condemning the death sentences

Dear Friends and Colleagues,





This is the second petition in support of Adnan Hassanpour and Hiwar Boutimar. The Text has been amended in an effort to improve the ease of read in English. We would like to thank all of you who signed the original and ask you to kindly revisit the petition and continue your support by signing this amended text.





URGENT ACTION





Join us to in condemning the death sentences


for two civil and human rights activist in Iran





This petition is in protest to the death sentences issued to Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed (Hiwa) Boutimar on 17 July 2007 by the Revolutionary Courts in Iran.





Adnan Hassanpour, an Iranian Kurdish journalist and a member of the editorial board for the banned weekly magazine Assu (banned in August 2005), was arrested and detained on 25 January 2007 without charge. He was held incommunicado and subjected to ill treatment and torture.





Hiwa Boutimar, an Iranian Kurdish civil rights activist and a founding member of an environmental NGO in Mariwan, was arrested on 17 December 2006. He, too, was held incommunicado and subjected to ill treatment and torture.





Both men were sentenced to death on 17 July 2007 on trumped up charge of Moharebeh (Enmity with God).





The Islamic Republic remains signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and bound by its articles. As such, it is legally bound to protect freedom of expression, assembly and equality before the law, and prohibit arbitrary detention, such as detention resulting from the exercise of one of these rights. It must also guarantee due process and humane treatment to those in detention. Therefore, the death sentences are in direct violations of Islamic Republic's international obligations.





Join us in condemning these outrageous sentences and demanding the immediate and unconditional release of these two men.