Iran to Execute Two Sisters by Stoning

Iran to Execute Two Sisters by Stoning

y Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Two sisters are facing execution by stoning for adultery in Iran. On Thursday, Amnesty International called on the authorities to commute the sentences immediately, while both the EU and the US have already expressed their disapproval of Iran’s apparent human rights violation.

Iranian police arrested the two sisters, Zohreh and Azar Kabiri-niat, in February 2007 after Zohreh’s husband filed a complaint against her, her sisters, Azar’s husband, and another man. Zohreh’s husband claimed that they had ‘illicit relations’ and submitted as evidence video footage from a camera he had secretly installed in his house.

In March 2007, An Iranian court sentenced the five to flogging for “having illicit relations.” Zohreh also received five years’ imprisonment for forming ‘a center of corruption.’ But after the sentence was carried out, fresh charges of “committing adultery while being married” were brought against Zohreh and Azar mere three months later. A court found both sisters guilty and they were sentenced to death by stoning.

A new lawyer representing the sisters believes the trial was unfair. “The case has fundamental problems, since a person can not be tried twice for the same crime. Yet these two sisters have been tried twice in the same case, and two sentences have been issued for them,” he said. Furthermore, the prosecution was unable to satisfy the circumstances that are required to prove adultery under the Iranian law – confession by the accused on four different occasions that can be corroborated by the testimony of four eyewitnesses to the alleged crime.

As local and international clamor to halt execution by stoning became louder, both the EU and the US have expressed their concerns on Iran’s current human rights record. The EU was particularly “dismayed” that Iran is again carrying out execution by stoning despite the moratorium ordered by the Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Shahroudi in December 2002. The US was also concerned that Iran has already executed at least 36 people since January of this year.

Iran regime’s ambassador, however, criticized the reports on abysmal record of human rights violations in Iran and called on the rights groups to respect such inhuman punishments as “local traditions.” “Our laws establish that we amputate a hand of those who steal. It is not accepted in the West, but local customs must be respected,” he said.

For more information, please see:

NCRI – Iran regime’s ambassador defends amputation and hanging – 9 February 2008

The Times of India – US concerned at upsurge of executions in Iran – 7 February 2008

M & C News – EU “dismayed” by human rights violation in Iran – 7 February 2008

Amnesty International – Two sisters face execution by stoning – 7 February 2008

Human Rights Watch – Judiciary must prevent imminent execution by stoning – 6 February 2008

Iraq: US soldier convicted of killing Iraqi civilian

By Vivek Thiagarajan
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq- Sergeant Evan Vela was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for killing an unarmed Iraqi civilian by court martial in Baghdad.  Sgt. Vela was charged and convicted with murder without premeditation.  He was also charged with planting evidence and making a false statement regarding the incident to his officers.

The action occurred south of Baghdad on May 11, 2006.  The Iraqi civilian stumbled upon a team of six sleeping Army snipers.  Discovering the civilian in their hideout spot, the team feared that the civilian would alert insurgents in the area and jeopardize their safety.  Thus, Vela carried out the team’s plan to kill the Iraqi.  After the killing, the team planted evidence on the civilian, including an AK-47, to make the killing look necessary.

Two other team members, Sergeant Michael Hensley and Special Jorge Sandoval, were also charged with murder, but were cleared during the trial.  However, they were convicted of planting evidence on the dead Iraqi.

Sergeant Vela’s defense team blamed the death on Vela’s lack of rest.  Vela had slept only five hours in the previous three days to the incident, because the snipers had engaged in a a treacherous hike on difficult terrain.

However, the jury found the defendant guilty.  “Vela was sentenced to 10 years confinement. He was also sentenced to a reduction in rank … forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a dishonorable discharge from the army,” reported media officer Lieutenant Patrick Evans. (AFP)

This is an important step for the U.S. military to ensure that the death of Iraqi civilians will not be tolerated.  The military took the correct action of holding the soldier accountable for his individual actions.  Unless the soldiers are held accountable for their actions of killing innocent Iraqis, the peacekeeping force in Iraq will be regarded as enemies who are given absolute immunity for their actions.  This view would further escalate the deaths in Iraq.  Therefore, it was imperative that Sgt. Vela was not given immunity.  This precedent of reduced immunity should also be used to regulate the private actions of hired security forces, such as Blackwater USA.

