نوجوانان را اعدام نکنید SCE News and Updates archives

A picture of Behnam Zare is posted at the top of the website www.achildisachild.com. The Iranian boy looks into the distance, his hair slicked back, his eyes focused on something up ahead.

It’s a similar pose to the one leaders take when they want to look visionary - staring bravely into the future.

But for Zare, that future was short and dim. At the age of 15, he killed an acquaintance in a fight and was convicted of murder. He was held until he turned 18 - the age after which the United Nations convention against executing children no longer applies - and was hanged in August 2008 without so much as a call to his mother.

Now, his story has inspired high school students in St. John’s, Mount Pearl and Deer Lake to campaign to make sure youths are no longer sentenced to death and face the same fate as Zare.

High school students at Holy Heart of Mary, St. Bonaventure’s College, O’Donel, St. Kevin’s and Deer Lake’s Elmwood high schools have created the achildisachild.com website to raise awareness and gather signatures for a petition against youth executions.

They plan to present the petition to the United Nations in hopes of getting a stronger stance on the issue from the organization.

Jeremy Dyer, a Grade 11 student and president of Holy Heart of Mary’s Amnesty International group, said students were appalled to learn that people their age are being killed for crimes committed as children.

“I think it’s an incredibly important cause to be a part of because innocent children are essentially dying and in a lot of cases they aren’t given fair trials and they aren’t given basic human rights,” he said.

“I think it’s up to us to advocate and bring an end to it.”

Read more here:  http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=228925&sc=79

HUMAN RIGHST WATCH

Calling Iran’s execution on August 26, 2008 of juvenile offender Behnam Zare abhorrent, Human Rights Watch urged the Iranian judiciary to immediately commute the sentences of more than 130 other prisoners facing death for crimes committed while children.  

Zare is the sixth juvenile offender Iran has executed this year. No other country is known to have executed a juvenile offender in 2008. Since January 2005, Iran has executed at least 26 juvenile offenders. During the same period, only four other countries – Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen, and Pakistan – are known to have executed any juvenile offenders, with a combined total of six such executions in the four countries.  
 
“Iran leads the world in executing juvenile offenders” said Clarisa Bencomo, researcher on children’s rights in the Middle East at Human Rights Watch. “Everywhere else, countries are moving to end this abhorrent practice, but in Iran the numbers of death sentences seem to be increasing.”  
 
Zare’s family and his lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, only learned of Zare’s execution after the fact, although Iranian law requires that

the lawyer be notified 48 hours before the execution. Zare’s family and lawyer had been trying to reach a settlement with the victim’s family at the time of the execution.  
 
Zare’s execution closely follows the execution of juvenile offender Seyyed Reza Hejazi at Isfahan Central Prison on August 19, 2008. Hejazi was 15 at the time of the crime, and repeatedly told authorities that he had not intended to kill the victim.  
 
As in the case of Zare, the authorities did not notify Hejazi’s lawyer, also Mohammad Mostafaei, 48 hours prior to the execution. Instead, Mostafaei learned of the pending execution from a journalist the night before. Prison authorities refused to allow Mostafaei to visit Hejazi the morning of the execution, and he eventually left after a prison official told him the execution had been stayed. Instead, prison officials executed Hejazi an hour later.  
 
“Killing people for crimes committed as children provides neither justice nor safety for Iranian society,” Bencomo said. “The Iranian authorities’ willingness to lie to lawyers and to deprive families of a last chance to see their loved ones only underscores the depravity of these executions.”  

ریاست شورای اتحادیه اروپا عمیقاً خبر اعدام قریب الوقوع آقای بهمن سلیمانیان که به خاطر ارتکاب جرم در هنگام صغر سن مرتکب شده، محکوم به مرگ شده است و از ایران مؤکداً می خواهد که با هماهنگی فوری قوانین و رویه های خود با کنوانسیون های بین المللی مربوط به حقوق بشر که ایران آن ها را آزادانه تصویب کرده، این کنوانسیون ها را رعایت کند
ریاست شورای اتحادیه اروپا به شدت نگران تعداد بالای افرادی است که امسال در ایران اعدام شده اند حال آنکه محکومیتشان به خاطر اعمالی است که در زمان صغر سن مرتکب شده اند. ریاست شورای اتحادیه اروپا اعدام آقای بهنام زارع را در 26 اوت (5 شهریور) و در شرایطی که نه به خانواده او و نه به وکیلش اطلاعی داده نشده بود با قاطعیت محکوم می کند. با این اعدام، تعداد این نوع اعدام ها در سال جاری به شش عدد رسید.

