13.09.2005 - Source: BBC News

Iranian dissident writer placed in solitary confinement after being transferred back to prison from hospital; no apparent reason has been given for putting him "in quarantine" ("Iran writer in 'jail quarantine'") [#36561],  [ID 8437]

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04.2005 - Source: UK Home Office

Punsihments, confessions and executions due to drug trafficking or sexual relations outside marriage ("Country Report - April 2005") [#31980],  [ID 8438]

"[...]5.20 According to the UNHCR Country of Origin Information Seminar, 2001, Berlin Final Report the law indicates a range of applicable punishments for types of offences. For example, two to ten years imprisonment for a person found to have formed a political organisation deemed to be destroying the security of the country, although the definition of what destroys the national security is not made clear. Similarly, punishments of imprisonment, lashes or fines can be imposed for insults against Iranian leaders or government representatives, but effectively serve to limit freedom of speech as the Law does not define the term “insult”. [3c](pg78)
5.21 According to the UN Economic and Social Council Commission in a report dated 11 February 1997 four types of proof exist within the Iranian legal system. The application of confession, testimony, and oath and “the knowledge of the judge” remain unclear to those outside the Iranian judiciary. There is a marked concern that confessions are often gained by coercion and that the “testimony of righteous men” excludes women and members of religious minorities. [10g](pg8)
5.22 According to the UN, in 1998, the Iranian authorities have said that many of the executions conducted in Iran relate to drug trafficking offences, but no corroborative statistics or information on the protection of human rights policies in dealing with such offenders is available. Numbers of stonings and deaths as a consequence are unclear, though most take place in the larger cities such as Tehran, Hamedan, Isfahan and Kermanshah. All are endorsed by the Supreme Court [10b](pg5), including stoning of women found guilty of sexual relations outside marriage. [10h](pg12) [...]"

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10.2002 - Source: UK Home Office

UK Home Office: Applicable punishments ("Country Assessment - October 2002") [#9556],  [ID 8439]

"4.23. The Law indicates a range of applicable punishments for types of offences. For example, two to ten years imprisonment for a person found to have formed a political organisation deemed to be destroying the security of the country, although the definition of what destroys the national security is not made clear. Similarly, punishments of imprisonment, lashes or fines can be imposed for insults against Iranian leaders or government representatives, but effectively serve to limit freedom of speech as the Law does not define the term “insult”.

4.24. The Ta'zirat dictates that absolute authority be exercised over the populace. The degree of adherence to the proposed punishments within does vary, but continued reports of stoning and executions have brought international calls for greater reform. Four types of proof exist within the Iranian legal system. The application of confession, testimony, and oath and “the knowledge of the judge” remain unclear to those outside the Iranian judiciary. There is a marked concern that confessions are often gained by coercion and that the “testimony of righteous men” excludes women and members of religious minorities.

4.25. The Iranian authorities have said that many of the executions conducted in Iran relate to drug trafficking offences, but no corroborative statistics or information on the protection of human rights policies in dealing with such offenders is available. Numbers of stoning and deaths as a consequence are unclear, though most take place in the larger cities such as Teheran, Hamedan, Isfahan and Kermanshah. All are endorsed by the Supreme Court, including stoning of women found guilty of sexual relations outside marriage.

4.26. However, the Iranian Foreign Ministry states that whilst execution is in Islamic law and cannot be overturned, the government is looking to alternative forms of punishment to stoning. In November 1997 an individual stoned to near death three months earlier was released after widespread international condemnation of the punishment. Western human rights groups recognised that no (public) stoning were carried out in 1998 until a non-fatal stoning took place in Lahijan in late November. The subject was acquitted after he managed to free himself as the sentence was being carried out. Two public stonings were carried out in May 2001 of women accused of adultery and acting in a pornagraphic movie respectively.

4.27. Amputation has been used as a punishment, although the practice has been widely regarded as contravening Article 7 of the ICCPR. In September 1997 three Iranians had hands or fingers amputated for theft and forgery offences."

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