In a letter to the UN Secretary General, a group of prominent Iranian academics and intellectuals living abroad strongly condemned the wave of recent executions in Iran (Note that the figures for executions quoted in the letter are those of mid-January. Since then, the available information indicates that in 2010 at least 542 and in January 2011 alone at least 83 executions have taken place):

Open Letter: Condemnation of Executions’ Tsunami in the Islamic Republic of Iran

To:Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Members of the UN General Assembly

CC: Supreme Leader Mr. Ali Khamenehi

Date: 13 February 2011

New York, London, Paris, Berlin

Your Excellency;

An Iranian prisoner has been executed every eight hours in recent months. There is every indication that Iran will again rank top in the world for its execution’s record. There have been 47 executions since January the 1^st 2011.  An alarming figure of 300 executions has been reported by various human rights organizations in the past year alone.  In most cases, the execution of political prisoners is carried out without proper trials and Habeas corpus, not even in a kangaroo court setting prevalent in Iran since the early days of the 1979’s Islamic revolution. In fact, it is estimated that tens of Iranian prisoners of conscience are awaiting executions in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Given the recent removal of subsidies resulting in the astronomical rise of the cost of gasoline and essential life commodities, and the revolt in Tunisia, Egypt, and other Arab countries, the IRI is exploiting the increased and rapid executions as a means of circumventing any possible notion of uprising.

Resolution-

On the 32^nd anniversary of the Islamic Republic and with the rapid development of the people’s legitimate demands for socio-economic and political reforms in the region, as exemplified in post election Iran and currently in some Arab countries, we abhor any violation of human rights in Iran and demand unequivocally for the complete halting of the chain of the executions and human rights abuses.  We further demand the removal of all restrictions on freedom of press, expression, and political participation so that people can openly and freely exercise their civic and political rights.

Signed:

Abghari  Siavash,

Professor of Finance & Director, Morehouse College, Atlanta, USA

Abghari  Shahla

Professor of Microbiology ,Life University, Atlanta, USA

Afshar Haleh OBE

Professor the Baroness AcSS, Department of Politics, University of York, UK

Afshari Reza
Professor of History, Pace University, New York, USA

Ashouri Daryoush

Scholar, Writer
Alamdari Kazem

Professor of Sociology, California State University, Northridge, USA

Baghi   Heibatollah

Professor of Biostatistics, George Mason University, VA, USA
Barati Mehran

Free University Berlin-Germany, Research Unit Globalization and Int’l Politics,

Darvishpour Mehrdad

PH.D  in sociology and lectur at Mälardalens  University, Sweden

Dastmalchi Parviz

Scholar, Writer

Farhang Jahanpour

Associate Fellow, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford

Farhang Mansour

Professor of Political Science, Bennington College, USA

Farhi Farideh

Department of Political Science ;University of Hawai’i at Manoa, USA

Ganjbakhsh Amir Hossein

Senior Investigator, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD ,USA

Gorji Ali

Professor of Neuroscience Research and Neurophysiology; Munster University, Germany

Gregory Julian

Professor of Political Sciences, Pace University New York

Haghighatjoo  Fatemeh

President Nonviolence Initiative for democracy;University of Massachusetts, Boston , USA

Hashemi Nader

Assistant Professor, University of Denver, CO, USA

Jahanbegloo Ramin

Scholar, Writer

Kangarlu, Alayar

Professor of Medical Physics, Columbia University and New York , USA

Karimi-Hakkak Ahmad

Professor The Roshan Center for Persian Studies University of Maryland College Park, MD  USA

Karimi-Hakak Mahmood

Professor, Siena College, New York, Artistic Director, Mahak International Artists Inc, NY, USA

Keshavarz Fatemeh,

Professor, Washington University in St. Louis USA

Keddie Nikki ;Professor Emerita of History, UCLA ;Santa Monica, CA, USA

Khosrokhavar Farhad

Professor at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris

LAHIDJI Abdol-Karim

Président de la LDDHI; Vice-Président de la FIDH Paris, France

Mahdi Akbar
Professor of Sociology, Ohio Wesleyan university, OH, USA

Moaddel Mansoor
Professor of Sociology, Eastern Michigan University, MI, USA
Mohammadi Majid
Visiting Scholar in Stony Brook Institute for Global Studies, NY, USA
Monshipouri Mahmood
Associate Professor, Dept. of Int’l Relations, San Francisco State University, CA, USA
Mousoli Reza
Senior Lecturer in Computing, Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent, United Kingdom
Navab Mohamad
Professor, Project Leader, Cardiology, University of California, Los Angeles,  USA

Niroomand-Rad  Azam
Professor Emeritus, Past President, International Organization for Medical Physics, USA

Ottinger Richard L.

Dean Emeritus, Pace Law School, 78 North Broadway, NY USA

Parsa Misagh

Professor of Sociology, Dartmouth College, NH, USA

Paivandi saeed

Professor; University Paris 8; Paris, France

Rakei Ali

Theoretical Physicist, Mitre Corporation, Washington DC, USA

Rahni Davood

Professor of Chemistry, Pace University New York, NY, USA

Rahnema Saeed

Professor, York University, Atkinson  Toronto, Canada

Sabetian Manoucher

Consultant surgeon. FRCS, Ex-President Iranian PEN in Exile, United Kingdom

Talattof Kamran

Professor; Dept. of Near Eastern Studies; Affiliated The University of Arizona, USA

Tohidi Nayereh

Professor & Chair,  California State University, Northridge, CA, USA

Vahdat Farzin

Sociologist, Asian Studies Program, Vassar College

Ziai Hossein

Amuzegar Chair in Iranian Studies, Director of Iranian Studies,  , UCLA, CA, USA