ریاست شورای اتحادیه اروپا مجدداً و به تأکید از ایران می خواهد که حکم های اعدام ده ها صغیر منتظرالاعدام را تخفیف دهد

.http://scenews.blog.com/3761849/صدای

بهنام زارع قبل از مرگ

چطور می توانیم لرزش بدن نحیف نوجوانی را ببینیم که وجودش سرشار از پشیمانی و ندامت است؟

محمد مصطفایی

چطور می توانیم نوجوانی را با قصد و نیت قبلی، اعدام کنیم در حالی که او با قصد و نیت قبلی کسی را نکشته است. چطور می توانیم با اینکه می دانیم می خواهیم کسی را به قتل برسانیم طناب دار را به گردن وی اندازیم و مجرمی را که ناخواسته این نام را با خود به یدک می کشد، بکشیم. چطور می توانیم لرزش بدن نحیف نوجوانی را ببینیم که وجودش سرشار از پشیمانی و ندامت است. چطور می توانیم کسی را که سالها در زندان در بدترین شرایط محبوس بوده است را دو بار مجازات کنیم یک بار  برای سلب آزادی و بار دیگر برای سلب حیات و ما چطور می توانیم ….. آیا پس از به دار آویختن این نوجوانان که بر حسب قضا و قدر مرتکب اشتباهی شده و دست تقدیر جان دیگری را گرفته، می توانیم آسوده بخوابیم؟ آیا می توانیم لرزشهای بدن نوجوان ایرانی را که ناخواسته مرتکب جرم شده است را در ذهن خود تجسم کنیم؟ آیا می توانیم جنازه آویزان وی را در بالای دار در ذهن خود مرور کنیم؟ و یا صدای خرخر جان دادنش را در گوش خود تکرار کنیم؟….

قبول می کنم که - بر اثر هر چیزی که شما بفرمایید یا اشتباه یا کودکی یا حماقت یا بی عقلی و یا… - عزیزی از عزیزان خانواده ای جان داده و روحش به ملکوت علی پیوسته

است ولی آیا اگر این نوجوانان درمانده را به دار آویزیم جان آن عزیز از دست رفته اعاده می گردد؟ آیا جامعه عاری از جرم و جنایت می شود؟ آیا مجرم تنبیه می گردد در حالی که با سلب حیاتش دیگر وجود خارجی نخواهد داشت؟ و آیا به آرامش خاطر می رسیم؟ هر چند تجربه ثابت کرده است که کسانی که قاتل عزیزشان را به دار می آویزند نه تنها به آرامش نمی رسند بلکه به مراتب به درد و استرسها و دغدغه هایشان افزوده می گردد.

کشور ما از معدود کشورهایی می باشد که اطفال زیر 18 سال را که مرتکب جرمی می شوند که مجازات آن سلب حیات است به مرگ محکوم می کند و حکم مرگ را چه در سن زیر 18و چه در بالای 18 سال اعمال و این مجازات را – گاهی اوقات در اسرع وقت -  اجرا می کند مجازاتی که در سال 1372 ازقوانین کشورمان با تصویب ماده 37 کنوانسیون حقوق کودک زدوده شد ولی به دلایل مختلف از جمله عدم آگاهی قضات به مفاد کنوانسیون و نظریه شورای محترم نگهبان در مورد غیر شرعی بودن این ماده در حکم قانون، همچنان جان نوجوانان را می گیرد.

