Country of origin information report Iran January 2010

Return to contents

Go to list of sources
Reporting
11.51 The Danish Immigration Service Report 2009 stated that:
“The delegation sought information about the use of reporting at specified times, i.e. an order to report regularly to the authorities, for instance daily reporting, weekly reporting, twice weekly reporting etc. While the notion of reporting because of a summons was well known, the majority of the sources were not familiar with the concept of reporting to the authorities at specified times.
“The Attorney at Law stated that he has never seen any document ordering a person to report to the police or other authorities at specified times nor had he heard of anyone being ordered to report to the police or to the authorities at specified times. However, he had heard of situations where a person was paid a visit at home by the police. The person will then be questioned as to his or her whereabouts. Such visits may be made by the police or by the Intelligence Service. To the Attorney at Law’s knowledge, it is not anyone from the judiciary system who makes these visits. An international organisation in Tehran (1) stated that former MKO members who have returned to Iran are sometimes told to report to the authorities on a weekly basis during the initial period after their return. It was unknown to the organisation for how long a period and to which authority the returnee should report, and if all returnees had to report. Mahdavi explained that a person who has served a sentence for a criminal activity may be ordered to report to the police at specified times, as it is the duty of the police to control whether such a person has become criminally active again. If a person, who has been ordered to report to the police at specified times, fails to report, there will not be any sanctions for failing to report. Mahdavi had no knowledge of specific cases where a released person had been ordered to report to the authorities at specified times. However, he added that the police will keep an eye on a person with a criminal past.” [86b] (p44-45)
Amputation
11.52 The April 2009 FIDH report stated that: “Under the law, the punishment for [theft for] the first time is amputation of four fingers of the right hand and for the second time amputation of the left foot.” [56i] (p12) The same report added that “first amputation of the right hand and then of the left foot” is a possible punishment for anybody convicted of being mohareb or mofsed-e fel-arz [anybody who takes up arms to create fear and to divest people of their freedom and security, Iranian Penal Code Article 183]. [56i] (p12)
11.53 A report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), dated 7 January 2008, recorded that:
“Five convicted criminals in southeastern Iran have received the seldom-used form of punishment of amputation. The amputation sentences were carried out in Zahedan, the capital of Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan Province. The five men were found guilty of armed robbery, hostage taking, and firing at police, though officially they were convicted of ‘acting against God’ and ‘corruption upon this Earth.’ Amputation as a punishment is legal in Iran, but there have been no reports of it being used for several years.” [42aa]
11.54 The Amnesty International (AI) Report 2008, covering events in 2007, released in May 2008, stated that “At least eight people had their fingers or hand amputated after conviction of theft.” [9a] While AI’s Annual Report 2009 noted that “Sentences of flogging and judicial amputation were imposed and carried out.” [9h]
11.55 On 12 November 2009, Amnesty International expressed concern:
“…at a call reportedly made by Asghar Jafari, head of Iran's Police Criminal Investigation department, for a greater reliance on Islamic punishments, especially the amputation of the hands of thieves.
“According to the report carried by the Iranian Labour News Agency on 8 November, Asghar Jafari claimed that if such punishments were implemented, crime could be reduced by 90%, though he produced no evidence to support this assertion…The last amputation recorded by the organization in Iran took place in Kermanshah, western Iran in December 2008.” [9q]
Return to contents

