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INTERNATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
Iran: Stop the Execution of Child Offender Convicted of Sodomy
November 5, 2007
 Summary
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has
learned that Makvan Mouloodzadeh, a 21-year old Iranian citizen of Kurdish
origin from the city of Paveh, in the Western province of Kermanshah, has
been sentenced by the government to execution. Makvan has been convicted
of multiple counts of anal rape and sentenced to execution for crimes
allegedly committed when he was 13 years old. IGLHRC calls for an
international response to stop this scheduled execution.
Imposing the death penalty for crimes committed by juveniles is prohibited
under international law as well as by the Iranian legal system. In
addition, IGLHRC calls on the international community to condemn the use
of the death penalty as a punishment for any sex or morality-related
crime, whether consensual or non-consensual, as unnecessarily extreme. In
this case, since none of the alleged victims ever claimed to have been
raped, and all of them admitted to the court that their initial accounts
of sexual intercourse with Makvan were false and had been acquired under
coercion, the imposition of the death penalty is especially objectionable.
As an organization dedicated to defending the rights of sexual minorities
worldwide, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
(IGLHRC) objects to any law, policy or ruling that penalizes consensual
homosexual relationships among adults.
Action
IGLHRC requests that you send letters in English or Persian to the
following Iranian officials, demanding that the order of execution in the
case of Makvan Mouloodzadeh be withdrawn:
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The Supreme Leader
of the Islamic Republic of Iran, His Eminence Ayatollah Seyed Ali
Khamenei,: istiftaa@wilayah.org and info@leader.ir and info@khamenei.ir
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The Honorable
Chief Justice, His Eminence Ayatollah Seyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi:
Shahroudi@Dadgostary-tehran.ir and ijpr@iranjudiciary.org
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Iranian President,
His Excellency Dr. Mahmood Ahmadinejad: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
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Speaker of the
Islamic Consultative Council (Parliament), His Excellency Dr. Gholam-Ali
Haddad Adel: hadadadel@majlis.ir
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Minister of
Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Mr. Manuchehr Motaki: matbuat@mfa.gov.ir
Please
also email a copy of your correspondence to IGLHRC at:
halizadeh@iglhrc.org
Sample Letter
His Eminence Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic
Republic of Iran,
Your Eminence,
I am writing with regard to reports of the pending execution of Mr. Makvan
Mouloodzadeh, a 21-year old Iranian citizen from the city of Paveh in
Kermanshah Province. On June 7, 2007, Mr. Mouloodzadeh was found guilty of
multiple counts of anal rape (ighab), allegedly committed as a minor when
he was 13 years old. The Seventh District Criminal Court of Kermanshah
sentenced him to death. Despite his lawyer’s appeal, the Supreme Court has
upheld his death sentence.
Mr. Mouloodzadeh’s sentence violates international law, as well as various
legal codes of the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to Article 6(5) of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Articles 49
and 111 of the Islamic Penal Code, crimes committed by minors cannot be
punished by death.
Moreover, although no one ever accused Mr. Mouloodzadeh of rape, the judge
used a principle known as “Knowledge of the Judge” to issue a ruling
finding the defendant guilty. This is a violation of Article 120 of the
Islamic Penal Code, which clearly states that the knowledge of the judge
should be obtained through “conventional methods.” All parties involved in
this case told the court that their statements made during the
investigation were either untruthful or coerced, facts that make the court
ruling invalid under Article 116 of the Islamic Penal Code.
Furthermore, unlawful techniques and procedures were used to gather
evidence for this case, which according to the Section 3 of Article 3 of
the Legal Amendment of the Laws Governing Public and Revolutionary Courts,
puts into question the legality of the court ruling.
As the highest-ranking religious and political authority in the Islamic
Republic of Iran, it is within your legal and constitutional power to
order the postponement or the cancellation of the execution, request a
reexamination of the case, and even grant amnesty to Mr. Mouloodzadeh. I
plead with you to use your authority to save the life of this innocent
citizen.
I would like to thank you in advance for your kind attention to this
important legal case, and potentially for saving the life of Mr. Makvan
Mouloodzadeh.
Respectfully,
( Name, address. Organization)
Background information
The District Attorney’s office issued an order for Makvan’s arrest on
October 1, 2006, after the local office of the Intelligence Service
received a complaint from Makvan’s cousin claiming, in rather vague
language, that Makvan had “victimized” him when both were minors. During
subsequent investigations, the cousin also claimed that Makvan had engaged
in homosexual sex with other people when he was aged 13. These individuals
were brought in for questioning and each confessed to having had
homosexual sex with Makvan. But according to media reports, none of these
individuals claimed to be a victim of rape. During the interrogation
process, Makvan was forced to confess to one case of sodomy while he was a
middle school student.
