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  1. #1
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    Iran Capital Punishment News

    THERE is a "good chance" that the life of an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery could be spared, the head of Iran's High Human Rights Council has said.

    "Our judiciary made a lot of efforts [in reviewing the case] and we think there is a good chance her life could be saved," Mohammed Javad Larijani told Iran's English-language Press TV.

    Larijani did not give details of the judiciary's review of the Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani case or the basis of his optimism that her life would be spared.

    His council works under the judiciary's auspices.

    The sentence handed down against Ms Ashtiani sparked international outrage and diplomatic intervention by several Western governments as well as the Vatican.

    In July, Tehran said that the sentence to death by stoning had been stayed pending a full review of her case.

    Ms Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, was initially given death sentences by two different courts in the northwestern city of Tabriz in separate trials in 2006.


    A sentence to hang for her involvement in the murder of her husband was commuted to a 10-year jail term by an appeals court in 2007.

    But a second sentence, to death by stoning on charges of adultery leveled over several relationships, notably with the man convicted of her husband's murder, was upheld by another appeals court the same year.



    Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news...#ixzz161tPCp3J

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    Iran second only to China for executions

    Apart from the wide range of offences for which it is carried out, which include political crimes, adultery, homosexuality and drug-trafficking amongst others, Iran's practice of executing juveniles causes particular outrage.

    Amnesty International, which campaigns against the death penalty worldwide, says it knows of 388 people who were executed in 2009, up from 346 in 2008, though it adds that the true figure is "likely to be higher".

    It also suggested there was a spike in the eight weeks between the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on June 9 and his inauguration on August 5, when the number killed was 112. The previous five-and-a-half months had seen 196 executions.

    So far this year, Amnesty says "at least and probably many more than 200" have been hanged.

    Stoning was not a punishment prescribed by law until 1983, four years after the Islamic revolution. This form of execution is not demanded by the Koran, but is recommended for adultery in separate "Hadith" or traditions followed by both the Sunni and Shia branches of the religion.

    Because the requirements of proof in such cases is high, they almost always rely on "confessions", which may explain the determination of the authorities to extract and publicise confessions by Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.

    A moratorium on stoning in Iran was imposed in 2002, which was formalised in 2008, though since 2002 at least five men and a woman were killed in this way. Two men were executed in December, and a third, Vali Azad, in secret in a prison in north-western Iran on March 5 2009.

    Among the others known to have been executed in 2009 were five who were under the age of 18 when their offences were committed, four boys and one girl.

    The total number of executions has fallen, however, since the peak of political executions in the 1980s following the Revolution. In 1988, thousands of political prisoners – at least 4,000, and up to 30,000 in some reports – were executed on the orders of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

    The moratorium on stoning is part of a wider move to set clearer limits on the penalty. Although boys over the age of 15 and girls over the age of nine can in theory be executed, the authorities say that as of 2008 no one is actually killed until they reach their 18th birthday.

    In a case in 2004 a 16-year-old girl was hanged for "crimes against chastity", with the same Revolutionary Court judge acting as investigator, prosecutor, judge and hangman. He was later accused, though never convicted, of raping her in prison, and said he had carried out the punishment for her insolence during the trial.

    However, the authorities now say juveniles can only be executed for murder in cases where the family of the victim have refused to exercise their right under Islamic law to accept blood money in return for a reprieve.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...xecutions.html

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    Iran Secret Executions: Findings Challenge Judiciary’s False Narrative

    The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran published the 1st public list of 101 victims of secret group executions in Vakilabad Prison today. The Campaign called on the Iranian Parliament and judiciary to immediately institute a moratorium on executions and to move swiftly to abolish the death penalty.

    “Unfortunately, many of these executions happen behind closed doors, without the involvement of lawyers or awareness of the victim’s family, and without access to a fair trial,” said Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi.

