Iran pushes ‘Islamic human rights’ excluding LGBT people

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJsOH3yFyql25cnN0NM7iI6Fr6qe0bEZPfLXjwyWYLPJJOUbVBtYvQitCKTnVV6MAvsqgFVp2ea8tzbcuYy1Hwqn3w3ME5lOU0OncxdVDwIV-i2ooZLLAzczaxnvy_7_utxbTbjAOt0b0/s1600/Mashhad+IRAN+17+May+2016_+06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Not all human rights principles are necessarily universal." border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJsOH3yFyql25cnN0NM7iI6Fr6qe0bEZPfLXjwyWYLPJJOUbVBtYvQitCKTnVV6MAvsqgFVp2ea8tzbcuYy1Hwqn3w3ME5lOU0OncxdVDwIV-i2ooZLLAzczaxnvy_7_utxbTbjAOt0b0/s400/Mashhad+IRAN+17+May+2016_+06.jpg" title="Not all human rights principles are necessarily universal." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Not all human rights principles are necessarily universal."</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>"Not all human rights principles are necessarily universal." -- Kazem Gharibabadi, International Deputy for the Iranian High Council for Human Rights.</i><br /><br />The Iranian government plans to host an international human rights conference in the city of Qom in August to discuss Islamic Human Rights principles, which will exclude LGBT rights and other issues “that are based on Western cultural standards and lifestyle,” as well as issues that ” are not universally accepted.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The announcement about the upcoming conference was made [June 29] by Mr. Kazem Gharibabadi, the International Deputy for the <a href="http://en.humanrights-iran.ir/default.aspx" target="_blank">Iranian High Council for Human Rights,</a> affiliated with the Iranian Judiciary. During his comments, Mr. Gharibabadi’s was specifically critical of the inclusion of LGBT rights in various human rights treaties:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">“Some countries refuse to acknowledge that the principles of human rights should be, at times, implemented based on the culture and dominant values of each country. For example, these countries consider homosexuality as a human rights issue, which is not accepted by Islamic countries. Those countries pressure others to follow their standards and seek the universality of human rights.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">“Of course, we do not deny the universality of some aspects of human rights, but not everything that those countries want to promote should be considered as a human rights issue. Not all human rights principles are necessarily universal. We need to see if the prevailing culture of each country allows such issues to be seen as a human rights issue or not.”</blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In his interview with the the official website of the Iranian Parliament, Mr. Gharibabadi clarified that Iran’s ongoing effort to promote the Islamo-centric human rights values is done through research, documentation, and facilitated discourse through a partnership with the Iranian Foreign Ministry. According to Mr. Gharibabadi, “The Council has commissioned several research and publication projects to various academic centers, and is expecting to launch one or two of these reports in multiple languages by March 2017.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to Mr. Gharibabadi, there are currently consultations with other Islamic countries underway on how to use Islamic Human Rights doctrines in interpreting and drafting international human rights documents, so that Islamic human rights principles can become universally acceptable.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For more information in Persian, read the <a href="http://www.icana.ir/Fa/News/302389" target="_blank">full text of that story</a> in Icana.ir.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: <a href="https://76crimes.com/2016/07/01/iran-pushes-islamic-human-rights-excluding-lgbt-people/" target="_blank">Erasing 76 crimes</a>, Colin Stewart, July 1, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span></div>

Executed for being gay Homosexuality Human Rights Iran Islam Islamic Human Rights Islamic Law LGBT sharia Iran pushes ‘Islamic human rights’ excluding LGBT people

"Not all human rights principles are necessarily universal." "Not all human rights principles are necessarily universal....

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Two Christians and a Muslim man get death penalty in Pakistan for blasphemy

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmDEYWCOD79qHi28RQUMhyf61erCwfx9ZExCpMPeKeAmMW57KRuthQdlM1kfJmmoBkvL1EqBTx9sYzbOpscvjXK0T5VfYlbA-UY49-i5FnnkdK6HesAVw0-wWm-Vefnowms7se6wMwNqc/s1600/Pakistan+Islam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Blasphemy is an extremely sensitive issue in Pakistan." border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmDEYWCOD79qHi28RQUMhyf61erCwfx9ZExCpMPeKeAmMW57KRuthQdlM1kfJmmoBkvL1EqBTx9sYzbOpscvjXK0T5VfYlbA-UY49-i5FnnkdK6HesAVw0-wWm-Vefnowms7se6wMwNqc/s400/Pakistan+Islam.jpg" title="Blasphemy is an extremely sensitive issue in Pakistan." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blasphemy is an extremely sensitive issue in Pakistan.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">2 Christians and a Muslim man were on Tuesday sentenced to death by a Pakistani anti terrorism court for committing blasphemy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Anti-Terrorism Court of Gujranwala district announced the verdict in the case which was pending for the last one year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">ATC Gujranwala Judge Bushra Zaman handed down death penalty to Anjum, Javed Naz (who are both Christians) and Jaffer Ali for committing blasphemy. Naz and Ali have been sentenced to an additional 35 years each.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 5 million on Anjum and Rs 8 million each on Naz and Ali.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gujranwala city police had arrested Anjum, Naz and Ali a year ago on blasphemy charges.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The judge announced the verdict after prosecution presented all witnesses.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Anjum, a resident of Farid Town, some 80km from Lahore ran a chain of Locus Schools System in Gujranwala. Asif, Anjum's brother, told PTI that his brother never committed any blasphemy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Javed Naz was a cousin of Anjum and employed at one of his schools. When Anjum fired Naz on corruption allegations he turned against my brother," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Asif said later Naz started blackmailing Anjum by claiming that he had his voice recorded in which he had made blasphemous remarks.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"When Anjum stopped paying money to Naz, he along with his Muslim friend Ali got a blasphemy case registered against Anjum," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Police during investigation also booked Naz and Ali in the blasphemy case.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"My brother is innocent and we will challenge the ATC verdict in the superior court," Asif said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Blasphemy is an extremely sensitive issue in Pakistan. 2 high-profile politicians then Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer and minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti were murdered in 2011 after calling for reforms to the blasphemy law.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pakistan's tough blasphemy law has attracted criticism from rights groups, who say they are frequently misused to settle personal scores.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: firstpost.com, June 28, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span></div></div>