چند سالی است که وکالت اطفالی که در هنگام ارتکاب جرم سنشان زیر 18 سال بوده را برای رضای خدا و بر حسب سوگندی که یاد کرده ام  به صورت رایگان و مجانی قبول نموده و در این راستا تمام سعی و توان خود را به کار برده ام تا این نوجوانان به پای چوبه دار نروند. در این راه عده ای از نوجوانان از لحاظ قضایی نور امیدی می یابند. عده ای مشمول عفو و بخشش اولیای دم قرار می گیرند و از مرگ و زندان رها می شوند و عده ای نیز، همچون امیر امرالهی، محمد فدایی، بهنام زارع و دهها نفر دیگر نه اقبالی در رسیدگی قضایی داشته و نه نور امیدی به بخشش اولیاء دم دارند.

 کافی است هر یک از ما به سراغ نوجوانان محکوم به مرگ رفته و با تک تک آنها رو به رو شویم از آنها بشنویم که چطور مرتکب جرم شده اند؟ آیا انگیزه خاصی برای ارتکاب جرم داشته اند؟ و همچنین از آمال و آرزوهایشان بشنویم. آنوقت است که حکم خواهیم داد به استحقاق ادامه زندگی آنها و اینکه راهی پیش رویشان بگذاریم که جبران مافات کنند و اثبات نمایند که عمدی در ارتکاب جرم نداشته و ناخواسته وارد ماجرایی شده اند که نتیجه آن داغدار شدن دو خانواده گردیده است.

در کشور ما سالانه تعدادی نوجوان که در سنین کودکی مرتکب جرم شده اند به دار آویخته       می شوند و بدون آنکه فرصتی برای زیستن داشته باشند دار فانی را وداع می گویند. در بسیاری از پرونده هایی که داشته ام  وقتی خبر اعدام قریب الوقوع نوجوانی در مطبوعات مطرح می گردد عده بسیاری از مردم خیر و نیکوکارکه هیچ نسبتی با محکوم به اعدام ندارند اعلام آمادگی می کنند که به هر نحو ممکن جان نوجوان در انتظار اعدام را نجات دهند در این بین هنرمندان، ورزشکاران و حتی سیاسیون پا پش گذاشته و از طرق مختلف سعی در رهایی نوجوان، از مرگ می نمایند و اگر نوجوانی به دار آویخته شود نه تنها دیگران خوشحال نمی شوند بلکه متاثر و متاسف می گردند و اگر ریاست محترم قوه قضاییه و یا هر مقام دیگری دستور توقف اجرای حکم را صادر کنند نفسی راحت کشیده و خدا را سپاس می گویند.

خبر به دار آویختن رضا حجازی در زندان اصفهان به همان اندازه ناراحت کننده بود که خبر توقف اجرای حکم بهمن سلیمیان که 12 سال از عمر خود را در بدترین شرایط گذراند و از بلاتکلیفی، خواسته است که هر چه زودتراعدام شود خوشحالمان کرد تمام این موارد نشانه هایی از نیاز جامعه به تغییر این رویه ناشایست و گام برداشتن به سوی روشی منطقی و معقولانه است. امروز در شرایط و وضعیتی از اجتماع قرار داریم که دستگاه قضایی و مقننه می بایست با دید باز به واقعیتهای مسلم جامعه بنگرد و زمینه شکوفایی و پیشرفت تمام کودکان و نوجوانان را فراهم کند حقوق آنان را در اولویت قرار دهد و خشونت را از سطح اجتماع بزداید. بدیهی است با سلب آزادی، شلاق و گرفتن جان کودکانی که در زمان ارتکاب جرم  کمتر از 18 سال سن داشته اند نمی توان به آرمان و اهداف سالم سازی محیط اجتماع  کمک کرد و حتی نمی توان آن را به عنوان مسکن مورد استفاده قرار داد چرا که به دار آویختن کودکان زیر 18 سال به هیچ عنوان نمی تواند درس عبرتی برای کودکان دیگر شود. آنها هنوز پا به اجتماع نگذارده و هیچ تجربه ای در چگونه زیستن کسب نکرده اند. امروز دستگاه قضایی و مقننه مکلف است نیازی که در جامعه احساس می شود فراهم کند و با درایت و تدبیر، جلوی اجرای احکام مرگ را علیه نوجوانان این مرز و بوم گرفته و با بازپروی، آنان را برای خدمت به هم نوعانشان به جامعه بازگردانند و مجازات مرگ را لااقل برای این عده از نوجوان و کسانی که قصد و نیت نتیجه مجرمانه را ندارند منتفی نمایند.

