Amnesty International: Iran uses death penalty to 'intimidate population'
GVF -- Amnesty International has said that Iranian authorities are using executions to “quell political unrest, intimidate the population and send a signal that dissent will not be tolerated.”
The human rights group notes a “noticeable surge in the rate of executions at the time of mass protests over last year's disputed Presidential elections.” It adds that the executions “sent a chilling message to those involved in protests.”
"112 people were put to death in the eight weeks between the June election and the re-inauguration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in early August- almost a third of the total for the entire year."
According to Amnesty at least 388 people were put to death in Iran in 2009 which is “the largest number recorded by Amnesty International in recent years.” The statement adds that according to various reports the “annual number of executions has almost quadrupled since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was first elected five years ago.”
"The continuing surge in executions at a time when Iran has experienced the most widespread popular unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, combined with numerous statements by officials threatening protestors with execution, indicates that the Iranian authorities are again using the death penalty to try and cow the opposition and silence dissent," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Following the post-election show trails some prisoners were convicted of "Mohabareh", or "enmity against God". Nasrin Sotoudeh, lawyer for one of the men, Arash Rahmanipour, told Reuters "An execution with this speed and rush has only one explanation ... the government is trying to prevent the expansion of the current (opposition) movement through the spread of fear and intimidation."
An increasing number of people have been charged with "moharebeh", a vaguely-defined offence. According to Philip Alston, the UN's Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, it is "imposed for a wide range of crimes, often fairly ill-defined and generally having some sort of political nature."
Amnesty International accuses Iranian authorities of issuing sentences that were “politically motivated” and maintains that such executions were also carried out in the 70s and 80s both under the Shah and following the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
The group acknowledges a decrease on executions in the 90s, but points out its revival following Ahmadinejad second term as the illegitimate “president” of Iran. Amnesty criticises Iran’s use of the death penalty against “juvenile offenders” and “ethnic minorities.”
UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston adds that "International law says very clearly that the death penalty can only be carried out for the most serious crimes. I have shown very clearly that that phrase was intended to refer to crimes which result in an intentional death of some sort - homicide - and that any lesser crimes cannot be punished by the death penalty. Again, that is a prohibition that the Iranian courts and the Iranian government have consistently neglected or ignored."
Hundreds, probably thousands, of individuals are currently on death row in Iran. Sometimes their ordeal can last for years. Amnesty International spoke to one prisoner who spent years on death row before his sentence was eventually commuted. In a telephone interview from jail he said:
"Have you ever experienced receiving a death sentence? Have your partner, parents, brother, sister and relatives been told that tonight a close relative of yours is going to be executed? Can you understand the horror and shock of hearing such news? But me, two of my close relatives and our families have been going through this – not for a night or two or few nights, but for a period of over two thousand nights."
The human rights group notes a “noticeable surge in the rate of executions at the time of mass protests over last year's disputed Presidential elections.” It adds that the executions “sent a chilling message to those involved in protests.”
"112 people were put to death in the eight weeks between the June election and the re-inauguration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in early August- almost a third of the total for the entire year."
According to Amnesty at least 388 people were put to death in Iran in 2009 which is “the largest number recorded by Amnesty International in recent years.” The statement adds that according to various reports the “annual number of executions has almost quadrupled since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was first elected five years ago.”
"The continuing surge in executions at a time when Iran has experienced the most widespread popular unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, combined with numerous statements by officials threatening protestors with execution, indicates that the Iranian authorities are again using the death penalty to try and cow the opposition and silence dissent," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Following the post-election show trails some prisoners were convicted of "Mohabareh", or "enmity against God". Nasrin Sotoudeh, lawyer for one of the men, Arash Rahmanipour, told Reuters "An execution with this speed and rush has only one explanation ... the government is trying to prevent the expansion of the current (opposition) movement through the spread of fear and intimidation."
An increasing number of people have been charged with "moharebeh", a vaguely-defined offence. According to Philip Alston, the UN's Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, it is "imposed for a wide range of crimes, often fairly ill-defined and generally having some sort of political nature."
Amnesty International accuses Iranian authorities of issuing sentences that were “politically motivated” and maintains that such executions were also carried out in the 70s and 80s both under the Shah and following the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
The group acknowledges a decrease on executions in the 90s, but points out its revival following Ahmadinejad second term as the illegitimate “president” of Iran. Amnesty criticises Iran’s use of the death penalty against “juvenile offenders” and “ethnic minorities.”
UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston adds that "International law says very clearly that the death penalty can only be carried out for the most serious crimes. I have shown very clearly that that phrase was intended to refer to crimes which result in an intentional death of some sort - homicide - and that any lesser crimes cannot be punished by the death penalty. Again, that is a prohibition that the Iranian courts and the Iranian government have consistently neglected or ignored."
Hundreds, probably thousands, of individuals are currently on death row in Iran. Sometimes their ordeal can last for years. Amnesty International spoke to one prisoner who spent years on death row before his sentence was eventually commuted. In a telephone interview from jail he said:
"Have you ever experienced receiving a death sentence? Have your partner, parents, brother, sister and relatives been told that tonight a close relative of yours is going to be executed? Can you understand the horror and shock of hearing such news? But me, two of my close relatives and our families have been going through this – not for a night or two or few nights, but for a period of over two thousand nights."