• Urgent Action

Urgent Action: GRAVE RISK OF EXECUTIONS IN RELATION TO PROTESTS (Iran: UA 103.22)

May 24, 2023

At least seven individuals in Iran are under sentence of death in connection with nationwide protests, while dozens of others are at risk of being sentenced to death. The authorities have violated their fair trial rights and subjected many to torture and other ill-treatment, including floggings, electric shocks, death threats and sexual violence. Amid a spike in executions since late April, on 19 May, authorities arbitrarily executed tortured protesters Majid Kazemi, Saeed Yaghoubi and Saleh Mirhashemi in Esfahan, who were unjustly convicted and sentenced to death.

TAKE ACTION:
  1. Please take action as-soon-as possible. This Urgent Action expires on July 23, 2023.
  2. Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to the government official listed below. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
  3. Click here to let us know the actions you took on Urgent Action 103.22. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.
CONTACT INFORMATION
H.E. Majid Takht Ravanchi Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran 622 Third Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212 687-2020 I Fax: 212 867 7086 Email: [email protected] , [email protected] Twitter: @Iran_UN , @TakhtRavanchi Salutation: Dear Ambassador
SAMPLE LETTER Dear Ambassador Ravanchi, I am gravely concerned that dozens of people are at risk of the death penalty following grossly unfair trials involving charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) and “corruption on earth” (efsad-e fel arz) in connection with the nationwide protests. On 19 May, authorities arbitrarily executed Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi, who were unjustly convicted and sentenced to death in a trial that relied on torture-tainted “confessions” and which bore no resemblance to meaningful judicial proceedings. At least seven are currently under the sentence of death and at grave risk of execution. They are Ebrahim Narouie, Kambiz Kharout, Manouchehr Mehman Navaz, Mansour Dahmardeh, Mohammad Ghobadlou, Mojahed (Abbas) Kourkour and Shoeib Mir Baluchzehi Rigi. At least four others –Mahan Sadrat (Sedarat) Madani, Mansour Hout, Mohammad Boroughani, Nezamoldin Hout – are facing retrials on capital charges after their convictions and death sentences were quashed by the Supreme Court and their cases returned to lower courts. Amnesty International is aware of at least three others – Saeed Shirazi, Abolfazl Mehri Hossein Hajilou, and Mohsen Rezazadeh Gharegholou – who have undergone trial on charges that carry the death penalty. Dozens of others are being investigated for capital crimes brought in relation to the protests. The aforementioned individuals have faced grossly unfair trials before Revolutionary Courts and/or Criminal Courts across the country. The rights violated include the right to: adequate defence and access to lawyers of their choosing; the presumption of innocence; remain silent; meaningfully challenge the legality of their detentions and receive a fair, public hearing. Amnesty International has documented the torture and other ill-treatment of nine of the individuals named above, through beatings, floggings, electric shocks, suspension upside down, sexual violence and deliberate denial of healthcare. The authorities have used torture-tainted “confessions”, some of which were broadcast on state media prior to trials, as evidence to issue convictions. I urge you to immediately quash all convictions and death sentences stemming from the protests, refrain from seeking further death sentences, and ensure that anyone charged with a recognizable criminal offence is tried in proceedings meeting international fair trial standards without recourse to the death penalty. I call for the release of all those detained for peacefully exercising their human rights. I urge you to provide those detained access to their families and lawyers of their own choosing, protect them from torture and other ill-treatment and investigate torture allegations, bringing anyone found responsible to justice in fair trials. Finally, grant independent observers access to capital trials and those on death row connected to protests and, more broadly, immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view of abolishing the death penalty. Yours sincerely, ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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