Source: Amnesty International
Delara
Darabi's death sentence has been confirmed by the Supreme Court, according to a
25 April report in the newspaper Etemad. The verdict has apparently been
sent to the office of the Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi, for
consideration.
Delara
Darabi
Her father
has again requested that she be transferred from Rasht Prison to Evin, in
Tehran, on the grounds that conditions in
Rasht may have
led in part to her January suicide attempt. Her life was saved by her cellmates,
who alerted the prison authorities. According to recent reports, Delara Darabi
has been beaten in Rasht Prison, leaving her with a broken arm, and she is in
poor health. She reportedly also suffers from a pre-existing kidney complaint.
It is not known whether she is receiving adequate medical care, but her
condition has reportedly worsened in prison.
Delara
Darabi, then aged 17, reportedly burgled the house of an elderly female relative
on 29 September 2003 together with a 19-year-old man named Amir Hossein
Sotoudeh. Amir Hossein allegedly killed the woman during the burglary. Delara
Darabi initially confessed to the murder, but subsequently retracted her
confession, claiming that Amir Hossein had asked her to admit responsibility for
the murder to protect him from execution, believing that as she was under 18,
she could not be sentenced to death. Iran is a state party to
international treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, that expressly prohibit the use of the death penalty for
crimes committed by those under the age of 18.
Delara
Darabi was sentenced to death by Branch 10 of the General Court in Rasht in 2005. The Supreme
Court later found "deficiencies" in the case and sent it for retrial. Following
further trial sessions in January and June 2006, Delara Darabi was sentenced to
death for a second time. Amir
Hossein Sotoudeh was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for complicity in the
murder and both received sentences of
three years' imprisonment and 50 lashes for robbery, and 20 lashes for an
"illicit relationship". Delara Darabi's death sentence was confirmed by the
Supreme Court on 16 January 2007. According to the Etemad report, this sentence has now
been further confirmed by Branch 7 of the Iran's
Supreme Court, sitting as a sentencing "discernment", or review, body
(Sho'be-ye tashkhis).
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
Despite
being a state party to international treaties which prohibit the use of the
death penalty against anyone under the age of 18 at the time of offence, many
child offenders are under sentence of death in Iran.
At least 177
people were executed in Iran in 2006, including one who was
under the age of 18 at the time of execution, and at least
three others who were under 18 at the time of the offences of which
they were convicted.
On 14
January 200, judges in a Tehran criminal court cleared 19-year-old
Mahabad Fatehi (known as Nazanin Fatehi) of premeditated murder, but ordered her
to pay diyeh (blood money) to the
family of the man she killed in self-defence in March 2005. She had been
sentenced to death for murder in January 2006, but following domestic and international protests, her death
sentence was quashed by the Supreme Court in May 2006 and her case sent for
retrial (see UA 220/05, MDE 13/047/2005, 24 August 2005, and follow-ups).
RECOMMENDED
ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian,
Arabic, English or your own language:
- urging the Head of the Judiciary to overturn the death penalty handed
down to Delara Darabi;
-
reminding the authorities of their commitment to the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, which states that "sentence of death shall not be
imposed for crimes committed by persons below 18 years of age"
-
calling on the Iranian authorities to implement the recommendations of the
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, which called on Iran in
January 2005 to "immediately suspend the execution of all death penalties
imposed on persons for having committed a crime before the age of 18";
-
expressing concern at reports that Delara Darabi has been beaten in Rasht
Prison, breaking her arm, and
calling for her to be
allowed immediate and regular access to any medical treatment she may require,
or to be transferred to another prison if an improvement in conditions in Rasht
is not possible;
- calling on
the authorities to commute the sentences of flogging passed on Delara Darabi and
Amir Hossein Sotoudeh, as flogging amounts to
torture;
-
acknowledging that governments have a responsibility to bring to justice those
suspected of criminal offences such as murder, but stating your unconditional
opposition to the death penalty, as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading
punishment and violation of the right to life.
APPEALS
TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah
Sayed 'Ali Khamenei, Leader of the Islamic
Republic
The Office
of the Supreme Leader, Shahid
Keshvar Doost Street, Tehran. Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax:
+98 251 7774 2228 (mark "For the Office of His Excellency, Ayatollah
Khamenei")
Email:
Via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/EN/index.php?p=sendletter
Salutation:
Your
Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry
of Justice, Ministry of Justice
Building, Panzdah-Khordad
Square, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax:
+98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)
Email:
info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (subject line: For the attention of
Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation:
Your
Excellency
COPIES TO:
Speaker of Parliament
His Excellency Gholamali Haddad Adel
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami, Imam Khomeini Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of
Iran
Fax:
+98 21 6 646 1746
Salutation:
Your
Excellency
and to
diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your
country.
PLEASE SEND
APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with
the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after
8 June 2007.
... Payvand News - 4/28/07 ... --
