A Few Thoughts on World Day Against the Death Penalty
Today is the 13th annual World Day
Against the Death Penalty. This year the international community is paying
greater attention to the application of the death penalty for drug-related
crimes. ...
I share the
sentiments recently expressed by my fellow colleagues, the Special Rapporteur
on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution and the Special Rapporteur on
torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and punishment, in a
joint statement which called on all states to put an end to the use of the
death penalty for drug-related crimes. ...
In March
2015 I presented the findings of my latest
report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of
Iran to the UN Human Rights Council. I noted, with extreme concern, that the
Islamic Republic of Iran retains the death penalty for drug-related crimes.
Iran’s Anti-Narcotics law, which was amended in 2010, mandates a death sentence
for 17 offenses and establishes a minimum threshold for possession of certain
drugs above which the death penalty automatically applies.
In 2014
Iran reportedly executed 753 individuals, the highest rate in 10 years.
Just last
month, the United Nations Secretary General raised concerns about the increased
number of executions in the country and called on the Iranian government to “introduce a
moratorium on the use of the death penalty”. Human rights groups
continue to report an alarming number of executions in 2015, many of which are
allegedly for drug-related crimes, and have raised serious questions regarding
fair trial concerns in death penalty cases.
Lastly, I
renew my call to the Islamic Republic of Iran to do its utmost to protect the
right to life by establishing a moratorium on the death penalty with the intent
of abolishing it altogether. )Ahmad Shaheed website October 11, 2015)
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