Go to list of sources
Arrest and detention – legal rights
12.01 The US State Department Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2008, Iran, released on 25 February 2009, (USSD Report 2008) stated that:
“The constitution and penal code require warrants or subpoenas for arrests and state that arrested persons must be informed of charges within 24 hours; however, these safeguards rarely occurred in practice. Detainees often went weeks or months without charges or trial, and authorities held detainees incommunicado, frequently denying them prompt contact with family or timely access to legal representation. In practice there was neither a legal time limit for incommunicado detention nor any judicial means to determine the legality of the detention. According to the law, the state is obligated to provide indigent defendants with attorneys only for certain types of crimes. The courts set bail at prohibitively high levels, even for lesser crimes. Detainees and their families were often compelled to submit property deeds to post bail. Prisoners released on bail did not always know how long their property would be retained or when their trials would be held.” [4a] (Section 1d)
12.02 The report of the Secretary-General to the United Nations on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, dated 1 October 2008, stated:
“The Penal Code and the Code of Penal Procedure provide various procedural guarantees aimed at ensuring due process of law and fair trial rights. For instance, article 190 of the Code of Penal Procedure requires that defence lawyers be given full access to prosecution documents and time to review them. However, some provisions fall short of international human rights standards. For instance, article 33 of the Code of Criminal Procedure allows for a suspect to be detained without charge for one month, which may then be renewed.” [10a] (p4)
12.03 Amnesty International stated in its report, Iran: Women’s rights defenders defy repression, dated 28 February 2008, that:
“Most of the women’s rights defenders who have been arrested and prosecuted have been charged with vaguely worded security offences. Such charges are used by the authorities effectively to limit the activists’ internationally recognized rights to freedom of expression and association as they seek to protect and promote women’s rights in Iran, in violation of international standards such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a state party.
“In continuing to violate the rights of women’s rights defenders, the Iranian authorities use vaguely worded laws, allow or facilitate excessive force by police and other security forces against demonstrators, and turn a blind eye to their ill-treatment in detention. Human rights defenders are effectively denied the protection of the law and are targeted and penalized for standing up for women’s rights.” [9aah]
See also, Security forces, Arbitrary arrest and detention, Judiciary subsections on Fair trial and Court documentation (for information about bail, summonses and arrest warrants) and Prison conditions