Blasphemy Christians Islam Islamic Law Pakistan Two Christians and a Muslim man get death penalty in Pakistan for blasphemy

Blasphemy is an extremely sensitive issue in Pakistan. 2 Christians and a Muslim man were on Tuesday sentenced to death by a Pakistani anti ...

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Iran under pressure to abolish death penalty for drug trafficking

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1-Q2lQv_InuPv2PBBP4U7j7OIIIDpbcDT_PJU3XoozTgnNKZta_kmqfxnCdH2oCyR2WpeAhkiMBM4hPKFWH176zsnRo73Z3qO3u7lK1cVnNJn468KRA7L5a47Vai8dz5gdPiRRAbbtAE/s1600/Execution+Iran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Public hanging in Iran" border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1-Q2lQv_InuPv2PBBP4U7j7OIIIDpbcDT_PJU3XoozTgnNKZta_kmqfxnCdH2oCyR2WpeAhkiMBM4hPKFWH176zsnRo73Z3qO3u7lK1cVnNJn468KRA7L5a47Vai8dz5gdPiRRAbbtAE/s400/Execution+Iran.jpg" title="Public hanging in Iran" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Several European countries cut off financial contributions to republic's counter-narcotics campaign</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iran is under pressure to end its use of death penalty against drug traffickers after facing a serious shortfall in the international funding of the country's counter-narcotics campaign.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An increasing number of European countries have decided to cut off contributions even though the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) last year approved a 5-year country partnership programme for Iran that was aimed at providing about $20m (then 14.4m pounds).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The agency's latest annual appeal document, obtained by the human rights group Reprieve, which works for the abolition of death penalty, shows that Tehran has received zero in funding for 2016. The UK has confirmed in writing that it is no longer contributing. Similar indications have come from Italy, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Ireland and Norway.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2 senior Iranian officials have recently complained about the lack of international support. Last week, Iran's prosecutor general, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, blamed "imperialist" powers for young people's addiction to drugs. In April, the Tehran Times quoted the interior minister as saying that Europeans were uncooperative.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iran is a neighbour to Afghanistan, a leading producer and supplier of the world's drugs, and faces big challenges at home with a young population susceptible to a variety of cheap and abundant addictive drugs. Critics, however, say Iran's use of death penalty in this regard has done little, if anything, to address the issue.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It is increasingly untenable for abolitionist states to contribute to the funding of law enforcement-led counter-narcotics programmes in Iran due to skyrocketing drug-related executions in Iran," Maya Foa, director of Reprieve's death penalty team, told the Guardian on the sidelines of the 6th World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Oslo.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iran executed nearly 1,000 people last year, of which more than 1/2 were for drug offences. It is difficult to gauge public attitude to executions in Iran but Iranians increasingly favour forgiveness in cases involving murder. The number of Iranian convicts whose lives were saved last year after being pardoned outnumbered those who were known to have been put to death for murder.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There has been a considerable drop in the number of executions in Iran since the beginning of this year (around 200 executions) but activists said it was too early to say if that amounted to a change in policy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The UNODC did comment on the cooperation of the Europeans. "The programme received funding in 2015 and there are pledges for 2016 from countries. It would therefore be premature to make any judgment on funding levels for the programme, especially as we are only halfway through the year," said David Dadge, UNODC's spokesperson.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">UNODC's deputy executive director, Aldo Lale-Demoz, recently said: "You'll never be able to control the world drug problem just by investing in law enforcement and repression."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iran has hinted that it wants to end drug-related executions. In December, more than 70 MPs introduced a bill to end such executions and officials have since signalled that Iran is pursing the matter. Iran's chief prosecutor said last week that "we are not in favour of death penalty and we don't think it's appropriate".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Madyar Samienejad, an Oslo-based human rights defender, said comments by the Iranian judicial authorities over abolishing the death penalty for drug-related offences appeared to be serious, showing there was a will to tackle the issue. "I think this is the direct result of good campaigning. Executions have contributed to a great degree in how Iran is viewed from the outside world and the Iranian authorities seem to have begun acknowledging this, at least in their words," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Executions in Iran take place at the hands of the hardline judiciary, which acts independently of the moderate administration of Hassan Rouhani. But critics say the government has failed in preventing such executions take place in public and providing enough funding for lawyers defending convicts.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Asked by the Guardian, the Norwegian foreign minister, Borge Brende, said last week: "We have been very clear regarding our funding towards the UN, and that we will not be a part of funding Iran's programs which is related to this inhumane practice." The French foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, however, said: "The fight against drug trafficking is one thing, the fight against the death penalty is another." He did not say whether France was still contributing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: The Guardian, June 29, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span></div></div>

