Individuals at Risk

Days after Iran executed by hanging Reza Hejazi for a crime he committed at age 15, Mohammad Feda'i awaits execution in Iran for a crime he committed when he was only 17.

Feda'i, who was granted a one month stay of execution on August 14, killed a boy named Said during a fight. He was not adequately represented during his trial, yet the Supreme Court has upheld his execution. Feda'i will be executed in September if his family cannot come to an agreement over financial compensation with the family of the boy he killed.

Though Mohammad Feda'i was granted a stay of execution until September, Iran's executioners can be unpredictable. For example, Reza Hejazi's lawyer was told that his execution was halted, only to find out a few hours later that he had been hanged.   

Iran has stepped up its executions of child offenders. From 1990 until 2006, Iran had executed 23 juvenile offenders. In 2007 Iran executed eight child offenders, and since the beginning of 2008, Iran has executed five juvenile offenders. Another 75 juvenile offenders sit on death row, including Naser Qasemi, Mohammad Reza Haddadi and Iman Hashemi, who Amnesty International has released Urgent Actions.

Iran's execution of juvenile offenders violates international law. Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both prohibiting the execution of persons whose crime was committed when they were under 18.

To take action to stop Iran from executing more juvenile offenders, please see Urgent Actions 71/08 and 146/08.

Chelsea Toy

Over two months after Egypt began deporting asylum-seekers back to Eritrea on June 11, at least 740 of those deported now sit in the Eritrean Wia prison camp without charge, facing prolonged beatings, stress positions and exposure to extreme heat.

Most of those still in detention are single men and women, as children and pregnant women were released after a few weeks in prison.

In June Egypt deported over 1400 Eritreans, violating the 1951 Refugee Convention and the UN Convention against Torture and going against UN mandates urging countries not to deport any Eritrean asylum-seekers. Many of the asylum-seekers fled Eritrea to escape the country's mandatory military service for anyone between the ages of 18 and 40 and to gain religious freedom.

Amnesty International has been following this case since the deportations began, and we now urge our members to write to both Eritrean and Egyptian authorities asking that both countries follow international law in not torturing those detained and releasing those who are held without recognizable charge. Amnesty International is also requesting that Egypt releases the names of those they deported and that Eritrea releases the names of those still in detention. For further information on this Urgent Action, please see Urgent Action 225/08.

Chelsea Toy - Individuals at Risk

On August 8, we posted information regarding our concern for Kurdish women's rights activist Zeynab Bayzeydi, who was jailed in Iran for peacefully defending Iranian women. 

This afternoon, we received notice that Zeynab was sentenced to four years' imprisonment, and internal exile to the Turkish-speaking city of Zanjan, by the Mahabad Revolutionary Court.  Zaynab has been imprisoned for peacefully expressing her views.  She is a prisoner of conscience.  She must be released.

We have issued an updated Urgent Action on Zeynab's behalf.  Please write to Iranian authorities, and demand Zeynab's freedom. 

Marissa Brodney - Urgent Action Network

Georgia shelled South Ossetia, Russia shelled Georgia, and we plunged into a war whose victims largely number non-military personnel.  Georgian territory is smoldering.  Amnesty International is gravely concerned that this war has had a disproportionate impact on civilians and civilian objects.

As reports emerged of heavy civilian casualties, Amnesty issued an Urgent Action on behalf of all those living in the disputed region of South Ossetia and in Georgia.  In an official press release, Amnesty expressed concern that some of the attacks mounted in South Ossetia could amount to war crimes.  At the same time, President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia recently declared that 90 percent of his country's casualties were civilian deaths. 

International humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate military attacks that do not shield civilians from military operations.  As village after village erupts in flames, it has become merely a question of the degree to which international humanitarian law has been ignored.

The United Nations Refugee Agency reports that this conflict has already resulted in close to 100,000 refugees.  Aid agencies are struggling to access civilians in need of assistance, as most of the violence has been concentrated in residential areas.  At this point in time, it is critically important that humanitarian relief reach those caught in the crossfire of these warring nations.