 کافی است مروری به قوانین کشورهای مختلف بیاندازیم و آماری از اعدامهای اطفال زیر 18 سال بگیریم آنوقت خواهیم دید که ایران رتبه اول را در اعدام اطفال زیر 18 سال کسب کرده و اکثر قریب به اتفاق کشورهای جهان مجازات اعدام را برای نوجوانان بی فایده و ناشایست دانسته و از قوانینشان برداشته اند.

در نهایت - اگر مروری به قران، کلام خدا و معجزه حضرت محمد (ص) بیاندازیم درخواهیم یافت که خداوند متعال در همه حال بخشنده و مهربان است حال چرا ما بخشنده و مهربان نباشیم؟ ما می توانیم خشونت را برداریم و مهربانی و بخشندگی را جایگزین آن کنیم و با مهربانی و عطوفت خودمان، به دیگران درس سالم زیستن را بیاموزانیم.

محمد مصطفایی وکیل تعدادی از نوجوانان درانتظار اعدام

  CLICKصدای بهنام زارع قبل از مرگ

PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/126/2008 26 August 2008

Further Information on 230/07 (MDE 13/109/2007, 31 August 2007) and follow-up (MDE 13/032/2008, 05 February 2008 and MDE 13/044/2008, 06 March 2008) - Fear of imminent execution

IRAN Behnam Zare’ (m), juvenile offender

On 26 August, Behnam Zare` was hanged in Adelabad prison, in the south-western city of Shiraz. Neither his parents nor his lawyer were notified prior to his execution being implemented, as required under Iranian law. Behnam Zare’ was convicted of a murder that took place on 21 April 2005. During an argument with a man named Mehrdad he swung a knife, wounding Mehrdad in the neck. Mehrdad later died in hospital. At the time of the murder Behnam Zare` was 15 years old.

Behnam Zare` was detained on 13 November 2005; Branch 5 of Fars Criminal Court sentenced him to qesas (retribution) for

This year, according to information available to Amnesty International, Iran has executed at least 227 people, including six juvenile offenders. Since 1990 Iran has executed at least 37 juvenile offenders, eight of them in 2007. No other country is known to have executed a juvenile offender in 2008.

The situation of juvenile offenders facing execution in Iran has reached a crisis level, with at least 132 juvenile offenders known to be on death row, although the true number could be much higher.

The execution of juvenile offenders is prohibited under international law, as stated in Article 6 (5) of the ICCPR and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), of which Iran is a state party to and so has undertaken not to execute anyone for crimes committed when they were under 18.

Many thanks to all who sent appeals. No further action is required from the UA network.
(See attached file: 51312608.rtf)(See attached file: 51312608.txt)

We regret to announce that without any prior notification of his parents or lawyer, Behnam Zare was executed this morning in prison yard of Shiraz prison in Iran. Stop Child Executions strongly condemns execution of Behnam Zare and calls on Islamic regime in Iran to once and for all join the international community and immediately halt all child executions.

Not only Iran is in direct violation of the international conventions (ICCPR and CRC) which prohibit execution of those guilty of crimes before the age of 18, but by not notifying the parents and attorneys, Iran also violates its own laws which requires 48 notice of intent to execute.

Behnam Zare’ was convicted of a murder which reportedly took place on 21 April 2005, when he was 15 years old. He was found to have swung a knife during an argument with a man named Mehrdad, wounding him in the neck. Mehrdad later died in hospital. Behnam Zare`was detained on 13 November 2005; Branch 5 of Fars Criminal Court sentenced him to qesas (retribution) for premeditated murder. Under Article 206 (b) of Iran’s Criminal Code, murder is classed as premeditated “in cases where the murderer intentionally makes an action which is inherently lethal, even if [the murderer] does not intend to kill the person.” The case went to appeal before Branch 33 of the Supreme Court where the sentence was upheld, and it was then passed to the Office for Implementation of Sentences after approval by Iran’s head of Judiciary, Ayatollah Shahrudi.

