http://www.seyaj.org/English

Arabic

His Excellency / Ali Abdullah Saleh

President of Yemen

Subject: Urgent appeal from civil society organizations to stop the execution of Mohammad Tahir Smoom and ten other minors.

This letter follows on from previous letters and appeals sent to His Excellency regarding the above case from various civil society organizations to stop the execution of Mohammad Tahir Smoom.

Mohammed Smoom was convicted of premeditated murder while he was a minor, and sentenced to death without verification of his age by a medical body. Similarly, eleven other minors have been sentenced to death, which is in violation of the Yemeni Constitution and national laws, and also all international treaties and conventions including the Convention on Rights of the Child to which the Republic of Yemen is a signatory.

Given the sensitivity and seriousness of the situation, and the fact that His Excellency is the only person capable of intervening in the interest of upholding the law and preserving justice in cases of death sentences, including the case of Mohammed Smoom who is expected to be executed in the coming days unless His Excellency intervenes to save his life, we request the following:

• Immediate intervention in accordance with your constitutional and legal authority to overturn the conviction.
• Assign a specialised medical committee to examine Mohammed Smoom and other convicted minors to determine their respective age.
• Re-submit the case of of Mohammad Tahir Smoom to the court for urgent reconsideration. 

Thanks you, and God bless you.

List of civil society organizations defending the rights of the child:

1. Coordinating body of the Yemeni NGOs for children's rights
2. Children's Parliament in Yemen
3. Seyaj for Childhood Protection
4. The National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms (Hood)
5. The Democracy School
6. The Shawthab Foundation for Childhood and Development
7. National Organisation for Developing Society (NODS Yemen) 
8. Ibhar Organisation for Childhood and Creativity

Previous News release items

• 18/01/2011: CZECH REPUBLIC: Top court - poverty alone no reason for removing children from families
• 18/01/2011: TURKEY: UNICEF hopes for children’s rights ombudsperson in Turkey
• 18/01/2011: Défenseur des droits : l'Assemblée a adopté les projets de loi
• 18/01/2011: L'Assemblée vote la création du Défenseur des droits
• 18/01/2011: YEMEN: Urgent Appeal from Yemeni Civil Society Organizations (Arabic)

Organisation Contact Details:

Seyaj for Childhood Protection
P.O Box 5642,
Tel: ‏009671257505‏
Email: info@seyaj.org
Website: www.seyaj.org ‎

Last updated 03/02/2011 07:28:33

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