Behrouz Javid Tehrani, the Iranian student activist who was arrested ten years ago and is currently held in Rajai Shahr prison, wrote a statement for the occasion of October 10th, the international day against executions. The text was published by Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran: By Behrouz Javid Tehrani | Translation Arash Azizi Today I write in the memory of the 137 cell mates and friends who I have witnessed, in the past ten years of my imprisonment, get executed for common or political crimes. October 10th, the global day against executions, gave me an excuse to condemn this heinous and inhumane act and let you know some key points about executions. This primitive crime that occurs in many countries has its roots in the medieval culture. If we look at the process of evolution of divine books we can see that stoning, executions (judicial killing), the amputation of body parts, and lashings took place in a time when people were nomadic and lived in desert-like conditions where they had a primordial existence. Think about it. When the sons of Israel did not have houses and lived in tents, what type of treatment is expected for criminals and irregulars? In the time of the Arabs, who had just recently been freed from ignorance, was there any way other than lashing, cutting body parts, execution or stoning to reform and supply the brutal and backward society that mainly consisted of Bedouins? (it should be noted that stoning is not recorded in the Holy Qur’an. Stoning is carried out based on Hadiths that quote Prophet Mohammad). Now, why are we executing primordial punishments in the post-modern era? Have you ever seen the last steps of a death row prisoner? Have you tried to look into his or her eyes? Which one do you think is more sad and ugly: When such an expert team allows itself to finish lives, is there room to wonder why humans with less intelligence and without organization and law would also regard killing as their right? Poor me. I am imprisoned and do not have access to statistical resources, but what I have previously read proves that in countries where there is no capital punishment and no temporal existence the chances of a person’s life being taken away on behalf of God, law or justice, recorded crimes (especially first degree murder) is much lower. These statistics are especially glaring when you compare states in America that have abolished capital punishment and the states who still carry it out in a limited manner. In this short respite, I have only renounced executions in social crimes, but the condemnation of the execution of political prisoners and activists for any reason is glaringly obvious and I’ll leave it for some other time. Thank you for giving attention to what I write from prison. I wish for a day when execution, stoning, the amputation of body parts and lashings don’t exist and we can live in a world filled with health and peace. Long live freedom! Behrouz Javid Tehrani, Rajai Shahr Prison, Karaj Editor’s Note: With 388 executions carried out in 2009, Iran is ranked second highest in the world (China is number one). - Maryam Nayeb Yazdi Editor, //persian2english.com/?p=15279
STOP THE EXECUTION OF JAFAR KAZEMI! SIGN THE PETITION
More than two-thirds of the countries of the world have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. While 58 countries retained the death penalty in 2009, most did not use it. Amnesty International recorded 388 executions in Iran. The authorities of the country do not release official statistics on executions, and the true figure is likely to be higher. At least 14 executions took place in public. In one eight-week period between the presidential election on 12 June and the inauguration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a second term as President on 5 August, Amnesty International recorded 112 executions.By contrast, in the five and a half months between 1 January and 12 June, at least 196 executions had taken place. At least 624 executions were known to have been carried out in seven countries in Middle East and North Africa in 2009 as follows: Egypt (at least 5), Iran (at least 388), Iraq (at least 120), Libya (at least 4), Saudi Arabia (at least 69), Syria (at least 8) and Yemen (at least 30). Iran and Saudi Arabia both executed juvenile offenders, although the use of the death penalty against people convicted of crimes committed when they were under the age of 18 is unequivocally banned in international law. At least seven juvenile offenders were executed in 2009, two in Saudi Arabia and five in Iran.
October 2, 2010
Ward 2, Hall 4
Facts on Executions Via
Amnesty International
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