Abdorrahman Boroumand Center

for Human Rights in Iran

https://www.iranrights.org
Omid, a memorial in defense of human rights in Iran
One Person’s Story

Ramin Hossein Panahi

About

Age: 25
Nationality: Iran
Religion: Islam (Sunni)
Civil Status: Unknown

Case

Date of Killing: September 8, 2018
Location of Killing: Evin Prison, Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Mode of Killing: Hanging
Charges: War on God, God's Prophet and the deputy of the Twelfth Imam
Age at time of alleged offense: 24

About this Case

a civil and political activist who was arrested by the Information Ministry agents at the age of 16, and was tortured in order to get him to cooperate with them.

News of the execution of Mr. Ramin Hossein Panahi and two other individuals was published by the Tehran General and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office website and IRNA news agency on September 8, 2018. Additional information about this case was obtained from The Boroumand Center Newsletter (March 16, 2018), the Boroumand Center’ published interview with a person with knowledge of the case (August 30, 2018), the Boroumand Center interview with Hossein Ahmadi Niaz, his attorney (October 10 and 18, 2018), interview with a person with knowledge of the case (August 30, 2018), ISNA news agency (May 22, 2018, June 10 and 13, 2018, August 19 and 25, 2018), IRNA news agency (May 3, 2018), Mizan news agency (August 28, 2018), The Young Reporters Club (June 26, 2018), Komeleh Party of Kurdistan website (July 17, 2017), ROJ news and analysis website (June 23, 2017), Deutsche Welle (June 2, 2018), and Amnesty International website (September 8, 2018).

Mr. Ramin Hossein Panahi, child of Sharifeh and Mohammad Mirza, was 24 years old. He was born into a crowded, poor, working class family in the town of Dehgolan’s Qaruchai village in Kurdistan Province where he obtained his high school diploma. Mr. Hossein Panahi had 3 sisters and 5 brothers. His family was active in providing help to other people, saving their lives. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 10, 2018).

According to his brother, Mr. Hossein Panahi was a civil and political activist who was arrested by the Information Ministry agents at the age of 16, and was tortured in order to get him to cooperate with them. After he completed his education, Mr. Hossein Panahi was persecuted and threatened by the Dehgolan and Qorveh Information Ministry agents, and he was forced to flee the country to Iraqi Kurdistan. He was a freedom-seeking, peace-loving young man with great ideals. He believed in humanity, peoples’ welfare, equality, and women’s rights. He was a member of the Kurdistan Komeleh Party. He was traveling from Iraqi Kurdistan to the city of Sanandaj to visit with his father and sick mother. (Boroumand Center Newsletter, March 16, 2018).

One of Mr. Hossein Panahi’s brother’s named Anvar, had previously been sentenced to death, his sentence subsequently overturned. One of his brothers is in jail, another brother died in a suspicious car accident, and two brothers have been forced to leave the country. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 10, 2018).

Several remaining members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran established the Revolutionary Organization of this party in Iraq in the mid-1960’s. Esma’il Sharifzadeh, Abdollah Mo’ini, and Molaavareh were among the leaders of this organization who, inspired by the Cuban Revolution, began an armed guerrilla struggle in Kurdistan. When this group was defeated in 1969 and several of its members were arrested, armed struggle was criticized and the Maoist trend overcomes. When some of its leaders were released in 1978, the Revolutionary Organization of Working People in Kurdistan – Komala was established. Based on Marxist theory, Komala was against the capitalists and landlords and encouraged workers and peasants in Kurdistan to an armed uprising against them and the central government. This organization considered the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (PDKI) as the rich party and campaigned against it, resulting in several armed conflicts and hundreds dead. In 1982, Komala joined another Marxist group, Sahand, which was basically a theoretical group, and established the Communist Party of Iran, calling itself the Kurdistan “Organization of the Communist Party of Iran – Komala”. By the mid-1980’s, the central government was able to push Komala Pesmerga Forces from Kurdistan into Northern Iraq. In subsequent years, this organization separated from the Communist Party of Iran and faced several other schisms. Currently, a number of different groups use the name Komala.