    Ebadi added that Iran’s abuse of the death penalty has not been successful in fighting crime, saying:

    “The Iranian judiciary and government know that the death penalty is not a suitable solution for fighting crime, particularly drug-related crimes. The basic question is this: why does the Iranian government use this type of punishment with such enthusiasm? The issue is that these executions only create fear and intimidation and serve only a political purpose. All of the statistics show that while the number of executions have increased the number of drug-related crimes have not decreased at all.”

    On 21 December 2011, Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani, head of the judiciary, said “I categorically deny any secret mass executions… All executions are announced to my office…if anyone has information about executions anywhere that have been secret and without knowledge of families, let us know and we will investigate it.”

    The list published today by the Campaign reveals the names of 101 individuals who have reportedly been executed without official acknowledgement, between 9 June 2010 and 20 December 2010, in Vakilabad Prison. This list, accompanied by the briefing paper Iran’s Secret Hangings: Mass Unannounced Executions in Mashhad’s Vakilabad Prison, is the first time any identities of those secretly executed at Vakilabad have been made public.

    Local activists obtained this information under serious risk to their personal safety in order to lend more credence to past reports.

    “This statistic, in my opinion, and the opinion of other contributors to this report, is the baseline figure,” said renowned Iranian human rights activist Asieh Amini, who contributed to this report.

    “To me, the issue of executions is not a matter simply for one individual, one city, or one community. Nor is it an issue simply between the victims and their families. For us, executions is a national issue, and must be addressed widely … When the major human rights news is about Iran’s many unjust, secret, mass executions, it is the responsibility of every Iranian to ask of the judiciary, ‘why?,’ and to try to end this national shame,” she added.

    Iran is the world’s leading per-capita executor, following only China in absolute numbers. In 2011, Iran put to death over 600 individuals, at least 161 of which were in secret.

    The Campaign has documented 471 secret executions in Mashhad and other cities since January 2010. The actual numbers are likely much higher. The Campaign received this information from local sources and activists with access to government data.

    Executions are considered secret when they are not publicly reported by authorities and the victim’s family and lawyers have no prior knowledge that the sentence is set to be carried out.

    According to local activists the inmates secretly put to death in Vakilabad were unaware that they were scheduled for execution until just before its implementation. Prison authorities informed the individuals only hours before their execution that they had to write their wills and perform ritual cleansing in preparation for death.

    Prison authorities hung the inmates around dusk in an open-air hallway leading to the prison’s visiting room. Contributing to the shroud of secrecy surrounding the executions, the phones within Vakilabad Prison were disconnected hours before, preventing calls in and out of the prison.

    The bureaucratic efficiency of these hangings is exemplified by the fact that the medical examiner’s office issued many of the corresponding death certificates up to a day before the execution. Death certificates listed the cause of death as ghatl-e ghanooni or “legal murder.”

    The actual executions were witnessed by representatives of several government agencies including the Mashhad Prosecutor’s office, local and district police, the local judiciary, the Medical Examiner’s office, as well as Vakilabad’s warden and intelligence chief.

    Most of these executions are believed to have been carried out in the absence of international safeguards and fair trial standards.

    Sources in Mashhad described how many of these convictions came from rushed and unjust trials, marked by unfair and flawed judicial processes. On 18 August 2010, the nephew of one of the executed prisoners told the Campaign: “It took only two months from the time of the arrest to the implementation of [my] uncle’s sentence while he was not granted the right to a fair trial … the truth or inaccuracy of his [defense] was never even investigated.”

    Some of the inmates executed in Vakilabad were foreign nationals, including citizens of Afghanistan, Ghana, and Nigeria, and apparently did not have access to their diplomatic representatives. The large majority of those executed are believed to be from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

    Moreover, the vast majority of secret executions have reportedly been for drug crimes, for which capital punishment is not permissible under international law.

    When pressed, Iranian officials have publicly admitted that some of these secret executions had taken place. According to UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon’s March 2011 report on human rights in Iran, the Iranian government confirmed a 60-person group execution in Mashhad.

