“منظوری از بالا”

“A view from above”
Mustafa Ahmadian

The execution cycle for drug convicts in the past years was carried out in a chaotic manner. The result was the ineffectiveness and failure of criminal policies towards this phenomenon. The inefficiency of execution in the face of the widespread use of drugs in society and the increasing number of addicts in the country was evident. As a result, our judicial system has been struggling for years with a kind of confusion in dealing with the issue of drug trafficking.

On the other hand, the issuance of discriminatory laws and conflicting policies towards drug offenders also made the cycle of justice unstable in this matter and the voting system faced challenges. Although execution was always considered a controversial and horrifying issue for the judicial system, it was still seen as an important political tool for dealing with drug trafficking.

Among the categories of executions, including retribution for intentional murder, execution for rebellion, execution for drug trafficking, and other executions, the group of drug-related executions held a special political position. Although it seems that executions for drug trafficking have less overlap with religious and legal principles compared to other executions, they were closely tied to the political situation of society.

If other executions are carried out with more intensity and certainty based on religious principles and texts, it will have more political dimensions in the executions of drug-related groups. Our criminal policy had taken a simpler approach for years in combating drug trafficking and distribution and fighting drug gangs, and that was the indiscriminate use of the death penalty, without paying attention to modern penal principles and scientific achievements in this matter, as well as the economic conditions and sociological reasons behind it. In the Law on Combating Drugs approved by the Expediency Discernment Council (approved in 1988), there were more than 13 criminal offenses subject to the death penalty, and the dominant approach was direct and violent and harsh treatment towards this issue. The death penalty was the ruling method in dealing with criminals in these cases. Instead of direct confrontation with the crime and addressing more tangible aspects of the issue and economic and social root causes with the criminal, the problem was dealt with and the result was only an increase in drug

Years passed in the same way until the hands of those involved in criminal policy were forced to amend the law on combating drugs and add a clause (clause 45) due to pressures from human rights organizations and internal and international organizations, as well as numerous reports and resolutions issued against Iran, to stop the cycle of executions from its terrifying and chaotic path. Although the added clause does not explicitly prohibit or cancel executions and does not provide a basis for stopping them, in practice, many executions are carried out and executions are generally considered an exceptional measure and are subject to the existence of certain conditions for the accused and convicted.

Explicit abolition of execution is an order that our criminal policy requires a clear jurisprudential basis for, but the conflict between jurisprudential interpretations and the lack of an explicit ruling in this regard negates it.

In the single article, a way has been opened to return the concept of “corruption on earth” to the level of criminal laws. The method of writing the single article is such that while referring to the legal term “corruption on earth”, it mentions that if the convicts have one of the conditions mentioned in multiple paragraphs, they will be considered as corrupt on earth and will be executed or sentenced to life imprisonment. If they do not meet the described conditions, they will not be considered as corrupt on earth and will be exempt from execution, which in itself is a fundamental change and a return to the past.

In a single article, on one hand, the condition of construction and legality includes the execution of the offender with the possession of at least one of the legal conditions, which includes a heinous error, as the inclusion of the mentioned conditions is impossible and irrelevant to the concept of corruption on earth. On the other hand, the single article also cancels and revokes many executions due to the lack of mentioned conditions, which is a fundamental transformation in itself.

Although we are facing a kind of reversal in this matter, the prohibition of the death penalty is explicitly stated in today’s method of law-making and is in line with international human rights documents. Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights explicitly mentions the prohibition of the death penalty, but it is accepted in certain circumstances, including in cases of the most serious human crimes such as genocide, even in countries where the death penalty is abolished in their laws. However, in Article 1, the death penalty for drug traffickers is kept in a different form and only the restrictions and conditions have changed; therefore, it can be seen as a reduction and allocation of executions, but never as a turning away from the death penalty and replacing it with a new and alternative punishment at the level of criminal laws.