Abolition Austria Drug trafficking European Union France Germany Iran Ireland Islamic Law Italy Norway sharia UK UNODC Iran under pressure to abolish death penalty for drug trafficking

Several European countries cut off financial contributions to republic's counter-narcotics campaign Iran is under pressure to end its us...

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Situation of Iran's Minorities Raised at 6th World Congress Against the Death Penalty

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEissF39-5EXNYhYELtodU1p-zSiam4wwj8F6a91tqgwx2z8m4rT4TdwEvTLfrH4ogaZquSB3HJ3xbJh1oCDilykT7ctpt_j_QxRdojuJ3PrQYCBsWnG6Jueb4vJpraF9FSgVhQn9bV-M20/s1600/Iran+Public+execution+JAN+4+2016+ph03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Public execution in Iran" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEissF39-5EXNYhYELtodU1p-zSiam4wwj8F6a91tqgwx2z8m4rT4TdwEvTLfrH4ogaZquSB3HJ3xbJh1oCDilykT7ctpt_j_QxRdojuJ3PrQYCBsWnG6Jueb4vJpraF9FSgVhQn9bV-M20/s400/Iran+Public+execution+JAN+4+2016+ph03.jpg" title="Public execution in Iran" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">ECPM (Ensemble contre la peine de mort) convened the 6th World Congress Against the Death Penalty on 21-23 June 2016 in Oslo, Norway, to discuss ways forward in the abolition of the death penalty. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The event gathered around 1000 participants (ministers, diplomats, parliamentarians, academics, lawyers and members of civil society), among which Ms Monireh Shirani (Balochistan Human Rights Group, Sweden) who presented her view on the state of death penalty among migrants and minorities in Iran. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Baloch, Kurds, Ahwazi Arabs, Azerbaijani Turks and Turkmen are being systematically discriminated against and have less access to legal resources to defend themselves than the rest of the population, which results in minorities being the most threatened by executions. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iran is currently among the top countries when it comes to the number of executions in the past 5 years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Below is the speech of Ms Monireh Shirani:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ethnic minorities have long suffered discrimination as they have been viewed with suspicion and considered outsiders or foreign conspirators. The Amnesty report for 2015-16 states that "Iran's disadvantaged ethnic groups, Ahwazi Arabs, Azerbaijani Turks, Baluchis, Kurds and Turkmen, continued to report that the state authorities systematically discriminated against them, particularly in employment, housing, access to political office, and the exercise of cultural, civil and political rights."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Executions are part of the state policy in dealing with the ethnic minorities, to punish any cultural or political act. The large-scale executions of political and ideological dissidents have resulted in Iran being in the top countries when it comes to number of executions during the last 5 years. Other reasons are that the ethnic minorities also have less access to the legal resources needed to defend themselves due to a discriminatory system, poverty, marginalization and living in militarized zone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is a clear over representation of the Ahwazi arabs, Baloch and Kurds on the death row and in executions. Iran executed nearly 1000 prisoners last year, the majority of these executions were prisoners' sentence to death for drug-related offenses. Under Iran's current drug laws possession of 30 grams of heroin or cocaine would qualify for the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iran views these number as a great victory and defends its acts because they claim that they are in a war on drugs. Some of those who were convicted for drug related offenses were actually political dissidents. In Balochistan entire adult male populations from singled out villages have been executed, the regime fully admit to this and refers to the war on drugs and drug trafficking as crimes which have to be met with mass execution. Some of them were executed without trials others had trials conducted behind closed doors, before biased judges and in absence of legal representations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One can wonder how this is possible on a large scale.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Well, charges of act on national security and drug related offenses, are among the charges routinely used on ethnic minorities, fall within the jurisdiction of the Revolutionary court which is one for the strictest Judicial bodies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Revolutionary court consists of essentially closed meetings, the right of defense is ignored. The accused is not informed of his or her right to adequate defense. The right to assistance of interpretation of the proceedings in his or her mother tongue as Farsi is not the mother tongue of the ethnic minorities not given.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The family is prohibited to participate in the deliberations of the case. The courts is by law obliged to inform the accused of the verdict by sending a copy of the decision to his place of residence and from that time there is a 20 day appeal possibility. The Revolutionary court fails to follow its legal obligations and violates the accused's rights, because they don't send a copy, the family is not notified in time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The accused are usually moved to different locations, in different regions as a strategy to isolate the accused. This places a challenge on the prisoner because it makes it hard for the family to visit and give adequate support.