
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Minister of the Interior
Hojatoleslam Mustafa Purmohammadi
Ministry of the Interior
Dr Fatemi Avenue
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: ravabetom...@moi.gov.ir
Fax: 011 98 21 8 896 203; 011 98 21 8 899 547; 011 98
21 6 650 203
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 December 10, 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: 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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