According to available information, Mr. Hossein Ahmadi Niazi, Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, was arrested because he was doing his job of defending his client. He was arrested for writing a communique in response to the Kurdistan Province Judiciary’s bulletin regarding Mr. Hossein Panahi, and was released on a 200-million-Tuman bail. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 18, 2018).

Several international human rights organizations issued announcements and bulletins demanding a stay of the death sentence and a fair trial for Mr. Hossein Panahi; they subsequently protested and strongly condemned his execution in further announcements. (Boroumand Center, March 16, 2018, Deutsche Welle, June 2, 2018, and Amnesty International, September 8, 2018).

Arrest and detention

On Friday, June 23, 2017, Mr. Hossein Panahi was injured and arrested by Revolutionary Guards forces in the outskirts of the city of Sanandaj. Three other individuals who were with him were killed in the incident. According to available information, no one had any information or any knowledge of Mr. Hossein Panahi’s whereabouts for four months. (HRANA, January 9, 2018).

According to available information, Mr. Hossein Panahi was unconscious at the time of his arrest and was immediately taken to Be’sat Hospital in Sanandaj for medical attention. Immediately after surgery, he was taken to solitary confinement and subjected to interrogation in that same physical state. He spent close to 180 days at the Revolutionary Guards detention center, and was then transferred to Sanandaj Information Administration detention center pursuant to a court order. Mr. Hossein Panahi had a court-appointed attorney; however, based on available information, his attorney was not invited to and was not present at any of the interrogation sessions at either the Revolutionary Guards or the Information Ministry detention centers, and his statements were taken in the absence of his attorney. (HRANA, May 5, 2018). His family had no knowledge of his whereabouts the entire time. According to his family, one of Mr. Hossein Panahi’s kidneys became severely infected during his detention. (Boroumand Center Newsletter, March 16, 2018). Mr. Hossein Panahi had been forced to confess under torture that he was armed [at the time of the incident]. According to his attorney, he had secretly been videotaped while undergoing interrogations. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 18, 2018).

He was injured and unconscious at the time of his arrest, and was taken to a solitary confinement cell after surgery.

After his case was referred to Sanandaj Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office, he was transferred to Sanandaj Prison on January 9, 2018. (HRANA, January 9, 2018). He visited with his mother there. According to one of his attorneys, Mr. Hossein Panahi was allowed weekly visitations with herat the Sanandaj Prison. According to his attorney, Mr. Hossein Panahi “was never worried about the implementation of his death sentence. He was only upset that the Islamic Republic had brabded [and treated] him as a terrorist.” (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 10, 2018).

On August 17, 2018, Mr. Hossein Panahi was suddenly transferred to Rajaishahr Prison in Alborz Province without prior notice, and all visitations and phone contacts with his family were cut off. He was kept at Ward 10, Hall 31 at this prison, where prisoners who had committed various crimes were being kept, and he had no contact with the outside world. On August 26, 2018, protesting his illegal transfer to Rajaishahr Prison, the Judiciary’s inattention to his request for a new trial, and the mixing of prisoners without regard for the nature of their crimes, Mr. Hossein Panahi went on a hunger strike and sewed his lips shut. Instead of considering his requests, the authorities took Mr. Hossein Panahi to solitary confinement, a place other than the Prison’s quarantine and its known solitary confinement cells. Mr. Hossein Panahi was on a hunger strike until the time of his execution. He visited with his mother for the last time on September 4, 2018, at Rajaishahr Prison, but they were not told that this would be the last visitation. (Boroumand Center interview with a person with knowledge of the case, August 30, 2018).

According to Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, on September 7, 2018, judicial authorities transferred him from Rajaishahr Prison in Alborz Province to Evin Prison, along with two other prisoners. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 18, 2018).

Trial

On January 15, 2018, Sanandaj Islamic Revolutionary Court Branch One tried Mr. Hossein Panahi in a closed door session. The trial started at 9 o’clock in the morning and lasted for three hours, and was attended by the prosecutor, the Information Ministry representative, and the defendant’s court-appointed lawyer. In spite of Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney’s insistence, Mr. Hossein Panahi’s family, who were sitting behind the court’s closed doors, were not allowed to attend the trial. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 18, 2018).

