sentenced to death. His sentence was upheld in appeal [the spelling of the names as contained
in the response differ from the one provided by the source]. The Government did not provide
further information on appeals or trials before the Supreme Court. Additionally, the
Government remained silent regarding the allegations of torture while in detained
incommunicado and if investigations were conducted. Although the Government mentioned
in its letter that defendants had a lawyer to represent them, no information was provided as to
whether and at what stage of the proceedings the defendants had access to counsel and
whether they were given the option to choose their own counsel.14
Although Messrs. Yousef Laftepour, Damir Mahavi, Ahmad Savaedi, Maher Mahavi, Valid
Nisi, Majed Fowadi had their sentences commuted to five years of prison, Mr. Ali Savaed
[the spelling of the names as contained in the response differ from the one provided by the
source] was executed despite the request of the Special Procedures’ request. The Government
of the Islamic Republic of Iran did not discuss whether fair trial guarantees were respected.
B. The death sentences against the seven men should be suspended until the
allegation of torture have been thoroughly investigated and all doubts in this
respect dispelled.
Article 38 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran only prohibits torture and other
ill-treatment when it is “for the purpose of extracting confession or acquiring information”.
Article 39 prohibits “all affronts to the dignity and repute of persons arrested, detained,
imprisoned, or banished”.15 This prohibition is reinforced by Article 19 of the 2004 Law on
Respect for Legitimate Freedoms and Safeguarding Citizen’s Rights. Additionally, Article 60
of the new Criminal Code of Procedure (2015) prohibits the use of “force, coercion, insulting
language, leading questions and questions irrelevant to the charges” during interrogations and
invalidates coerced statements. However, Iranian law does not define torture per se, nor does
it provide for a separate crime of torture. Because there is no defined crime of torture and the
prohibition of ill-treatment is limited to cases of extraction of confessions, the Iranian legal
framework fails to establish adequate provisions for investigation and punishment of those
responsible, or opportunity for victims to seek remedy or reparation. The Human Rights
Committee explicitly stipulated that the ill-treatment of “persons against whom criminal
charges are brought and to force them to make or sign, under duress, a confession admitting
guilt violates both Article 7 of the Covenant prohibiting torture and inhuman, cruel or
degrading treatment and article 14, paragraph 3 (g) prohibiting compulsion to testify against
oneself or confess guilt.”16 The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran did not provide
information as to whether the allegations of torture against the seven men have been
thoroughly investigated.
14
Report of the Special Rapporteur on independence of judges and lawyers, May 2011,
https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/17session/A-HRC-17-30-Add1_EFS.pdf
15 Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, English translation, https://irandataportal.syr.edu/wpcontent/uploads/constitution-english-1368.pdf
16 UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), General comment no. 32, Article 14, Right to equality before courts and tribunals
and to fair trial, 23 August 2007, CCPR/C/GC/32, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/478b2b2f2.html
https://www.refworld.org/docid/478b2b2f2.html
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