 URGENT ACTION
KURDISH MAN FACES EXECUTION ON 11 NOVEMBER
Ehsan
(Esma'il) Fattahian, a male member of Iran's Kurdish minority, is
scheduled to be executed in the province of Kordestan, northwestern
Iran, on 11 November. Two other Iranian Kurdish men are also feared to
be at imminent risk of execution, possibly in reprisal for a spate of
assassinations and attempted assassinations of officials which took
place in September.
Ehsan (Esma'il) Fattahian's lawyer has been
summoned to attend his execution on 11 November at the prison in the
city of Sanandaj, the provincial capital of Kordestan. Ehsan Fattahian
was detained some time between April and August 2008. Reports suggest
that he may have been tortured in detention. Branch 1 of the
Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj sentenced him to 10 years' imprisonment
to be served in exile, after a trial in which he was denied access to a
lawyer. Both Ehsan Fattahian and the prosecutor appealed against this
verdict, and in January 2009 Branch 4 of the Kordestan Appeal Court
overturned the initial verdict. Instead he was sentenced to death for
"enmity against God" in connection with his membership of an illegal
armed opposition group - believed to be the the Kurdistan Independent
Life Party (PJAK. This new sentence is believed to have been upheld by
the Supreme Court.
Two other men, Habibollah Latifi, arrested in
October 2007, and Sherko Moarefi, detained in October 2008, remain on
death row in Sanandaj prison. Fears were raised that all three were at
imminent risk of execution after a judge in Sanandaj received orders in
October to carry out the executions of these Kurdish prisoners. The
Iranian authorities have a history of executing political prisoners
when the authorities believe that crimes have been committed by people
from the same group.
PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language:
* Calling on the authorities to halt the execution of Ehsan (Esma'il) Fattahian on 11 November;
*
Urging them to commute his death sentence along with those of
Habibollah Latifi and Sherko Moarefi; * Expressing concern that Ehsan
Fatahian was reportedly tortured and was sentenced to death after an
appeal after an unfair trial; * Urging the authorities to impose an
immediate and comprehensive moratorium on executions, as a first step
towards ending the use of this punishment.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 11 NOVEMBER 2009 TO:
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah
Sadeqh Larijani, Office of the Head of the Judiciary, Pasteur St., Vali
Asr Ave. south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic
of Iran
Email: Via website: http://www.dadiran.ir/tabid/75/Default.aspx 1st starred box: your given name; 2sd starred box: your family name; 3rd: your email address
Salutation: Your Excellency
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street - End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:
Salutation: Dear Governor
Also
send copies to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your
country.
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after
the above date. This is the first update of UA 271/09 (MDE
13/102/2009). Further information: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/102/2009/en
URGENT ACTION
KURDISH MAN FACES EXECUTION ON 11 NOVEMBER
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Kurds,
who are one of Iran's many minority groups, live mainly in the west and
north-west of the country, in the province of Kordestan and
neighbouring provinces bordering Kurdish areas of Turkey and Iraq. They
experience religious, economic and cultural discrimination. For many
years, Kurdish organizations such as the Kurdistan Democratic Party of
Iran (KDPI) and the Marxist group Komala, conducted armed opposition
against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Another armed group, the
Kurdistan Independent Life Party (PJAK), formed in 2004, continues to
carry out armed attacks against Iranian security forces. No group has
claimed responsibility for the spate of assassinations and attempted
assassinations in Kordestan, which targeted mainly religious figures
and judges between 9 and 19 September 2009. Those killed included the
head of Sanandaj city council, a Sunni cleric who had supported
President Ahmadinejad's re-election campaign, and the Kordestan
representative to the Assembly of Experts (the body which appoints the
Supreme Leader). Two judges were also injured in the attacks. The
authorities have variously blamed PJAK, and "hard-line Sunni
fundamentalists" linked to foreign intelligence services. According to
various Iranian media sources on 28 September 2009, several of those
believed to have been responsible for the attacks were arrested at the
scene of another attack in which two others were killed.
Amnesty
International condemns without reservation attacks on civilians, which
includes judges, clerics, and locally or nationally-elected officials,
as attacking civilians violates fundamental principles of international
humanitarian law. These principles prohibit absolutely attacks on
civilians as well as indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks. Such
attacks cannot be justified under any circumstances.
The scope of
capital crimes in Iran is broad, and includes "enmity against God",
often imposed for armed opposition to the state, but can include other
national security offences such as espionage. At least ten other
Kurdish men and one woman are believed to be on death row in connection
with their membership of and activities for proscribed Kurdish
organizations. They include Farzad Kamangar, Farhad Vakili, Ali
Haydarian, Farhad Chalesh (Turkish national), Rostam Arkia, Ramazan
Ahmad (Syrian national), Fasih (Fateh) Yasmini, Hossein Khezri, Anvar
Rostami, Shaker Baghi and Zeynab Jalalian.
For further information on
some of the Kurds on death row for political offences, including those
named in this UA, please see http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/012/2009/en.
In May 2009, three members of Iran's Baluch minority were executed in
public in Zahedan less than 48 hours after an attack on worshippers in
a mosque in which up to 25 people were killed. Responsibility for the
attack was claimed by the People's Resistance Movement of Iran
(formerly known as Jondollah). The three men had already been
sentenced to death, but their executions were linked to the mosque
attack. Officials claimed that following renewed interrogations after
the bombing, they had "confessed" to involvement into bringing the
explosives into the country.
In 1988, thousands of political
prisoners, mostly members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of
Iran (PMOI) or leftist organizations, were executed in what has become
commonly known as the "prison massacres". The executions took place
following the ceasefire agreement between Iran and Iraq and an armed
incursion a few days later by PMOI members based in Iraq which was
repulsed by the Iranian army. Most of those executed were already
detained or imprisoned at the time of the incursion and could not have
been involved in spying or terrorist activities as the government
claimed. No one has ever been brought to account for these mass
killings.
Further information UA: 271/09 Index: MDE 13/119/2009 Issue Date: 09 November 2009
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