Immediately rescind execution order for Iranian Kurd

Human Rights Watch has called on the Iranian judiciary to “immediately rescind” the execution order for a Iranian Kurd convicted after an “unfair trial”. Several days ago Iranian authorities informed Habibollah Latifi's lawyer that Latifi was scheduled to be hanged at Sanandaj prison in Kurdistan province on the morning of December 26, 2010.

Latifi is a law student at Azad University in the province of Ilam, and was arrested by security forces on 23 October 2007 for his alleged activities on behalf of “anti-revolutionary” groups. After more than four months of interrogation, authorities transferred Latifi to Sanandaj prison where according to media reports, Latifi's family and sources close to the family claim that he was tortured by intelligence agents during that time.

“The circumstances surrounding Latifi's arrest, detention, and conviction strongly suggest that the Iranian authorities have violated his fundamental rights,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “As in numerous previous security cases, intelligence agents appear to have subjected Latifi to torture and a court sentenced him to death without any convincing evidence against him. The head of Iran's judiciary should immediately rescind the execution order.”

At his trial, the government alleged that Latifi was involved in several terrorist acts, including an assassination attempt on the life of a prosecutor and an attack at a police station in Kurdistan province. According to media reports, the court convicted Latifi of involvement in terrorist acts and membership in an armed terrorist group based on his possession of photos and videos of an acoustic bomb explosion that occurred in the city of Sanandaj prior to his arrest. The First Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj found Latifi guilty of Moharebeh, or “enmity against God,” and other security-related crimes, and sentenced him to death in July 2008, a ruling later approved by the appeal court.

Human Rights Watch says there are numerous cases where Iranian security forces have used “physical and psychological coercion including torture” to secure confessions, and courts have convicted defendants of Moharebeh in trials where prosecutors failed to provide any convincing evidence establishing the defendant's guilt. In May 2010, authorities executed five prisoners, four of whom were Iranian Kurds convicted of Moharebeh, while neither their families nor legal representatives were informed of his execution.

“We condemn all attacks by armed groups against civilians,” Stork said. “But the Iranian authorities cannot use these crimes to justify torture or ill-treatment and unfair trials.”

According to Human Rights Watch, in 2009, “authorities executed 388 prisoners, more than any other nation except China.” Iran’s judiciary has executed at least nine political dissidents since November 2009, all of them convicted of Moharebeh for their alleged ties to armed groups.