    The secret killing spree has elicited international concern and condemnation and was cited as a rights violation in the October 2011 interim report by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran.

    Article 6(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Iran ratified in 1975, mandates that “[i]n countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes.”

    The UN Human Rights Committee, the leading international authority on the ICCPR, and the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, have made clear that drug offences do not meet the “most serious crimes” standard. Therefore, Iran’s use of the death penalty for these offenses violates the government’s international obligations.

    Article 14 of the ICCPR guarantees all criminal suspects the right to a fair trial. Moreover, the UN Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of those Facing the Death Penalty makes clear that “[c]apital punishment may only be carried out pursuant to a final judgement rendered by a competent court after legal process which gives all possible safeguards to ensure a fair trial,” and that defendants must have access to multiple appeals.

    Worldwide, 96 countries, including Brazil, Turkey, and Rwanda, have formally abolished the death penalty, with another 34 countries, such as Kenya, Morocco, and Russia, ending its use in practice.

    “Iran has shown an inability to use the death penalty in a legal and accountable manner,” said Hadi Ghaemi, the Campaign’s spokesperson. “With skyrocketing execution numbers marred by unfair trials and opaque judicial proceedings, it’s time for Iran to institute a moratorium and join the growing trend towards abolition.”

    Source: Iran Human Rights, January 5, 2012

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    Iran suspends death penalty of Ashtiani:

    An Iranian top Parliament Member Zohreh Elahian said death penalty of an Iranian woman accused of killing her husband was suspended.

    "Stoning verdict of Sakineh Mohammadi- Ashtiani has not been finalized and it is suspended at the moment, but she is sentenced to 10-year jail term," said the Chairwoman of Iranian Parliament Human Rights Committee in her letter to Brazilian new President Dilma Rousseff in which she explained some points raised by Roussef on Iran.

    Elahian said that stoning penalty of the Iranian woman is suspended since families of her husband have forgiven her, but she was sentenced to 10-year imprisonment.

    Mohammadi-Ashtiani was sentenced to stoning due to charges of having adultery and killing her husband.

    Elahian in her letter insisted that, "according to evidence the Iranian woman has betrayed to her family and killed her husband jointly with her beloved. She has confessed to her crimes during her trial process."

    Elahian also added that smear campaign launched by western media seeks psychological war with political motives against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

    In December, the then Brazilian president-elect expressed disappointment with her government's decision to abstain from voting on a UN resolution condemning Iran's human rights record.

    The resolution passed by a vote of 80 to 44, with 57 abstentions and spearheaded by Canada, accused the Islamic Republic of human rights violations.

    http://www.isna.ir/ISNA/NewsView.asp...1696800&Lang=E

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    Iran changes law for execution of juveniles

    Feb 10 – Iran has changed the controversial law of executing juveniles the spokesman of the judiciary commission of the parliament said on Friday.

    Amin-Hossein Rahimi, lawmaker from Malayer said that according to the new Islamic Penalty law which was approved by the Guardian council death penalty of juveniles under the age of 18 has been changed.

    Iran has angered many international organizations and countries for carrying out execution on minors in the past 30 years.

    Based on the Islamic law which now seems to have been revised, girls at the age of 9 and boys at 15 of lunar year (11 days shorter than a solar year) were fully responsible for their crimes.

    “In the new law the age of 18 (solar year) is for both gender and offenders under the age would be considered as juvenile and would be sentenced on a separate law than of adults”, he was quoted as saying./-

    http://www.iranwpd.com/index.php?opt...iles&Itemid=64

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    This is a sticky situation. I posted this article in Iran Capital Punishment News instead of Saudi Arabia Capital Punishment News!
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    Iran to execute record numbers in 2011—rights groups

    Iran, which set off a diplomatic storm by hanging a Dutch-Iranian woman, is on target to execute a record number of over 1,000 people this year, rights groups said Sunday.

