“Stop Executions,” Four UN Human Rights Experts Tell Iran

On 22 September 2011 four United Nations Special Rapporteurs for executions, torture, human rights in Iran, and independence of the judiciary, issued a joint statement condemning Iran’s recent execution of a juvenile and called for the country to immediately institute a moratorium on the death penalty. (Full Statement Below) Yesterday, 21 September, Iranian authorities hanged [...]

Concurrent With Admission of Group Executions, 26 More Hanged Secretly in Mashad

Local sources in Mashad told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that 26 more inmates were hanged at Vakilabad Prison on 15 June 2011. At the same time, the Prosecutor of Mashad Mahmoud Zoghi admitted to secret group executions and without mentioning the number of executions over the past two and half years, [...]

Iranian-Canadian on Death Row Faced Torture and Unfair Trial

Hamid Ghasemi-Shall an Iranian and Canadian citizen, was arrested on 24 May 2008, and eventually charged with espionage and contact with the Mojahedin-e Khalgh Organization. Ghasemi-Shall spent 18 months in solitary confinement. For the first eight months of his detention he had no access to family or lawyer. Ghasemi-Shall’s wife, Antonella Mega, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that her husband was tortured while in detainment.

Two Post-Election Protestors Hanged

(24 January 2011) Following the execution of two post-election protestors today, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reiterated its call on the Iranian Judiciary and Parliament to immediately institute a moratorium on all death penalty cases and put a stop to the growing wave of executions.

Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Haji Aghaee, two post-election protestors charged with Moharebeh, or “enmity against God,” were hung today inside Tehran’s Evin prison without their family or lawyers being notified. Four other prisoners allegedly charged with criminal activity were also hung in Iran today, according to official reports.

Javad Larijani’s Admission to Ineffective Death Penalties for Drug Traffickers

While the number of executions related to drug trafficking has startlingly increased in the recent months in Iran, a foreign diplomat told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that Javad Larijani, Chief of the Iranian Judiciary’s Human Rights Council, has expressed in his meetings with foreign authorities that the policy of executing drug-related criminals has been unsuccessful, and that capital punishment has not reduced drug-related social maladies.

20 More Executions in Mashad Amidst Continued Silence from the Judiciary

Following the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran’s reports of secret group executions without due process inside Mashad’s Vakilabad prison, local sources told the Campaign that nine more people were executed on 30 November. The source also reported of 11 executions of individuals for drug-related crimes on 9 November. Counting the other 10 prisoners who were executed on 26 October, in less than two months 30 executions have been carried out inside Vakilabad prison. According to reports from informed sources, 23 other prisoners were hung inside the prison in early October. These executions are not included in official statistics released by the Judiciary to government media.

Philipine National at Vakilabad Prison Appeals for Help

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has received a letter from a man who identifies himself as Ernie Guienoo Tamonde, a citizen of the Philippines. Tamonde wrote that he is being held inside a prison in Mashad on drug charges but professes his innocence.

Executions of Nigerian and Ghanaian Citizens in Mashad’s Vakilabad Prison

Following the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran’s recent reports about the secret executions of death-row prisoners inside Mashad’s Vakilabad Prison, reliable sources told the Campaign that two of the inmates who were recently executed were citizens of Ghana and Nigeria.

Ten More Secret Executions in Mashad, Foreign Citizens Among Those Executed

According to information obtained by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, the implementation of death sentences in Mashad’s Vakilabad prison continues. Last Tuesday, 26 October, ten more prisoners were executed in a group without any official announcement by the Iranian government. All those executed had been charged with drug trafficking. Among those executed was a Nigerian citizen. In similar executions in recent months in Vakilabad prison, some Afghan citizens and a citizen of Ghana were also executed.

More Secret Executions in Mashad: 23 Executed in October

Reliable sources continue to present reports to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, indicating widespread, clandestine group executions of hundreds of inmates. Those executed were charged with transportation and storage of drugs and were held in Vakilabad prison in Mashad. The Campaign has learned that executions were carried out on 5 and 12 October 2010 inside Vakilabad prison. Reliable sources told the Campaign that a total of 23 prisoners, thirteen on 5 October, and ten on 12 October. The executions were carried out without any regard for official Islamic laws or respect for fair judicial procedures. Lawyers and family members were not present nor given prior notice. A number of former prisoners from Vakilabad prison have reported forced confessions under torture and pressure.