Human Rights Crisis In Iran

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde130592007

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

As Iranian human rights activists we are fighting to restore to our nation those rights that are universal and inalienable. These rights are founded on the incontrovertible truth that all human beings are born free and equal. The constitution of the Islamic Republic is incompatible with this omnipresent reality. It is riddled with inconsistencies and discrimination. It stands contrary to all those hard won liberties secured by human beings throughout the ages.

Human rights are not a product of the West. Neither are they the inheritance of one race or culture. They are the upshot of the accumulated experience and collective enlightenment of mankind as a whole. They are the intellectual tribute to the sweat and blood of black African slaves in the cotton plantations of Georgia as well as persecuted and murdered Christians under Roman emperors. These laws abhor the extermination of Jews in Nazi death camps as well as the massacre of Moslems in Srebrenica. The responsibility invoked by these laws does not stop at the gates of Buddhist temples in Burma nor behind the Great Wall of China.

When Mr Shahroudi the head of the Iranian judiciary and his cohort sit down together “to draw up scientific strategies” to introduce realities of Islamic human rights to world nations (IRNA, 15 November 2007) they fail to realize or rather maliciously ignore the meaning of the word ‘universal’ in the title of that historic declaration. They evade the fact that no nation or culture or state can claim to have its own hyphenated version of human rights.

Unlike the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights makes no distinction between men and women, agnostics and atheists, Baha’is and Moslems. It applies to everyone everywhere without any ambiguities and ifs or buts. What Mr Shahroudi and his “team of experts” can offer to the rest of the world as “scientific” human rights solutions envisaged in their religion is self-evident in the busy gallows and overcrowded jails and torture chambers of the clerical state.

Iranians are fighting tooth and nail for their release from the limbo of the Islamic Republic into the universe of shared values and rights that are the common legacy of humanity the world over.

[abadani69]

در حاليکه يک هيات سازمان ملل، روز سه شنبه قطعنامه اي تصويب کرد که در آن از نقض حقوق بشر در ايران، کره وبرمه "عميقا" ابراز نگراني شده، خبرگزاري فارس با حذف نام ايران، اين قطعنامه را سانسور کرد. اين خبرگزاري ساعاتي بعد از انتشار خبر و واکنش مسئولين جمهوري اسلامي، خبر مزبور را به طور کلي حذف کرد.