    And the execution of Zahra Bahrami is just the latest case of a "serious lack of transparency" in Iran's growing use of capital punishment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

    The Netherlands froze contacts with Iran following Saturday's execution.

    Many groups say Iran has the highest per capita execution rate in the world.

    In 2009, the last year for which complete statistics are available, Iran executed at least 388 people and was second only to China in how many people it put to death, according to Amnesty International.

    Rights groups believe there was a sharp rise in 2010 and with Bahrami's death, HRW now estimates that at least 74 prisoners have been executed since January 1. An AFP toll based on Iranian media reports found at least 66.

    "At the current rate, authorities will easily have executed more than 1,000 prisoners before 2011 draws to a close," HRW's Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson said.

    HRW's Middle East researcher Faraz Sanei denounced "the Iranian judiciary's serious lack of transparency surrounding the execution of individuals convicted of crimes carrying the death penalty."

    The group said her execution and others highlight "a deepening of the human rights crisis that gripped the country following the disputed June 2009 presidential election" that secured a second term for hawkish President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

    Bahrami, a Dutch-naturalized Iranian, was detained after anti-government protests in Tehran in December 2009. She was later charged and found guilty of narcotics offenses.

    The woman said she was tortured into confessing and denied the charges, according to her family and rights groups.

    Her daughter, quoted by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, said neither the family nor Bahrami's lawyer had been officially informed of the hanging.

    "Shouldn’t they have informed her family and lawyer before executing her? We should have gone to see her before her execution," said Banafsheh Nayebpour. "Is it so easy—that my mother is no longer in this world? Did I not have any right to see her before her execution?"

    A growing number of people are being charged and executed for what HRW calls the "vague" charge of "moharebeh," or enmity against God—the original charge against Bahrami.

    HRW said at least 13 people have now been executed since November 2009 on these charges following what it called "flawed trials in revolutionary courts."

    On January 24, Iran carried out the 1st executions of political activists—Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Hajaghaei—detained in street protests after the 2009 election. Both were accused of "moharebeh," according to HRW.

    (source: Agence France-Presse)

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    Tehran to abandon death by stoning

    High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0b17bd2a-5...#ixzz1mC9JwIn2

    Iran has amended its penal code by removing all executions by stoning and ending the death penalty for juvenile offenders.

    Under the old penal code, stoning to death was one of the sentences applied for adultery. Iranian activists who campaigned against the practice said at least 99 men and women have been executed by stoning since 1980.

    High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0b17bd2a-5...#ixzz1mC9RWDpA

    Iran leads the world in the number of juveniles it executes, says Human Rights Watch, a US based pressure group. In its 2012 world report, the organisation said more than a hundred under-18s were believed to be on death row. Iran executed at least three minors in 2011.

    Iran’s domestic media have reported that the guardian council, the constitutional watchdog which ensures the country’s laws do not contradict sharia, or Islamic law, has given its approval to the reforms.

    The new law is expected to be enforced “soon”. “The changes are major and definitely positive because they make the penal code closer to modern rules, give it a logical order and moderate its deficiencies,” said a prominent lawyer.

    Iran has a poor human rights record. Execution remains the main penalty for murder, adultery, homosexuality, drugs smuggling, armed action and any action deemed to be aimed at disrupting the country’s political, economic and social order.

    The US, European Union and the UN have put pressure on Iran to observe the rights of criminals, politicians, human rights activists and journalists.

    The UN last year appointed Ahmed Shaheed of the Maldives as special rapporteur on human rights to Iran, although so far he has been denied access to the country. The US and EU have imposed travel bans on Iranian officials who, they say, violate human rights.

    The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, said, in a report in September, he was “deeply troubled by reports of increased numbers of executions, amputations, arbitrary arrest and detention, unfair trials, torture and ill-treatment”.

    Despite the pressure, the Islamic regime shows no significant flexibility toward its political prisoners and continues to suppress its opponents. In an effort to contain political dissent before an opposition march on Tuesday, about 30m Iranian internet users, many of whom have resorted to cyberspace to express their dissent, have had difficulties accessing Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo mail as well as foreign websites since last Thursday.