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Iran there are thousands of minors in prison, often sentenced to death while underage and executed when coming to age. On the 27th of April Mohammad Sanchouli 22 years old was executed in Balochistan. He was arrested and convicted when he was 17 years old and spent 5 years in prison.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The obstacles confronted by minorities facing the death penalty is on the individual level impossible to tackle. The strategies and the ambiguity of the system is difficult for the individual and his/her family to overcome. Rather than finding reasonable evidence for the commission of a crime, judges generally rely on confessions, which have often been coerced through physical and psychological torture. Iranian television continue to broadcast self-incriminating testimonies of ethnic minority detainees even before their opening trial, undermining their fundamental rights of defendants to be considered innocent until proven guilty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last year in Ahwaz 5 prisoners were arrested in April and on in June they were brought in front of state TV by the Ministry of Information to make public confessions. These public confessions are frequent used when lack of evidence. For example in 2012 in Balochistan ten people were arrested for an assassination.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Confessions were broadcast on state TV. Some of them received long sentenced others were sentenced to death. A few years after the security forces arrested another 18 people for the same crime for which the people in 2012 had been tried and convicted for.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Most of the minority prisoners have been arbitrary arrested. We have cases of security forces raiding homes and arresting people without warrants. In Ahwaz last year more than 75 people were arrested after a demonstration and for months their whereabouts were unknown to their families.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Waging war against God" (Moharebeh) enmity against God is one of the leading charges used by the Iranian regime to justify the inhuman executions of ethnic minorities groups in Iran. Other common charges against minorities sentences to death are charges of corruption on earth (Mofsid fil-arz), drug related offences and acts against national security. Another vulnerable group is religious minorities such as the Bahai who are also usually charged with espionage and acts against national security.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A few weeks ago, the Iranian government executed 5 Kurdish prisoners in the northwestern city of Urmia. They were hung publicly on charges of "conspiring against the Islamic Republic of Iran". They were human rights activists who used to document violations by security forces against civilians in the Kurdish city of Urmia. The regime is quick to state examples by using public hangings to discourage any form of activity in the regions. Many of these hangings take up to 20 minutes, a slow and painful death. The body is often left for a time before removed from the scene.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We the diaspora and the civil society living outside Iran depend on the United Nations as a tool to challenge the ongoing oppression in Iran. The UN's office on drugs and crime, the anti-drug agency has a multi-million dollar funding package, which includes EU money, for Iran's counter narcotics trafficking program. Iran's war on drugs have not resulted in the population being less addicted to drugs but rather resulted in mass executions of ethnic minorities. The international community needs to raise concern over the lack of the administration of justice in this war on drugs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This money should be conditional and the UN should demand that the capital punishment for drug related offense not be used, put pressure on the country to give the accused a fair trial and access to judicial system. The UN should at least demand that the Special rapporteurs be given access to the country as a condition.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The strategy is to continue to work against the death penalty. To work with wide networks of law makers, lawyers, NGO's and activists to create new strategies towards universal abolition of the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Other tactics to challenge the status quo is Social media and media. Iran does not expose its execution records, it's quite hard to obtain full court records. Bridging the information gap is key. In Zahedan prison in April 8 men were executed. We still don't know the full identity of five of them. The civil society outside as well as in side Iran plays an important role in creating records and bring the information out. The state TV often dehumanize ethnic minorities in national media, promoting a discourse of uncivilized, barbaric, drug lord and illiterate people living in dangerous areas. People in the central part never see the regions of the minorities and so the only information that they have of us is the state's portrayal. That's why media coverage to is important so that the state narrative can be challenged.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: unpo.org, June 28, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span></div></div>

