(성명서 요약본) 세계변호사협회 인권연구소(IBAHRI), 이란 래퍼 투마즈 살레히 사형 선고 번복 환영

세계변호사협회 인권연구소(IBAHRI)는 이란 대법원이 투마즈 살레히 래퍼에게 내린 사형 선고를 뒤집은 것에 대해 환영의 뜻을 밝혔습니다. 또한 이란에서의 계속된 사형 선고와 처형을 강력히 비판했습니다.

투마즈 살레히는 2022년 10월 30일 '여성, 생명, 자유' 운동을 지지하는 영상을 게시한 후 체포되었습니다. 이 운동은 마흐사 아미니가 도덕 경찰에 체포된 후 사망한 사건으로 촉발되었습니다. 살레히는 2023년 11월 18일 보석으로 석방되었지만, 구금 중의 학대와 고문을 폭로하는 영상을 업로드한 후 다시 체포되었습니다.

2024년 4월 23일, 이스파한 혁명법원은 살레히에게 '국가 반역', '국가 안보에 대한 모의 및 선동', '국가에 대한 선전' 등의 혐의로 사형을 선고했습니다. 그러나 2024년 6월 22일, 이란 대법원은 이 사형 선고가 과도하고 법에 어긋난다는 이유로 이를 번복했습니다.

IBAHRI 공동의장 앤 람버그는 "IBAHRI는 모든 상황에서 비인간적이고 잔혹한 사형을 반대한다"고 언급하며, 이란 당국이 '여성, 생명, 자유' 시위에 대해 잔혹한 대응을 해왔다고 비판했습니다. 또한, IBAHRI는 투마즈 살레히와 같은 인물의 즉각적이고 무조건적인 석방을 요구했습니다.

람버그는 "이란은 생명권(제6조), 공정한 재판을 받을 권리(제14조), 고문 및 잔혹한 처벌 금지(제7조)를 보장하는 국제규약의 당사국"이라고 상기시키며, 이란이 이를 위반하고 있다고 강조했습니다.

2024년 현재까지 이란에서는 최소 243명이 처형되었으며, 2023년에는 853명 이상이 처형되었습니다. 이 중 최소 481명이 마약 관련 혐의로 처형되었으며, 이는 전년도 대비 89% 증가한 수치입니다.

IBAHRI 공동의장 마크 스티븐스는 "국제법상 사형은 가장 중대한 범죄에만 적용되어야 하며, 이는 고의적인 살인을 포함하는 극히 중대한 범죄로 제한된다"고 언급하면서, 이란의 사형 집행이 국제 인권법을 위반하고 있다고 비판했습니다.

유엔 사무총장 안토니오 구테흐스는 이란 당국의 인권 침해에 대해 보고하면서, 고문으로 얻어진 자백, 적법 절차 위반, 변호사와 인권 옹호자들에 대한 지속적인 억압 등을 지적했습니다. 또한 국제사회가 이란의 인권법 위반에 대해 책임을 물 것을 촉구했습니다.

마지막으로, 유엔 특별보고관들은 "국제법에서는 매우 제한된 상황에서만 사형을 허용하지만, 실제로 인권 의무를 준수하면서 사형을 집행하는 것은 거의 불가능하다"고 주장했습니다.

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The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) has welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran to overturn the death sentence handed down in the case of the rapper Toomaj Salehi who was sentenced under Iran’s penal code for alleged ‘corruption on earth’. However, the IBAHRI continues to condemn outright death sentences meted out in Iran, in addition to any executions taking place in the country.

On 23 April 2024, Branch 1 of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court sentenced Mr Salehi to death for alleged crimes including ‘participating in rebelling against state’, ‘gathering and colluding against national security’ and ‘propaganda against state’. The charges were said to amount to ‘corruption on earth’, which is punishable by death under the Islamic Penal Code. On 22 June 2024, the Supreme Court overturned the death sentence on the basis that it was excessive and contrary to Iranian law.