But which category of criminals and convicts are exempt from execution according to Article One, and what are the conditions of their imprisonment after the abolition of execution? In examining these conditions, we can see some points about our criminal policy in dealing with the prevalence of drug trafficking crimes.

The diversity of decisions and punishments stated in our criminal laws, with the categorization of crimes and also the division of penalties, including the cases mentioned in Article 19 of the Islamic Penal Code, establishes a longitudinal and qualitative relationship; where the judge takes into account the type and severity of the crime and the minimum and maximum penalties, or in the application of mitigating factors and subsidiary and suspended sentences, refers to the categorization of Article 19. Additionally, the categorization of penalties helps facilitate the criminal justice system and the implementation of imprisonment in specific conditions, and even aids in the forgiveness of penalties, providing sufficient assistance to the judge. Article 19 also presents another form of categorization of penalties based on the circumstances and characteristics of certain individuals and criminals, revolving around execution or exemption from it.

The danger that exists in a unit is the way it is written, which is a type of preconceived interpretation based on a “theory of error”, and it leaves the judge’s hand in issuing a death sentence on the condition of having at least one of the conditions, and emphasizes the inevitability of execution for certain defendants and convicts with mental and physical conditions, and the classification of punishments was not the main and primary goal of the legislator.

“Error theory” is based on the principle that, for example, if an individual is caught carrying a threshold amount of drugs and also has a weapon on them – even if they have never used or intend to use the weapon – they are considered a corrupter of the earth and subject to execution. The conditions mentioned in this principle can sometimes result in nothing but an error, and the judge, based on this theory, may consider a heinous error as a reality and issue a death sentence, which goes against the rights of the accused and legal principles such as interpreting in favor of the accused and narrow interpretation of criminal laws.

The conditions mentioned in Article One include: the use of weapons by the perpetrator and even carrying weapons with the intention of confronting officers, as well as the characteristics of cold-bloodedness and investment by the perpetrator, and also the exploitation of children in smuggling or using them as bait, with or without a history of imprisonment.

If a convicted or accused person who commits a punishable crime is subject to execution or life imprisonment, as long as they possess one of the above characteristics, they will be sentenced to execution or life imprisonment and confiscation of property and other prescribed punishments, and they will not be eligible for any reduction.

Decision-making processes and implementation procedures for discounts.

Regarding convicts and suspects of drug offenses, in the criminal justice system, what is important is how the judge verifies the conditions, which makes the issue of verifying conditions more important than the sentence itself.

The handling and verification of the above conditions can be proven through reports, valid evidence, and the presence of solid reasons. If an individual is the leader of a group of smugglers, employs children in drug trafficking, or is armed during the commission of a crime and reports and evidence prove such actions, they will be subject to the death penalty.

In the implementation of Article One, the executive regulations have also been anticipated and approved, and the process of investigating and uncovering previous cases by the execution judges and the necessity of suspending the execution of the death sentence before verifying or not verifying the reduction mentioned in Article One has been addressed. If during the review of a case, the execution judge concludes that an individual is eligible for a reduction, the process of executing the death sentence is suspended and the case is sent to the issuing branch – which is the Revolutionary Court – for the reduction to be applied and a new sentence to be issued.

According to the regulations, condemned individuals to execution or life imprisonment can also directly request their case to be reviewed and for reduction of their sentence from the prison authorities or the judges of the execution of sentences. The decision of the Revolutionary Court in determining the conditions and accepting or rejecting the request has been announced definitively in accordance with the regulations.

The accusation and terms of reduction include all actions and qualities related to importing, exporting, sending, producing, distributing, manufacturing, selling, purchasing, placing for sale, transporting, storing, and concealing drugs. Even if a person carries or imports or… an amount of drugs exceeding the limit set in Article T, as long as they do not meet any of the conditions of that article, they will be exempt from execution.

According to article 10 of the regulations, those condemned to execution who have been changed to life imprisonment with a one-degree reduction are also subject to this article. Furthermore, according to article 11, in case of exemption of accomplices and instigators of the crime, their deputies will also be exempt from the punishment of execution.