A/HRC/21/29 granted review in two cases dealing with this issue.53 The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is currently considering two claims against the United States with respect to the imposition of the death penalty against persons with mental or intellectual disabilities.54 C. Discrimination in the imposition of the death penalty 56. Discrimination continues to have a distorting effect in various aspects of private and public life, including in criminal justice. In particular, instances have been recorded of individuals for whom membership of a minority constituted a significant factor in the decision that led to their sentence to death and execution. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, members of Ahwazi Arab, Baluoch and Kurdish and minorities were reportedly targeted and the death penalty imposed against them (A/HRC/19/66, paras. 62–66). In May 2011, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions drew the attention of the authorities in Iran to two members of the Kurdish minority at risk of imminent execution. Both individuals were accused of Moharebeh (fighting against God), had their death sentences upheld by the Supreme Court for the second time in 2011 and their files were subsequently sent for implementation of the sentence. In December 2011, the commutation of the death sentence of another Kurdish activist to lifetime imprisonment was reported. The accused was sentenced to death on charges of Moharebeh for her alleged membership in an opposition group, defined as a terrorist group in Iran (A/HRC/19/82, para. 63). In March 2012, Amnesty International reported that five members of the Iranian Ahwazi Arab minority were at imminent risk of execution in public after their death sentences had been upheld by the Supreme Court.55 57. The Human Rights Committee expressed concern about discrimination against members of the Christian minority in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including arrests based on charges of proselytizing and a ban on conducting Christian services in Farsi. The Committee also noted with concern that individuals who have converted from Islam have been arrested and that article 225 of the Penal Code was aimed at making the death penalty mandatory for convicted male apostates (see CCPR/C/IRN/CO/3). 58. The High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that, in at least five countries, the death penalty may be applied to sexual minorities, in particular those found guilty of offences relating to consensual, adult homosexual conduct (A/HRC/19/41, para. 45). In November 2011, the Human Rights Committee expressed concern that members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in the Islamic Republic of Iran face harassment, persecution, cruel punishment and even the death penalty (CCPR/C/IRN/CO/3). The country’s new Islamic Penal Code, adopted in January 2012, provides for the death sentence for sodomy (art. 235) and for the non-Muslim party in same-sex relations not involving penetration (art. 233). In Liberia, in February 2012, a bill was reportedly tabled to amend section 2.3 of the Domestic Relations Law to prohibit same-sex relations and make such relations publishable by penalties ranging from one year’s imprisonment to death. 53 54 55 Ryan v. Gonzales, United States Supreme Court, 19 March 2012; Tibbals v. Carter, United States Supreme Court, 19 March 2012). Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, reports No. 63/12 on admissibility petition 1762-11, Virgilio Maldonado Rodríguez v. United States, 29 March 2012; No. 132/11 on admissibility petition No. 194-04, Gregory Thompson v. United States, 19 October 2011. Available from www.oas.org/en/iachr/decisions/admissibilities.asp. Amnesty International, “Five Arab men at imminent risk of execution”. Available from http://ua.amnesty.ch/urgent-actions/2012/03/077-12?ua_language=en. 15