ECPM Ethnic minorities Iran Islamic Law Juvenile offenders sharia Situation of Iran's Minorities Raised at 6th World Congress Against the Death Penalty

ECPM (Ensemble contre la peine de mort) convened the 6th World Congress Against the Death Penalty on 21-23 June 2016 in Oslo, Norway, to dis...

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Maldives state ready to kill Humam, and a way of life

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIbF7-Z9p4JM3QN5-pzK4WmBQ4YPUXasZgRl2bh3ZGAK1iJQkrnPVWtwZNj8XAPTHd9r92zAiL1uNyCjLLrbqItphDYnp58kLDI7he4NcfAxwlfsPxVryAuLxonQlcsnNHdvJ-8KMceZc/s1600/Humam+being+brought+to+court+Maldives.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Humam being brought to court" border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIbF7-Z9p4JM3QN5-pzK4WmBQ4YPUXasZgRl2bh3ZGAK1iJQkrnPVWtwZNj8XAPTHd9r92zAiL1uNyCjLLrbqItphDYnp58kLDI7he4NcfAxwlfsPxVryAuLxonQlcsnNHdvJ-8KMceZc/s400/Humam+being+brought+to+court+Maldives.jpg" title="Humam being brought to court" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Humam being brought to court</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">In the early hours of the morning on the 19th day of Ramadan, as most of the country slept, the Maldives Supreme Court upheld the verdict by lower courts to kill <a href="http://maldivesindependent.com/feature-comment/no-sympathy-for-people-like-us-milestones-in-the-life-of-a-maldivian-death-row-prisoner-123628" target="_blank">Hussein Humam Ahmed</a>. The 22-year-old man was convicted of killing MP Dr Afrasheem Ali on 2 October 2012 in <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_TT83MGbKM1d00yU1FtTmx6bkE/view" target="_blank">a trial laden with irregularities</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Regulations introduced recently say the sentence must be carried out within 30 days. Umar Naseer, Home Minister until a sudden resignation on Tuesday this week, has said the State is now ready to <a href="http://maldivesindependent.com/politics/maldives-to-execute-death-row-inmates-by-hanging-124872" target="_blank">kill by hanging</a> - the only thing missing was someone’s neck to put the noose around and squeeze the life out of. The Supreme Court delivered that last night in the shape of Humam.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Humam’s killing will be the <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=47680#.V2zOM1dlfAM" target="_blank">first in the Maldives since 1953</a>, even then a rare thing. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Supreme Court’s decision is political in another way. It panders to the strict Salafi clerics and their philosophy of ‘progression through regression’ that now dominate Maldives society. It caters to their demands for a legal system in the Maldives based on Sharia alone. This is a demand expressed by the whole spectrum of Salafis in the Maldives from the apolitical to the radicals and <a href="http://www.dhivehisitee.com/people/maldives-fighters-in-syria-warns-government/" target="_blank">the violent ‘Jihadists’ who have emigrated to Syria</a>. The Supreme Court decision will appease them.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It also panders to the overlords who facilitate, finance and continue to groom Maldivian Muslims to become Salafis: Saudi Arabia.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The noose around Humam’s neck will put an end to not just his life but to two problems the government encounters: rumours of President Yameen’s involvement in Afrasheem’s murder that just won’t die; and accusations that it is not following the path of ‘true Islam’, i.e, Saudi-led Salafi Islam.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is still a significant part of Maldivian society today, like me, horrified by the Supreme Court decision which <a href="http://www.dhivehisitee.com/people/maldives-fighters-in-syria-warns-government/" target="_blank">ignored even the last-minute pleas by the murdered victim’s family</a> for a temporary reprieve. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We should understand this verdict is a harbinger of things to come: a society characterised by injustice, faux piety, and appeasement of the radical. There was a time when none of us could have imagined life in Maldives dominated by strict Salafi ideology. Today it is a lived truth. Tomorrow seems likely to be totally ruled by it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dhivehisitee.com/executive/maldives-state-ready-to-kill-humam-and-a-way-of-life/" target="_blank"><b>Click here to read the full article</b></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: Dhivehi Sitee, Azra Nassem, June 24, 2016</div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span>

Islamic Law Maldives Salafism Saudi Arabia sharia Maldives state ready to kill Humam, and a way of life

Humam being brought to court In the early hours of the morning on the 19th day of Ramadan, as most of the country slept, the Maldives Suprem...

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Husband of British-Iranian woman detained in Iran criticises Foreign Office

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJc6T5t3T-dItvh9v-cIwAfR2pVWT0qV41rBZprFaq6Y0gKHCill9TyGmYMfJVoHQKQwBaBcoUMWrqJ3sQBl2_J0MmfmSbdDohXs_MhmB2ybkRX9IXjUH-Ddn5i11yEOFuV1Q6ko5KgM0/s1600/London+UK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="London, England" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJc6T5t3T-dItvh9v-cIwAfR2pVWT0qV41rBZprFaq6Y0gKHCill9TyGmYMfJVoHQKQwBaBcoUMWrqJ3sQBl2_J0MmfmSbdDohXs_MhmB2ybkRX9IXjUH-Ddn5i11yEOFuV1Q6ko5KgM0/s400/London+UK.jpg" title="London, England" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The husband of a British-Iranian woman who has been detained without charge in Tehran for 83 days has spoken of his anger over the Foreign Office's handling of the matter, saying he feels "gamed" by officials who value trade above the welfare of British citizens and objected to his going public with the case.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Richard Ratcliffe told the Guardian he felt trade relations had been prioritised over the welfare of his wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, and their 2-year-old daughter Gabriella. "I don't think Nazanin and Gabriella's case, nor any of the others, is a top priority at the moment," he said, referring to 4 other British passport holders he understands are being detained in Iran. "The top priority of the Foreign Office is trade."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation as a project manager, was arrested at Tehran's international airport by members of the country's Revolutionary Guard on 3 April. She had been about to return to the UK from a family visit in her home country. This month the Revolutionary Guard released a statement accusing her of fomenting a "soft overthrow" of the Islamic Republic, which her husband described as "farcical".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 37-year-old charity worker has since been held in solitary confinement under interrogation and refused access to a lawyer. If convicted of espionage charges she could face up to 20 years in prison or the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ratcliffe did not meet Foreign Office officials until after he had made his wife's case public in May, 36 days after her arrest, and then only at his request. "It felt almost like the Foreign Office resented me for going public. I was angry, and I felt gamed," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We would have a series of calls and there would be a sort of strange dynamic where occasionally it felt like they were almost trying to get me on record as having said how helpful [they had been]. It's like dealing with a fucking insurance company trying to get out of paying a claim. This is a really odd definition of support, isn't it? It is a really odd dynamic to be covering your arse that early on."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ratcliffe describes the government's position as: "'This is a delicate matter, we'll hope the Iranians will be nice.' It's like, delicate? I mean, if this was your wife? They can use political capital to force the situation. But there has been no public statement of criticism by a senior politician, and the Iranians notice that."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Zaghari-Ratcliffe is 1 of 3 female dual-citizenship foreign nationals to have been detained by the Revolutionary Guard in the past 3 months. But whereas since March the US state department website has warned dual-passport holders not to visit Iran, the Foreign Office website does not.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gabriella's British passport was confiscated by the Iranian authorities, and she is being looked after by her grandparents. Under Iranian law only her father or mother can bring her home. Zaghari-Ratcliffe is being detained 620 miles from her daughter in Kerman prison.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We have been supporting Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family since we were first made aware of her arrest. Minister for the Middle East, Tobias Ellwood, has met personally with the family to reassure them that we will continue to do all we can on this case."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The matter is understood to have been raised with Iranian officials, including by the foreign secretary with the Iranian foreign minister.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: The Guardian, June 25, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span></div></div>