For more information, please see:

AP- Army Sniper Convicted of Killing Iraqi- 10 February 2008

AFP- 10 years for US sniper who killed unarmed Iraqi– 10 February 2008

BBC- US sniper jailed for Iraqi murder- 10 February 2008

Guardian- US sniper shot unarmed man- 11 February 2008

Open Sessions Resume in Charles Taylor Trial

By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – After seven days of closed testimony, the Charles Taylor trial resumed open session this week and heard testimony from a former RUF Radio Communication Officer and a former member of the Gambian military.

Perry Mohamad Kamara, a former RUF Radio Communications Officer, testified regarding the close relationship and coordination between RUF leader Foday Sankoh and Taylor, the RUF’s command and structure at that time, and the methods of communication used by the RUF.  Kamara testified that he heard Sankoh and Taylor communicate via code names, and heard Taylor giving military advice to Sankoh.  Kamara also testified regarding RUF attacks on civilians, the attack on Freetown, and forced diamond mining.

On cross examination the Defense counsel questioned Kamara on what he had actually observed or witnessed and the procedures used regarding communication.  Defense counsel also questioned him regarding the likelihood of Taylor giving Sankoh military advice, considering Taylor had never served in the military. 

The prosecution next called Mr. Camara, nicknamed Suwanzy.  Camara testified that after spending five years in the military, he left Gambia and traveled to Liberia where he met Koukoi Samba Sanyang and eventually joined the Special Operational Force for Africa (SOFA), which was planning on training people in Liberia to overthrow the government in Gambia.  He further testified that he met Sankoh and Taylor in 1990.

The prosecution will continue their examination of Camara next week.

For more information, please see:

AllAfrica.com – Prosecution Completes Redirect Examination of TF1-371; Begins Examination of Fromer RUF Radio Communications Officer – 5 February 2008

AllAfrica.com – Former RUF Radio Operator Testifies Concerning RUF Operations – 6 February 2008

AllAfrica.com – Kamara Testified Concerning RUF Attacks on Civilians and Freetown – 7 February 2008

AllAfrica.com – Cross Examination of RUF Radio Operator Concludes – 8 February 2008

BRIEF: New Report on Silenced Dissent in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka- A new report released by Amnesty International (AI) has found that threats to media freedom are very serious in Sri Lanka, and have been since the civil war resumed in 2006.  AI is concerned that the Sri Lanka government is not meeting its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Many reporters have been illegally detained under recently enacted Emergency Regulations.  Not only are reporters’ rights threatened, but so are their lives.  In just the past two years, at least 10 journalists, mostly Tamil, have been killed and others have been abducted and tortured.  According to AI, the people responsible have not been punished by the government.

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International – Sri Lanka: Silencing Dissent – 7 February 2008

Impunity Watch – Sri Lanka: Poor Human Rights Record Noted on Day of Independence – 3 February 2008

Egypt Criminalized and Tortured HIV-Positive Men

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – HIV-positive Egyptian men are arrested, tortured and chained to hospital beds while awaiting unfair homosexuality trials, Human Rights Watch reported on Wednesday. The rights group said the arrests and trials of eight men suspected of being homosexual in Egypt threaten both public health and human rights.

In October 2007, Police arrested two men having an altercation on a street in central Cairo. When one of them said he was HIV-positive, the police immediately took them to Morality Police office and began investigating them for homosexual activity. While in detention, officers handcuffed both men to metal desks and both slept on the floor for four days. The officers also slapped and beat the two men for refusing to sign statements the police wrote for them, and later subjected the two to forensic anal examinations designed to “prove” that they had engaged in homosexual conduct. The two men are currently handcuffed to their hospital beds 23 hours a day.

Police then arrested six more men suspected of being homosexuals. Two were arrested after their photographs or telephone numbers were found on the first two detainees. Another four were arrested in November when police raided the flat of one of those being held. According to the arrest report, the four were arrested solely on the basis that they were found in a dwelling formerly occupied by one of the earlier detainees. Even though the prosecution offered no evidence against the defendants, the four men were jailed for a year in January for “habitual debauchery,” which is a term used to penalize consensual homosexual acts in Egypt law.

Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program, said the arrests “embody both ignorance and injustice.” “Egypt threatens not just its international reputation but its own population if it responds to the HIV/AIDS epidemic with prison terms instead of prevention and care,” he said. Human Rights Watch urged Egypt to end arbitrary arrests based on HIV status and take steps to ensure that “the men receive highest available standard of medical care for any serious health conditions.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Egypt ‘torturing HIV sufferers’ – 6 February 2008

AFP – Egypt chaining HIV men to hospital beds: rights group – 6 February 2008

Voice of America – Rights group condemns Egyptian HIV arrests – 6 February 2008

Human Rights Watch – Stop criminalizing HIV – 5 February 2008