[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

URGENT ACTION APPEAL


31 March 2006

UA 233/05 (originally issued 9 September 2005 and re-issued 2 November
2005)
Fear of Torture and Ill-treatment / Incommunicado detention/
Death sentence and new concern: Imminent execution

IRAN:
Mohsen Bawi (m), aged 33                ]
Imad Bawi (m), law student, aged 31     ]
Zamel Bawi (m), aged 29         ] brothers
Hani Bawi (m), student, aged 22         ]
Moslem Bawi (m), student, aged 19       ]
Asad Bawi (m), their cousin, aged 34
Mansour Tayouri (m)             ] members of the
extended Bawi family
Hassan Boughedar (or Bou Azar or Bozar) (m)]

New name:
Lefteh Sarkhi (m), student
Six of the above named men were reportedly sentenced by a Revolutionary
Court in Ahvaz City on 19 March 2006. They were reportedly accused of
distributing material against the state, having contact with dissident
organizations operating abroad, and endangering state security, possibly
in
connection with bomb explosions in Ahvaz city in Khuzestan province, south

west Iran. According to reports, none of the men were allowed legal
representation and the court sessions took place behind closed doors.

Zamel Bawi was reportedly sentenced to death, and he may be at risk of
imminent execution. Amnesty International had received reports in October
2005 that he had been sentenced to death along with his brother Imad, and
both brothers reportedly appeared in a Tehran court on 21 February 2006.
No
details of the hearing or the outcome were divulged, and Amnesty
International has no further information about Imad Bawi.

New reports suggest that Hani Bawi was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment

with a subsequent 10 years' exile in Azerbaijan, northern Iran. Moslem
Bawi
was reportedly sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment with a subsequent 10
years' exile in Arak, south of Tehran.

Mansour Tayouri, Hassan Boughedar (or Bou Azar or Bozar) and Lefteh
Sarkhi were also reportedly sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment terms with

subsequent exile to Northern provinces of Iran. Lefteh Sarkhi, a student
at the
Chamran University in Ahvaz in south west Iran, is reported to have been
held
since his arrest on 20 October. On 22 November 2005, Amnesty International

wrote to the Iranian authorities and requested urgent clarification of his
legal
status and condition of health. No reply has been received.

The five Bawi brothers and their cousin Asad Bawi were reportedly arrested
by
security forces on 11 August 2005. Their family are prominent figures in
the
city of Ahvaz. Mohsen Bawi, the eldest of the brothers, is an IT
consultant.
Imad Bawi, a law student at the Lebanese University of Beirut was visiting
his
family in Ahvaz during the summer holiday when the Iranian authorities
banned him from returning to Lebanon. Zamel Bawi is a businessman. Hani
Bawi is studying commerce and trade at the University of Ahvaz. Moslem
Bawi
is also a student. Their cousin, Asad Bawi, a businessman, is also their
brother-in-law, and lives in the family home in Ahvaz.  Amnesty
International
has no further information about Asad Bawi or Mohsen Bawi.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Much of Iran's Arab community lives in the province of Khuzestan which
borders Iraq. It is strategically important because it is the site of much
of Iran's
oil reserves, but the Arab population does not feel it has benefited as
much
from the oil revenue as the Persian population. Historically, the Arab
community has been marginalised and discriminated against. Tension has
mounted among the Arab population since April 2005, after it was alleged
that
the government planned to disperse the country's Arab population or to
force
them to relinquish their Arab identity. Hundreds have been arrested and
there
have been reports of torture.

Following bomb explosions in Ahvaz City in June and October 2005, which
killed at least 14 people, and explosions at oil installations in
September and
October, the cycle of violence has intensified, with hundreds of people
reportedly arrested. Further bombings on 24 January 2006, in which at
least
six people were killed, were followed by further mass arrests. Two men,
Mehdi
Nawaseri and Ali Awdeh Afrawi, were executed in public on 2 March 2006
after being convicted of involvement in the October bombings. Their
executions followed unfair trials before a Revolutionary Court during
which
they are believed to have been denied access to lawyers, and their
confessions, along with those of six other men, were broadcast on
television.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as
possible:
- stating that Amnesty International recognizes the rights and
responsibilities
of governments to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offences,
but
strongly opposes the death penalty as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and
degrading punishment and violation of the right to life;
- urging that the death sentence imposed on Zamel Bawi be commuted
immediately;
- seeking details of Zamel Bawi's trial, including details of the charges
against
him and any appeals he may have made;
- expressing concern at reports that the six men (please name them) were
not
granted access to a lawyer during their trial and as such their trial did
not meet
international standards for fair trial, as laid down by Article 14 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Iran is a
State
Party.
- calling for the nine men to be given immediate access to lawyers, their
families, interpreters and medical treatment if necessary;
- seeking assurances that they are not being tortured or ill-treated in
detention;

APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic:
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street
Qom, Iran
Fax: 011 98 251 774 2228 (mark ''FAO the Office of His Excellency,
Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei'')
Email: info at leader.ir OR istiftaa at wilayah.org
Salutation: Your Excellency

Head of the Judiciary
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice
Park-e Shahr
Tehran, Iran
Email: irjpr at iranjudiciary.org (mark ''Please forward to His Excellency
Ayatollah Shahroudi'') This email address can be
unreliable. If it does not work, please send your appeal
via the judiciary website:
www.iranjudiciary.org/feedback_en.html
Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:


President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, Iran
Fax: 011 98 21 6 649 5880
Email: dr-ahmadinejad at president.ir
(via website)   http://www.president.ir/email

Iran does not presently have an embassy in this country.
Instead, please send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
2209 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 202 965 4990
Fax: 202 965 1073
Email: requests at daftar.org



Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado office between
9:00 am and 6:00 pm,
Mountain Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after May 11, 2006.




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