Amnesty International issued a worldwide urgent action request regarding the imminent execution of Saeed Jazee in Iran. SCE campaign has also issued an urgent call to stop Saeed’s execution on December 31, 2007.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION:
09 January 2008 UA 08/08 Death Penalty
IRAN Saeed Jazee (m), aged 21, sculptor, child offender
Sculptor Saeed Jazee was convicted of a murder committed when he was 17, and is now believed to be at risk of execution.
Saeed Jazee was convicted of the murder of a 22-year-old man, which took place in 2003, and sentenced to qesas (retribution). The Supreme Court upheld his death sentence and his case has been sent for final approval to the
Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi.
According to reports, the killing took place after Saeed Jazee had gone to a friend’s sandwich shop, helped himself to a sandwich and started eating it. The 22-year-old man, who had just started working at the shop and did not know Saeed, started arguing with him about the sandwich and attacked him with a kitchen knife. During the scuffle, the knife fell to the floor and Saeed picked it up at the same time as the man charged at him and was wounded in the process. Saeed Jazee and the other employees in the shop tried to help him. During the trial, the shop’s other employees stated that the killing had been accidental. Saeed Jazee has repeatedly stated that the killing was not intentional. His lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, is appealing for a retrial.
Under Article 206 (b) of Iran’s Criminal Code, murder is classed as premeditated “in cases where the murderer
intentionally makes an action which is inherently lethal, even if [the murderer] does not intend to kill the person.”
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
As a state party to both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on
the Rights of the Child (CRC), Iran has undertaken not to execute child offenders, those convicted of crimes
committed when they were under 18. However, since 1990 Iran has executed at least 28 child offenders, six of them
in 2007. At least 79 child offenders are now on death row in Iran. This number may be even higher as at least a
further 15 Afghan child offenders have reportedly been sentenced to death.
For more information about executions of child offenders in Iran, please see: Iran: The last executioner of children (June
2007), http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde130592007
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
– expressing concern that Saeed Jazee is at risk of execution for a crime committed when he was under 18;
– calling on the authorities to commute his death sentence;
– reminding them that Iran is a state party to both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which prohibits the use of the death penalty against those
under the age of 18 at the time of offense, and that the execution of Saeed Jazee would therefore be a violation of
international law;
– urging the authorities to pass legislation to abolish the death penalty for offences committed by persons under the
age of 18, so bringing Iran’s domestic law in line with its obligations under international law;
– stating that Amnesty International acknowledges the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice
those suspected of criminal offences, but unconditionally opposes the death penalty.
APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader, Islamic Republic
Street – Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@leader.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the
Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri,
Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir
(In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah
Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency, Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan
Intersection,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
via website: www.president.ir/email
Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
His Excellency Mohammad Javad Larijani
Howzeh Riassat-e Ghoveh Ghazaiyeh
(Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St.,
Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhuri,
Tehran 1316814737 Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 21 3390 4986
(Please keep trying)
Email: fsharafi@bia-judiciary.ir
(In the subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad
Larijani)
int_aff@judiciary.ir
(In the subject line: FAO Mohammad Javad
Larijani)
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 20 February 2008