Islamic republic authorities are on an “execution binge” with an average rate of a person hanged per hour since the beginning of this year, the International Campaign for Human Rights reported on Sunday.
“The Iranian judiciary is on an execution binge orchestrated by the intelligence and security agencies,” Aaron Rhodes, a spokesman for the Campaign said.
He added: “The execution of Kurdish activists, without fair trials and following torture, increasingly appears as a systematic, politically motivated process.”
Two days ago, Iranian authorities hanged a political prisoner whom the judiciary has refrained from identifying. He has been identified in some websites as Hossein Khazri convicted of membership in Pezhak organization, a dissident Kurdish group.
Reportedly Khazri had denied all charges against him and informed international organizations in a letter that he had been subjected to severe torture in prison. Furthermore, his family was not informed of his hanging prior to the execution.
According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran: “Iranian media have reported a total of 46 executions in 2011: seven in Kermanshah on 1 January, sixteen in Ahwaz on 5 January, one in Asfaryan on 8 January, eight in Qom on 9 January, seven in Tehran on 12 January, five in Khorramabad on 13 January, two in Boroujerd on 14 January.”
The Campaign maintains that according to their sources, the number of executions in Iran is even higher that previously reported and cites multiple reports of mass execution in Mashhad’s Vakilabad Prison as indicator of this.
They add that at least 14 other Kurdish prisoners are currently in imminent danger of execution.
The International Campaign for Human Rights urges Iran for a moratorium on all executions and submit all pending death sentences to an independent review.