در اين قطعنامه همچنين نسبت به "نقض منظم و گسترده حقوق بشر" در کره ابراز نگراني شده است. محکوميت نقض حقوق بشر در کره، بيشترين موافق را داشت و 97 نفر از اعضاي اين هيات بر آن مهر تاييد زدند.
پيش نويس اين قطعنامه که غيرالزام آور است، در مرحله بعد تسليم مجمع عمومي سازمان ملل خواهد شد.در جريان تصويب اين قطعنامه، محمد خزاعي، نماينده ايران در سازمان ملل تلاش کرد تا از راي گيري براي تصويب اين پيش نويس خودداري کند.اما پيشنهاد وي راي نياورد. يکي از حاميان اصلي اين قطعنامه کانادا است که ايران آن را به عنوان ناقض حقوق "اکثر جمعيت کانادا، به ويژه اقليت ها، مهاجران، خارجي ها و افراد بومي" معرفي مي کند.
به دنبال صدور اين قطعنامه حجت*الاسلام* دري نجف*آبادي، دادستان کل کشور، تصويب اينگونه بيانيه ها را "مصادره به مطلوب حقوق بشر و مايه بي*اعتمادي بيشتر ملت*ها به مناديان دروغين حقوق بشر" عنوان كرد و افزود: "جامعه بشري سال*هاست كه شاهد رويكردي سياسي و ناعادلانه به مقوله حقوق بشر است و در حالي*كه در عراق و افغانستان و نقاط فراواني از دنيا و فلسطين و لبنان نقش آشكار حقوق حقه بشر و از جمله حق حيات مشهود است، اين جنايات با نام آزادي و دموكراسي و غيره توجيه و تئوريزه مي*شود."
دري*نجف*آبادي همچنين ضمن محکوم کردن "سوءاستفاده از سازوكارهاي حقوق بشري در سازمان ملل متحد" افزود: "ملت ايران بارها مواجه با چهره كريه برخوردهاي سياسي*كارانه و مغرضانه جهان غرب بوده*اند و در حالي*كه اين قدرت*ها خود بزرگترين ناقضان حقوق بشر در دنيا هستند و نه فقط ناقض حريم خصوصي شهروندان خود و عامل برخوردهاي تبعيض*آميز عليه اقليت*ها و مهاجران و مردمان بومي بلكه موجد جنايت*هايي چون ابوغريب و گوانتانامو و عامل كشتار بيش از يك ميليون عراقي طي چند سال اخير و طراح و مجري كودتاها و اغتشاشات بوده*اند."
دادستان كل جمهوري اسلامي در عين حال با عنوان اينكه "معيار سنجش حكومت*ها، التزام به حقوق شهروندي اتباع خود و حمايت و صيانت از حقوق حقه اتباع خويش" است تصريح كرد: "بعضي بنگاه*هاي دروغ پراكني معلوم*الحال غرب با ابداع سوژه*هاي دروغين سعي در تشويش اذهان عليه نظام اسلامي و ملت ايران كرده و به عنوان نمونه مساله مرگ زهرا كاظمي را كه موضوعي تلخ و غيرقابل قبول براي ملت و دولت ايران بود، دست*آويزي براي اتهام پراكني خود قرار دادند، حال آنكه دادستاني كل كشور نسبت به اين مساله با حساسيت ورود كرده و در حمايت قانوني از تبعه كشور خود با جديت پيگير مساله بود."
سخنگوي وزارت امور خارجه هم در واکنش به صدور اين قطعنامه، اتهامات كانادا در خصوص وضعيت حقوق بشر در ايران را "بي*اساس، مغرضانه، غيرعادلانه و سياسي" خواند.
محمد علي حسيني با اشاره به اينكه "كشور كانادا خود متهم به نقض حقوق بشر بوده و اشكالات اساسي نسبت به وضعيت حقوق بشر در برخي از كشورهاي غربي حامي اين قطعنامه وجود دارد" آن را رد كرد و "ميزان اندك حمايت كشورها از قطعنامه ارايه شده از سوي كانادا را نشانه عدم مقبوليت و مشروعيت اين قطعنامه" دانست.
لازم به يادآوريست که سه هفته پيش از اين اتحاديه اروپا هم در بيانيه اي نسبت به "سرکوب فزاينده آزادي بيان و تشديد محدوديت ها بر مطبوعات ايران" عميقا ابراز نگراني کرده و خواهان "آزادي فوري" عمادالدين باقي، رييس انجمن دفاع از حقوق زندانيان در ايران و سه دانشجوي بازداشت دانشگاه امير کبير شده بود.
اين بيانيه، حکم صادره عليه دانشجويان دانشگاه امير کبير را نيز "نقض آشکار تعهدات بين المللي ايران در زمينه حقوق بشر" دانسته بود. بيانيه مزبور که از سوي رييس دوره اي اتحاديه اروپا به نمايندگي از بيست و هفت کشورعضو اين اتحاديه صادر شد، از حمايت کشورهاي غير عضو اروپايي مانند نروژ، ايسلند، اوکراين، مولداوي و جمهوري هاي يوگسلاوي سابق قرار گرفت.

[Dokhtar Bandari]

For our brothers and sisters that do not know what the UN Human Rights Creed is, please read, learn and question those who willfully ignore the dignity of humanity in our country. (recent changes will follow soon)

PREAMBLE
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

.

[Dokhtar Bandari]

Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. There are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10.
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11.
(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.

(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.

(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14.
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15.
(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.

(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.

(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17.
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.

(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.

(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22.
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23.
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24.
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26.
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27.
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28.
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29.
(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.

(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30.
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herei

[abadani69]

برنامه نظارت بر حمايت مدافعان حقوق بشر، به عنوان برنامه اي مشترک از "سازمان جهاني مبارزه با شکنجه" [OMCT] و "فدراسيون بين المللي جامعه هاي حقوق بشر" اطلاعات جديدي را دريافت کرده است و از شما درخواست مي کند که سريعا درخصوص وضعيت پيش آمده ذيل در جمهوري اسلامي ايران اقدام نماييد.

شرح مختصري از وضعيت پيش آمده

برنامه نظارت از سوي منابع قابل اطمينان مطلع شده که خانم جلوه جواهري، روزنامه نگار و يکي ديگر از فعالان کمپين "يک ميليون امضاء" بازداشت و به زندان منتقل شده است. او همچنين يکي از اعضاي فعال در سايت اينترنتي کمپين است که هدف آن اعمال فشار بر قانونگذاران جمهوري اسلامي داير بر تغيير قوانين تبعيض آميز در زمينه حقوق زنان مي باشد.

با توجه به اطلاعات به دست آمده، خانم جلوه جواهري روز اول دسامبر 2007 به شعبه ويژه امنيت دادگاه انقلاب احضار شده است. او پس از چند ساعت بازجويي به "تشويش اذهان عمومي"، "تبليغ بر ضد نظام" و "نشر اکاذيب" از طريق قطعات خبري در سايت کمپين "يک ميليون امضاء" متهم گرديد. خانم جواهري سپس به بخش 3 زندان اوين منتقل شده و همچنان در زندان بسر مي برد.

