- Target:
- United Nations, European Union, US, Obama Adminstration, Brazil, Turkey, Human Rights Organizations
- Region:
- GLOBAL
- Website:
- www.facebook.com
We are urgently calling on the Iranian authorities to halt the imminent execution of Mohammad Reza Haddadi, who could face death by hanging any of these following days for a murder he allegedly committed when he was 15 years old.
Mohammad Reza Haddadi was sentenced to death in 2004 for the murder of Mohammad Bagher. He confessed the killing initially but during the trial he retracted it and said he’d made it because his two co-accused would have given his family money if he had done so. Mohammad then denied having taken part in the murder, and there are reports of his co-defendants supporting his claims of innocence and withdrawing their testimony implicating him in murder.
Mohammad Reza Haddadi’s family was told by judicial officials (04-07-2010) that they should arrange a last visit to their son before his execution already organized for the day after at Adelabad prison in the city of Shiraz.
Despite this, his death sentence was confirmed by Iran's Supreme Court in July 2005. Since then, his execution has been scheduled several times.
This repeated threat of imminent execution hanging over Mohammad Reza Haddadi, is no less than a form of torture. The threat of execution must be lifted now, once and for all.
Mohammad Reza Haddadi must not be executed for a murder that he is alleged to have committed when only 15 years old.
The execution of juvenile offenders is prohibited under international law, including Article 6(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Iran is a state party.
We, the undersigned, urgently call the international community and Iran’s leading representatives to swiftly act and pressure the Iranian judiciary court to review Mohammad Reza Haddadi’s case and uphold their ratification of international laws and therefore overturn the death sentence for Mohammad Reza Haddadi giving him his freedom back.
We believe that neither the articles from The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (General Assembly of the United Nations) nor the Convention on the Rights of the Child (OHCHR) have been completely applied to his case and to his life.. therefore we demand his immediate release!
If there has been a lack in the applicability of the following articles, please correct the errors so Mohammad can make use of his rights:
Article 37 (OHCHR Part I)
States Parties shall ensure that:
(a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age;
(b) No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time;
(c) Every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age. In particular, every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child's best interest not to do so and shall have the right to maintain contact with his or her family through correspondence and visits, save in exceptional circumstances;
Article 40 (OHCHR Part I)
1. States Parties recognize the right of every child alleged as, accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law to be treated in a manner consistent with the promotion of the child's sense of dignity and worth, which reinforces the child's respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of others and which takes into account the child's age and the desirability of promoting the child's reintegration and the child's assuming a constructive role in society.
3. States Parties shall seek to promote the establishment of laws, procedures, authorities and institutions specifically applicable to children alleged as, accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law, and, in particular:
(a) The establishment of a minimum age below which children shall be presumed not to have the capacity to infringe the penal law..
Please consider these articles of the Human right’s Declaration as well:
- Right to Life (article 2 )
- Protection from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (article 3)
- The right to liberty and security of person (article 5)
- The right to a fair trial (article 6)
"Whoever saves one life, saves the entire world": the words of Talmud Torah have inspired the creation of this petition and we hope it inspires you, as well, while you answer it and in every other similar request you receive.
Please save Mohammad Reza Haddadi!
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The Halt the hanging of Mohammad Reza Haddadi, convicted at age 15! petition to United Nations, European Union, US, Obama Adminstration, Brazil, Turkey, Human Rights Organizations was written by Jeanette LaRibelle and is in the category Human Rights at GoPetition.