Iranian authorities must immediately put a halt to the
execution of Kurdish political and faith prisoners, X human rights
organizations stated. These organizations also urged an immediate moratorium on
the death penalty and a right to due process and a fair and public retrial for
all prisoners sentenced to death.
In the month of August alone, Iranian authorities summarily
executed at least twenty-one Kurdish political prisoners.
At dawn, on Tuesday August 9, 2016, five Kurdish prisoners
were hanged in Urmia Central Prison. One was charged with moharebeh “enmity
against God” for alleged membership in a Kurdish opposition group. The other
four were charged with drug-related offenses.
This followed the August 2, 2016 execution of twenty Kurdish
political prisoners in Rajai Shahr Prison, Karaj and the Iranian authorities
have confirmed their execution. The men were convicted of for moharebeh based
on confessions extracted under torture. They were held for months, some of them
for more than 2 years, in solitary confinement, denied due process, including
the right to a proper defense, and convicted in hasty and unfair trials.
Another six Kurdish prisoners were also hanged last week for
alleged drug-related crimes and in retaliatory sentences (qisas)at the Saghez,
Khoy and Salmas prisons.
According to Iran Prison Atlas, currently out of 915
political prisoners documented, 390 are Kurds. 75% of the prisoners sentenced
to moharebeh are Kurds. Meanwhile, more than 97% of the executions in the
ethnic regions of Iran were either carried out secretly or were not announced
by official Iranian media.
Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic, 14,000
prisoners have been executed for drug-related offences, the absolute majority
of whom were Kurds, Balochis, and Afghan refugees. A significant number of
these victims are political prisoners and ethnic rights activists who were
reportedly executed under the cover of drug offenses.
In 2015, Iran was the highest per capita executioner in the
world.
We urge the following actions:
We urge the United Nations to send a fact-finding mission to
Iran to investigate the judicial process and the mass execution of Kurdish
prisoners.
We urge the European Union to call on a moratorium on the
death penalty, at a minimum as a sign of good will by Iran during its human
rights dialogue with the EU. We also urge the European Union to insist on the
right to due process and respect for freedom of religion, beliefs, and
expression, for ethnic and religious minorities.
Sincerely,
Roya Boroumand, Executive Director
Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation
Kamran Ashtary, Executive Director
Arseh Sevom
Ava Homa, North America Director
Association of Human Rights in Kurdistan of Iran-Geneva
(KMMK-G)
Karen Parker,
President
Association of Humanitarian Lawyers
Mansoor Bibak,
Co-Director
Balochistan Human Rights Group
Dr. Shirin Ebadi, Founder and President
Center for Supporters of Human Rights
Raphaël
Chenuil-Hazan, Executive Director
Ensemble Contre La Peine de Mort
Ibrahim Al Arabi,
Executive Director
European Ahwazi Human Rights Organisation
Kamal Sido,
representative
Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker Deutchland,
Keyvan Rafiee,
Director
Human Rights Activists in Iran
Mani Mostofi,
Director
Impact Iran
Hadi Ghaemi, Executive Director
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
Lydia Brazon, Executive Director
International Educational Development, Inc
Jessica Stern, Executive Director
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
Mahmood
Amiry-Moghaddam, Executive Director
Iran Human Rights
Rod Sanjabi,
Executive Director
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center
Mahmood Enayat,
Director
Small Media
Christoph Wiedmer,
Director
Society for Threatened People Switzerland
Firuzeh Mahmoudi, Executive Director
United for Iran
Mehrangiz Kar (Chairperson)
Siamak Pourzand Foundation
Mohammad Mostafaei, Director
Universal Tolerance
Dr. Kamal Sido,
Middle-East department
Society for Threatened Peoples
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