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PUBLIC
AI Index: MDE 13/001/2006
06 January 2006
UA 04/06 Death penalty/ legal concern
IRAN , Delara Darabi (f), aged 19, child
offender
Delara Darabi, aged 19, is at risk of execution for a
murder which took place when she was 17 years old. She denies committing
the crime. Iran is a state party to international treaties that expressly
prohibit the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by those under
the age of 18.
According to reports in the Persian language news
service Aftab, Delara Darabi and a 19-year-old man named Amir Hossein
broke into a woman’s house to commit a burglary. Amir Hossein allegedly
killed the woman during the burglary. Delara Darabi initially confessed to
the murder, but has since retracted her confession. She claims that Amir
Hossein asked her to admit responsibility for the murder to protect him
from execution, believing that as she was under the age of 18, she could
not be sentenced to death.
Delara Darabi was sentenced to death by
a lower court in the northern city of Rasht. The sentence has reportedly
been upheld by the Supreme Court. She maintains her innocence, and has
claimed that she was under the influence of sedatives during the burglary.
At this stage the Head of the Judiciary has the power to order a stay of
execution and a review of the case.
Amir Hossein has reportedly
received a prison sentence of 10 years for his involvement in the
crime.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
As a state party to the
International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Iran has undertaken not to
execute anyone for an offence committed when they were under the age of
18.
Nevertheless, since 1990, Iran has executed at least 18 people
for crimes committed when they were children. In 2005 alone, despite being
urged in January by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the
Child to suspend the practice immediately, at least eight child offenders
were executed, including two who were still under 18 at the time of their
execution. The last recorded execution of a child offender, Rostam Tajik,
was on 10 December 2005 - ironically, the day which the UN has marked
annually as Human Rights Day (see UA 306/05, MDE 13/075/2005, 06 December
2005, and follow-up).
On 9 December, the UN Special Rapporteur on
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, called on
the Iranian authorities not to proceed with the execution of Rostam Tajik,
stating: "At a time when virtually every other country in the world has
firmly and clearly renounced the execution of people for crimes they
committed as children, the Iranian approach is particularly unacceptable …
It is all the more surprising because the obligation to refrain from such
executions is not only clear and incontrovertible, but the Government of
Iran has itself stated that it will cease this practice.”
For the
last four years, Iran has been considering legislation to prohibit this
practice, but despite this, over the past two years the number of child
offenders executed has increased. Recent comments by a judiciary
spokesperson suggest that the new law would in any case only prohibit the
death penalty for certain crimes when committed by
children.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as
quickly as possible, in Persian, English, Arabic or your own
language:
- urging the authorities to commute the death sentence
imposed on Delara Darabi immediately;
- 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 eighteen years of age”;
- asking for
details of her trial and any appeals;
- expressing concern at reports
that Delara Darabi confessed to the murder in order to protect her
co-accused;
- 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, and to abolish the death penalty as a sentence
imposed on persons for having committed crimes before the age of 18, as
required by article 37 of the Convention”;
- 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
His Excellency Ayatollah
Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader, Shoahada Street,
Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 251 7 774 2228
(mark
"FAO the Office of His Excellency, Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei")
Email: info@leader.ir
istiftaa@wilayah.org
Salutation:
Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
His Excellency
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: irjpr@iranjudiciary.org (mark
"Please forward to His Excellency Ayatollah Shahroudi") Please note that
this email address can be unreliable. If you are unable to email this
address, please send your appeal via the judiciary website: http://www.iran-emrooz.net/index.php?URL=http://www.iranjudiciary.org/feedback_en.html
Salutation:
Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Speaker of
Parliament
Gholamali Haddad Adel
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami
Imam
Khomeini Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 6 646
1746
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 17 February 2006.
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