[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 16


IRAN:

Alleged juvenile offender among 10 hunger strikers threatened with immediate 
execution



The Iranian authorities' threat to expedite the execution of 10 men on death 
row in retaliation for going on hunger strike is deplorable, said Amnesty 
International as it called for the death sentences to be commuted immediately.

One of the 10, Saman Naseem, was sentenced to death in 2013 for engaging in 
armed activities against the state after he allegedly participated in a gun 
battle while he was a child during which a member of the Iran's Revolutionary 
Guards was killed. The 10 men are among 24 prisoners from Iran's Kurdish 
minority who have been on hunger strike since 20 November 2014 in protest at 
the conditions of Ward 12 of Oroumieh Central Prison, West Azerbaijan Province, 
where political prisoners are held.

"It is truly deplorable that the Iranian authorities are playing games with the 
lives of these men in such a manner. Resorting to death threats and other 
punitive measures to quell prisoners' hunger strikes only serves to underscore 
how rotten Iran's criminal justice system is," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, 
Amnesty International's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

"Saman Naseem was a child at the time of his alleged offence. He says he has 
been tortured in detention and forced to "confess". Now, the authorities are 
effectively blackmailing him with the prospect of death. Executing him would be 
a flagrant violation of international law. His sentence must be commuted 
immediately."

Amnesty International is calling for Saman Naseem's case to be re-examined 
fairly without recourse to the death penalty or relying on torture-tainted 
evidence, and taking into account provisions of Iran's revised Penal Code that 
exclude the use of the death penalty for juvenile offenders in certain 
situations.

Saman Naseem was arrested on 17 July 2011 when he was just 17 years old. He was 
held for 2 months at a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Oroumieh, 
West Azarbaijan Province. While there, he said he was tortured by interrogators 
who pulled out his fingernails and toenails, and beat him leaving bruises on 
his back, legs and abdomen. He also said he was forced to sign a written 
"confession" while blindfolded.

On 14 December, Saman Naseem was transferred to a prison clinic suffering from 
low blood pressure and physical weakness, but he refused to break his hunger 
strike. He was returned to Ward 12 the same day.

Prisoners in Ward 12 at Oroumieh Central Prison went on hunger strike to 
protest against a decision to transfer 40 prisoners convicted of serious 
crimes, such as murder and armed robbery, to their ward leading to a 
deterioration in their security.

In addition to execution threats, the prison authorities have also reportedly 
subjected those on hunger strike to beatings and other punitive practices and 
threatened them with transfer to remote prisons in the south of the country, so 
as to force them to end their hunger strike.

The prisoners, who are all members of Iran's Kurdish minority, say that they 
will continue their hunger strike until the authorities put an end to the abuse 
of prisoners. The hunger strikers who are not on death row are serving prison 
sentences ranging from 6 months to 34 years.

"The death penalty is a cruel and inhuman punishment under any circumstances. 
Instead of dealing out threats of execution against these prisoners the 
authorities must commute their death sentences and ensure they are treated 
humanely," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

Background

Saman Naseem was sentenced to death on charges of "enmity against God" 
(moharebeh) and "corruption on earth" (ifsad fil-arz) for allegedly carrying 
out armed activities against Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

He was first sentenced to death in January 2012 by the Revolutionary Court of 
Mahabad but the sentence was overturned by Branch 32 of the Supreme Court in 
August that year for lack of jurisdiction by the Revolutionary Court and 
because Saman Naseem was under 18 at the time of the alleged offence. His case 
was reverted to Branch 2 of the Criminal Court of West Azerbaijan Province for 
re-trial.

In April 2013 he was sentenced to death again by Branch 2 of the Criminal Court 
of West Azerbaijan Province. The judgement made no mention of the issue that 
Saman Naseem was under 18 at the time of the alleged the crime. Branch 32 of 
the Supreme Court subsequently upheld his death sentence in December 2013. He 
could be executed at any time as his death sentence has been sent to the Office 
of the Implementation of Sentences.

Under Iran's revised Islamic Penal Code, passed into law in May 2013, the 
execution of offenders under the age of 18 is allowed under qesas 
(retribution-in-kind) and hodoud crimes under Islamic law, unless the juvenile 
offender is found to have not understood the nature of the crime or its 
consequences, or if there are doubts about their mental capacity.

In 2014, Amnesty International received reports of the execution of at least 14 
individuals for crimes allegedly committed while they were under 18 years of 
age. The use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders is strictly 
prohibited under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and 
the Convention on the Rights of a Child, which Iran is a party to.

The names of the other nine prisoners on death row are, in alphabetical order: 
Ali Afshari, Habib Afshari, Behrouz Alkhani, Mohammad Abdollahi, Sayed Sami 
Hosseini, Sayed Jamal Mohammadi, Sirvan Nejavi, Ebrahim Rezapour, Ali Ahmad 
Soleiman.

(source: Amnesty International)