Charges

The Court accused Mr. Hossien Panahi of being Baghi (“armed uprising against the reigning Imam”). According to the Tehran General and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office’s communique, he “entered the country with a military team in order to conduct subversive activities, and when officers became suspicious of said team at the stop and search station at the entrance to the city of Sanandaj, Ramin Hossein Panahi and his cohorts proceeded to throw hand grenades and fire toward the officers.” According to said communique, Sanandaj Prosecutor’s Office Investigating Judge explained the charges of “Moharebeh” (“waging war against God”), membership in groups enemies of the Regime, and transporting war ammunition” to Mr. Hossein Panahi. (Tehran General and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office, September 8, 2018).

Evidence of guilt

According to the Tehran General and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office’s communique, Mr. Hossein Panahi confessed that he had entered the country armed with weapons and intended to conduct operations inside the territory. He also admitted that he had fired a 30-bullet magazine at the officers. (Tehran General and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office, September 8, 2018). According to the report published by the Judiciary Branch news agency, “two Kalashnikov rifles, fourteen empty magazines, 243 Kalashnikov cartridges, two hand gun magazines and 28 war cartridges, one pistol, one advanced binoculars/camera with photography and videotaping capabilities, one smart phone and 2 regular cell phones, two cartridge cases, and some organizational documents” were recovered and confiscated from the group Mr. Hossein Panahi was accompanying. (Mizan news agency, August 28, 2018).

Defense

Based on available information, Mr. Hossein Panahi denied all the charges. The authorities denied him his right to a defense and interrogated him as he was wounded, without providing him medical treatment. Mr. Hossein Panahi was deprived of access to his chosen attorney for eight months, and although the Investigative judge had designated a court-appointed lawyer for him, said lawyer was not allowed to attend the interrogation sessions conducted by the Revolutionary Guards and the Information Ministry; ultimately, Mr. Hossein Panahi was tried behind closed doors.

Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney of choice said his client was innocent: “The defendant had a court-appointed lawyer from among lawyers approved by the Judiciary Branch pursuant to the Note to Article 48; that lawyer did not, however, attend any of the interrogation sessions conducted by the Revolutionary Guards and the Information Ministry; he had not even been invited to attend the sessions. Mr. Hossein Panahi’s statements before these two organs were taken in the absence of an attorney in spite of the Law for Criminal Procedure Articles 5 and 6’s requirements.” Mr. Hossein Panahi’s chosen attorney further stated that the only thing the court-appointed lawyer had done in defending him was “write a letter asking for forgiveness and a pardon, something that was repeatedly alluded to in the trial court ruling as well as the Supreme Court Decision.” (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 10 and 18, 2018, HRANA, May 5, 2018).

According to his attorney, Mr. Hossein Panahi denied all the charges and stated that the confessions obtain during interrogations were given under torture. Mr. Hossein Panahi was not allowed a final defense. After the defendant declared that he had been tortured during interrogations, the judges started asking him questions that had been asked while he was in detention. Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney objected to the court’s procedure and said: “This tribunal is unacceptable. You’re not an interrogator, you’re a judge! Your job is to arbitrate between us and the interrogators, and ascertain who is right, not to prove my client’s guilt. You’re a judge and you’re independent!” This objection was rejected by the court, however, and the trial continued even though the defendant was to be dispatched to the Medical Examiner’s Office and the trial delayed.” (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 10 and 18, 2018).

Based on available information, Mr. Hossein Panahi claimed in court and before the judges that he had been tortured and that the signs of torture were still visible on his body after the passage of months. He offered and requested to show his injuries to the judges in order to prove his claim. His attorney entered the request in the record of the proceedings, and asked that said claim be examined before a substantive consideration of the charges was to go forward; the request was disregarded. Citing Principle 38 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran which provides “It is prohibited to torture an individual in order to extract a confession or information,” Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney stressed the point in open court that a confession obtained under torture is invalid and has no credence. According to Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, exerting pressure (whether physical or psychological) on the defendant in order to force him to say what the interrogator wants him to say, as well as keeping the defendant in solitary confinement for more than 200 days in spite of illness and injuries, are prime instances of torture. (Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney’s statement in response to the Kurdistan Province Judiciary’s claim, May 5, 2018).