Makvan’s trial took place at the local branch of the Criminal Court in
Kermanshah City. However, several key witnesses refused to appear in
court, and the three witnesses who did appear before the judge each
retracted their earlier testimony, claiming to have lied to the
authorities under duress. Makvin also told the court that his confession
was made under coercion and pleaded not guilty. But the judge refused to
accept the witnesses’ retractions. Although it is standard practice in the
Iranian legal system to send alleged rape victims for a medical
examination to check for evidence of sexual crimes, including sodomy, the
judge did not require this procedure in this case, which could have
potentially proved the innocence of the defendant.
In the absence of adequate evidence, the judge used an Iranian legal
principle known as “Knowledge of the Judge,” to declare that he was
certain Makvan had raped his victims. According to the Iranian legal code,
when there is not enough evidence to convict a defendant of sexual crimes,
the judge may use his knowledge (in a deductive process based on the
evidence that already exists) to determine whether the crime took place or
not.
The judge found Makvan guilty of full penetrative homosexual sex (ighab)
and sentenced him to death on June 7, 2007. The following month, Makvan’s
lawyer lodged an appeal with the Iranian Supreme Court. In a ruling on
August 1, 2007, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision.
Makvan is currently in Kermanshah’s city’s jail. Since the execution order
has already been issued by the Attorney General’s office, he is in danger
of being the victim of a public hanging at any time.
International Law and Iranian Law
Makvan was born on March 31, 1986, making him a minor at the time of the
crime back in 1999. Article 6(5) of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR) states that, “[A] sentence of death shall not
be imposed for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age.”
The Iranian parliament ratified the ICCPR in 1975 and has not subsequently
passed any legislation to nullify this treaty.
While International Law prohibits the execution of minors, Iranian law is
equally clear-cut on the subject.
According to Article 49 of the Islamic Penal Code, minors, if found
guilty, are free from criminal responsibility. Note 1 of Article 49
stipulates that minors are those individuals who have not reached what
Islam considers to be the age of discretion. The 1991 Amendment of Article
1210 (1) of the Iranian Civil Code declares that the Islamic age of
discretion is 15 full lunar years of age for boys and 9 full lunar years
of age for girls.
Moreover, Article 111 of the Islamic Penal Code states that, “Sodomy is
only punishable by death if both parties are adults and of sound mind.”
Article 113 of the Islamic Penal Code declares: “ If a minor sodomizes
another minor, both should be punished by up to 74 lashes, unless one of
them is forced to do so.” The alleged sodomy happened when the defendant
and his alleged partners were 13 years old, and hence the death penalty
should not be applicable in this case.
Other irregularities related to Iranian Law
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The initial
investigation into this case was conducted by the District Attorney’s
office. Section 3 of Article 3 of the Legal Amendment of the Laws
Governing Public and Revolutionary Courts (passed by the Islamic
Consultative Council on October 20, 2002 and ratified by the
Constitutional Council on November 3, 2002) states that, “Sodomy … [and]
cases involving crimes committed by minors should be handled exclusively
by the Criminal Courts. The District Attorney can only be involved in
these cases if there is a need for investigating other aspects of the
case.” Since the alleged crimes in this case involved sodomy committed
by minors, the District Attorney’s office was not authorized to be
involved in gathering evidence. Hence the evidence collected in this
case should have been legally inadmissible.
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Although Iranian
law recognizes “Knowledge of the Judge” as a way to prove sodomy cases,
Article 120 of the Islamic Penal Code clearly states that this should be
acquired through “conventional methods.” Given that all the alleged
victims in this case retracted their claims of having been sodomized,
and also given that the defendant pleaded not guilty and there was no
medical examination conducted to verify the allegations, it is not clear
how the judge could know with certainty that sodomy took place.
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The judge decided
that the initial confessions in this case could be used as evidence
despite testimony in court that the victims had either lied or were
forced into making their original confessions. This is against Article
116 of the Islamic Penal Code, which clearly states that the,
“Confession to [sodomy] is only admissible if the person who confesses
is adult, of sound mind, under no pressure, and is willing to testify.”
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The
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) is a
leading human rights organization solely devoted to improving the rights
of people around the world who are targeted for imprisonment, abuse or
death because of their sexuality, gender identity or HIV/AIDS status.
IGLHRC addresses human rights violations by partnering with and supporting
activists in countries around the world, monitoring and documenting human
rights abuses, engaging offending governments, and educating international
human rights officials. A non-profit, non-governmental organization,
IGLHRC is based in New York, with offices in Johannesburg and Buenos
Aires. Visit http://www.iglhrc.org for more information
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