برنامه نظارت مراتب نگراني شديد خود را نسبت به افزايش سرکوب توسط دولتمردان جمهوري اسلامي در قبال مدافعان حقوق بشر، به ويژه فعالان حقوق زنان که در کمپين "يک ميليون امضاء" نيز مشارکت مي کنند، اعلام مي دارد و همچنين يادآور مي شود که طي دو سال گذشته بيش از 100 فعال حقوق زنان دستگير شده، مورد بازجويي قرار گرفته و در نهايت محکوم شده اند. اين درحالي است که دولت جمهوري اسلامي از زنداني کردن اين فعالان و آزادي آنان در ازاي وثيقه هاي سنگين بيش از يک ميليون يورو به دست آورده است.

برنامه نظارت همچنين مايل است يادآوري کند که ايران با ارائه نامزدي خود در انتخابات شوراي حقوق بشر سال 2006 متعهد شده "بالاترين سطح استانداردها را در ارتقاء و حمايت از مقوله حقوق بشر رعايت و حفظ کند". قابل ذکر است که ايران مصرانه روي اين نکته تأکيد نمود که "تلاش هايي را به طور مستمر در زمينه حفظ شئونات انساني و ارتقاء و حمايت از مقوله حقوق بشر و آزادي هاي اصلي انجام خواهد داد". برنامه نظارت به منظور اطمينان بخشيدن به واقعيت ادامه اين تلاش ها، از جمهوري اسلامي ايران مي خواهد تا براساس عهدنامه هاي بين المللي حقوق بشر عمل کند.

اقدامات مورد درخواست:

از شما خواهشمنديم که هر چه سريعتر دولتمردان جمهوري اسلامي را از درخواست هاي زير باخبر سازيد:

1. تحت هر شرايطي، سلامت روحي و جسماني خانم جلوه جواهري و ديگر فعالان کمپين "يک ميليون امضاء" را تضمين کنند.

2. هر چه سريعتر و بدون هيچ گونه قيد و شرطي خانم جلوه جواهري را آزاد کنند، زيرا دستگيري و بازداشت او کاملا خودسرانه است. به نظر مي رسد که هدف از مجازات وي صرفا جلوگيري از ادامه فعاليت هاي او در زمينه حقوق بشر مي باشد.

3. اطمينان دهند که از کليه فعالان حقوق زنان که در کمپين "يک ميليون امضاء" مشارکت کرده اند رفع اتهام خواهد شد.

4. سريعا به هرگونه اقدام تهديدآميز و آزاردهنده، حتي در سطوح قضايي، در قبال تمامي مدافعان حقوق بشر در ايران پايان دهند.

5. به مواد اعلاميه مدافعان حقوق بشر، تصويب شده توسط مجمع عمومي سازمان ملل در 9 دسامبر 1998، احترام گذاشته و آن را رعايت کنند. به ويژه ماده اول آن که مي گويد: "هر شخصي به صورت فردي يا گروهي اين حق را دارد که در سطوح ملي و يا بين المللي اقدام به حمايت از حقوق بشر کند و آزادي هاي اصلي را تحقق بخشد" و ماده 6.b که مي گويد: "هر شخصي به صورت فردي يا گروهي اين حق را دارد که [...] آزادانه به چاپ، انتشار و ابلاغ هرگونه اطلاعات و نظري در زمينه حقوق بشر و آزادي هاي اصلي بپردازد" " و همچنين ماده 12.2 که مي گويد: "دولت بايد کليه تدابير لازم را انجام دهد تا حمايت فردي و گروهي همه کس نسبت به خشونت، تهديد، اقدامات تلافي جويانه، فشار، تبعيض هاي منفي شخصي و يا قانوني و هرگونه اقدام مستبدانه ديگري، توسط مراجع ذيصلاح تضمين گردد".

6. به طور کلي، تحت هر شرايطي اطمينان دهند که مفاد حقوق بشر و آزادي هاي اصلي در ايران مطابق با اعلاميه جهاني حقوق بشر و ديگر عهدنامه هاي بين المللي و منطقه اي که ايران نيز آنها را به رسميت شناخته رعايت خواهند شد.