Pursuant to Iranian law, including Principle 38 of the Constitution, torture is prohibited and is also considered to be a crime under the Penal Code. Any confession obtained through torture is null and void. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 10, 2018).

Based on available information, citing Principle 34 of the Constitution, Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney stated that his client’s trial was not fair and that the court did not have jurisdiction over the matter. In his opinion, first, pursuant to Islamic Penal Code Article 287, “Baghi” occurs when a group conducts armed operations, and members of a group are considered Baghi when they play an effective role in that group. Mr. Hossein Panahi, according to the case file and his own statements, had returned to the region for the sole purpose of visiting his parents and never intended to conduct terrorist activities, and the claim of terrorism was an absolute lie. Furthermore, the plaintiff had not presented any evidence to that effect and Mr. Hossein Panahi did not use a weapon even when he and his companions were being shot at. Secondly, Baghi means objection to the functioning of the government or the ruling Imam, that is, there is government opposed to the defendant; trial could be fair only if the court were independent. How could a trial be independent, fair, and just when the law enforcement agents of the Revolutionary Guards and the Information Ministry are not only part of the government but are also plaintiffs, and the Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office and the Revolutionary Court are also part of the government as well and responsible by law to defend the Islamic Revolution? According to Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, the trial should have been postponed but it wasn’t, and the ruling was issued immediately. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 18, 2018; Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney’s statement, HRANA, May 5, 2018). Also, according to Mr. Hossein Panahi’s brother, he was not even allowed to speak in court and his lawyer was not allowed to defend him properly. The trial was supposed to take place over several sessions but it was over in one session and the sentence of death was issued 10 days later. (Boroumand Center Newsletter, March 16, 2018).

The only action the court-appointed attorney (one that was approved by the Judiciary Branch) took in defending this defendant was “to write a letter asking for forgiveness and a pardon, which was repeatedly alluded to in the trial court ruling as well as in the Supreme Court Decision.”

Emphasizing the principle that the punishment must be proportionate to the crime, Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney stated: “According to Iranian law, membership alone in the Komeleh Party and promoting the same, cannot carry the death penalty and the punishment is only imprisonment.” He also said: “My client was never armed, and when they entered the country, he [and his companions] were being watched by the Revolutionary Guards, who were lying in wait and ambushed them in the vicinity of the city of Sanandaj. According to the Kurdistan Judiciary’s bulletin, three of Ramin’s companions were immediately killed, and Ramin, who was in the back seat of a Pride automobile, was immediately wounded and lost consciousness; no one can resort to a weapon when they are unconscious. Also, according to the Revolutionary Guards’ official announcement and its news, not a single one of the Guardsmen suffered even a superficial injury, which shows that, first, this was not a skirmish but an ambush by the Revolutionary Guards, and second, Ramin had no weapon, let alone firing one.” (Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney’s statement, HRANA, May 5, 2018).

In a message to international activists issued in detention while he was visiting with his mother, Mr. Hossein Panahi declared that he was a political activist and an example of young Iranian Kurds who had engaged in civil activism and had been forced to leave Iran, and that he had returned to the country solely for the purpose of seeing his elderly mother. He emphasized that he did not recognize [the legality of] the proceedings. (Boroumand Center Newsletter, March 16, 2018; Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 10, 2018).

Mr. Hossein Panahi was deprived of his right to an attorney in the course of investigations and gathering of evidence in the case. Underscoring the information and security apparatus’ pressure on the court, Mr. Hossein Panahi’s lawyer stated: “I asked Ramin in open court, in front the Information Ministry representative and the Prosecutor’s representative: ‘Do you have an issue [that you wish to talk about]?’ He said ‘Yes, I was tortured.’ ‘Where?’ I asked. ‘Here,’ he said, ‘look,’ and he showed the marks on his body. I said ‘Your Honor, in accordance with current criminal procedure laws, I ask that it be stated in the record that my client has been tortured.’” Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney asked that the people who had ordered the torture of his client, as well as the perpetrators of the torture be prosecuted, and that Mr. Hossein Panahi be referred to the Medical Examiner’s Office [for a medical examination], but the court disregarded the request. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 10, 2018).

