faced the death penalty. 10 11 Mr. Latifi reportedly remains in prison with a suspended death
sentence, despite reports indicating he was pardoned by amnesty in 2015. 12
Ehsan (Esma’il) Fattahian was reportedly executed on 11 November 2009. 13
Sherko Moarefi was reportedly executed on 4 November 2013. 14
In its latest General Comment on Article 6, the Human Rights Committee explicitly stipulated
that the phrase “the most serious crimes” must “be read restrictively and appertain only to
crimes of extreme gravity, involving intentional killing. Crimes not resulting directly and
intentionally in death […], although serious in nature, can never serve as the basis, within the
framework of Article 6, for the imposition of the death penalty. In the same vein, a limited
degree of involvement or of complicity in the commission of even the most serious crimes,
[…], cannot justify the imposition of the death penalty.”15 Habibollah Latifi, Ehsan (Esma’il)
Fattahian and Sherko Moarefi were convicted for their membership and/or activities on the
behalf of a prohibited Kurdish armed group. Their convictions did not contain substantial
proof that they were directly involved in “the most serious crime”. Without proof of
participation in “the most serious crime”, their executions may constitute arbitrary deprivation
of life.16
The crime of moharebeh (“enmity against God”) is defined under Article 279 of the Islamic
Penal Code (2013) as “as drawing a weapon on the life, property or chastity of people or to
cause terror as it creates the atmosphere of insecurity.”17 Judges have discretion to punish a
crime of moharebeh with either the death penalty, crucifixion, amputation of the right arm
and the left leg, or banishment.18 Despite allowing for the death penalty, the definition of
morahebeh suggests that it also includes offences that do not involve intentional killing,
which therefore cannot be considered as a “most serious crime” and cannot receive the death
penalty. Additionally, terms as such ‘terror’, ‘atmosphere of insecurity’ or ‘national security’
are not defined under the Islamic Penal Code. Further, under Article 220 of the Islamic Penal
Code and Article 167 of the Iranian Constitution, a judge may refer to Islamic law – namely
authoritative Islamic sources and fatwas (a ruling on a point of Islamic law given by a
recognized authority) – to convict and sentence individuals to crimes and punishments not
explicitly codified by the law. The Human Rights Committee explicitly stipulated that the
imposition of the death penalty cannot “be based on vaguely defined criminal provisions,
whose application to the convicted individual would depend on subjective or discretionary
10
https://iranhrdc.org/the-iran-human-rights-documentation-center-urges-iran-to-set-aside-habibollah-latifis-conviction-anddeath-sentence/
11
https://iranhr.net/en/articles/641
12
https://www.en-hrana.org/9th-year-death-row-habibollah-latifi
13
https://www.hrw.org/news/2009/11/10/iran-kurdish-activist-executed
14
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=19688
15
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/1_Global/CCPR_C_GC_36_8785_E.pdf
16
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/1_Global/CCPR_C_GC_36_8785_E.pdf
17
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/english-translation-of-books-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penalcode/
18
The Islamic Penal Code (2013), Articles 282 and 283, English translation, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center,
https://iranhrdc.org/english-translation-of-books-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/
2