URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
12 February 2008
UA 38/08 Death sentence/Unfair trial/Torture
IRAN Ya'qub Mehrnehad (m), aged 28, member of Iran's
Baluchi minority
Baluchi cultural and civil rights activist Ya'qub Mehrnehad
was sentenced to death in early February, for an unknown
offense, after an unfair trial conducted behind closed
doors. He has allegedly been tortured. His appeal before the
Supreme Court has been scheduled for 17 February, denying
him the minimum 20 days normally given in Iran for him to
prepare his appeal.
His trial began on 25 December 2007 before a court in
Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province. This
may have been a special court set up in the city in May
2006, and it is unclear if it operates as a branch of the
Revolutionary Court it would be governed by the General and
Revolutionary Court procedures, but it may be operating
outside that framework. Furthermore, in June 2006 it was
announced that a "special judicial complex for security
affairs" had begun work and that a recommendation had been
made to the Judiciary to establish a branch of the Supreme
Court in the complex in order to expedite the implementation
of sentences and to reduce the time between the commission
of crimes and the implementation of sentences. Amnesty
International is concerned that Ya'qub Mehrnehad may be in
imminent danger of execution.
Ya'qub Mehrnehad is the head of a government-registered NGO,
"The Voice of Justice Young People's Society", which
specializes in organizing events such as concerts and
educational courses for young Baluchi people. He was
arrested in early May 2007 along with six other members of
the association after they attended a meeting in the
Provincial Office of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which the
Governor of Zahedan reportedly attended. The six other men
were later released. The exact reasons for his arrest are
not known although some newspaper reports in July
2007mentionned that a man identified as Ya'qub M. was being
detained on suspicion of "aiding Abdolmalek Rigi", the
head of a Baluchi armed group, Jondallah, also known as the
Iranian Peoples' Resistance Movement.
Five months after his arrest, Ya'qub Mehrnehad was allowed
visits from his lawyer and his family, who said afterwards
that he had been tortured, had lost about 15kg and was
unable to keep his balance.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Iran's Baluchi minority live mainly in the south-east of the
country, and are believed to make up between one and three
percent of the total population of around 70 million. Mainly
Sunni Muslims, they have for many years complained of
discrimination by the authorities.
Jondallah has carried out a number of armed attacks on
Iranian officials and has sometimes taken hostages and
killed them. It reportedly seeks to defend the rights of the
Baluchi people, though government officials have claimed
that it is involved in drug smuggling and terrorist
activities and has ties to foreign governments.
Attacks by Jondallah have been followed by widespread
arrests of members of the Baluchi minority. According to a
15 March 2007 BBC report, Sistan-Baluchistan television said
that at least two people had been hanged in connection with
a 14 February 2007 attack on a bus carrying Revolutionary
Guards. At least 17 other people are reported to have been
either sentenced to death or executed in connection with a
March 2006 attack in Tasuki, in which up to 22 people were
reportedly killed. In an interview with the Iranian
newspaper 'Ayyaran on 17 March 2007, parliamentarian Hossein
Ali Shahryari said prisons in Sistan-Baluchistan province
held more than 700 people under sentence of death. In 2007,
at least 312 people were executed in Iran, and the true
figure may be considerably higher. There was a marked rise
in the number of Baluchis executed.
For further information please see: Iran: Human Rights
Abuses against the Baluchi Minority, September 2007:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/104/2007.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as
possible:
- calling on the authorities not to carry out the death
sentence against Ya'qub Mehrnehad;
- asking for details of the charges against Ya'qub Mehrnehad
and his trial;
- expressing concern at reports that Ya'qub Mehrnehad has
been tortured, and has lost 15kg and cannot keep his balance
as a result, and reminding the authorities of their
responsibility to ensure that he has access to adequate
medical treatment;
- stating that Amnesty International recognizes the right
and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those
suspected of criminal offenses, 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 Office of the Supreme Leader,
Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info at leader.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
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: info at dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of Intelligence
Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran
Avenue,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: dr-ahmadinejad at president.ir via website:
www.president.ir/email/
Speaker of Parliament
His Excellency Gholamali Haddad Adel
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami, Baharestan Square, Tehran,
Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 21 3355 6408
Email: hadadadel at majlis.ir (Ask for your message to be passed to
the Article 90 Commission)
Iran does not presently have an embassy in the United
States. Instead, please send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
Embassy of Pakistan
2209 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Fax: 1 202 965 1073
Email: requests at daftar.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals
after 25 March 2008.
