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 About
Age 27 Nationality Iran Religion Non-Believer Civil status Single Education university diploma Occupation health related professional Rank/Position Nurse in Saqez Hospital Affiliation state owned institution Affiliation no political affiliation
Case Date of execution August 27, 1980 Location Sanandaj, Iran Mode of execution shooting Charges Corruption on earth; Providing medical care to counter-revolutionaries; Unspecified counter-revolutionary offense About this Case
Ms. Nasrin (Fereshteh) Ka'bi is one of the two Kurdish sisters, both nurses, whose execution was ordered by the itinerant religious judge, Sadeq Khalkhali (Jomhuri Eslami daily, 31 August 1980). Further information about this individual was obtained through an interview (6 May 2004) with one of her close relatives who indicated that details regarding the defendant's detention and execution were passed on to them by one of her former cellmates. The relative also referred to a brief section regarding the Ka'bi sisters in the Book of Prison (Naser Mohajeri, ed., Vol. 1, P 189) and noted that a tribute commemorating their execution was published in the Komeleh Party newsletter of 31 August 2001.
The arrest and execution of Ms. Ka'bi took place in the context of intensifying, and at times armed, conflict between the Islamic revolutionary government of Iran and the mainly Sunni province of Kurdistan regarding the drafting of the constitution and, in particular, the autonomy of the region. Following Ayatollah Khomeini’s order in 18 August 1979 to combat the “anti-Revolutionary” elements in Kurdistan, at least 58 Kurds were executed by the itinerant religious judge Sadeq Khalkhali in the course of ten days, 19-29 August 1979 (Mansoor Boloori, “The Demise of Sadeq Khalkhali”, Iranian Political Bulletin, 30 November 2003).
Arrest and detention
Based on the interview, Ms. Ka'bi was first arrested and exiled to Qazvin along with her sister in the fall of 1979, following the military crackdown on the Kurdistan province. In the spring of 1980, and after negotiations between a government mission headed by Daryush Foruhar and the Kurdish People’s Representative Delegation, she was encouraged to go back to her home and profession. On June 14, 1980, following the re-capturing of several Kurdish cities by government armed forces, she was re-arrested along with her sister. The arrest warrant was issued by Ayatollah Sadeq Khalkhali, and she was arrested by the Revolutionary Guards from her home in Saqqez.
Ms. Ka'bi spent a total of three months in detention at the Saqqez, Sanandaj, and Evin prisons. During this time, she was interrogated by local and other Revolutionary Guards, had no access to legal counsel, and was prohibited from contacting or visiting family and relatives.
Trial
Based on the available information, no trial was held for this person.
Charges
The Jomhuri Eslami report mentioned Ms. Ka'bi's charges as "participation in recent clashes" and "collaboration with the insurgents." However, the reason given by the authorities to her family for her arrest was "treating the anti-Revolutionaries in the Saqqez hospital."
Evidence of guilt
Based on the available information, no evidence was presented to support the charges brought against the defendant.
Defense
Ms. Ka'bi was not given a chance to defend herself. Ms. Ka'bi who, according to her family, was not politically involved, had engaged in treating the victims of these clashes as a nurse in the hospital.
Judgment
According to Ms. Ka'bi's cellmate, the religious judge issued a collective death sentence for the prisoners at the Sanandaj Garrison at night. The sentence was carried out at dawn. One of the prisoners present at the Garrison described Ms. Ka'bi's execution as follows:
"The guard takes Shahla and her sister, Nasrin, out of the prison ward without saying a word. The sisters stand next to each other with their backs to the wall, their hands tied behind their backs. A Revolutionary Guard brings two pieces of black fabric to blindfold them. Nasrin refuses to be blindfolded, but Shahla accepts. The Guard scorns: 'You are afraid, huh?!' Shahla says: 'Of course not! I just don't want to see my sister die.' At this point, Nasrin asks to be blindfolded as well."
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Human rights violations in this caseThe legal context
Read about the courts, the judges, and the procedure. The courts
Special courts, known as the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunals, were set up after the February 1979 revolution. Their jurisdiction encompasses a wide array of offences ranging from association with or support of the former regime, promotion of foreign influence, and enmity with the revolution to possession, use or sales of narcotic drugs, murder, and profiteering. In the 1980s, a penal court, presided over by one judge, was created to handle some of the offenses punishable by death, such as theft or adultery. These tribunals’ decisions must be confirmed by a chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council.
The judges
Prosecutors and judges are not necessarily jurists. By 1981, the judiciary was purged of judges trained in law schools. They were replaced by seminary graduates and students, as well as by political appointees (an estimated 2000 by 1989). Since by law judges are only required to have a high school diploma and must be faithful to the Islamic Republic’s tenets, new recruits often have little formal training in the law and are chosen because of their political affiliation.