Consular assistance Espionage Iran Islamic Law sharia UK Women Husband of British-Iranian woman detained in Iran criticises Foreign Office

The husband of a British-Iranian woman who has been detained without charge in Tehran for 83 days has spoken of his anger over the Foreign O...

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Call to halt execution of 2 prisoners in western Iran

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWJFoBhJBCnjlJggAJaEwi0g_EVoaD3uPjVyXjG03UlN_Y5Tzr6bk81E82MKmX_enemTO_TGOkqQrJDxPSwYfz_wX1ktuI1MUVTRNbHj4KfxlbvzHuCksSUupsU5DcQClzfNFROt7xKKo/s1600/Khomeini+shahr_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Watching a public execution in Iran (file photo)" border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWJFoBhJBCnjlJggAJaEwi0g_EVoaD3uPjVyXjG03UlN_Y5Tzr6bk81E82MKmX_enemTO_TGOkqQrJDxPSwYfz_wX1ktuI1MUVTRNbHj4KfxlbvzHuCksSUupsU5DcQClzfNFROt7xKKo/s400/Khomeini+shahr_1.jpg" title="Watching a public execution in Iran (file photo)" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watching a public execution in Iran (file photo)</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">On Wednesday, June 22, coinciding with a visit by the Iranian regime's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to France and the Netherlands, and simultaneous with the global conference against the death penalty with the participation of more than 90 countries in Oslo, officials of the mullahs' regime in Iran have sent 2 prisoners by the names of Farzad Bizhani and Farhad Souri in Sanandaj Prison (western Iran) to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On this very day the criminal public prosecutor in the city of Mashhad (northeastern Iran) requested hand amputation verdicts for 3 prisoners accused of robbery (state Tabnak website - June 22).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Continuous executions, torture and floggings even during the holy month of Ramadan, considered amongst Muslims in Iran and all Islamic countries as a month of tolerance, kindness and benevolence, brings an end to the myth of moderation within the religious, fascist regime ruling Iran that cannot even temporary halt these crimes for a few days to merely save face.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Iranian Resistance calls for measures to save the lives of the 2 prisoners on the brink of execution and to prevent a verdict and implementation of hand amputation for the three inmates in Mashhad Prison. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Iranian Resistance also calls on all international humanitarian organizations to condemn these inhumane crimes. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Furthermore, the international community is urged to condition its economic and political relations with this inhumane regime, being the source of all the devastations, pains and sufferings of the people of Iran and the entire region, on an improvement of human rights in Iran.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: NCRI, June 22, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span></div></div>

France Iran Islamic Law Netherlands Ramadan sharia Call to halt execution of 2 prisoners in western Iran

Watching a public execution in Iran (file photo) On Wednesday, June 22, coinciding with a visit by the Iranian regime's Foreign Minister...

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Saudi Prince to meet Ban Ki Moon, as juveniles await beheading

