Dear Mr. Solana
We regret to inform you that in spite of imposing a moratorium to prevent the execution of any stoning by the Iranian authorities, the international legal human rights norms have been and are being violated under the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ruling system. Mr. Jafar Kiani was stoned to death on July 5 th and Ms Mokarrame Ebrahimi is set to be stoned to death.
In Iran, the death penalty is generally pronounced after blatantly unfair trials, the executions are often carried out in public, and the death sentence is not restricted to the “most serious crimes”, as required under international law. Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states “In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes”.
Stoning is an inhuman and degrading punishment violating Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by many countries including Iran, which states that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment “. Numerous UN bodies, including the UN Committee against Torture and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture have called for the abolition of corporal punishment.
We believe that Islamic Republic of Iran has not been facing serious consequences of its action in violation of Human Rights from the beginning of its existence. We believe that international community should not close its eyes on what has been and still is going on in Iran and Iranian regime should not feel free in committing tragic crimes against its people. We believe that countries like EU members, Canada, and Scandinavians should put considerable amount of pressure on the Iranian regime to stop its brutal and inhuman actions against its own citizens.
By expressing our deep concern over these recent tragic incidents, we ask you to urge the Iranian authorities to adopt an immediate moratorium on all executions and, as a first minimal step, to pass a law prohibiting the death by stoning.
Yours respectfully,
Human Rights Working Group of The Organization of Iranian People’s Fedaian (Majority)
July 17, 2007
Postfach 260268, 50515 Koeln, Germany