To read more about Behnam’s case visit:

http://scenews.blog.com/Behnam%20Zare/

Iran has executed at least 7 juveniles in 2008:

Javad Shojaee - 16 (executed on February 26, 2008)    
Mohammad Hassanzadeh (executed on June 10, 2008)   
Hassan Mozafari (executed on July 22, 2008)   
Rahman Shahidi (executed on July 22, 2008)   
Kurdish Boy- 15 (executed July 31, 2008)   
Seyed Reza Hejazi -15 (executed on August 19, 2008)   
Behnam Zare - 15 (executed on August 16, 2008)

Niusha Boghrati
Worldpress.org correspondent
April 15, 2008

“I am a murderer!” The young voice trembled on the other side of the telephone line. “I was 15 when I committed the murder. I regret what I did. It was an accident. Please save me! I want to live. I want to be free. I am living the last days of my life. Any day now they may take me to the noose. I want to survive. Is there anybody there who can save me?”

The short conversation fades into the distant tumult of Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz, a city in southwest-central Iran, where Behnam Zare’ has been awaiting execution for three years.

In the spring of 2005, Behnam was a freshman in high school when a scuffle over pet pigeons broke out between him and his friend Mehrdad. Minutes later, Behnam had become his buddy’s murderer. He says he still has no recollection of how it really happened.

Behnam, still a minor at the time he was arrested, landed in prison. Not long after the judicial process began he was convicted of murder in the primary court and sentenced to death.

“We tried hard to reverse the death sentence during the past three years. But all the efforts have so far been in vain,” said defense lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, who advocates Behnam’s case. “In spite of every effort we made, the verdict has been approved both by the High Court of the Islamic Republic, and the head of Iran’s judiciary.”

According to Mostafaei, among the 18 cases of death row child offenders that he currently advocates, Behnam’s is in the most critical condition. He is now tiptoeing along the fragile line between a young life and an early death.

“All the legal steps have been taken, and the execution order has been sent to Adel Abad Prison,” said the Tehran-based lawyer. “The death sentence by hanging can be carried out any minute now.”

Islamic Code vs. International Obligations

Iran is among the very few countries in which children under the age of 18 can be sentenced to death. Although a signatory to the United Nations’ International Convention on the Rights of the Child and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit the ill-treatment and execution of children or juvenile offenders under any circumstance, the Islamic Republic still preserves for itself the right of over-ruling the treaties.

For murder (among other crimes such as rape, blasphemy, and adultery), Iran’s judiciary follows the Islamic Penal Code, which recognizes 15 Islamic lunar years for males and 9 for females as the age of mental maturity and legal responsibility. Therefore, capital punishment can legally be applied to children above those ages. The judicial system locks away the offender until his or her 18th birthday, and then carries out the punishment.

In cases of murder, the process of retribution in-kind (qesas-e nafs) can only be stopped by a pardon of the first degree from the relatives of the victim or by direct order of the head of the judiciary.

Iran is the world’s leading executioner of juvenile offenders. The country executed at least six juvenile offenders in 2007 and has the dubious distinction of having executed the only juvenile offender this year anywhere in the world.

This Year’s Sole Victim

Javad Shojai was 16 when he took the life of his friend Rostam eight years ago in a scuffle in Isfahan, a city in central Iran. Javad said he had no intention of doing so—a claim that was not embraced by the court.

Months and years passed in prison until that early dawn of a cold winter day when Javad’s eight years of bitter anticipation eventually came to an end with the signature of the chief of the judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi. Javad was hanged in the prison’s yard on Feb. 26.

Javad’s case remains this year’s only recorded case of an execution of a juvenile offender in the world.

“He still had hope. He used to say he was sure they would pardon him at the last moment, even if they took him to the hangman noose,” said Najmeh Shojaee, Javad’s elder sister, on the day he was executed. “We waited for eight years for him to come home, wishing he would be released. And now after eight years … I can’t believe they have killed my brother. Today [Feb. 26] we waited for nine hours outside the prison doors, not knowing what is going on. They even did not let us say goodbye on the last day.”

In the last days of Javad’s short life, the campaigns to save him intensified. Amnesty International and the Human Rights Council of the United Nations repeatedly appealed to Iranian officials to halt Javad’s execution; but according to Amnesty International’s Iran researcher, Drewery Dyke, the efforts were useless.