Return to contents

Go to list of sources

Prison conditions

13.01 The US State Department Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2008, Iran, released on 25 February 2009, (USSD Report 2008) stated:
“Prison conditions were poor. Many prisoners were held in solitary confinement or denied adequate food or medical care as a way to force confessions. Overcrowding was a significant problem. In September the UK-based International Center for Prison Studies reported that more than 150,000 prisoners occupied facilities constructed to hold a maximum of 65,000 persons. Numerous prisoners complained that authorities intentionally exposed them to extreme cold for prolonged periods.
“Some prison facilities, including Evin Prison, were notorious for cruel and prolonged torture of political opponents of the government. Authorities also maintained ‘unofficial’ secret prisons and detention centers outside the national prison system, where abuse reportedly occurred.
“Human rights activists and international press reported cases of political prisoners confined in the same wing as violent felons. In December journalist Shahnaz Gholami, imprisoned for ‘jeopardizing national security,’ began a hunger strike to protest being held in a ward with convicted murderers and drug dealers. There were also reports of juvenile offenders detained with adult offenders. Pretrial detainees occasionally were held with convicted prisoners.
“The government did not permit independent monitoring of prison conditions by any outside groups, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In September 2007 the government granted foreign journalists a tour of Evin Prison for the second time in two years. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), during the visit the director of Tehran prisons, Sohrab Soleimani, denied that there were political prisoners in Evin Prison but told the journalists there were 15 prisoners in Evin on ‘security’ charges.” [4a] (Section 1c)
13.02 The USSD Report 2008 added: “Authorities routinely held political prisoners in solitary confinement for extended periods of time and denied them due process and access to legal representation. Political prisoners were also at greater risk of torture and abuse while in detention. The government did not permit access to political prisoners by international humanitarian organizations.” [4a] (Section 1e)
13.03 The report of the Secretary-General to the United Nations on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, dated 1 October 2008, stated that:
“The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, during its visit from 15 to 27 February 2003, noted the widespread use of solitary confinement and ‘incommunicado’ imprisonment for its own sake, not for traditional disciplinary purposes (E/CN.4/2004/3/Add.2 and Corr.1, para. 54). However, the Iranian authorities informed OHCHR that such imprisonment was allowed only in exceptional cases and was limited to very serious crimes, such as murder and espionage, in accordance with the Code of Penal Procedures. The duration of solitary confinement has been reduced from one month to 20 days.” [10a] (p8-9)
13.04 The Freedom House 2008 report added “Suspected dissidents are often held in unofficial, illegal detention centers run by a security apparatus consisting of the intelligence services, the IRGC, judicial officials, and the police. Allegations of torture are common in such centers and in the notorious Evin prison.” [112c] The report continued: “Political prisoners are held under deplorable conditions … Prison conditions in general are notoriously poor, and there are regular allegations of abuse and death in custody.” [112c]
13.05 The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) report Iran/Death Penalty: a State Terror Policy, dated 28 April 2009, stated that death in custody remains a very serious cause for concern in Iran. [56i] (p5)
13.06 Amnesty International reported on 7 August 2009 that “Typically, people accused of drugs offences or other serious crimes are held for long periods in pre-trial detention, routinely ill-treated, and allowed access to a lawyer only at the point where they go on trial, if at all.” [9j]
13.07 A Reuters’ news report of 10 September 2009 stated that many of the people arrested during the opposition protests following the June Presidential election were held in Kahrizak prison in south Tehran. “At least three people died in custody there and widespread anger erupted as reports of abuse in the jail spread. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the closure of Kahrizak in July and the semi-official Mehr News Agency this week said a trial of people involved would start in coming days.” [5a] Human Rights Watch reported on the same subject on 21 September 2009:
“The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran and Human Rights Watch said the government is covering up deaths in detention by forcing families to claim their loved ones died of natural causes. Both organizations have collected accounts from victims' families that government agents have exerted tremendous pressure on them not to publicize the deaths of their children.” [8g]
13.08 The same HRW report also noted that on September 8 2009, “…authorities shut the office of the Association to Defend Prisoners Rights, a nongovernmental organization founded by leading human rights defender Emad Baghi.” [8g]
13.09 On 18 November 2009, BBC News reported that, according to Iran’s police chief, a doctor who died at Kahrizak detention centre before it was closed in July, had committed suicide. However, “Opposition groups and some MPs have described his death as ‘suspicious’. Dr Pourandarjani had reportedly given evidence to a parliamentary committee about abuse at the Kahrizak centre. Opposition websites say he had admitted to being forced to say that one detainee had died of meningitis, and to say nothing about what he had seen.” [21k]
See Latest news for further information on the deaths at Kahrizak detention centre
13.10 On 6 November 2009, Human Rights Watch called for Iran’s judiciary to
“…immediately investigate cases of sexual assaults in prison and prosecute those responsible, instead of covering up these crimes. Human Rights Watch has documented three cases of sexual assault in Iranian prisons on persons arrested since the disputed June 12, 2009 presidential election. In the most recent case, the medical examiner's office confirmed that multiple injuries suffered in prison by Ebrahim Mehtari, a young activist, resulted from torture and mistreatment consistent with his allegations of sexual abuse. But Judiciary authorities refused to conduct further investigations and instead told Mehtari and his family that there would be severe consequences if they talked about the abuse he suffered.” [8m]
See also Latest news, Political affiliation and Security forces, subsections on Arbitrary arrest and detention and Torture
Return to contents