[Dokhtar Bandari]

HRW
Our duty as activists is to expose and denounce as human rights violations those practices and policies that silence and subordinate women. We reject specific legal, cultural, or religious practices by which women are systematically discriminated against, excluded from political participation and public life, segregated in their daily lives, raped in armed conflict, beaten in their homes, denied equal divorce or inheritance rights, killed for having sex, forced to marry, assaulted for not conforming to gender norms, and sold into forced labor. Arguments that sustain and excuse these human rights abuses - those of cultural norms, "appropriate" rights for women, or western imperialism - barely disguise their true meaning: that women's lives matter less than men's. Cultural relativism, which argues that there are no universal human rights and that rights are culture-specific and culturally determined, is still a formidable and corrosive challenge to women's rights to equality and dignity in all facets of their lives.

The Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch fights against the dehumanization and marginalization of women. We promote women's equal rights and human dignity. The realization of women's rights is a global struggle based on universal human rights and the rule of law. It requires all of us to unite in solidarity to end traditions, practices, and laws that harm women. It is a fight for freedom to be fully and completely human and equal without apology or permission. Ultimately, the struggle for women's human rights must be about making women's lives matter everywhere all the time. In practice, this means taking action to stop discrimination and violence against women.
We will help to get her out, but that will not stop IRI...nor IRI will stop us on our quest.

[Dokhtar Bandari]

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

http://azizanpress.blogspot.com/2009/03/blog-post_15.html

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

برگزاركنندگان مراسم تحويل سال در مقابل زندان اوين

مأموران پليس امنيتي ايران گروهي از فعالان دانشجويي و اعضاي خانواده هاي دانشجويان زنداني را كه قصد داشتند مراسم تحويل سال نو را در مقابل زندان اوين برگزار كنند، بازداشت كرده اند.

عبدالله مؤمني سخنگوي سازمان ادوار تحكيم وحدت به بي بي سي فارسي گفت: "اين عده در حالي بازداشت شدند كه مي خواستند مانند سال هاي گذشته، لحظه تحويل سال را در اعتراض به روند حبس فعالان سياسي و براي قدرداني از اين فعالان، مقابل زندان اوين بگذرانند".

آقاي مؤمني تعداد بازداشت شدگان را بين ده تا پانزده تن اعلام كرد و گفت: "تعدادي از اعضاي شوراي تهران دفتر تحكيم وحدت، اعضاي شوراي مركزي دفتر تحكيم، يكي از والدين دانشجويان بازداشت شده و تعدادي از والدين ساير فعالان دانشجويي كه در مراسم حاضر بودند، در بين بازداشت شدگان هستند".

او كه در آخرين ساعات روز ۳۰ اسفند (به وقت تهران) با خبرنگار ما گفتگو مي كرد، گفت كه تا آن لحظه خبري از آزادي بازداشت شدگان به او نرسيده و اعضاي خانواده هاي آنها پيگير موضوع هستند.

تجمع هاي اعتراضي نسبت به حكومت معمولا در ايران با حساسيت نيروهاي انتظامي و امنيتي و برخورد آنها روبرو مي شود.

در سال هاي گذشته هم حضور خانواده هاي زندانيان و بازداشت شدگان سياسي در مقابل زندان اوين، حساسيت ها و ممانعت هايي در پي داشت، اما به نظر مي رسد اين نخستين بار است كه برگزاركنندگان مراسم تحويل سال در اين محل بازداشت مي شوند.

به گفته آقاي مؤمني، حاضران در مراسم امسال، با توجه به سابقه سال هاي گذشته، گمان نمي كردند كه با خطر بازداشت موجه هستند.

او همچنين از دستگيري دو تن ديگر از اعضاي شوراي مركزي دفتر تحكيم وحدت خبر داد كه براي پيگيري موضوع به مركز پليس امنيت تهران مراجعه كرده بودند و آنجا بازداشت شده اند.

[Rasputin]

Althoughhis lawyer Mr. Mohammad Mostafaei has not receive official notice ofthe execution date, he was informed by Mohammadreza’s father that he isscheduled to be executed on Wednesday May 27th at Adelabad prison in Shiraz where he has been imprisoned for the last 4 years.

Eighteen year old Mohammdreza Haddadi wassentenced to death by hanging for an alleged murder at the age of 15.His appeal was denied by the superior court and the file was sentto the division of enforcement of verdicts for final execution permitby Ayatollah Shahrudi, the head of Iran's judiciary.

