DOCUMENT - IRAN: TWO AHWAZI ARAB MEN RISK
IMMINENT EXECUTION
UA: 72/14 Index: 13/014/2014 Iran Date: 26 March
2014
URGENT ACTION
TWO AHWAZI ARAB MEN RISK IMMINENT EXECUTION
Two Ahwazi Arab men on death row, Ali Chebieshat
and Sayed Khaled Mousawi, have been transferred
from Fajr Prison in Dezfoul, Khuzestan province,
to an unknown location, sparking fears their
execution may be imminent.
The family members of Ali Chebieshat and Sayed
Khaled Mousawi, both members of Iran’s Ahwazi
Arab minority, were told on 18 March by prison
officials that Ministry of Intelligence
officials had transferred the men from the
prison to an unknown location. They may be at
imminent risk of execution given that two other
Ahwazi Arab men were secretly executed in
January 2014 after their transfer to an unknown
location.
Ali Chebieshat and Sayed Khaled Mousawi were
sentenced to death on 9 September 2013 by Branch
Two of the Revolutionary Court in Ahvaz on the
charge of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) in
relation to the explosion of a natural gas
pipeline close to their native village in
Khuzestan. The court sentenced a third man,
Salman Chayani, to 25 years’ imprisonment to be
served in internal exile in Yazd, central Iran.
All three men had been arrested on 10 November
2012 along with a number of others and taken to
a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in
Ahvaz. They were reportedly denied access to
lawyers and their families for the first several
months of their detention and are believed to
have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated.
They were shown “confessing” to their role in
the explosion of the gas pipeline on an Iranian
state television channel in June 2013, in
violation of international standards for fair
trials. They have appealed against their death
sentences, which are still under consideration
by the Supreme Court.
Please write immediately in Persian, English or
your own language:
Urging the authorities not to execute Ali
Chebieshat and Sayed Khaled Mousawi and to
immediately disclose their whereabouts;
Urging them to investigate the allegations that
the men were tortured or otherwise ill-treated
and ensure that “confessions” obtained under
torture are not used as evidence in court;
Calling on them to ensure the men are protected
from torture and other ill-treatment, are
granted any medical attention they may require
and are allowed regular contact with their
lawyers and families;
Reminding them that under international law, the
death penalty may only be used for “the most
serious crimes”, which international bodies have
interpreted as being limited to crimes involving
intentional killing.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 7 MAY 2014 TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid
KeshvarDoust Street,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Twitter: @khamenei_ir
Email: info_leader@leader.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah SadeghLarijani
c/o Public Relations Office
Number 4, 2 Azizi Street intersection
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
(Subject line: FAO
Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani)
Salutation: Your Excellency
And copies to:
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Hassan Rouhani
The Presidency
Pasteur Street, Pasteur Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: media@rouhani.ir
Twitter: @HassanRouhani (English) and
@Rouhani_ir (Persian)�
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives
accredited to your country. Please insert local
diplomatic addresses below:
Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax
number Email Email address Salutation Salutation
Please check with your section office if sending
appeals after the above date.
URGENT ACTION
TWO AHWAZI ARAB MEN RISK IMMINENT EXECUTION
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Ali Chebieshat, Sayed Khaled Mousawi and Salman
Chayani were arrested on 10 November 2012 in
Khuzestan Province, along with a number of other
men, in their village, near the city of Shush.
The security forces are understood to have
surrounded the house of Ali Chebieshat’s mother
where a private ceremony was being held. They
showed no arrest warrant and did not say why
they were arresting the men. All the others
arrested were later released on bail.
The security forces held the men in a Ministry
of Intelligence detention centre in Ahvaz where
they had no access to lawyers or their relatives
for several months. They were allegedly tortured
and were forced to make videotaped
“confessions”. The men were seen on state TV
“confessing” and taking responsibility for the
explosion in October 2012 of the gas pipeline
near their village, first in June 2013 and later
in November 2013.
In June or July 2013, Ministry of Intelligence
officials told the men’s families that they
could meet with the detainees in a mosque in the
village of Jarieh. When they arrived at the
mosque, the families realized that the room was
equipped with cameras. Amnesty International
understands that they were told that if they
agreed to be filmed while watching their
relatives’ recorded “confessions”, the
authorities would consider reducing the
punishments of the detainees. They were not told
that the recorded footage would be aired on
national TV. Ali Chebieshat’s family members,
who refused to be filmed, were apparently
contacted by Ministry of Intelligence officials
a few months later and coerced into being filmed
or risk the execution of their relative. In
November 2013, two state-sponsored TV channels
aired a “documentary” called Lost in Darkness in
which they showed the forced “confessions” of
Ali Chebieshat, Sayed Khaled Mousawi and Salman
Chayani and the footage of the family members.
Two other Ahwazi Arab men, Hadi Rashedi and
Hashem Sha’bani Nejad (referred to in previous
UAs as Hashem Sha’bani Amouri), were executed in
secret at the end of January 2014. Their
families were told by an official from the
Ministry of Intelligence on 29 January that the
two men had been executed and buried a few days
earlier. Amnesty International understands that
the men’s families were not told the exact date
of the executions, either in advance or after
they had taken place, and have not received the
bodies of their relatives. The official told the
families they were not permitted to hold a
public memorial for the two men and had only 24
hours in which to hold a private service. Three
other Ahwazi Arab men, Mohammad Ali Amouri,
Sayed Jaber Alboshoka and Sayed Mokhtar
Alboshoka, who had been sentenced to death along
with them, remain at risk of execution.
Under Article 38 of the Iranian Constitution and
Article 9 of the Law on Respect for Legitimate
Freedoms and Safeguarding Citizens’ Rights, all
forms of torture for the purpose of obtaining
“confessions” are prohibited. Iran’s Penal Code
also provides for the punishment of officials
who torture citizens in order to obtain
“confessions”. However, despite these legal and
constitutional guarantees regarding the
inadmissibility of testimony, oath or confession
taken under duress, forced “confessions” are
sometimes broadcast on television even before
the trial has begun and are frequently accepted
as evidence in Iranian courts. Such broadcasts
violate Iran’s fair trial obligations under
Article 14 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, to which it is a
state party, including the presumption of
innocence.
Names: Ali Chebieshat, Sayed Khaled Mousawi,
Salman Chayani
Gender m/f: m
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