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Iran Tribunal an International People's Tribunal WITNESS STATEMENTS

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Iran Tribunal an International People's Tribunal WITNESS STATEMENTS Iran Tribunal An International People’s Tribunal WITNESS STATEMENTS Submitted to the Tribunal in The Hague 25-27 October 2012 All rights reserved for Iran Tribunal Foundation. 1 Table of Content PROFESSOR MAURICE COPITHORNE ............................................................................ 4 STATEMENT ................................................................................................................... 5 INTRODUCTION TO THE APPOINTMENT AND WORK OF.................................... 5 THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ..................................................................................... 5 DR HEDAYAT MATINE-DAFTARY ................................................................................. 8 PENAL POLICY IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC, ............................................................ 8 INSTRUMENTS OF FLAGRANT ABUSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS .................................. 8 DEVELOPMENT OF THE JUDICIARY AND THE PENAL CODE IN THE FIRST .... 8 DECADE OF A SECTARIAN STATE .......................................................................... 8 TOWARDS A CRUEL THEOCRACY .......................................................................... 9 A LEGAL STRUCTURE THAT VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS ................................ 15 JUDICIAL PROCEDURE: ........................................................................................... 15 CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENTS AND PUNISHMENTS DISPROPORTIONATE TO THE CRIME .................................................................... 16 INEQUALITY BETWEEN CITIZENS ........................................................................ 19 A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AT THE END OF THE FIRST DECADE .................................................................................................. 20 CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY OF CHILDREN ........................................................ 24 INDEPENDENCE AND IMPARTIALITY OF JUDICIARY ....................................... 26 D. THE RIGHT OF DEFENCE AND INDEPENDENCE OF LAWYERS ................... 28 MALAKEH MOSTAFA SOLTANI ................................................................................... 35 STATEMENT ................................................................................................................. 35 MOHAMAD REZA ASHOUGH (MEHDI) ........................................................................ 39 STATEMENT ................................................................................................................. 40 CHOWRA MAKAREMI .................................................................................................... 43 STATEMENT ................................................................................................................. 44 SHOHREH GHANBARI .................................................................................................... 51 STATEMENT ................................................................................................................. 51 JALIL SHARHANI ............................................................................................................ 57 STATEMENT ................................................................................................................. 57 SHOKOUFEH SAKHI ....................................................................................................... 60 STATEMENT ................................................................................................................. 60 RUHIYYIH JAHANPOUR ................................................................................................. 71 STATEMENT ................................................................................................................. 71 NIMA SARVESTANI ........................................................................................................ 79 NADER BOKAEE .............................................................................................................. 81 2 STATEMENT ................................................................................................................. 81 AMIR ATIABI ................................................................................................................... 87 STATEMENT ................................................................................................................. 88 MEHDI ASLANI ................................................................................................................ 99 STATEMENT ............................................................................................................... 100 AHMAD MOUSAVI MAAF ............................................................................................ 105 STATEMENT ............................................................................................................... 106 ANNE BURLEY .............................................................................................................. 113 IRAJ MESDAGHI ............................................................................................................ 115 STATEMENT ............................................................................................................... 116 NAVAL MOHSEN ........................................................................................................... 122 STATEMENT ............................................................................................................... 122 MEHDI MEMARPOURI .................................................................................................. 127 STATEMENT ............................................................................................................... 128 SADEGH NAHOOMI ...................................................................................................... 131 STATEMENT ............................................................................................................... 131 3 PROFESSOR MAURICE COPITHORNE BIOGRAPHY 1. Professor Copithorne’s impressive career spans six decades, during which he specialised in international law. After being called to the BC Bar in 1956, Professor Copithorne joined the Canadian Foreign Service where he spent the next 30 years in a wide variety of positions both in Ottawa and abroad. Among those were Legal Advisor and Director General of Legal Affairs (1975-1979), Canadian Ambassador to Austria and UN Agencies in Vienna (1979-1982), which also included the Chairmanship of the International Atomic Energy Board of Governors from 1980 to 1981, Assistant Under Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific (1982-1983) and Canadian Commissioner to Hong Kong (1983- 1986). He retired from the Canadian Foreign Service in 1986 to take a visiting professorship position with the UBC Faculty of Law, and has been with the Faculty ever since. 2. In addition to teaching, he has held a variety of external appointments including United Nations Special Representative on the Human Rights Situation in Iran (1995-2002) and has been active in a variety of other professional and community groups including the UBC International House Advisory Board. He was a fellow at the Harvard Centre for International Affairs (1974-1975). In addition to the John E. Read Medal, he has received several awards and honours including being appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1981, the Great Trekker Award from the UBC Alma Mater Society in 1997 and the Renata Shearer Award for “outstanding contributions to human rights” in 2000. He alsoreceived an honorary degree from UBC in 2003. 3. He was the Special Rapporteur from 1995 to 2002. After that, he had no continuing connection with the UN on this or any other subject. For good measure, he was declared persona non grata by the Iranians, which meant that he had no chance of getting an Iranian visa. In fact, the position of Special Rapporteur in the UN was not filled again, until a few years ago. 4 4. However , he did stay in touch with Iran through the press, friends and Iranian visitors to Vancouver. STATEMENT INTRODUCTION TO THE APPOINTMENT AND WORK OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR 1. Two years after my appointment as the Special Rapporteur, Mahammad Khatami, a liberal-minded cleric, was elected, with an overwhelming majority, as the President of Islamic Republic. To begin with, it was an unusual time with a liberal President Khatami nominally in charge in Iran. 2. I prepared and submitted three reports a year: bi-annually to the Human Rights Commission, and one to the Third Committee of the General Assembly. These reports were available in all the languages under the U.N. 3. My reports on Iran, according to sources, quickly found their way to the free market in Teheran, after translation. I was reliably informed that all reports in Farsi were snapped up quickly but with some care as, I was informed, possession of one of my reports in Farsi would attract a stiff penalty. 4. There was very little interchange between myself and the Iranian officials. They were often apparently given instructions to seek changes but unless they were clearly factual mistakes, I did not accept any proposed changes made by them. 5. The reports covered approximately a six-month period. 6. Before submitting a report, as is usual, I invited comments from interested parties including the Iranian Government. The Iranian Government delegation regularly proposed that some of the provisions in the draft resolution should meet some of the demands of Iran. This was
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