Go to list of sources

Death penalty

For information on the penal code and interpretation and impletation of the law, see Judiciary, subsection Penal code above.
14.01 The Foreign Policy Centre report, From Cradle to Coffin: A Report on Child Executions in Iran, published on 30 June 2009 stated that “The Islamic Republic of Iran executes more persons, per capita, than any other nation in the world, placing second only to China in the total number of executions.” [49]
14.02 The Human Rights Watch report Ending the Juvenile Death Penalty in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Yemen, dated 10 September 2008, stated:
“Iran retains the death penalty for a large number of offenses, among them cursing the Prophet, certain drug offenses, murder, and certain hadd crimes, including adultery, incest, rape, fornication, drinking alcohol, ‘sodomy’, same-sex sexual conduct between men without penetration, lesbianism, ‘being at enmity with God’ (mohareb), and ‘corruption on earth’ (mofsed fil arz).” [8c] (p8)
14.03 A footnote in the above report added:
“The vaguely defined crimes of ‘enmity with God’ and ‘corruption on earth’ include but are not limited to ‘resorting to arms to cause terror, fear or to breach public security and freedom’, armed robbery, highway robbery, membership of or support for an organization, that seeks to overthrow the Islamic Republic; and plotting to overthrow the Islamic Republic by procuring arms for this purpose. Islamic Penal Code, arts. 81, 126 133, 183.” [8c] (p8 fn)
14.04 The UN Secretary-General’s report of 23 September 2009 elaborated on the crimes for which the death penalty may be imposed:
“In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the death penalty is imposed for certain hudud crimes, including adultery, incest, rape, fornication for the fourth time by an unmarried person, drinking alcohol for the third time, sodomy, sexual conduct between men without penetration for the fourth time, lesbianism for the fourth time, fornication by a non-Muslim man with a Muslim woman and false accusation of adultery or sodomy for a fourth time. Furthermore, the death penalty can be applied for the crimes of enmity with God (mohareb) and corruption on earth (mofsed filarz) as one of four possible punishments. Under the category of ta’zir crimes, the death penalty can be imposed for ‘cursing the Prophet’ (article 513 of the Penal Code). The death penalty can also be applied to such crimes as the smuggling or trafficking of drugs, murder, espionage and crimes against national security.” [10g] (p10)
14.05 The Hands Off Cain 2009 World Report, published on 5 July 2009, observed that:
“In 2008, Iran continued to apply the death penalty for non-crimes or clearly non-violent crimes, such as ‘sexual relations that are not admitted’, ‘promoting superstitions’, spying… On January 29, 2008, Iran executed a customs contractor for ‘office corruption and other economic crimes,’ the judiciary said, a rare use of capital punishment for economic crimes in the country.” [119a]
14.06 A report from the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board (CIRB), dated 20 June 2006, stated that: “The competent authority to issue a death sentence is the public court (which now includes revolutionary courts) within whose jurisdiction the offence has occurred. Generally, the decisions of the public courts are final, except in cases where, among others, [the] decisions or convictions [are for] crimes which carry capital punishment.” [2ad] (p1)
14.07 The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) report Iran/Death Penalty: a State Terror Policy, dated 28 April 2009, stated that “In the Islamic Republic of Iran, judges have the power to decide the method of execution, which they usually choose in relation to the offence. The most common method of execution is hanging. Other specific methods of execution include stoning to death, issued in cases of adultery, beheading and throwing from a cliff, which are occasionally issued for rape or sodomy.” [56i] The Hands Off Cain 2009 World Report concurred, noting that, “Hanging is the preferred method with which to apply Sharia law in Iran, but stoning was used in at least two cases in 2008 and one in 2009, while shooting was used in at least one case. There was also a case in which the condemned were sentenced to be thrown off a cliff in a sack.” [119a]
14.08 Amnesty International’s Annual Report 2009, covering events in 2008, released in May 2009, observed that:
“At least 346 people were executed, including at least eight juvenile offenders sentenced for crimes committed when they were under 18. The actual totals were likely to have been higher, as the authorities restricted reporting of executions. Executions were carried out for a wide range of offences, including murder, rape, drug smuggling and corruption. At least 133 juvenile offenders faced execution in contravention of international law. Many Iranian human rights defenders campaigned to end this practice. The authorities sought to justify executions for murder on the grounds that they were qesas (retribution), rather than ‘edam (execution), a distinction not recognized by international human rights law. In January, new legislation prescribed the death penalty or flogging for producing pornographic videos, and a proposal to prescribe the death penalty for ‘apostasy’ was discussed in the parliament, but had not been enacted by the end of 2008.
“In January [2008], the Head of the Judiciary ordered an end to public executions in most cases and in August judicial officials said that executions by stoning had been suspended, although at least 10 people sentenced to die by stoning were still on death row at the end of the year and two men were executed by stoning in December.