IBAHRI Co-Chair and Immediate Past Secretary General of the Swedish Bar Association, Anne Ramberg Dr Jur hc, commented: ‘The IBAHRI opposes the inhuman and cruel punishment of the death penalty in all circumstances. While we welcome the Supreme Court’s decision in Toomaj Salehi’s case, it has been well documented that the Iranian authorities’ response to the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ protests have been met with force so brutal it defies comprehension.Clearly, the death penalty is being used as a tool of repression to create fear and to attempt to silence, protestors and dissidents. Mr Salehi’s case is emblematic of this. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of Mr Salehi and all those imprisoned in Iran simply for speaking out for freedom and human rights.  Also, we condemn unreservedly death sentences and executions and demand the abolition of both in Iran.’

Ms Ramberg added: ‘Furthermore, we remind authorities that Iran is a State party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which enshrines the right to life [Article 6], the right to a fair trial [Article 14], and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment [Article 7].’ 

According to Iran Human Rights, at least 243 people have been executed in Iran in 2024 thus far. Other commentators state that in 2023, more than 853 people were executed and that of this figure, at least 481 people were killed for drug-related charges ? this being an 89 per cent increase compared to 255 executions in 2022. This spike was a major factor in the surge in recorded executions across the world in 2023. According to Harm Reduction International, 98 per cent of known drug-related death sentences worldwide in 2023 took place in Iran.

IBAHRI Co-Chair, Mark Stephens CBE, stated: ‘To the limited extent that the death penalty is permitted under international law, Article 6(2) of the ICCPR requires that it be reserved for “the most serious crimes.” In its General Comment No. 36 (2018), the United Nations Human Rights Committee has held that this term must be read restrictively, relating only to crimes of extreme gravity involving intentional killing. Acts that do not result directly and intentionally in death, such as drug-related offences and blasphemy,  cannot serve as the basis for the death penalty. Iran is unambiguously in violation of the legally binding Covenant.’

Mr Stephens continued: ‘In a recent report to the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, outlined a litany of human rights abuses by the Iranian authorities, including torture-tainted confessions, due process violations, “an ongoing atmosphere of intimidation, coercion, and repression against lawyers, human rights defenders, and the families of protest victims”, and reports of government interference with the independence of the Iranian Bar Association. Without ensuring an independent legal profession and without respect for human rights rulers demonstrate that they are not working in the interests of their nation. Therefore, we call on the international community to use all possible avenues to hold Iran to account for its violations of international human rights law.’

The UN-appointed independent experts, the Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Morris Tidball-Binz, and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Dr Alice Jill Edwards, have argued that ‘although international law permits the death penalty in very limited circumstances, in practice it is almost impossible for states to impose the death penalty while complying with human rights obligations, including the absolute and universal prohibition of torture’.

The latest in a series of arrests in connection to the 2022 ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ movement protests and sentenced to death include: 

According to reports, Iranian authorities have carried out nine executions, overturned 11 death penalty convictions and handed out 25 death sentences in relation to protests since April 2024.

ENDS

Contact: IBAHRI@int-bar.org

Notes to the Editor

1. 1. Click here to download a PDF of: IBAHRI Council Resolution on the Abolition of the Death Penalty.

2. Related material:

• 2024 International Day of the Endangered Lawyer highlights plight of Iranian lawyers
• Iran: IBAHRI condemns mass application of the death penalty and reiterates calls for end to unfair trials
• IBAHRI, bar associations and international lawyers’ organisations call for protection of lawyers in Iran 

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2. 3. The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), established in 1995 under Founding Honorary President Nelson Mandela, is an autonomous entity working to promote, protect and enforce human rights under a just rule of law, and to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession worldwide. 

4. Find the IBAHRI on social media here:

• twitter.com/IBAHRI 
• facebook.com/IBAhumanrights 
• linkedin.com/in/iba-human-rights-institute/

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2. 5. The International Bar Association (IBA), the global voice of the legal profession, is the foremost organisation for international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. Established in 1947, shortly after the creation of the United Nations, with the aim of protecting and promoting the rule of law globally, the IBA was born out of the conviction that an organisation made up of the world's bar associations could contribute to global stability and peace through the administration of justice.