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNTBVxbiAKcrGPTLJtEzMWAAIsQNe1FZdjNefSnvhPYhhrx1YHh_pAcZvfctSi67NtW7UwBpvkjAxXDVnjVNC5H6yxAHhYGNqizqCm5VJXsIBQMAFZpstkaOVkFrb_06aiWF0AQUw0QaQ/s1600/UN+building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="UN building in NYC" border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNTBVxbiAKcrGPTLJtEzMWAAIsQNe1FZdjNefSnvhPYhhrx1YHh_pAcZvfctSi67NtW7UwBpvkjAxXDVnjVNC5H6yxAHhYGNqizqCm5VJXsIBQMAFZpstkaOVkFrb_06aiWF0AQUw0QaQ/s400/UN+building.jpg" title="UN building in NYC" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The UN Secretary-General must use a meeting with the Deputy Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia tomorrow to call for the release of three Saudi juveniles who face beheading after allegedly attending protests, human rights organization Reprieve has said.<br /><br /><b><span style="background-color: red; color: white;">Emergency Action:</span> UN Secretary General must ask Saudi Arabia to stop juvenile executions. <a href="https://reprieve.bsd.net/page/speakout/stop-saudi-juvenile-executions" target="_blank">Email the UN Secretary General now</a>.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prince Mohammed bin Salman will tomorrow (22nd) meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon in New York, in the latest of a series of diplomatic meetings that included a trip to the White House last Friday. The meeting takes place amid fears for the fate of three juveniles who have been sentenced to death after they allegedly attended protests in the Kingdom’s Eastern Province in 2012.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ali al-Nimr, Abdullah al Zaher and Dawood al-Marhoon – who are assisted by Reprieve – were all under 18 when they were arrested and tortured into ‘confessions’, which were later used to convict them in secretive trials. Last autumn, they were informed that their final appeals had been rejected. They could now be executed at any time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Saudi Arabia has executed a record number of prisoners this year; a mass execution carried out on January 2nd saw at least two juveniles killed. One of them, Ali al-Ribh, had been arrested in school in the wake of the Eastern Province protests.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The execution of juveniles and prisoners arrested for non-violent alleged crimes is prohibited under international law. Research carried out by Reprieve last year found that, of those prisoners identified as facing execution in Saudi Arabia, some 72 per cent had been arrested for non-violent crimes, including political protest. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Commenting, Maya Foa, director of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said: “The Saudi authorities are engaged in unprecedented levels of repression – Prince Mohammed’s trip cannot mask his government’s skyrocketing use of torture, secret trials and beheadings. Among those who face execution for allegedly attending protests are juveniles Ali, Dawood and Abdullah, and it is crucial that Ban Ki Moon and other heads of state do not miss a crucial opportunity to raise their cases. The Secretary General must make clear to the Prince tomorrow that these terrible abuses in Saudi Arabia must stop – and that Ali, Dawood and Abdullah must be released.”<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li>Details of the Crown Prince’s trip were reported <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/saudi-deputy-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salman-to-meet-un-chief" style="color: #06686b;" target="_blank">here</a>.</li><li>Details on the juveniles' cases are available at the Reprieve website (<a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/saudi-arabia-stop-the-crucifixtion-of-ali-al-nimr/" style="color: #06686b;" target="_blank">Ali al-Nimr</a> <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/case-study/dawood-al-marhoon/" style="color: #06686b;">Dawood al Marhoon</a>, and <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/case-study/abdullah-hasan-al-zaher/" style="color: #06686b;" target="_blank">Abdullah al-Zaher</a> await execution, while <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/juvenile-protester-was-among-saudi-mass-execution-victims-new-information-shows/" style="color: #06686b;">Ali al Ribh</a> was <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/juvenile-protester-was-among-saudi-mass-execution-victims-new-information-shows/" style="color: #06686b;" target="_blank">among 47 people executed</a> on January 2nd, 2016).</li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: Reprieve, June 21, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span></div></div>

A. M. al-Nimr Islamic Law Juvenile offenders Protests Saudi Arabia sharia Torture United Nations Wahhabism Saudi Prince to meet Ban Ki Moon, as juveniles await beheading

The UN Secretary-General must use a meeting with the Deputy Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia tomorrow to call for the release of three Saudi juv...

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Iran Regime Sentences Three Ahwazi Young Men To Public Execution