    Tehran has instead tried to improve its human rights record by amending penalties for ordinary crimes.

    In a non-binding circular issued about 10 years ago, Iran’s judiciary urged judges to avoid issuing death sentences by stoning and instead stick to hanging, while the death sentences against minors, were in most cases not carried out until the offenders had reached the age of 18. Human rights organisations argued that such measures were inadequate and insisted real change in the law was necessary.

    The stoning sentence against Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 45-year-old woman, on charges of adultery and murder led to an international outcry which has made the regime delay carrying out the sentence. She remains in jail in the northwestern city of Tabriz, capital of East Azerbaijan province.

    The prosecutor-general of the province said last month that Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, the judiciary chief, had authorised hanging instead of stoning “because the main goal is execution”.

    Malek Azhdar Sharifi added that the hanging sentence would be carried out when final approval “after consultations amongst jurisprudents” was issued from Tehran.

    http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0b17bd2a-5...#axzz1mC908aAz

  9. #9
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    Iran executes its citizens at a faster rate

    Human rights organizations are outraged by ever-increasing executions of dissidents, bloggers and activists in Iran. In the world's most execution-prone country, even misdemeanors draw the death penalty.

    The human rights situation in Iran has deteriorated over the last few months, according to a UN report. Indeed, news about the hanging of ten individuals at the end of October in a Teheran prison due to charges of drug trafficking drew criticism from around the world. The hangings were in violation of international law, which dictates that the death penalty be limited to only the "most serious felonies." That was clearly not the case in Teheran. There are also serious doubts regarding the fairness of the trial against the accused, says the report by the UN Commission on Human Right (UNCHR).

    London-based human rights organization Amnesty International called the executions a "state killing-spree," noting that 344 people have been executed in Iran since March.

    UN special correspondent Ahmad Shaheed confirmed Amnesty's numbers in his latest Iran report from the end of October. More than 300 executions have taken place since the beginning of 2012, he says. That number was 670 in 2011, ranking Iran as the country with the most executions per capita in the world.

    Yet of those 670 executions in 2011, 249 were carried out behind closed doors. Human rights organizations worry that the secret execution of Iranian citizens has included a significant proportion of political activists or those belonging to religious or ethnic minorities.

    Observers have also observed an ever-increasing number of executions in just the last 2 months - which have not been limited to drug trafficking. Within a 2-week period, between 30 and 80 Iranian citizens were executed, UN special correspondent Shaheed said - basing his estimates on information from families of the executed and from human rights activists in Iran.

    Intimidation of the populace and opposition

    Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian Nobel Prize winner who's been living in exile in the UK since 2009, said she views the recent executions as an attempt by Iranian authorities to intimidate the Iranian populace and frighten them from demonstrating politically. The regime would like to send a signal to the opposition that it is prepared to use force and brutality, Ebadi told Deutsche Welle.

    Abdolkarim Lahiji, vice president of the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, likewise reads the increasing number of executions as an attempt to intimidate. The Iranian lawyer believes that only Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, could be behind "these inhuman measures." Without Khamenei's consent, such a campaign would be unimaginable.

    But Iran observers say such measures are a sign of Khameni's weak reign and leadership. He can boast few achievements to his citizens, and due to international sanctions, he and his country are between a rock and a hard place.

    Khomeini has been involved in Iranian politics and defense for 35 years Civil society strengthened under pressure

    The recent executions are not the only matter to prompt international criticism. The suppression of political dissenters, journalists and human rights activists remains part of the country's agenda - or has increased up, said UN special correspondent Shaheed in his latest report.

    Nasrin Sotoudeh, one of the country's best-known human rights activists and a lawyer, has been incarcerated since August of 2010 on charges of "conspiracy against national security." She recently ended a hunger strike in Teheran's Evin prison, after Iranian deputies agreed to loosen punitive measures against her family. In October 2012, Sotoudeh was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought from the European Parliament, along with film director Jafar Panahi.