The procedure
The procedures of these ecclesiastical tribunals fail to meet the minimum guarantees for fair trial as established by international human rights instruments and by sha’ria (the Islamic system of law). In addition to executions ordered by revolutionary tribunals, extra-judicial executions are carried out, targeting dissidents and opposition leaders. In some cases, both inside and outside of Iran, these executions have been traced back to Iranian officials. It is, however, not known if in these particular cases trials are held in absentia.
Sources (Among others): Amnesty International, Law and Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, February 1980; Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights, The Justice System of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1992; E/CN.4/1989/26 p.14; UNCHR, Resolution 1984/54 , Abolition of Torture - Iran - 1; 28 November 1984; Report on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Special Representative of the Commission, Mr. Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, 28 January 1987. Amnesty International, A SHOCKED WORLD WATCHES IN DISBELIEF, VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS, 1987-1990. Memoirs of Ayatollah Khalkhali, religious judge and former head of revolutionary tribunals (2001), and Ayatollah Montazeri, dismissed successor to Ayatollah Khomeini (2001). UNCH, E/CN.4/1994/50, Final report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran prepared by the Special Representative of the Commission on Human Rights, Mr. Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, pursuant to Commission resolution 1993/62 of 10 March 1993 and Economic and Social Council decision 1993/273. E/CN.4/1994/50, 2 February 1994.
 read...
 close... Detentions, interrogations, and trials: 1979-1980
Read about the conditions in which individuals were detained, tried and sentenced. Pre-trial detentions
The charges upon which the accused were arraigned were often extremely broad. Defendants generally had no access to legal counsel nor to their file and the evidence against them prior to the trial.
Trials
Witnesses might be called, or the statement of persons with relevant information read into the court’s record. Accusation witnesses could come forward the day of the trial to give evidence against the accused, but in most cases, defense witnesses were not allowed in court. There was no automatic right of a defendant to cross-examine witnesses or to know the source of the evidence against him. The defendant had an opportunity to state his side of the matter and attempt to refute what was said against him, but the final decision was solely up to the discretion of the religious judge.
Appeal processes
The judgments of the Revolutionary Courts were not subject to appeal. The convicts were generally executed within a few hours of the judgment.
read...
close... International humanitarian law violations
International humanitarian law emphasizes that all those wounded and sick, whether or not they have taken part in the armed conflict and regardless of their race, color, sex, language, religion or belief, political or other opinion, national or social origin, wealth, birth or other status, or on any other similar criteria, shall be respected and protected. In all circumstances they shall be treated humanely and receive the medical care and attention required by their condition.
Under international humanitarian law, the medical personnel, regardless of their race, color, sex, language, religion or belief, political or other opinion, national or social origin, wealth, birth or other status, or on any other similar criteria, shall be respected and protected in cases of armed conflict. Under no circumstances shall they be punished for having carried out medical activities compatible with medical ethics, regardless of the person benefiting from those activities.
Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), 8 June 1977.
Article 1, Article 2, Article7.1,
Article 7.2,
Article 9.1, Article 10.1,
Article 10.2.
Based on the available information, the following human rights have been violated in this case:
The right to liberty and security of the person. The right not to be subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 3; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 9.1. The right not to be punished for any crime on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence, under national or international law, at the time it was committed.
UDHR, Article 11.2; ICCPR, Article 15, Article 6.2.
The right to due process
The right to be presumed innocent until found guilty by a competent and impartial tribunal in accordance with law.
ICCPR, Article 14.1 and Article 14.2.
Pre-trial detention rights
The right to know promptly and in detail the nature and cause of the charges against one. UDHR, Article 9(2); ICCPR, Article 9.2 and Article 14.3.a The right to counsel of one’s own choosing or the right to legal aid. The right to communicate with one’s attorney in confidence
ICCPR, Article 14.3.b and Article 14.3.d; Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, Article 1, Article 2, Article 5, Article 6, and Article 8. The right to adequate time and facilities for the preparation of the defense case. ICCPR, Article 14.3.b.
The right not to be compelled to testify against oneself or to confess to guilt.
ICCPR, Article 14.3.g.>
The right not to be subjected to torture and to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
ICCPR, Article 7; Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Article 1 and Article 2.
Trial rights
The right to a fair and public trial without undue delay.
ICCPR, Article 14.1, Article 14.3.c.
The right to defense through an attorney or legal aid. The right to examine, or have examined, the witnesses against one, and the right to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on one’s behalf under the same conditions as prosecution witnesses.
ICCPR, Article 14.3.d and Article 14.3.e. The right to have the decision rendered in public.
ICCPR, Article 14.1. The right not to be tried or punished again for an offence for which one has already been convicted or acquitted.
ICCPR, Article 14.7.
Judgment rights
Capital punishment
The inherent right to life, of which no one shall be arbitrarily deprived.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 3; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 6.1; Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, Article 1.1, Article 1.2. The right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.
ICCPR, Article 7; Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment, Article 1 and Article 2.
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