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FIDH and LDDHI condemn the death sentence
for Kurdish journalists in Iran
26.7.2007
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July 26, 2007
Following the sentencing to death of two journalists
belonging to the Kurdish minority, the International
Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Iranian
League for the Defence of Human Rights (LDDHI)
express their deep concern regarding the serious
violations of freedom of expression and the
conditions of administration of justice in Iran.
Mr. Adnan Hassanpour and Mr. Abdoulvahed (also known
as Hiwa) Boutimar, two Kurdish journalists and
active members of Iranian civil society
were sentenced to death
by the Revolutionary Tribunal in Mariwan, on 17 July
2007. The two men were convicted on grounds of
espionage, attacks upon national security, the
diffusion of separatist propaganda, treason and
collaboration with Kurdish political opposition
parties.
FIDH and LDDHI condemn these sanctions and calls for
the journalists’ fair trial when appealing their
sentences, and subsequent release: |
Kurdish journalists
Adnan Hassanpur and Hiwa Botimar sentenced to death
by the Iranian Islamic regime |
Indeed, FIDH and LDDHI have strong reasons to
believe that the charges held against the two
journalists are baseless but rather prove the
authorities’ aim to silence any critical voice or
defendant of the Kurdish minority in Iran. Over the
past months, Iranian authorities have persecuted and
arrested over 150 members of Iranian-Kurdistan civil
society. Many of these individuals have been
subjected to inordinate judicial punishment. Mr.
Hassanpour is a member of the Iranian Kurdistan
Journalist Association as well as a reporter for the
Aso newspaper, a publication banned by Iranian
authorities. Iran’s Kurdish population, numbering
approximately 10 million, have previously been
labeled as "enemies" of Iran and "children of Satan"
by the leadership’s most senior figures.
Moreover, since their arrest the two men would have
been severely tortured. They were held
incommunicado, without access to a lawyer. The trial
is thus marred by arbitrariness, in violation of
Iran’s international obligations.
In this context, FIDH and LDDHI specially condemn
the imposition of death penalty, sanctioning the
exercise of the human right to freedom of opinion
and expression. Iran violates its obligations under
the international covenant for civil and political
rights (ICCPR) according to which freedom of
expression and opinion should not be unduly limited,
and according to which countries which have not
abolished death penalty should only impose the death
sentence for the most serious crimes.
FIDH and LDDHI call upon the Iranian authorities to
duly respect their country’s international
obligations, and implement the recommendations
addressed by the UN Special rapporteur on Freedom of
expression as well as the UN Working group on
Arbitrary Detention.
fidh org
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