Mr. Hossein Panahi spent eight months in solitary confinement, which, according to his lawyer, is a prime example of torture. According to Mr. Hossin Panahi’s attorney, pursuant to Articles 4, 6, and 7 of the Law on the Rules of Criminal Procedure, a defendant must have immediate access to his/her lawyer after an arrest, must immediately be apprised of the charges and these charges must be explained to him/her, and must immediately be able to inform his/her family of the situation; but such procedure was not implemented in his case as it is done in the case of other political and security-related defendants. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 10, 2018).

According to Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, at the Prosecutor’s Office, the Investigating Judge had shown him a National Security High Council directive whereby those accused of political and security-related crimes are to be tortured in order to obtain a confession. According to him, the issuance of a sentence of Baghi was based on that same directive. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 18, 2018).

According to Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, adjudicating “Baghi” cases (which means objecting to the functioning of a government and is a political charge, pursuant to Islamic Penal Code Article 287), must be done in proceedings open to the public and in the presence of a jury, pursuant to Principle 168 of the Constitution; that never happened. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 18, 2018).

According to Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, upon his request for a new trial, the case was referred to Supreme Court Branch 38, but that Branch rejected the request without even taking possession of the original case file. The second request for a new trial was sent to Supreme Court Branch 39, located in the city of Qom. Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney and his brother referred to this Branch several times in order to request a close and precise examination of the case and to ensure the ruling is overturned. They presented the Branch with a letter from former parliamentarians, attorneys at law, jurists, and civil activists in support of Mr. Hossein Panahi. However, Supreme Court Branch 39 upheld the trial court’s ruling within just a month of receiving the request for a new trial. According to Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, adjudicating even ordinary cases takes months, and even more than a year at the Supreme Court; expediting this particular case in spite of a death sentence, and an immediate upholding of the trial court’s ruling, cannot and does not conform to the requirements of a fair trial. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 18, 2018; ISNA, August 18, 2018). Mr. Hossein Panahi’s lawyers requested a new trial once again. Whereas, pursuant to the Note to Article 477 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure, in cases where the subject matter deals with the taking of a life, the Supreme Court must immediately order a stay of sentence upon receipt of the request for a new trial, that was not done in Mr. Hossin Panahi’s case. According to Mr. Hossein Panahi’s lawyer, another defect in this case was that the sentence was carried out while the case was still open and pending. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 18, 2018).

Judgment

On January 20, 2018, pursuant to Iran’s Islamic Penal Code Article 287, Sanandaj Revolutionary Court Branch One found Mr. Ramin Hossein Panahi to be “Baghi” and sentenced him to death. The second request for a new trial was referred to Supreme Court Branch 39 located in the city of Qom on March 10, 2018, and said Branch upheld the trial court’s ruling verbatim on April 8, 2018. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 18, 2018; ISNA, June 10, 2018).

Mr. Hossein Panahi’s family was not informed of him being transferred for the implementation of the death sentence. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 10, 2018). On September 8, 2018, Mr. Ramin Hossein Panahi was hanged at Tehran’s Evin Prison along with Messrs. Zanyar and Loqman Moradi. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 10, 2018).

Two days after his execution, Mr. Hossein Panahi’s body was shown to his lawyer, mother, sister, and older brother at Tehran’s Beheshte Zahra Cemetery, but was not turned over to them, and was buried in an unknown location. According to the people who were present there, Information agents told the families of Mr. Hossein Panahi and the other individuals who were executed, that they were not allowed to take pictures and videos of the bodies, and were not allowed to cry. According to his attorney, however, Mr. Hossein Panahi’s mother was extremely upset, so much so that, at the sight of her son’s body, she jumped around as if a mountain of fire were burning inside of her. (Boroumand Center interview with Mr. Hossein Panahi’s attorney, October 10, 2018).

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