“We expressed our concerns to the Iranian government, through Geneva and New York. We demanded them to meet their international obligations, but unfortunately they would not listen to us,” Dyke said.

Civil Society’s Struggles

Against all odds, hundreds of Iranian lawyers, nongovernmental organizations, journalists, and activists are struggling with the inflexible codes that rule Iran’s judiciary—renowned Iranian lawyer and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi being one of the most prominent. Ebadi, who has founded the Committee to Defend the Right of Children in Iran, largely owes her honorable prize to her activities in the field of children’s rights.

“It is a shame that our country, with all its glorious values, sets the world record in minor execution instead of science, wisdom, and culture, etc.” Ebadi said. “But Iran’s civil society will not let that happen. There is no way forward other than accepting the responsibilities that the international treaties bear for us.”

There have been a few cases in which campaigns by Iranian activists have had positive results.

In the most recent example, in mid-December 2007, the head of the judiciary temporarily suspended the execution of Ali Mahin Torabi, who had been sentenced to death for a murder he committed when he was 16. The case has been sent for further review due to “inconsistencies” in the file, according to Giti Poorfazel, one of Ali’s advocates.

“At the beginning of December it was feared that his case had been sent to the Office for the Implementation of Sentences and that his execution was imminent,” said Tehran-based activist and lawyer Poorfazel. “We hope Ali will be pardoned; but this is not the point! The point is that we should have a secure system for children. We must not have a legal status in which we will be forced to campaign every now and then for the vivid rights of minors.”

According to Amnesty International, there are currently at least 79 Iranian children on death row awaiting their 18th birthday, at which time they will receive a most sinister present from the state.

PUBLIC                AI Index: MDE 13/009/2008             06 March 2008

Further Information on UA 230/07 (MDE 13/109/2007, 31 August 2007) and follow-up (MDE 13/032/2008, 05 February 2008) - Imminent execution/child offender

IRAN        Behnam Zare` (m), child offender

On or around 11 February 2008 the Head of the Judiciary ordered a second attempt to negotiate payment of diyeh (“blood money”) with the family of the man that Behnam Zare` was convicted of killing, according to a report carried by the BBC Persian news service.

The order for the implementation of his sentence had been approved by the Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi, on 5 February, and Behnam Zare` was awaiting execution. The order to reopen negotiations, therefore, may have been given, at least in part, in response to campaigning by Amnesty International’s UA network and others. Negotiations over the payment of diyeh are managed by the Council for the Resolution of Differences, a body under the authority of the judiciary which is intended to solve a variety of legal disputes without recourse to the court system. There is no time limit for its decision. Behnam Zare’ remains at risk of execution.

Behnam Zare’ was convicted of a murder which reportedly took place on 21 April 2005, when he was 15 years old. He was found to have swung a knife during an argument with a man named Mehrdad, wounding him in the neck. Mehrdad later died in hospital. Behnam Zare`was detained on 13 November 2005; Branch 5 of Fars Criminal Court sentenced him to qesas (retribution) for premeditated murder. Under Article 206 (b) of Iran’s Criminal Code, murder is classed as premeditated “in cases where the murderer intentionally makes an action which is inherently lethal, even if [the murderer] does not intend to kill the person.” The case went to appeal before Branch 33 of the Supreme Court where the sentence was upheld, and it was then passed to the Office for Implementation of Sentences.

Iran is one of only six countries in the world in which child offenders – those convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18 – have been executed in the past four years. This is despite Iran’s obligations under international treaties to which it is a state party which prohibit the execution of child offenders. In the last four years Iran has executed more child offenders than in all those other countries combined.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English or your own language:
- expressing concern that Behnam Zare` is still at risk of execution for a crime committed when he was under 18;
- calling on the authorities to abide by the moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty called for by the UN General Assembly in December 2007, and to commute the death sentence passed on Behnam Zare`;
- 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.

APPEALS TO:

Leader of the Islamic Republic
His 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

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 17 April 2008.

Working to protect human rights worldwide

بی بی سی

رئیس قوه قضائیه فرصت دیگری به بهنام زارع، جوانی که در آستانه شانزده سالگی مرتکب قتل شد داده تا با کسب رضایت خانواده مقتول، از اعدام نجات پیدا کند.

محمد مصطفائی، وکیل بهنام زارع به خبرگزاری دانشجویان ایران گفته که رئیس قوه قضائیه، پرونده موکل او را مطالعه کرده و سپس آن را به شورای حل اختلاف شیراز ارجاع داده و گفته است که سعی شود این پرونده با صلح و سازش و رضایت اولیای دم (پدر و مادر مقتول) فیصله پیدا کند، در غیر این صورت موازین قانونی اجرا شود، یعنی حکم اعدام بهنام زارع اجرا گردد.

به گفته وکیل بهنام زارع، در پی این دستور، دایره اجرای احکام دادسرای شیراز طی نامه‌ ای از شورای حل اختلاف شیراز خواسته است تا در جلسه‌ مشترکی، خانواده مقتول را دعوت و در مورد اخذ رضایت با آنها صحبت کند.

این در حالی است که تلاش برای جلب رضایت خانواده مقتول طی بیش از دو سال به نتیجه ای نینجامیده و چند روز پیش، در پی پافشاری خانواده مقتول بر اعدام بهنام زارع، دستور اجرای حکم او به زندان عادل آباد شیراز ابلاغ شده بود.

بهنام زارع اهل روستای دستجرد از توابع شهرستان استهبانات در استان فارس است و در اول اردیبهشت 1384، یک ماه پیش از آنکه به شانزده سالگی برسد، بر سر پرتاب سنگ بسوی کبوتری که متعلق به جوانی به نام مهرداد بوده، با وی وارد نزاع می شود و مهرداد را از پا در می آورد.

بهنام در جلسات بازجویی گفته که مهرداد بارها و بارها او را در مدرسه کتک زده و قصد آزار و اذیت او را داشته، در مدرسه چندین مرتبه بینی او را شکسته بوده و مدام او را تعقیب می ‌کرده و هیچ کجا او را آرام نمی‌ گذاشته است.

از بهنام زارع نقل شده است: “از آنجا که او [مهرداد] سه سال بزرگتر از من بود، مجبور بودم از دستش فرار کنم، توانایی درگیر شدن با او را نداشتم تا اینکه یک روز در حالی که من در زمین بازی حوالی منزل عمویم در حال بازی فوتبال بودم، به زمین بازی آمد و گفت بیا برویم کبوترهایم را نشانت دهم، من هم همراه او رفتم اما او باز هم قصد آزار و اذیتم را داشت، در آنجا با هم درگیر شدیم، مهرداد چاقو داشت و من هم تبرزین کوچکی همراهم بود، این تبرزین را برای کار همراه داشتم، مهرداد اول چاقویش را درآورد و خطی روی بدنم انداخت، شروع به فحاشی کرد و گفت که من توان مبارزه با او را ندارم، من هم از سر عصبانیت تبرزین را درآوردم و می ‌خواستم خطی روی بدنش بیندازم که جاخالی داد و تبرزین به گردنش فرورفت، من از ترس فرار کردم و نزد پدرم رفتم، وقتی به پدرم ماجرا را گفتم او مرا به پلیس تحویل داد”.

تلاش خانواده بهنام زارع و مهلتی که از خانواده مقتول می خواهند بیش از یک سال و نیم اجرای حکم اعدام را متوقف کرده بود تا اینکه سرانجام، این حکم اخیراً و در حالی که سن بهنام زارع به هیجده سالگی رسیده برای اجرا به زندان عادل آباد شیراز ابلاغ شده است.

وکیل بهنام زارع می گوید صدور حکم اعدام برای موکل او که در زمان ارتکاب جرم سنش زیر هیجده سال بوده، با کنوانسیون حقوق کودک که ایران از امضاکنندگان آن است مغایرت دارد.

