URGENT: Kurdish child facing imminent execution in Iran
Amnesty International today warned us of yet another child due to be executed in Iran for alleged rape of a boy. Both boys were 13 years old at the time.
26 October 2007
UA 278/07 Death penalty/imminent execution
IRAN Makwan Moloudzadeh (m), aged 21, child offender
Child offender Makwan Moloudzadeh, an Iranian Kurd, is believed to be at risk of imminent execution. He has reportedly been convicted of lavat-e iqabi (anal sex) for the alleged rape of a 13-year-old boy. Makwan Moloudzadeh was aged 13 at the time of the alleged offence. His death sentence has been passed to the Office for the Implementation of Sentences and he is due to be executed in public, near his home.
He was reportedly arrested on 1 October 2006 in Paveh, in the western province of Kermanshah . He was detained in Paveh Prison and later transferred to Kermanshah Central Prison. Following interrogations in Paveh during which he was reportedly ill-treated, he was tried by Branch 1 of the Kermanshah Criminal Court and on 7 June 2007 he was sentenced to death. The witnesses and the two people who had pressed charges against him withdrew their claims after the trial. Under Iranian law, children (boys of up to 14.7 years) are to be flogged for lavat ("homosexual acts").
However, the judge relied on ‘elm-e qazi, the "knowledge of the judge" to determine that penetration had taken place and that Makwan Moloudzadeh could be sentenced to death. Makwan Moloudzadeh lodged an appeal on 5 July, which the Supreme Court rejected on 1 August. Several witnesses have withdrawn their testimonies and signed notarized written statements to that effect.
During his trial, Makwan Moloudzadeh reportedly maintained his innocence. Previously, however, he was reportedly ill-treated during interrogation and "confessed" during interrogation that he had had a sexual relationship with a boy in 1999. He is reported to have gone on hunger strike for 10 days to protest against his ill-treatment in detention. Following his trial and conviction, on or around 7 October 2006 Makwan Moloudzadeh was reportedly paraded through the streets of Paveh riding on a donkey, with his head shaved. People in the street shouted abuse and threw things at him.
Article 1210(1) of Iran ’s Civil Code sets the ages of 15 lunar years as the age of criminal responsibility for boys, and nine lunar years for girls. Makwan Moloudzadeh was reportedly born on 31 March 1986 and, at the age of 13, was a minor under Iranian law at the time of the alleged offence. According to Article 49 of Iran’s Penal Code: “Children, if committing an offence, are exempted from criminal responsibility. Their correction is the responsibility of their guardians or, if the court decides, by a centre for correction of minors.”
Furthermore, in this case the judge used the customary practice of "judge’s knowledge" to override Article 113 of Iran’s Penal Code which states, “If a minor has anal sex with another minor, each will receive up to 74 lashes unless one of them was forced to do so [in which case he will not be punished].”
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
International law strictly prohibits the use of the death penalty against people convicted of crimes committed when they were under the age of 18. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has raised concern about child offenders' criminal responsibility being determined by judges, using subjective and arbitrary criteria such as the attainment of puberty, the age of discernment or the personality of the child. As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Iran has undertaken not to execute child offenders. However, since 1990, Iran has executed at least 24 child offenders, with a further two reportedly put to death on 17 October 2007. At least 78 child offenders are on death row in Iran ; at least 15 Afghan child offenders are reportedly under sentence of death. For more information about Amnesty International's concerns regarding executions of child offenders in Iran, please see: Iran : The last executioner of children (MDE 13/059/2007, June 2007)http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde130592007
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English or your own language:
- calling on the Head of the Judiciary to urge the Supreme Court to review the case of Makwan Moloudzadeh who was a child at the time of his alleged offence under Iran’s Civil and Penal Codes;
- expressing concern that Makwan Moloudzadeh may have faced an unfair trial in which a judge relied on subjective and arbitrary criteria in contravention to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and that the appeal appears to have ignored the retraction of testimony made by witnesses;
- expressing concern that Makwan Moloudzadeh is at risk of execution for a crime committed when he was under 18, and calling on the authorities to halt his execution immediately and commute his death sentence;
- reminding the authorities that Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibit the use of the death penalty against people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18, so executing Makwan Moloudzadeh would be a violation of international law;
- urging the authorities to abolish the death penalty for offences committed by anyone under the age of 18, so as to bring Iran’s domestic law into line with its obligations under international law;
- stating that Amnesty International acknowledges the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offences, but opposes the death penalty unconditionally.
APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic RepublicHis Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran , Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir
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
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Speaker of ParliamentHis Excellency Gholamali Haddad Adel
Majles-e Shoura-ye Eslami
Baharestan Square, Tehran , Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: hadadadel@majlis.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
Director, Kermanshah Central Prison
Kermanshah Central Prison
Street Number 101, Deisel Abad, Kermanshah, Iran
Email: markazi@kermanshaprisons.ir
ahead@kermanshaprisons.ir
Fax: +98 831 826 2049 (difficult to get through, please try three times)
Salutation: Dear Sir
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 7 December 2007.