Marissa Brodney - Urgent Action Network

June 12, 2006.  Haft-e Tir Square, in Tehran.  Women gather for a peaceful demonstration in support of women's rights, and are brutally repressed by police forces.  Iran's message is clear: public spaces in Iran are not open to women who cry for equality.

The One Million Signatures Campaign was inspired in part by the repression women faced on June 12, 2006.  It was born of a situation that deprived Iranian women of physical space and opportunity to organize.  The campaign aims to collect a million signatures of Iranians, on a petition that demands changes to laws that discriminate against women.  Campaigners hope to effect change with the written word and, in the process, they are building a network of Iranians who are meeting each other and dialoguing about social change.  Here is a fantastic video about the One Million Signatures Campaign: One Million Signatures

The Iranian government has spent the past few years jailing activists involved in the One Million Signatures Campaign.  On July 9, one such activist - Zeynab Bayzeydi - was arrested and jailed.  Amnesty International is working on her behalf, and calling attention to the plight of all women's rights activists in Iran.

Zeynab Bayzeydi is a member of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan (HROK) in addition to the One Million Signatures Campaign.  HROK's founder is currently serving an 11-year jail sentence for his involvement in the advocacy organization.

Amnesty has recently issued reports on the status of women's rights defenders in Iran and on Iran's human rights abuses against the Kurdish minority. 

Zeynab Bayzeydi is a prisoner of conscience, detained solely because of her peaceful exercise of her rights to freedom of expression and association.  She, along with the women she is working so hard to support, needs your help. 

Marissa Brodney - Urgent Action Network

Iran was recognized in 2008 by UNAIDS as a country displaying "visionary leadership" in the fight against HIV/AIDS - but Iran's recent and arbitrary arrest of two HIV/AIDS doctors underscored that such praise does not carry over into the realm of human rights. 

One June 22, Doctors Arash Alaei and Kamiar Alaei were arrested and jailed.  These Iranian brothers were well-known for their work on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and it may have been precisely the international nature of their battle against AIDS that earned them jail cells.

Iran's government claims that the doctors' efforts to train others, work with foreign NGOs, and hold and attend international conferences built the framework of an intended "velvet revolution".  Iranian authorities will not confirm Arash Alaei and Kamiar Alaei's place of detention, and this puts them at even greater risk of torture and ill-treatment.

Amnesty International's 2008 report on Iran documents widespread harassment of NGOs, travel bans, and arbitrary arrests in Iran.  On August 6, Amnesty issued an Urgent Action on behalf of Arash Alaei and Kamiar Alaei, calling for their release and for assurance that Iran remains committed to the Alaeis' fight against HIV/AIDS.  Send appeals to Iranian leadership to show solidarity with these medical specialists.

Marissa Brodney - Urgent Action Network

On June 12, we posted a blog entry detailing The Gambian government's practice of forcibly disappearing journalists like Chief Ebrima B. Manneh, a reporter with the pro-government paper The Daily Observer, who refuse to submit to government-sponsored press censorship.  The Gambia is a West African country that lays claim to a long history of unofficial yet rampant repression of the press, as documented in Amnesty's 2008 report on The Gambia.

Outcry over Manneh's detention has begun to reach fever pitch, as more of the world's citizenry learns about his enforced disappearance and The Gambia's violent media censorship.  This past Friday, United States Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois leant his powerful voice to efforts to effect change in Gambia, and protect Gambian journalists. 

Senator Durbin called on Gambia to release Chief Ebrima Manneh.  He cited Amnesty International's work on behalf of Manneh, who Amnesty considers to be a prisoner of conscience.  International news outlet Voice of America published a news article highlighting the Senator's speech and Manneh's plight, raising hope that Gambian authorities will bend to public pressure, release Ebrima Manneh, and discontinue its practice of arbitrarily detaining writers. 

In The Gambia, all print and broadcast journalists must register with the Gambian government and agree to any fines or prison sentences issued for publishing defamatory or "seditious" material.  Those who take a stand in support of press freedom place their lives at risk. 

Marissa Brodney - Urgent Action Network