18 Executions for Drug-Related Charges in One Day in Iran

 18 people were executed in three different Iranian prisons on Tuesday according to unofficial sources. All the prisoners were convicted of drug-related charges and there were two women and one Afghan citizen among them.

Iran Human Rights, December 2, 2014: Eleven prisoners were hanged in the Ghezelhesar prison of Karaj (west of Tehran) early Tuesday morning 2. December, reported the human rights activists news agency (HRANA) and the human rights and democracy activists in Iran (HRDAI). All the prisoners were convicted of drug-related charges according to the report. Iran Human Rights (IHR) has confirmed the executions.

HRDAI has identified seven of the prisoners by name and and claimed that there was one woman and one Afghan citizen among the prisoners executed on Tuesday.

HRANA also reported about seven other executions in two different prisons on Tuesday. Three prisoners male prisoners identified as Yadollah Fahimi, Mokhtar Davoudkhah and one female prisoner identified as Marziye Ostavari were hanged in the prison of Urmia (Northwestern Iran). Three other prisoners were hanged in the prison of Bandar Abbas (Southern Iran). These prisoners were identified as Ali Akbar Nouraddini, Alireza Ghorbani and Hossein Shahozehi. All the prisoners were convicted of drug related charges.

Iran is the country with the highest number of executions for drug-related charges. This is despite the fact that drug-related charges are not considered as the most serious crimes by the international law.

Large number of executions in Iran are not announced by the official Iranian media.

Two Prisoners Hanged in Iran

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Iran Human Rights, November 29, 2014: Two prisoners were hanged in two different Iranian prisons.

According to Aftabnews, one prisoner was hanged in the central prison of Qom (south of Iran) early Saturday morning 29. November. The prisoner who was not identified by name, was convicted of a murder .

The news website Mizan reported about the execution of one prisoner in the prison of Ardebil (Northeastern Iran). The prisoner who was not identified by name was convicted of participation in possession of 5940 grams of heroin, said the report.

Soheil Arabi’s Death Sentence

Exercising freedom of expression is not a crime”- World Coalition Against the Death Penalty Calls for Removal of Soheil Arabi’s Death Sentence

– NOVEMBER 29, 2014POSTED IN: EXECUTION, FEATURE

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Iran Human Rights, November 28, 2014: World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) has called for the immediate removal of Soheil Arabi’s death sentence.  WCADP is a coalition of more than 140 international non-governmental organizations from more than 40 countries, including Amnesty International, The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Together against the death penalty (ECPM) and Iran Human Rights.

The  statement which is published on Friday 28. November says:

“Exercising freedom of expression is not a crime”- World Coalition Against the Death Penalty Calls for Removal of Soheil Arabi’s Death Sentence

Soheil Arabi, a 30 year old Iranian photographer, has been sentenced to death for “insulting the Prophet” on Facebook and his death sentence has been upheld by the Iranian Supreme Court. The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) strongly condemns Mr. Arabi’s death sentence and calls on the Iranian authorities to rescind it immediately.

The President of the World Coalition, Florence Bellivier, stated: “Soheil Arabi has been sentenced to death solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression. We call for immediate removal of his death sentence and urge the Iranian authorities to release him.”

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the Spokesperson of Iran Human Rights (IHR), a member of the Steering Committee of WCADP said: “Iranian penal law allows death penalty for many non-violent charges such as “insulting the Prophet.” Reversal of these death sentences must be the highest priority of the international community’s dialogue with Iran”.

The Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) arrested Soheil Arabi in November 2013. Mr. Arabi  was held in solitary confinement for two months inside IRGC’s Ward 2-A at Evin Prison, before he was transferred to Evin’s General Ward 350, where he is being held now. Branch 76 of the Tehran Criminal Court, under Judge Khorasani, found Arabi guilty of “sabb al-nabi” (insulting the Prophet), for postings Soheil Arabi made on eight Facebook accounts, which the authorities said belong to Soheil Arabi, on August 30, 2014. The Supreme Court upheld the sentence on 24 November 2014.

Article 262 of the Iranian Penal Code provides sentence of death for insulting the Prophet of Islam or any of the other grand prophets.

Mr. Arabi’s death sentence is a clear violation of Iran’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to respect the right to freedom of expression.

Young Man (20) Hanged in Public for “Immoral Acts” in Iran Today

Three prisoners were hanged in public two different cities of Khorasan-Razavi Province  today. One of the prisoners was hanged charged with the vague charges of “immoral acts”. Iran Human Rights calls for international condemnation of the recent wave of public executions in Iran.