MohammadReza Haddadi, aged 18, is held in Adelabad prison in the city ofShiraz. He was sentenced to death in January 2004 by a court inKazeroun for the murder of a man in 2003. He had confessed to themurder, but retracted the confession during his trial, saying he hadclaimed responsibility for the killing because his two co-defendantshad offered his family money if he did so. Mohammad Reza Haddadi statedduring the trial that he had not taken part in murder of a man who hadoffered him and the two others a lift in his car. The two others latersupported Mohammad Reza Haddadi's claims of innocence, and withdrewtheir testimony that implicated him in the murder. His co-defendants,both over 18 at the time of the crime, are said to have received lessersentences. However, in July 2005, a branch of the Supreme Court upheldthe death sentence against Mohammad Reza Haddadi and later authorizedby Ayatollah Shahroudi, the Head of Iran's Judiciary.

Background:


Mohammad Reza's execution order was reported for the first time by Stop Child Executions Campaign in January 12, 2008 .At the time no details were available until the new attorney MohammadMostafaei met Mohammadreza in Shiraz prison in the first week ofFebruary 2008. Subsequent to the initial report by SCE, the presidentof the European Union on behlaf of 42 countries listed Mohammadreza'sname in its letter to Iranian authorities condemning the executionorder. (Januray 25, 200.

In a recent letter to Shahrudi, Mohammad Mostafaei detailedthe incident and the flaws in the judicial processing of the case.According to the testimony of Karim Haddadi :

“ MohammadrezaHaddadi was accompanied by 3 adults: Mohammad Ghorbani, Karim Haaddaiand his cousin Taghi Haddadi. They asked an old man to drive them toneighboring city and along the way when the driver stopped to fill thecar radiator with water, Taghi Haddadi hit the driver in the head witha rock. According to Taghi they all beat the driver anddragged his body to the trunk of the car and drove away. According tothe testimony, when they heard that the man was still alive,Taghi stoped the car and Mehdi hit the man with a piece of wood in thehead. Karim testified that Taghi and 15 year old Mohammadreza strangledthe man. Then they burned the body and buried it. After the arrest,Mohammadreza confess to murdering the man.

Followingone of the court sessions he asked his mother if she had received asubstantial amount of money promised to him by the three other men inreturn for his confession. After finding out that no money was given tohis mother, he stated that he was lead to confession by the adults and had nothing to do with the crime..

Regardlessthe court decided that Mohammadreza was guilty ofmurder. He was sentenced to death while the three adults were sentencedto long imprisonments.

Despitethe fact that the other men later testified that Mohammadreza wasinnocent of the crime, his appeal was still denied and the executionorder was confirmed . Th file was sent to division of enforcement ofverdicts. The file incorrectly showed Mohammad's age at the time ofmurder as 19 instead of 15. In his letter, Mostafaei asked Shahrudi to order further review of the file based on the retracted testimony of others.

Mohammadreza Haddadi was scheduled to be executed on October 9th 2008, but his execution was stayed by Ayatollah Shahrudi.

ConsideringMohammad Reza's age at the time, it was highly unlikely that the murderwas planned and executed by the 15 year old instead of the other adultsinvolved in the crime.. It is likely that Mohammad was "influenced" andtaken advantage of by the adults, due to his immaturity in confessingto the crime in hopes of that due to his young age, the verdict wouldbe more lenient.

StopChild Executions Campaign recognizes the right and responsibility ofgovernments to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offenses,but is opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances especially forthose person guilty of crimes committed before the age of 18.

SCE has informed the High Commission on Human Rights at the United Nations and other international bodies.

For read more about Mohammad Reza visit: http://scenews.blog.com/Mohammadreza%20Haddadi/



Please send urgent appeals

-calling on the authorities to commute his death sentence, as he isfacing execution for a crime committed when he was under 18 which inaccordance with Iran’s obligations as a state party to theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Conventionon the Rights of the Child, is against international human rights law.

APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary

Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi

c/o Director, Judiciary Public Relations and Information Office

Ardeshir Sadiq

Judiciary Public Relations and Information Office

No. 57, Pasteur St., corner of Khosh Zaban Avenue

Tehran, Iran

Email: info@dadiran**** (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)

Salutation: Your Excellency



Judiciary spokesperson

Alireza Jamshidi

Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary

Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri

Tehran 1316814737, Iran

Email: info@a-jamshidi****

Salutation: Dear Sir



Leader of the Islamic Republic

Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei, The Office of the Supreme Leader

Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Email: info_leader@leader****

via website: http://www.leader****/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)

http://www.leader****/langs/fa/index.php?p=letter (Persian)

Salutation: Your Excellency





COPIES TO:

Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran

Mohammad Javad Larijani

Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary

Pasteur St, Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri

Tehran 1316814737, Iran

Fax: +98 21 3390 4986 (please keep trying)

Email: info@dadgostary-tehran**** (In the subject line write: FAO Javad Larijani)

Salutation: Dear Mr Larijani

and to diplomatic representatives of Iran accredited to your country.