I believe, these wicked persons must be hanged to prevent similar actions. If you hold them in prison, they rape other prisoners as it happend before.
I cetainly support hanging these people and oppose your allegations. (Comment this)
http://scenews.blog.com/?page=12/
Read the follow up articles and you will see that the entire town came out in protest of his execution because they knew he was innocent of the rape charges. You will also see that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour denounced his execution. So, lets talk about his crime. The only crime he really committed was that he was caught smoking on Ramadan. For that he was executed.
(Comment this)
By the way, forget about what UN says about hangings , becuase recently the Iranian govenrment hanged some wicked like him, again many human right groups, objected.
If you come to Iran and ask the people, every body confirms that they should be hanged. Please go to Iran, see if your female relatives are safe to go out with the exsistence of such jerk criminals.
Please stop supporting some thing that you have no idea about it and only heard in western media. (Comment this)
One does not need to live in Iran to realize that the regime in control is corrupt and incompetnent. Even your commments in your posts in this thread show that you are "brainwashed" by the extremist mentality that is not only an affront to human rights everywhere in the world but is a disgrace to Islam. (Comment this)
I'm not a favor of Mullah's regime, but I wanted to tell you one thing: if you don't like the regime, please don't support any rapist and criminal to get to your goal.
By the way, the regime that you want for us is the ragime of gays and lesbians. We want a real freedom and democracy.
I think now our best choice is the current regime, at least they don't support a criminal person to get their goals. Between bad and worse, we'd better chose bad. (Comment this)
As to Makwan Moloudzadeh, are you aware that according to the person who accused him of anal penetration, Makwan was only 13 years of age when that act supposedly occurred? Thus, Makwan was executed for a crime he allegedly committed 8 years prior to his execution at a time when he was thirteen years old. Did he commit this crime? According to the person who accused him, the answer is "no." The person who accused him retracted his statement and said that Makwan Moloudzadeh did not rape him 8 years earlier.
If the person who originally accused Makwan of rape later retracted his statement, then why was Makwan Moloudzadeh executed? He was executed because the judge who sentenced him to death claims to have experienced elm-e qazi (divine knowledge) and thereby knew that 8 years earlier Makwan had raped the boy who retracted his statement that he had. Bear in mind that the boy who retracted his statement likely faced punishment and possibly even torture for this retraction, but you conclude that Makwan's family threatened him. Do you have any proof of this or is it based solely upon your own elm-e qazi?
Here is something for you to think about, if the judge who sentenced Makwan to death did so based upon elm-e qazi, then why did he not have elm-e qazi for the eight years prior to the arrest of Makwan? Why did he not see it before? Why was it not until Makwan was arrested for smoking on Ramadan, that this judge suddenly awakened? The obvious answer is that the judge did not have elm-e qazi. He is a liar and quite frankly a murderer. He is not capable of any type of divine cognition because he is morally depraved. Because of this, he will stand trial before murder before the end or your lifetime if he survives that long. Rest assured, his identity is well documented and his name will not be forgotten.
If the judge who sentenced Makwan had any knowledge of Shariah law he would have known that elm-e qazi is not a legitimate basis for conviction of a crime punishable by hadd execution. Not only has he violated the basic tenants of Islam by testifying and prophecying falsely, a crime punishable by death, but he has violated Shariah law by causing the execution of a person based upon elm-e qazi. For this, he will stand trial for murder.
You have asserted that Makwan is guilty and was properly executed for a crime he allegedly committed when he was 13 years of age. Are you also basing this upon elm-e qazi. Do you, like the foolish judge, claim to possess the divine cognition of Mohammad? (Comment this)
My personal opinion is:
No matter a religion, or personal preference, no matter which way you would like to twist anything, we are all accountable. Truth is all. Who defines the truth? A liar. A manipulator of power.
To dominate through fear and injury - that is not a leading - that is dictating through intimidation.
To hold a child for years on end with no guidance to help that child to become clearer minded or a better judge of what is right or wrong themselves, and to hold them until they are of an age where they are to be mercilessly killed - is not only purely immoral and archaic, but also against the United Nations Covenant of The Child to which Iran is a signatory. Simply - Inhumane.
There are always consequences, and this will be no different for the Iran in power. That isn't a threat. That is based on the history of the world.
I long for the day we see a better way.
(Comment this)
My personal opinion is:
No matter a religion, or personal preference, no matter which way you would like to twist anything, we are all accountable.
Truth is all. Who defines the truth? A liar? A manipulator of power?
To dominate through fear and injury - that is not leading - that is dictating through intimidation and a warped sense of the truth.
To hold a child for years on end with no guidance to help that child to become clearer minded or a better judge of what is right or wrong themselves, and to hold them until they are of an age where they are to be mercilessly killed - is not only purely immoral and archaic, but also against the United Nations Covenant of The Child to which Iran is a signatory.
Simply, what they do is classified as inhumane torture which serves no good purpose.
There are always consequences, and this will be no different for the Iran in power. That isn't a threat. That is based on the history of the world.
I long for the day we see a better way.
As Nazanin would say "... Someday, we will find a way..."
Peace. (Comment this)