2023-05-18 13:07:49
In response to fears of the imminent execution in Iran of three Isfahan protesters—Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi y Said Yaghoubi— raised by the broadcast in state media of their “confessions” and the confirmation by the Supreme Court of their unfair conviction and death penaltyDespite concerns about torture and due process, Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:
“The shocking speed with which the Iranian judicial system has proceeded with the trial and sentencing of these protesters – against a backdrop of “confessions” clouded by torture, serious procedural flaws and lack of evidence — is yet another example of the Iranian authorities’ blatant disregard for the right to life and a fair trial.”
In an audio recording, Majid Kazemi said from prison that he had been forced to make false self-incriminating statements. after interrogators beat him, subjected him to electric shocks and mock executions, and threatened to rape him, execute his siblings, and harass his parents.
“The use of the death penalty against these men is a flagrant act of revenge against a courageous generation of protesters for tenaciously demanding the rights of the Iranian people during the last seven months. It is further proof that the authorities are taking increasingly violent and extreme measures to torment and terrorize the people of Iran in order to end the protests at any cost and to impose silence and submission through brute force.”
“In the midst of the horrible wave of executions of dozens of people carried out by the authorities since the end of April 2023, the international community must take urgent and bold action to stop the execution of these protesters before it is too late. The prison authorities informed their families that today was their last visit. The international community must also put pressure on the Iranian authorities to immediately establish an official moratorium on executions. We urge all states to exercise universal jurisdiction over all Iranian officials against whom there is reasonable suspicion of criminal responsibility for crimes under international law.”
Additional information
Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi arrested in November 2022 after participating in the demonstrations held in the city of Isfahan during the wave of protests that sparked across the country the death in custody of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini.
According to well-informed sources, they were tortured after being subjected to enforced disappearance and forced to make the incriminating statements on which the criminal case against them was based. The sources said that the interrogators hung Majid Kazemi upside down and showed him a video in which his brother, also detained, was being tortured. They also subjected him to at least 15 mock executions making him climb on a chair and placing a noose around his neck, and lowering him down at the last moment. In the days leading up to the trial, they threatened to kill his brothers if he did not accept his charges and “confess” to what they told him.
In an audio message from Dastgerd prison, where they are being held, Majid Kazemi is heard saying: “I swear to God that I am innocent. He wasn’t carrying any weapons. [Las fuerzas de seguridad] they kept beating me and ordering me to say that this gun is mine. […] I told them I would say what they wanted, but please leave my family alone. I did what they wanted by torture.”
The men were tried in December 2022 and January 2023 and sentenced to death on the charge of “enmity with God” (moharebeh) for alleged possession of a firearm. On May 10, the authorities announced that the Supreme Court had upheld their convictions despite violations of their due process rights, significant procedural deficiencies, lack of evidence, and allegations of torture that were never investigated. According to informed sources, the authorities had informed the men’s families on several occasions before the Supreme Court decision that they would be pardoned and released for lack of evidence.
The families were summoned today for a visit with the men during which they were told by prison authorities that this was their last, raising serious concerns that they could be executed tomorrow morning. Families have called for a protest outside Dastgerd prison tonight at 10 Tehran time.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime, the characteristics and the guilt or innocence of the accused and the method used by the State to carry out the execution, because it considers that it violates the right to life, proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The death penalty is the highest exponent of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
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