The Middle East

‘No Need’ to Hang Iranian Criminal for a Second Time

By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi ruled that there is “no need” for a man who survived a hanging to be hanged a second time. Lawyers and human rights activists lobbied the head of the judiciary to prevent a repeat hanging after the man was found alive in a morgue.

Human rights groups believe that Iran is behind only China in the number of people it executes each year. (Photo Courtesy of AFP)

Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi reasoned that executing the man would have negative repercussions against Iran’s image, the ISNA news agency reported. Iran’s government had no direct control over the decision as the power fell directly with the judiciary.

One senior judge, Nourollah Aziz-Mohammadi, argued that the law required that the convict must die.

“When a convict is sentenced to death, he must die after the sentence is carried out,” Aziz-Mohammadi said. “Now that he is alive, we can say the sentence was not carried out and must be repeated.”

The 37-year-old convicted drug smuggler, named as Alireza M, was hanged at a jail in the north-eastern city of Bojnord last week. He had been left to hang for 12 minutes and was declared dead by a doctor. It was not until the next day that he was discovered alive in the morgue when his family came to retrieve his body. Alireza was taken to a Bojnord hospital, where he is reportedly in a coma and under armed guard.

Last week, Amnesty International and other human rights activists urged Iran to spare Alireza based upon international laws against cruel and unusual punishment. Amnesty International estimates that Iran has executed at least 508 people this year alone and has called for a moratorium on all executions in Iran.

“The horrific prospect of this man facing a second hanging, after having gone through the whole ordeal already once, merely underlines the cruelty and inhumanity of the death penalty,” said Philip Luther, director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa program.

For further information, please see:

ABC – Iran Minister Says No Need to Re-Hang Convict – 22 October 2013

BBC – Iran minister says ‘no need’ to hang criminal again –  22 October 2013

Washington Post – Iran says ‘no need’ to finish off convict who survived his hanging –  22 October 2013

Reuters – Hope for Iranian who survived botched hanging as sharia expert doubts ruling – 19 October 2013

Deadly Shooting on Wedding Guests Outside a Cairo Christian Church

By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt-Three people, including an eight year-old girl, were shot dead by gunmen on motorcycles who opened fire on wedding guests outside a Coptic Christian church in Cairo.  At least nine others were wounded in the attack.

Many Egyptian Christians fear being targeted by Islamists (photo courtesy of BBC)

One source reported that the masked gunmen opened fire on the crowd randomly as guests were leaving the church.  It was not immediately clear if the three who were killed were Christians.

Coptic Christians make up 10 percent of the 85 million people who inhabit Egypt, and have generally coexisted peacefully with majority Sunni Muslims for centuries.  However, the army’s overthrow of Islamist President Morsi on July 3 has sparked the worst attacks on churches and Christian properties in years.

When General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, the chief of the army, went on television to announce that President Morsi had been removed from power, Pope Tawadros II appeared by his side.  The Pope has said that the “roadmap” laid out for by the general had been devised by “honourable people who had Egypt’s best interests at heart.”

Pope Tawadros’ II statement led many Islamists to believe that the church was somehow behind the overthrow of Morsi.  The Pope has received numerous death threats while many Christians have been killed while targeting Christian shops, homes, and businesses.

Bishop Angelos, from the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom, stated: “It’s terrible to see that in the light of recent attacks where Christians and Muslims are trying to get on with life, regardless of antagonism and violence, that even on a night like this, when people are trying to celebrate, people can lose loved ones.”

The Bishop went on to further say, “There are still some who wrongly accuse the Christians to be responsible for the ousting of the former president,” addressing the heightened tension and increased attacks on Christians in recent months due to the political situation.

Amnesty International reported that as of October 9, more than 200 Christian-owned properties were targeted and 43 churches seriously damaged across Egypt since the August 14 crack down on Morsi supporters in Cairo.

For more information, please the following:

Al Arabiya-Gunmen open fire at Egyptian Christian wedding-20 October 2013

Aljazeera-Deadly attack on Cairo church wedding-20 October 2013

BBC-Egypt gunmen open fire on Coptic Christian wedding in Cairo-20 October 2013

Reuters-Egyptian gunmen kill three outside church in Cairo suburb-20 October 2013

Egypt Unlawfully Detaining and Deporting Hundreds Of Syrian Refugees: Amnesty International Says

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt–Amnesty International has accused the Egypt government of unlawfully detaining and deporting hundreds of Syrian refugees, including women and children, who had fled their homes to escape the violence in Syria. .

