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Iran urged to halt execution of Kurd arrested as a minor Iran urged to halt execution of Kurd arrested as a minor
(about 7 hours later)
International human rights groups have appealed to Tehran to halt the planned execution an Iranian-Kurdish man who was 17 when he was arrested. UN experts have jointed human rights activists in calling on Tehran to halt the planned execution an Iranian-Kurdish man who was 17 when arrested.
Saman Naseem, 22, is due to be executed on Thursday for his alleged membership of a banned Kurdish party and involvement in armed confrontation. Saman Naseem, 22, is set to be executed on Thursday in West Azerbaijan province for his alleged involvement in armed activities by a banned Kurdish party.
He was sentenced to death in April 2013, after allegedly being forced to confess by the use of torture. He was sentenced to death in 2013 after allegedly confessing under torture.
The UN has voiced concern about a rise in executions in Iran since 2013. The UN experts said the execution of juvenile offenders was clearly prohibited by international law.
They also recalled repeated assertions by the Iranian authorities that confessions obtained under torture were inadmissible under Iranian law.
'Hung by feet'
Mr Naseem was arrested in July 2011 following a gun battle in the city of Sardasht between members of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) and the Revolutionary Guards.
He alleges that he was held in a ministry of intelligence detention centre without access to his family or a lawyer, and tortured for 97 days before being forced, while blindfolded, to put his fingerprints on a false confession.
"During the first days, the level of torture was so severe that it left me unable to walk. All my body was black and blue. They hung me from my hands and feet for hours," he wrote in a letter seen by Amnesty International.
He added: "When I wanted to sleep during nights, they would not let me rest by making noises using different devices, including by constantly banging on the door. I was in a state between madness and consciousness."
Although he retracted the confession at trial and told the judge he was tortured, he was sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court in January 2012 for "enmity against God" and "corruption on earth" for his membership of the PJAK and alleged involvement in its armed activities.
In August 2012, the Supreme Court overturned the death sentence and sent Mr Naseem's case for retrial on the grounds that he had been under 18 at the time of his arrest. However, he was again sentenced to death in April 2013 by a criminal court and the Supreme Court this time upheld his death sentence in December 2013
'State of injustice'
"Time is running out for Saman Naseem. The fact that Iran is willing to execute a man who was tortured to confess to a crime he is accused of having committed as when he was a child, shows the state of injustice in the country", Amnesty International's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said."Time is running out for Saman Naseem. The fact that Iran is willing to execute a man who was tortured to confess to a crime he is accused of having committed as when he was a child, shows the state of injustice in the country", Amnesty International's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said.
It was not too late to stop his execution and launch "a thorough judicial review of his case", she added.It was not too late to stop his execution and launch "a thorough judicial review of his case", she added.
The international Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) also demanded a halt to the execution and called for the death sentence against him to be overturned. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) also demanded a halt to the execution and called for the death sentence against him to be overturned.
"The continued detention and ill-treatment of Saman Naseem is unacceptable and a violation of international law, said FIDH President Karim Lahidji. The UN experts expressed serious concerns over the increasing number of executions in Iran, including of women and political prisoners, and renewed their call on the government to immediately stop them.
The FIDH says Mr Naseem was denied access to lawyers when arrested and that his original conviction was based on "forced confessions obtained through torture." More than 700 people, including 14 women and at least 13 juveniles, were believed to have been executed in 2014, they said. At least 60 people, including four women, have reportedly been executed in January alone, and a large number are currently at risk of execution.
It also points out that Iran is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which makes imposing death sentences on juveniles illegal.
'Surge in executions'
The Iranian authorities found Mr Naseem guilty of membership of the rebel Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) after arresting him when he was still a minor. He was also convicted of an armed confrontation with the Revolutionary Guards.
According to the Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre, a total of 586 executions were reported in Iran in 2014, although the government only announced 206.
The foreign-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says on its website that 14 people were executed in Iran on drug-related charges on Monday with no mention in Iran's state media.
In October the UN expressed concern about what it called "a surge in executions" in Iran under President Hassan Rouhani who took office in August 2013.