UN voices concern about the increasing number of executions in Iran

[News_Editor]

UN voices concern about the increasing number of executions in Iran

2011-11-04 18:04:28 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) has voiced renewed concern over the increasing number of executions in Iran and its alleged failure to uphold the rights of religious and ethnic minorities.

The UN Human Rights Committee said it is disturbed by Iran's continuing discrimination and arrest of religious and ethnic minorities and homosexuals, as well as by the frequency of capital punishment imposed on juveniles.

The organization, which reviews the compliance with international human rights treaties, also expressed its concern about the vague definition and the wide range of offenses for which the death penalty is used in Iran.

The committee is made up of a group of independent experts who monitor implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Iran ratified the covenant in 1976, but it was only last month when the country appeared before the committee.

Committee member Christine Chanet spoke at a press conference in Geneva, stating that the Iranian delegation failed to fully engage in the process and avoid the committee's questioning. "For some questions they were embarrassed and they didn't answer especially when I raised the question of the death penalty and they didn't answer," Chanet said. "I asked the question of stoning and there was no answer at all about this question."

Meanwhile, Michael O'Flaherty from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told UN Radio that the committee's observations can make a significant difference for human rights in every country, but its impact may not be immediately visible.

"I remember when Libya came to the committee about four or five years ago, and people could have said then 'What's the point?'" O'Flaherty explained. "The point is our concluding observations are being used today in Tripoli as part of the basic documents to chart how to build a human rights culture in the country going into the future."

Murder, rape and drugs trafficking are among the crimes which are punishable by death in Iran. Dozens of people were executed across the country in September alone, including 22 convicted drug traffickers who were all hung on the same day in the Tehran suburb of Karaj.

But the most controversial execution took place on September 21 when 17-year-old Alireza Molla Soltani was executed after stabbing a popular athlete to death in mid-July. The teenager argued he stabbed the athlete in self-defense but a court still ordered he be executed, in breach of international law which forbids executing anyone below the age of 18.

According to Amnesty International, the Iranian government acknowledged that at least 252 people were executed in Iran last year, although Amnesty's reports indicate the actual figure is more than 550. Among those executed were five women and one adult who committed his crime when he was underage.

The vast majority of those executed in Iran last year was for alleged drug trafficking, a crime national authorities claim has led to the deaths of more than 4,000 police officers in recent years.

According to human rights groups, trials in Iran do often not meet international standards of fairness. Proceedings, particularly those held outside Tehran, are often summary, lasting only a few minutes. Mass trials also take place on some occasions.

In October 2010, Amnesty International reported, Iran's Interior Minister stated that the campaign against drug trafficking was being intensified and the Prosecutor General stated in the same month that new measures had been taken to speed up the judicial processing of drug-trafficking cases, including by referring all such cases to his office, thereby denying them a right to appeal to a higher tribunal as is required under international law.

Two months later, the amended Anti-Narcotics Law came into force, apparently making it easier to sentence to death those convicted of drug trafficking, according to Amnesty International. The law also extended the scope of the death penalty to include additional categories of illegal drugs such as crystal meth, possession of which became punishable by death. Under the Anti-Narcotics Law, some defendants are not granted a right to appeal as their convictions and sentences are confirmed by the state Prosecutor-General.

Family members of executed persons also faced persecution in some cases last year and were often not given the bodies of their relatives for burial. Others said that they had to pay officials in order to receive their relatives' bodies as payment for the rope used to hang them.

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