Refugees housed in an overcrowd cell demonstrating unlawful detention of Syrian refugees in Egypt. (Photo Courtesy of Amnesty International)

The Syrian civil war has uprooted approximately 7 million people since the uprising began in March 2011. More than 100,000 Syrians have been killed since the start of the conflict and more than 2 million Syrians have fled their homes and sought refuge in neighbouring countries.

Quoting UNHCR, the United Nations agency for refugees, Amnesty said 946 people had been arrested by Egypt while attempting the crossing, and that 724 remained in detention. According to Amnesty the Egyptian navy has intercepted around 13 boats in the Mediterranean carrying refugees from Syria. The refugees were attempting to reach and seek refuge in Europe. According to Amnesty International 12 people drowned after a boat carrying Syrian refugees capsized off the cost of Alexandria.

Sherif Elsayed Ali, Amnesty’s head of refugee and migrants’ rights, said in a statement on Thursday that; “Instead of offering vital help and support to refugees from Syria, the Egyptian authorities are arresting and deporting them, flouting human rights standards.” He said the Egyptian state had failed to “meet its international obligations to protect even the most vulnerable refugees.”

Refugees detained by Egyptian forces must decide between accepting deportation or accepting prolonged, indefinite and unlawful detention in Egypt. Lawyers told Amnesty International that in at least two instances refugees were collectively deported back to Damascus, Syria, which would constitute a violation of international law, Non-refoulement prohibits the deportation of persecuted persons back to the state that is violating their human rights. “Sending refugees back to a bloody conflict zone is a serious violation of international law. Refugees who have fled are at an obvious risk of human rights abuses,” said Sherif Elsayed Ali.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Amnesty International’s report was “inaccurate and does not reflect the reality of [Syrians’] situation in the country” and said “There is no policy of deportation of our Syrian brothers and the vast majority of them live in peace.” However Egypt has recently began to require Syrians and other foreign nationals to acquire visas from Egyptian consulates aboard before entering the country.

The Egyptian media has accused Syrian refugees of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and has even accused refuges of being involved in the violence that occurred after President Mohamed Morsi was removed from power in Egypt. Popular media outlasts have accused Syrian refugees of attacking Egyptian civilians and security forces and of participating in the Rabaa El Adawiya and Al-Nahda sit-ins, which began in June and were brutally broken up by Egyptian authorities on August 14.

The anti-Syrian refugee propaganda heard over Egyptian airwaves is being felt by Egyptian refugees in the streets of Egypt’s cities; one Syrian refugee, whose family is living in a neighbourhood of 6 October City, outside Cairo, said her children cannot play outside anymore because “they are cursed by the other kids, told really bad words.”

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Egypt Accused of Unlawfully Detaining Syrians – 17 October 2013

Amnesty International – Egypt: End Deplorable Detention And Deportation Of Refugees From Syria – 17 October 2013

Amnesty International – We Cannot Live Here Anymore’: Refugees From Syria In Egypt – 17 October 2013

Huffington Post – Egypt Unlawfully Detains Syrian Refugees, Including Children, Amnesty International Says – 17 October 2013

Iran Urged to Stop Second Execution of Hanging Survivor

By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran-Amnesty International has urged Iran to stop the second execution attempt of convicted drug trafficker Alireza M who was pronounced dead after hanging from a noose for 12 minutes.  The following day, mortuary staff discovered that he was still breathing.

The crane where Alireza M was suspended from during his execution (photo courtesy of BBC)

When Alireza M’s family went to the morgue to retrieve his body, they were overjoyed that he was still alive.  “We found him alive again, which made his two daughters very happy,” stated an unnamed family member.

Alireza M is now currently recovering in a hospital while it is being argued whether the law requires that he be executed for a second time.  Iran’s judiciary chief, Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, is faced with the difficult task of making the final decision.

Amnesty International has called for an immediate stay of the execution and for all other prisoners who are on death row in Iran, which currently executes more prisoners than any other country except China.