----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Use shortcuts: Do whatever is necessary to make your
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Start by making a generic file for each type of concern;
paragraphs on torture, the death penalty, disappearances,
denial of medical care and so on, can be copied into your
working file and edited as needed.
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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
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan at aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
12 February 2008
UA 39/08 Death Penalty
AFGHANISTAN Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh (m), student and
journalist
University student and journalist Perwiz Kambakhsh was
sentenced to death on a charge of blasphemy on 22 January in
the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif in Balkh province.
Before the trial began, local religious leaders had called
for him to be executed for causing offense to Islam. His
trial took place in a closed session of the provincial lower
court and he had no legal representation.
Perwiz Kambakhsh was convicted under the blasphemy laws for
allegedly downloading material from the internet that
examined the role of women in Islam and distributing it at
Balkh University. His brother Yaqub Ibrahimi has filed an
appeal on his behalf. If the appeal is rejected by both the
Appeal Court and the Supreme Court, his sentence will be
passed for review to President Karzai, who under the
Constitution is authorized to approve it, commute the
sentence or pardon Perwiz Kambakhsh altogether.
Perwiz Kambakhsh reportedly said that the court consisted of
three judges and an attorney. He was handed the written
death sentence before he had a chance to defend himself and
then escorted from the room by armed guards and returned to
prison.
Perwiz Kambakhsh, who also works for a local newspaper in
Mazar-e-Sharif, has denied all charges against him saying
that his confession was coerced.
The case against Perwiz Kambakhsh appears to be politically
motivated, aimed at stopping his brother Yaqub Ibrahimi -
also a journalist who works for the Institute for War and
Peace Reporting (IWPR) a charity providing training and
capacity building for local media - from publishing articles
critical of local power holders. Perwiz was arrested in
November 2007 after Yaqui published a series of articles
voicing concerns about local leaders.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Fifteen people were executed in October 2007, the first
executions in Afghanistan for three years. The 15 were
gunned down as they attempted to flee the execution and one
person sentenced to death allegedly bribed his way out of
the execution. The executions were immediately followed by a
10-day hunger strike by some prisoners in Pul-e-Charkhi
prison. The prisoners said that the executions were not
based on fair and transparent trials, that some were
politically motivated and that at least one person escaped
execution by paying bribes. Between 70 and 110 people are
believed to remain on death row.
The death sentence against Perwiz Kambakhsh comes despite
the UN General Assembly's adoption of a resolution (18
December 2007) calling for a worldwide moratorium on the use
of the death penalty and at a time when a total of 135
countries have abolished the death penalty in law or
practice.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all
cases. The death penalty is a symptom of a culture of
violence, and not a solution to it. It has not been shown to
have any greater deterrent effect than other punishments,
and is known to have been carried out on the innocent. The
death penalty is the ultimate form of cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment, and a violation of the right to life, a
right proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and other international human rights instruments.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as
possible:
- calling on President Karzai to use his powers to pardon
Perwiz Kambakhsh;
- expressing concern that the court proceedings fell far
below international fair trial standards;
- expressing concern that the charges against Perwiz
Kambakhsh appear to have been brought for political reasons;
- calling on President Karzai to re-introduce an immediate
moratorium on all executions in Afghanistan, as called for
in the recent UN General Assembly resolution that was
passed, with a view to an eventual abolition of the death
penalty in line with the worldwide trend.
APPEALS TO:
Please Note:
It is difficult to get letters and emails to Afghanistan.
Please send appeals to the Ambassador of Afghanistan, and
ask that they be forwarded to President Karzai, Attorney
General Abdul Jabar Sabit and Minister of Justice Sarwar
Danish.
Ambassador Said Tayeb Jawad
Embassy of Afghanistan
2341 Wyoming Avenue NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 483 6488
Email: info at embassyofafghanistan.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals
after 25 March 2008.
----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Use shortcuts: Do whatever is necessary to make your
letter writing as quick and easy as possible. This way,
letters will not be put off and they can be sent out sooner.
Start by making a generic file for each type of concern;
paragraphs on torture, the death penalty, disappearances,
denial of medical care and so on, can be copied into your
working file and edited as needed.
** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.26 - Postcards
$0.41 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico and Canada:
$0.69 - Postcards
$0.69 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.90 - Postcards
$0.90 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
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
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan at aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide
Rick Halperin Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:07:17 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide Rick Halperin