    Sotoudeh was sentenced to 11 years in prison after the disputed 2009 re-election of Ahmadinejad On December 15 of this year, the German city of Bochum will also award its human rights prize to 2 Iranians: human rights lawyer Javid Hutan Kian and workers' rights activist Shahrokh Zamani. Both are currently incarcerated in Iranian prisons and, according to human rights activists and the Bochum award's website, both have been severely tortured.

    Death of a blogger

    Media suppression has also intensified in Teheran. One of many such cases was the closing of independent newspaper "Sharg" after it published cartoons critical of the government. In addition, according to Shaheed's report, some 40 journalists are currently behind bars.

    Beheshti's family may never know how he died New to Iran is the "Internet police." The organization, called FATA, has kept critical or "immoral" bloggers under surveillance since its founding in 2011. Blogger Sattar Beheshti, who was imprisoned on October 30, died three days later in the custody of this police unit. The case caught the attention of the political establishment in Iran, resulting in a parliamentary enquiry and investigative committee. The chief of FATA was fired and other police officers suspended.

    The attorney general admitted that Beheshti was beaten while under arrest - but that this was not the cause of death.

    Source: Deutsche Welle
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    At least 66 execution in Iran's death penalty in January - UN says

    UNITED NATIONS: With at least 66 people having been executed in Iran in January alone, including several political activists, the United Nations (UN) human rights chief on Wednesday voiced alarm and once again called on the Government to halt the use of the death penalty.


    The majority of executions were reportedly carried out in relation to drug offenses, but at least three political prisoners were among those hanged, according to a news release issued by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).


    "We have urged Iran, time and again, to halt executions," said High Commissioner Navi Pillay. "I am very dismayed that instead of heeding our calls, the Iranian authorities appear to have stepped up the use of the death penalty."

    There are at least three known cases in which political activists were executed. Jafar Kazemi, Mohammad Ali Haj Aqaei and another man whose name was not disclosed were affiliated with banned political parties. Kazemi and Aqaei were arrested in September 2009 during protests.


    All three individuals were convicted of mohareb or "enmity against God," and hanged last month.

    "Dissent is not a crime," Pillay underlined, recalling that Iran is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to free expression and to free association.

    "It is absolutely unacceptable for individuals to be imprisoned for association with opposition groups, let alone be executed for their political views or affiliations," Pillay added.

    The UN human rights chief also condemned the two instances in which public executions were held, despite a circular issued in January 2008 by the head of the judiciary that banned public executions.

    In addition, Pillay voiced deep concern that a large number of people reportedly remain on death row, including more political prisoners, drug offenders and even juvenile offenders.

    "As Iran is no doubt aware, the international community as a whole is moving towards abolition of the death penalty in law or in practice. I call upon Iran to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty," Pillay stressed.

    "At a minimum, I call upon them to respect international standards guaranteeing due process and the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, to progressively restrict its use and reduce the number of offenses for which it may be imposed."

    Two independent UN human rights experts have also joined the High Commissioner's call for an immediate moratorium on executions, given the "gravity of the situation and the regular disregard of due process."

    Christof Heyns, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, noted in a news release that, under international law, the death penalty is regarded as an extreme form of punishment which, if used at all, should only be imposed for the most serious crimes, after a fair trial.

    "Any death sentence undertaken in contravention of a Government's international obligations is tantamount to an arbitrary execution," Heyns stated.

    Furthermore, Gabriela Knaul, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, deplored that "in many cases, people sentenced to death do not have access to legal representation and their families and lawyers are not even informed of the execution."

    The Special Rapporteurs reiterated the appeals made to the Iranian authorities by several UN experts to allow them to visit the country, and encouraged the Government to respond positively to their request.

    http://news.oneindia.in/2011/02/03/a...u-aid0127.html

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