“In December, Iran voted against a UN General Assembly resolution calling for a moratorium on executions.” [9h]
14.09 The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights 2008, released 26 March 2009, stated:
”We have repeatedly called on Iran to abolish the use of the death penalty and yet the overall number of executions in Iran remains high…Many of the most basic minimum standards surrounding the use of capital punishment remain absent in Iran. Executions have been carried out in public, and there have been instances of mass executions: 29 people were hanged in July [2008] and 10 people were executed at Evin prison on 26 November.” [26b]
14.10 The US State Department Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2008, Iran, released on 25 February 2009, (USSD Report 2008) added: “Public executions continued throughout the year despite the judiciary chief's January 30 [2008] directive banning them (except in cases he approved).” [4a] (Section 1a)
14.11 The FIDH report Human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, dated 18 March 2009, stated:
“At a time when there is a momentum across the world to end capital punishment, the Islamic Republic of Iran defies international human rights law by the high level of executions under conditions that blatantly violate international human rights standards. Around 350 persons were reportedly executed in 2008 (a steady increase to the number of executions in carried out in 2007 - 317 persons). In 2009, on January 20th and 21st, 22 persons were hanged in Tehran, in Yazd and in Ispahan for murder and drug trafficking. However, these numbers could be higher as the authorities consider as state secret any information on the number of the death sentences and the executions as well as the methods and the conditions of executions.” [56h] (p5)
14.12 The USSD Report 2008 stated that:
“According to international press reports, authorities executed approximately 240 individuals during the year following unfair trials (trials conducted in secret or without adhering to basic principles of due process). Exiles and human rights monitors alleged that many persons supposedly executed for criminal offenses, such as narcotics trafficking, were political dissidents. The law criminalized dissent and applied the death penalty to offenses such as apostasy (conversion from Islam), ‘attempts against the security of the state,’ ‘outrage against high-ranking officials,’ and ‘insults against the memory of Imam Khomeini and against the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.’ [4a] (Section 1a)
14.13 The Hands Off Cain 2009 World Report, published on 5 July 2009, stated:
“There were an estimated 346 executions in Iran in 2008. In 2007, at least 355 people were put to death, a one-third increase as compared with 2006 when executions numbered at least 215. There are no signs of change in the situation considering that in 2009, as of May 31, there have already been at least 200 executions. The numbers could be higher as the Iranian authorities do not provide official statistics. The cases that are counted arrive from scattered reports by Iranian journalists that evidently don’t report all executions throughout the nation…There are many drug-related executions in Iran, but in the opinion of human rights observers, many of those executed for common crimes, especially drug-related crimes, are actually political executions. In the name of the war on drugs, there were at least 87 executions in 2008. On July 4, 2009, Iran hanged 20 drug traffickers in a prison in the city of Karaj west of Tehran.” [119a]
14.14 On 7 August 2009, Amnesty International reported that, during the eight week period from the date of the Presidential election, 12 June 2009 to the date of President Ahmadinajad’s inauguration on 5 August, they had recorded an “alarming spike” in the number of executions being carried out by the Iranian authorities, with 115 executions being recorded. The report continued:
“Amnesty is also stressing that the true total number of executions in Iran is almost certainly higher even than the number it has been able to record, which is based on official Iranian, media and other sources. Most of those executed are said to have been convicted of drug-smuggling or related offences. Those executed by hanging are believed to have been men, mostly between 20 and 50 years of age, but include at least two women. Some but not all of the victims' identities are known. In particular, the authorities have not named any of the 24 prisoners executed on 5 August at Rejai Shahr Prison in Karaj, disclosing only that they were executed for drugs-related offences.” [9j]
14.15 On 22 October 2009, the New York Times reported that, according to the state news agency, five people had been executed by the Iranian authorities on 21 October, “including a 30-year-old woman who admitted killing her 5-day-old baby.” The article stated, “Defense lawyers had argued that the woman was suffering from postpartum depression. Another prisoner scheduled to be executed was granted a one-month stay of execution, the news agency said, suggesting that he may be granted a reprieve. That prisoner, Safar Angooti, was convicted of murder at the age of 17. Another man was executed last week for a crime carried out at the age of 17.” [77a]
14.16 On 27 October 2009, the UN Special Rapporteur on summary or arbitrary executions gave a press conference: “On Iran, he said that the death sentences received by three people who had protested election results contravened the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran was party, and violated international law, which forbade execution for crimes that did not involve killings.” [10l]
See Death penalty for children