“The horrific prospect of this man facing a second hanging, after having gone through the whole ordeal already once, merely underlines the cruelty and inhumanity of the death penalty.  The Iranian authorities must immediately halt Alireza M’s execution and issue a moratorium on all others,” stated Phillip Luther, the Middle East and Africa program director at Amnesty.

However, one official stated, “The verdict was the death sentence, and it will be carried out once the man gets well again.”  Nourollah Aziz-Mohammadi, a high-ranking judge, reported that the law required the convict to be put death and back to the gallows for a second time.

“When a convict is sentenced to death, he must die after the sentence is carried out.  Now that he is alive, we can say the sentence was not carried out and must be repeated,” added Aziz-Mohammadi.

Other lawyers disagree, who have signed a petition to stay the execution in this exceptional case.  “In our law, nothing has been said about a person who survives hanging after 24 hours.  Since the sentence was carried out, there is no reason to repeat the sentence,” said Abdolsamad Khoramshahi, a signing attorney.

“Carrying out a second execution on a man who somehow managed to survive 12 minutes of hanging-who was certified as dead and whose body was about to be turned over to his family-is simply ghastly.  It betrays a basic lack of humanity that sadly underpins much of Iran’s justice system,” argued Luther.

It is believed that Iranian authorities have executed 508 people including 221 executions which were not officially confirmed throughout 2013.  Amnesty claims that the majority of these executions were related to drug offences.

For more information, please see the following: 

BBC-Amnesty urges Iran to spare hanging survivor’s life-17 October 2013

Independent-Amnesty urges Iran to halt second attempt to execute man who ‘survived hanging’-17 October 2013

RTE-Iran urged not to hang man who survived first execution attempt-17 October 2013

Times of India-Fate of Iran convict who survived hanging in balance-17 October 2013

Iran Begins Nuclear Talks With World Powers

By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – World powers and Iran engaged in preliminary talks regarding Iran’s nuclear program on Tuesday and Wednesday. The sides described the talks as “substantive” and “forward-looking,” and will reconvene in early November.

Negotiating teams met on Tuesday and Wednesday in Geneva to discuss the controversial Iranian nuclear program. (Photo Courtesy of Al Jazeera)

Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and Catherine Ashton, the foreign policy chief for the European Union, who is the lead negotiator with Iran issued a joint statement detailing the negotiations. The statement recognized Iran’s presentation of a plan designed to promote productive negotiations as an “important contribution.”

“The participants also agreed that E3+3 and Iranian nuclear, scientific and sanctions experts will convene before the next meeting to address differences and to develop practical steps,” the statement added.

“I’ve been doing this now for about two years, and I have never had such intense, detailed, straightforward, candid conversations with the Iranian delegation before,” said a senior Obama administration official.

“There is more work, much more work to do,” added the official, who declined to be identified under the diplomatic protocol for briefing reporters. “This is a beginning. Beginnings are rarely groundbreaking because you are putting pieces on the table.”

The meeting was the first between the six powers (United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany) since Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, took office in August. President Rouhani, seen as a moderate, has emphasized the importance of resolving international concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran has reiterated for years that it has no intention of creating a nuclear weapon, but it has not eased concerns of the international community. In fact, sanctions have made more severe over the last several years and as a result the Iranian rial lost an estimated 80 percent of its value against the US dollar between March 2012 and March 2013.

Despite positive responses to the negotiations, some difficult and challenging issues remain. Iran maintains that it has a right to enrich uranium and conversely, the U.N. Security Council wants the enrichment program to stop completely.  Meanwhile, Iran would like to see Western powers take a “balanced” approach to easing sanctions, suggesting that each side make concessions throughout the process. Western officials have balked at this proposal and want to maintain sanctions until their demands are met.

For further information, please see:

BBC – Iran nuclear checks most detailed ever – Ashton – 16 October 2013

EU – Joint Statement –  16 October 2013

New York Times – After Talks on Iran’s Nuclear Program, Officials Highlight the Positive –  16 October 2013

Reuters – U.S. says talks intense, serious after Iran hints at atomic concessions – 16 October 2013

Al Jazeera – Iran and world powers begin nuclear talks – 15 October 2013