PLEASE signe et diffuse. Death Penalty is also discriminatory and is often used disproportionately against the poor, etniq the powerless and the marginalized, as well as against people whom repressive governments want to eliminate. The death penalty does not deter crime more than other punishments. Executions for Drug Offences in Iran, the organization finds that at least 488 people have been executed for alleged drug offences so far in 2011, a nearly threefold increase on the 2009 figures, when Amnesty International recorded at least 166 executions for similar offences. In total Amnesty International has recorded some 600 executions reported by both official and unofficial sources this year, with drug offences accounting for about 81% of the total. The organization called on the Iranian authorities to end the use of the death penalty against those accused of drug offences. Should be abolish died penalty …. Leyla Pekoz Caliskan Why This Is Important Madani Sharifi is a taxi driver from the city of Orumiyeh, Iran. After taking a man from Orumiyeh to Ghazvin he was caught by local police who claimed that he was trafficing drugs. Mr. Sharifi has denied this claim and he was not found guilty on the basis of evidence presented in the court. According to Mr. Sharifi’s lawyer there were no signs that he was engaged in such activity. Mr. Sharifi had no cash on him when he was caught, no signs of drugs in the car, and they failed to prove any connections to organizations that perform such activity. According to Mr. Sharifi’s lawyer Madani Sharifi was beaten so badly that, to save his life, he had to admit to a crime they couldn’t prove he did. He admitted only to have transported a person from Orumiyeh to Ghazvin, but said that this was a usual job for a taxi driver and that he did not know the man. The man he transported however, did carry drugs. According to Iranian law it doesn’t matter who had the mens rea, being unknowingly involved in such a crime demands the same punishment as the one who had criminal intent – death by hanging. According to Mr. Sharifi’s family in Europe this is a punishment for the activities of Madani’s brother in the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI). The Iranian government considers this organization illegal. Madani’s brother has been politically active for years in the KDPI which demands a regime change in order to secure Kurdish rights by law in a democratic Iran. As it looks now he will be executed by hanging – when, is still not official. The purpose of this petition is to halt the execution of Mr. Sharifi until the court considers the claim, that Mr. Sharifi was beaten and tortured to confess, and for the Iranian courts to uphold the universal principle of the right to a fair trial. Mr. Sharifi potentially leaves a wife with no husband and two young daughters without their father.
