Omid Memarian
o.memarian@roozonline.com
Abdolkarim Lahidji is the vice president of the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues and the president of Iran’s Human Rights Society. He spoke to Rooz about advancing an anti-death penalty resolution at the United Nations General Assembly.
According to Lahidji, Iran, with 220 executions, tops the list of countries that still allow capital punishment. This point has attracted much attention at news conferences in New York and the United Nations.
Noting that, because of efforts by human rights organizations, October 10 has been recognized as the World Day against the Death Penalty, Lahidji said, “For this reason we decided to hold a news conference this year at the UN General Assembly. We have been trying for years to pass a resolution at the UN General Assembly condemning the death penalty.”
This human rights activist hopes that the aforementioned resolution will be ratified by a large number of countries, 170 for example, so that the remaining countries form a tiny minority and abandon the death penalty gradually.
Dr. Lahidji added, “Unfortunately, the Islamic Republic is, in many areas, especially the area that pertains to our expertise and activism, meaning human rights and democracy, at the end of the table. In effect, we are among the worst students in the class. We see that more than 220 people were executed in Iran in the past nine months. For this reasons, 7 prominent human rights organizations that focus on Iran, such as the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, which is located at Bastille Square in Paris, a symbol of the French Revolution, have staged demonstrations against capital punishment in Iran – protesting the heart-wrenching frequency of executions in Iran.”
Lahidji spoke briefly about this gathering in Paris: “A majority of the demonstrators were Iranian. Unfortunately, sometimes we are forced to point the public’s attention to the dismal situation of human rights in Iran and create a shock wave. On Wednesday, a big crane was staged on the Bastille Square analogous to the ones used in Iran to carry out public hangings. There were plastic dolls hanging from the crane so that the press agencies that were present could see how human beings are treated in Iran. The Iranian government claims that it is protecting people’s honor and property by carrying out executions, but the history of criminal law and punishment proves all over the world that this kind of punishment has no effect on deterring crime.” According to Lahidji, in addition to the fact that trials are not fair and public, it is also unclear as to what degree the charges brought against executed victims are real and to what extent they are fabricated by officials in order to create an atmosphere of fear and terror.
Lahidji recalled former President Khatami’s attempts to end stoning in Iran: “One of the results of the discussions that took place with the European Union during Mohammad Khatami’s presidency was that Iran accepted – meaning Mr. Shahroudi accepted – that stoning would not be carried out in Iran and public executions would stop. But, unfortunately, we are backtracking. In effect, the Iranian officials did not observe their own responsibilities and promises, and carried out these heinous crimes.”
