EU Condemns Execution Of 18 Inmates By Iran
The European Union has reiterated its call for Tehran to end the death penalty, following reports that Iran executed 18 people on October 26.Sebastien Brabant, the spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, told RFE/RL this week that the European Union has a "very strong and principled position against the death penalty."
He said Iran should halt all pending executions and introduce a moratorium on what he called "this cruel and inhuman punishment."
Prosecutors in Iran said 16 of those executed were punished in "retaliation" for the killings of border guards along the Iran-Pakistan border.
Two Kurdish prisoners were executed on the same day on charges of links to an armed group.
The executions have been condemned by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, which said they show that Iranian authorities "continue to rely on state-sponsored killing."
