IRAN: World Organization Against Torture Halt the Execution of Ms. Zeynab Jalalian!

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has been informed by reliable sources of the imminent execution of Ms. Zeynab Jalalian, a 27 years old Kurdish political prisoner, who was arrested in 2007 and sentenced to death for “enmity against God” in January 2009, after having been accused of connections with Kurdish opposition groups. OMCT calls upon the Iranian Judiciary to immediately suspend the execution sentence of Ms. Zeynab Jalalian as well as halt all executions in Iran.

Ms. Zeynab Jalalian is currently being detained in Ward 209 of Evin prison in Tehran after having been detained in Kermanshah prison, in Western Iran, until March 2010. According to the same information received, Ms. Zeynab Jalalian's trial failed to meet international standards of fair trial. The prosecution reportedly did not produce any evidence against her and she was not granted access to her lawyer. Furthermore, OMCT fears that she might have been victim of torture, including sexual abuse, during her detention. Despite the aforementioned, Ms. Zeynab Jalalian's death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Iran in November 2009.OMCT recalls that, on 9 May 2010, four Kurdish political prisoners were executed, including Mr. Farzad Kamangar, an Iranian Kurdish teacher and social worker in the city of Kamyaran who was condemned to death after having been accused of collaboration with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)[1]. Furthermore, around 15 Kurdish political prisoners, Mr. Habibollah Latifi, Mr. Shirkoo Moarefi, Mr. Hussein Khazri, Mr. Rostam Arkia, Mr. Mostafa Salimi, Mr. Anvar Rostami, Mr. Rashid Akhkandi, Mr. Mohammad Amin Agooshi, Mr. Ahmad Pooladkhani, Mr. Seyed Sami Husseini, Mr. Seyed Jamal Mohammadi, Mr. Hasan Talei, Mr. Iraj Mohammadi, Mr. Mohammad Amin Abdollahi and Mr. Ghader Mohammadzadeh are on death row.OMCT reaffirms its strong opposition to the death penalty as an extreme form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and a violation of the right to life, as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments.

OMCT calls upon the Iranian judicial authorities to immediately halt the execution of Ms. Zeynab Jalalian and of the abovementioned 15 Kurdish political prisoners. More generally, OMCT calls on the Iranian authorities to stop all executions.At a time when momentum is gathering across the world to end capital punishment, the Islamic Republic of Iran defies international human rights law by increasing the number of executions under conditions that blatantly violate international human rights standards.OMCT also urges the competent authorities to immediately order a thorough and impartial investigation into the allegations of torture suffered by Ms. Zeynab Jalalian, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law. OMCT recalls that Iran is legally bound to effectively ensure the physical and psychological integrity of all persons deprived of liberty in accordance with international human rights law, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by Iran. Finally, OMCT asks the European Union, based on the Guidelines to EU policy towards third countries on torture as well as on death penalty, to remind to the Islamic Republic of Iran of its international obligations in these fields.