مقامات قضائی ایران نیز بارها تأکید کرده اند که اعدام افرادی که پیش از رسیدن به سن هیجده سالگی مرتکب قتل شده اند متوقف شده، اما همچنان مواردی از صدور حکم اعدام برای افراد کمسال گزارش می شود

Further Information on UA 230/07 (MDE 13/109/2007, 31 August 2007) imminent execution/child offender

IRAN        Behnam Zare’ (m), child offender

Child offender Behnam Zare’ is now facing execution within 72 hours. The order to carry out his execution has been sent to the prison where he is held.

Behnam Zare’ was convicted of a murder committed when he was 15 years old. Iran is a state party to international treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which expressly prohibit the execution of child offenders. Behnam Zare’ has been detained in Adelabad prison, in the south-western city of Shiraz, since his arrest.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Persian, Arabic, English or your own language:
- expressing concern that Behnam Zare’ is in imminent danger of execution for a crime committed when he was under 18;
- calling on the authorities to halt the execution of Behnam Zare’ immediately, and commute his death sentence.

APPEALS TO:

Leader of the Islamic Republic
His 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:

President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:                 dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
via website: www.president.ir/email

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 18 March 2008.

Working to protect human rights worldwide

Ayatollah Shahrudi , the head of Iran’s judiciary approved the execution of Behnam Zare. In a letter, Behnam’s attorney Mohammad Mostafei informed Stop Child Executions that the execution order of Behnam Zare was sent by Ayatollah Shahrudi to Adelabad prison in central city of Shiraz Iran and the execution can be performed at anytime.

According to Iran’s law, 48 hours before the execution the attorneys and the families must be informed, however in many circumstances the law has been violated. Mohammad Mostafaei has not yet received such notice.

SCE first reported Behnam death sentence in August of 2007 and also reported it to Amnesty International.  Soon after Amnesty issued an Urgent Action request. Nazanin Afshin-Jam also contacted the office of Ms. Louise Arbour, the High Commissioner for Human Rights at United Nations and her office ”provided the the information to the human rights mechanisms in Geneva for their attention.” . Also after learning about scheduled execution of Behnam Zare, the presidency of the European Union issued an statement, urging the Islamic regime in Iran to halt the execution. Additionally other European governments as well as the governments of Australia and Canada condemned the execution verdict.  

The murder reportedly took place on 21 April 2005, when Behnam Zare’ swung a knife during an argument with a man named Mehrdad, wounding him in the neck. Mehrdad later died in hospital. Behnam Zare’ was detained on 13 November 2005; Branch 5 of Fars Criminal Court sentenced him to qesas (retribution) on charges of premeditated murder. Under Article 206 (b) of Iran ’s Criminal Code, murder is classed as premeditated “in cases where the murderer intentionally makes an action which is inherently lethal, even if [the murderer] does not intend to kill the person.” The case went on appeal before Branch 33 of the Supreme Court where the sentence was upheld, and it has now been passed to the Office for Implementation of Sentences.

International law strictly prohibits the use of the death penalty against people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18. As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the CRC, Iran has undertaken not to execute child offenders. since 1990, the ruling Islamic regime in Iran has executed at least 30 juveniles, including more than 6 in 2007. 86 youth are now recorded by SCE to be on death row in Iran for alleged crimes before the age of 18. This number may be even higher as according to the reports, at least a further 15 Afghan juvenile offenders may be under sentence of death. According to the statistics provided by an Iranian police official about 170 children (under 18 at time of alleged crime) can be facing execution in Iran. There has been a surge in processing the children’s file for execution. In the past 3 months, SCE has reported 10 imminent executions for Ali Mahin-Torabi, Mohammad Latif, Delara Darabi, Hossein Haghi, Behnood,  Ali, Saeed Jazee, Amir Amorollahi, Rahim Ahmadi and Mohammad Haddadi.  Earlier this month 42 European countries condemned Iran for the surge in child executions. Iran has broken the world records in 2007 with at least 297 recorded executions comparing to 177 in 2006.

As of February 2008 Stop Child Executions Campaign has recorded 91 children facing executions worldwide: 86 in Iran, 2 in Saudi Arabia, 2 in Sudan and 1 in Yemen. In 2007 at least 7 were reported to have been executed : 6 in Iran and 1 in Saudi Arabia. Three are known to have been saved from execution: 2 in Iran and 1 in Yemen.