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWx1gmVOXRsaizIOXTqnYsP26Jr5Xn1Y71r8IoPe6Txb3QpjA_yjK1xzzSYUA27BUfc8xdorxnkAQIf07vf9p8pDKQ6eUw-ayHblDEq8AGmp46UnOk4IaUpuSBJPGtMCCz2RxLyVNldF4/s1600/Public+hanging+Iran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Public execution in Iran" border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWx1gmVOXRsaizIOXTqnYsP26Jr5Xn1Y71r8IoPe6Txb3QpjA_yjK1xzzSYUA27BUfc8xdorxnkAQIf07vf9p8pDKQ6eUw-ayHblDEq8AGmp46UnOk4IaUpuSBJPGtMCCz2RxLyVNldF4/s400/Public+hanging+Iran.jpg" title="Public execution in Iran" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A senior Iranian regime judiciary official has issued the final confirmation of the death penalty for three Ahwazi rights activists, with another four sentenced to between 25 and 35 years in prison, as well as exile.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gholam-Hossein Mohsen Eie'I, the First Deputy Head of the Iranian regime's Judiciary, confirmed the sentences in an interview with the regime-affiliated Moj News Agency, adding that the sentences issued by the 'Revolutionary Court' in Ahwaz had been upheld by the Supreme Judicial Court in Tehran on appeal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">3 of the defendants, Qais Obeidawi, Ahmad Obeidawi and Sajad Obeidawi were sentenced to death by public execution. Of the other 4, Mohammed Helfi and Mehdi Moarabi were sentenced to 35 years each, to be served in exile from the Ahwaz region (also known as 'Khuzestan province', the name it was given in 1936) in a prison in the city of Yazd, while Mehdi Sayahi and Ali Obeidawi were sentenced to 25 years each imprisonment. It should be noted that the 4 prisoners sentenced to lengthy prison terms were exiled to prisons outside the Ahwaz region in June of 2015.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 7 men were arrested in April of 2015 in the city of Hamidieh in the Ahwaz region on charges of killing an Iranian policeman at a checkpoint. They were subjected to kangaroo trials held in secret without being allowed any access to lawyers, a flagrant violation of international laws and conventions. The prisoners have also been prevented from having any contact with their families since their detention.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Human rights activists in Ahwaz, who strongly suspect that the men were tortured into confessing to the crime, a standard regime policy towards detainees, have demanded that the United Nations' International Council on Human Rights intervene to prevent the executions from taking place, warning that they are expected to be carried out imminently.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Iranian regime has stepped up its already brutal oppression of Ahwazi Arabs and other minorities in Iran under the administration of the "moderate reformist" President Hassan Rouhani. Since coming to power in 2013, Rouhani has presided over the execution of at least 1,800 people as well as public beatings, floggings, and amputations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The real number of the regime's victims is believed to be far higher than the publicly admitted figure, with many executions reportedly unannounced. With Ahwazi Arabs and other minorities increasingly viewed as a threat to the Islamic Republic's leadership's consolidation of a homogenous Persian Shiite nation, the theocratic regime is stepping up its already brutal repression in an effort to crush dissent, as well as implementing a policy of population transfer within Ahwaz as a means of changing the demographic composition of the region.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The rights groups pointed out that the primary goal of such executions is to intimidate further and terrorise Ahwazi Arabs into silence and submission following a wave of protests for freedom and human rights which have swept the Ahwazi, Baluchi, and Kurdish regions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is imperative that international human rights organisations and the United Nations put pressure on the Iranian regime to force it to desist from its systematic violence and oppression against Ahwazis and other minorities, and to respect the fundamental human and civil rights of Ahwazi Arabs, including the right to be educated in their own Arabic language, which they are currently denied, as well as the rights to employment, freedom of expression, free assembly and free association, as enshrined in international law.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We urge all human rights organisations and all peoples of good conscience worldwide to raise their voices and to contact their political representatives in order to force the Iranian regime to abandon its unconscionable state-sanctioned policies of racial segregation, oppression and brutality, and to free all prisoners of conscience and individuals detained simply for participating in peaceful demonstrations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Remaining silent in the face of such monstrous crimes against humanity should no longer be considered an option. In the words of Italian-American human rights activist Ginetta Sagan, 'silence in the face of injustice is complicity with the oppressor.'</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: <a href="http://www.countercurrents.org/hamid190616.htm" target="_blank">countercurrents.org</a>, Rahim Hamid, June 19, 2016. Rahim Hamid is an Ahwazi Arab freelance journalist based in the USA.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span></div></div>

Iran Islamic Law sharia Torture Iran Regime Sentences Three Ahwazi Young Men To Public Execution

A senior Iranian regime judiciary official has issued the final confirmation of the death penalty for three Ahwazi rights activists, with an...

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Iran: At Least 3 Prisoners Hanged at Bandar Abbas Central Prison on Drug Charges

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcn_AzDT722j7TTcVnVjwSIrlc7_n7mms6Po2iau6xqyeoOAkK1-_a_2cdopQVOt_YEEDIQ0PCSJ_qYmZGOJ6LXV-yoLHvB-bmQ7VIIYzPAlCOSA-nBVEk4EAKj1KyonXmbdZs1WLIodk/s1600/Execution+Iran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Public execution in Iran" border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcn_AzDT722j7TTcVnVjwSIrlc7_n7mms6Po2iau6xqyeoOAkK1-_a_2cdopQVOt_YEEDIQ0PCSJ_qYmZGOJ6LXV-yoLHvB-bmQ7VIIYzPAlCOSA-nBVEk4EAKj1KyonXmbdZs1WLIodk/s320/Execution+Iran.jpg" title="Public execution in Iran" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At least three prisoners were reportedly hanged in one day on drug charges.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iran Human Rights (June 18 2016): At leaast three prisoners with drug related charges were reportedly hanged at Bandar Abbas Central Prison (in the Hormozgan province, southern Iran) on the morning of Thursday June 16. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The official Iranian state-run news agency, Borna, has published the identities of the prisoners as: A.Z., Gh.A., and B.A.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The human rights news agency, HRANA, published a similar report, but listed the number of prisoners executed at Bandar Abbas Central Prison on June 16 as at least 4.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Source: <a href="http://iranhr.net/en/articles/2564/" target="_blank">Iran Human Rights</a>, June 18, 2016</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">- Report an error, an omission:<a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com" target="_blank"> deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"> - Follow us on <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> </b>and <b><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></span></div></div>

Drug trafficking Iran Islamic Law sharia Iran: At Least 3 Prisoners Hanged at Bandar Abbas Central Prison on Drug Charges

At least three prisoners were reportedly hanged in one day on drug charges. Iran Human Rights (June 18 2016): At leaast three prisoners with...

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