Today, most of us working with human rights organizations or the media outside Iran are off from work, shopping for Christmas, or spending time with our families. In Iran, government offices are closed on Thursday afternoons and Fridays. Yet, for the Iranian government, Christmas and the weekend's closure presented the ideal opportunity to announce the imminent execution a young Kurdish engineering student and environmentalist to his family.
Habibollah Latify was sentenced to death for "waging war on God" in 2009 and is scheduled to be hanged on Sunday. He was arrested in the fall of 2007 in Sanandaj, the Kordestan provincial capital, north-western Iran for alleged membership in a proscribed armed group. According to Amnesty International, Habibollah's "trial was held behind closed doors and his lawyer was not allowed to be present to defend him. Nor was his family allowed to attend the trial". His family reported that he was held incommunicado for four months and beaten so badly that he was hospitalized for internal bleeding and unable to stand for weeks. Habibollah eventually confessed but retracted his confession during his trial. The court reportedly refused to hear witnesses who could have confirmed that Habibollah was not in the town where the crimes he is accused of were committed.
The streets around us here in Washington are filled with light and joy as families prepare for celebrating Christmas. And yet, in an isolated prison in a remote town in the Iranian Kordestan, a family is pleading to save the life of their 29-year old son, a straight A student and an athlete who loves nature and his country's mountains. They are hoping that our attention would save the life of a young man who instead of serving his country and building the future is scheduled to die in a few hours, after three terrible years of imprisonment.
Since yesterday, human rights groups and the Farsi-speaking media have done their best to draw attention to Habibollah's imminent execution. His sister has given numerous interviews since his lawyer, like other Iranian lawyers, has been warned not to talk about his clients' case to the media. But time is short and, in the absence of international attention, many of us have little hope in the possibility of saving Habibollah's life.
Today many of us who believe in the importance of due process of law feel helpless and overwhelmed by a cascade of unanswered questions. How can we do our work effectively? How can lawyers do their work of defending their clients if the law allows detainees to be interrogated, and tortured, without their presence and if the judges accept coerced confessions as evidence? How can the accused present a proper defense if the law allows the judge to decide whether or not an attorney would be present at their trial, whether or not they can call witnesses to testify? How can attorneys advocate on behalf of their clients and protest about irregularities in the judicial process if doing so leads to their arrest?
Most authoritarian states execute dissidents to deter dissent. A young unknown Kurdish student in an isolated region is a perfect target. Publicizing an unverifiable accusation of involvement in an armed group is meant to prevent a public opinion outrage and create confusion. Many dissidents like Habibollah latifi have been executed based on trumped-up charges, including a school teacher, Farzad Kamangar, who was executed earlier this year. The judicial process leading to these executions rarely allows the public to know the truth about the case or the charges leveled against the defendants.
The Islamic Republic authorities do not often feel compelled to discuss about the evidence in specific cases, explain why trials are held behind closed door, or why they feel threatened by attorneys if their accusations are based on evidence. But they are uncomfortable enough with a judicial process that fails to meet the minimum standards of fair trial to announce their decision to execute Habibollah Latify on a Thursday afternoon two days before Christmas when local authorities are inaccessible and, they hope, there will be no international reaction.
Following a campaign initiated during the Christmas holidays by various human rights groups and individuals outside Iran, the execution of Habibollah Latifi was suspended. Although, he is still at risk, the visibility given to his execution may lead to a review of his case. His lawyers are drawing attention to the serious procedural irregularities to which they had repeatedly pointed out in their communication with the revolutionary court's authorities.
This campaign for Mr. Latifi could not have succeeded without the courage of the Latifi family and activists in Kurdistan who provided information and updates on the situation. Unfortunately, after the execution was suspended, an estimated 20 people including Mr. Latifi's family members and activists visiting them after the good news was announced were all arrested. http://persian2english.com/?p=18215
Since then, some of the family members have been reportedly released and the number of people still in detention remains unknown. On Sunday, before their arrest, Mr. Latifi's family was able to visit him and reported that he was in good spirit and was thankful to all those who joined the campaign to stop his execution.
Go read the Counter Punch, and Democracy Now. Both leftist blogs adore Ahmadinejad and want him to own a bomb.
"The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran called for an immediate halt to this unfair sentence, and for the case to be reviewed by a judge independent of security forces. The Campaign believes this ruling must be challenged to bring attention to the ever-increasing influence of intelligence-security forces over the Iranian Judiciary and in determining outcomes of trials. The Campaign believes these intelligence-security forces are ultimately pushing towards large scale political executions and any silence in the face of such politically-motivated executions could lead to devastating results in the condition of Iranian political prisoners."
UPDATE 12/26/10 - According to the ICHRI, the execution sentence of the Kurdish student, Habibilah Latifi, was halted today after widespread protests within Iran as well as by the international community. According to his lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, this development should provide “at least two more months” for trying to save his life. The Committee of Human Rights Reporters (CHRR) and the International Campaign for Human Rights has posted that reportedly Habibollah Latifi’s family has been arrested after the execution stay causing much concern.
It's Monday evening on the West Coast, and I'm yet to hear anything about an Execution!
In this Holiday Season, I Hope this Woman was Successful in her Bold & Brave attempt to Save Habibollah from the Gallows!!
P.S. How weird is it, that a Man who's name means the Beloved of God, could be charged with Waging War against Allah.................
Peace, Love & Respect.
Perhaps, you had seen the real Iranians who came out last year, calling for freedom and democracy. You had also, perhaps, seen how these criminal mullahs gunned down those demonstrators. You may say that this is the price of freedom! I would say, you are perfectly right. You are also right about that that the governmet of any nation represents those people in that country! But I must add that I have my reservations about this as well. Through this reservation, I tell you that much that the mullahs are in no way or kind represnting the culture, the majority of the people and above all, they are not IRANIANS. They are bunche of thugs & cowards whom you find their types in any given soceity, the only problem here is the fact that these cowards have had the chance to steal the power. It is rather unfortunate that this could happened in 21st century and in one of the oldest human's culture. I can have a disscusion about hows and whys but it takes a little bit of more time!”
If the Iranians Mullahs really believe in that all powerful God, they would know that he is fully capable of taking care of himself. Their need to suppress people in the name of religion stems from their cowardice and their fear of the power of people.
These are hellish times that it comes to arguing like this. Of course you are right.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Tillman
Wonder why? Would it possibly be the stonings of women who do not submit to Islamic rules? Would it be the Iranian threats to wipe Israel off the face of the earth? Or would it be the massive support of worldwide terror? Not sure if the words about Washington are "pios" but your words are full of hypocrisy.
I must ask you to use your experty to distiguish these criminals mullahs from the name of this great country. IRAN is in no way related to these criminals who are in power in that land. That is very important not to associate the word IRAN with these BEASTS.
Thanks for taking this matter into your attention.