Iran Human Rights, November 27, 2014: Three prisoners were hanged publicly in the cities of Mashhad and Joghatai today, reported the Iranian state media. According to the state run Iranian news agency Fars the prisoner who was hanged in Joghatai (a twon near Mashhad) was identified as “M. Gh.” (20 year old), originally sentenced to death for murder (Qesas- retribution)  and for immoral acts. The prisoner was later pardoned by the family of the murder victim, but he was executed for “immoral acts”. The report added that “M. Gh”. has sent request of pardon for immoral acts but his request was not granted by the Province Commission. There are no further specifications of what  “immoral acts” the prisoner was sentenced to death for.

Two other prisoners identified as “Ali M.” and “Ali Gh.” were hanged in Mashhad at 9.15 AM this morning, reported Asr-e-Iran news site. The prisoners were charged with “offences like theft, murder, disruption of order and spreading fear among the people” said the report.

Iran Human Rights (IHR) strongly condemns the new execution wave in Iran. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR said: “The international community must react to the wave of the executions in Iran. Besides being barbaric and inhumane, the charges used by the Iranian authorities are often vague and many of the executions are arbitrary”.

Three Prisoners Hanged in Iran Today

– NOVEMBER 26, 2014POSTED IN: EXECUTION, EXECUTION FOR DRUG CHARGES, EXECUTION FOR MURDER, FEATURE

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Iran Human Rights, November 26, 2014:  Three prisoners were hanged in two different prisons in Iran today, 26. November.  According to the official website of the Iranian Judiciary in Qazvin, two prisoners identified as “M” (23) charged with murder, and “M. Sh.” charged with possession and trafficking of 9300 grams of heroin were hanged in the prison of Qazvin (Western Iran). 

The official website of Mazandaran Judiciary reported about the execution of a man identified as “Alireza M” today. The prisoner was convicted of murder and was hanged early this morning in the prison of Sari (Northern Iran).

Tomorrow, Thursday, three prisoners are scheduled to be hanged in public in Khorasan Razavi Province

Three Prisoners Scheduled to be Publicly Executed in 48 Hours in North-Eastern Iran

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Iranian media have reported about the execution of one man convicted of murder in Mashhad yesterday, and scheduled public hanging of three prisoners on Thursday this week.

Iran Human Rights, November 25, 2014: Three men are scheduled to be hanged in public in the Iranian province of Khorasan-Razavi (Northeastern Iran) said the Prosecutor of the “Public and Revolution Court” of Mashhad to the reporters today. Quoting Gholamali Sadeghi, the state run Iranian news agency Fars reported that three prisoners convicted of murder will be hanged publicly on Thursday 27. November. Two of the prisoners will be hanged in Mashhad while the third prisoner will be hanged in the town of Joghanai (near Mashhad). The report didn’t identify the prisoners.

Iran is the country with the highest number of public executions. Iran’s practice of public executions has been criticized both by the international community and the civil society inside Iran.

Recommendations on the Death Penalty

Iran UPR: Recommendations on the Death Penalty Might Have Higher Impact This Time

– OCTOBER 12, 2014POSTED IN: EXECUTION, EXECUTION FOR DRUG CHARGES, EXECUTION FOR MURDER, FEATURE, MASS EXECUTIONS, MINOR EXECUTION, PUBLIC EXECUTION, REPORTS, STATEMENTS, WOMEN EXECUTION

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 On October 8, 2014,  Iran Human Rights (IHR) presented a statement on behalf of the World Coalition against the Death Penalty (WCADP) at the UPR pre-session organized by UPR Info in Geneva. IHR was one of the six NGOs selected to present at the UPR pre-session. The other NGOs were International Federations for the Human Rights (FIDH), Justice for Iran (JFI), Baha’i International Community (BIC), International Campaign for the Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) and Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC). Representatives for several countries and NGOs were present at the pre-session. 

UPR Info Pre-Session in Geneva- Photo by JFI

Iran Human Rights, October 12, 2014: The pre-session was held about 3 weeks ahead of Iran’s second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) scheduled to take place on October 31. The UPR is a mechanism of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) that  periodically examines the human rights performance of all 193 UN Member States. It is intended to complement, not duplicate, the work of other human rights mechanisms, including the UN human rights treaty bodies. This is the first international human rights mechanism to address all countries and all human rights.

At its last Universal Periodic Review by the UN Human Rights Council in 2010, Iran received 29 recommendations on the death penalty from 23 different states; it accepted only three. Moreover, the recommendations on the death penalty represented 23 percent of those made to Iran – a number only surpassed by recommendations made regarding cooperation with international instruments and the elimination of torture and other forms of ill treatment.

Left to right: Dr. Karim Lahidji (FIDH), Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam (IHR and WCADP) and Omid Memarian (ICHRI)- Photo by: JFI

In the statement the IHR spokesperson Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam emphasized that due to establishment of abolitionist campaigns and increasing discourse on the death penalty within the Iranian society, recommendations  this time might have a greater impact. The statement included recommendations on all aspects of the death penalty, in particular several specific recommendations about public executions, death sentence for drug-related charges and death penalty to the juvenile offenders.

The full text of the statement can be downloaded here: