Iran: At Least 10 Sunni Prisoners Hanged

Iran Human Rights (AUG 2 2016): At least 10 Sunni prisoners were executed at Rajai Shahr Prion of Karaj (west of Tehran) early morning on Tuesday August 2. 

Among these prisoners is Shahram Ahmadi, who was sentenced to death in an unfair trial that lasted only a few minutes. Other prisoners who were executed this morning include Khaled Maleki, Mokhtar Rahimi, Bahman Rahimi, Kaveh Veisi, and Kaveh Sharifi.

Iran Human Rights (IHR) strongly condemns the execution of the Sunni prisoners and calls for international condemnation of these executions. �Many if not all of these prisoners were subjected to unfair trials and sentenced to death based on confessions extracted under torture. Their execution is a crime, and Iran�s Supreme leader Ali Khamenei and other leaders of the Islamic Republic must be held accountable for these crimes," says Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson for Iran Human Rights.

In an unusual move, on Monday August 31, the ward where the men were being held was raided by special guards in black gear and the prisoners were placed under strict security measures. According to close sources, the Iranian forces handcuffed and shackled the feet of around 30 Sunni minority prisoners and transferred them to an unknown location.

A confirmed source tells Iran Human Rights: "They took a total of 36 people out from Hall 10, and seven of them have only been sentenced to death in the lower court and their cases are still in review at the Supreme Court."

According to close sources, the family members of several of the prisoners were informed by Iranian authorities to come in for their final visit on Tuesday August 2 at 3pm Tehran time. "More than 20 families were informed to visit Rajai Shahr Prison, and we're currently on our way there," the wife of one of the prisoners tells Iran Human Rights. She insists her husband is innocent and deserves a fair and open trial. While the families were on their way to the prison, they reportedly received phone calls from unidentified sources telling them to meet at �Behesht e Zahra� cemetery instead for the funeral of their family members.

Some unconfirmed reports say that up to 21 prisoners may have been executed this morning. IHR is investigating further details about these reports.

Source: Iran Human Rights, August 2, 2016

'You're too late' �families not allowed to say goodbye before mass execution in Iran � The Express

The following is a report published by Britain's Express about the brutal massacre of Sunni prisoners in Iran today:

The Express

'You're too late' Heartbreak of families who miss final goodbye before mass execution

FAMILIES preparing to say a final farewell ahead of a mass execution were told they were too late and their loved ones were already dead by prison officials.

Relatives of prisoners were told this morning to visit one last time but when they arrived they were told the inmates had already been hanged.

Instead of saying goodbye, the families were told to go to the morgue to collect the bodies.

The mass execution took place at Gohardasht Prison in Iran this morning, with at least 20 Sunni inmates hanged.

Gohardasht Prison has declared a state of emergency and it's believed the execution was brought forward in order to avoid protests.

The mass execution has been slammed by the National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI), who are fighting for more human rights in the Islamic Republic.

Shahin Gobadi, of the NCRI Foreign Affairs Committee, said: "There's a long precedent by the regime in first executing prisoners and then informing their families.

"One explanation for this is that the regime is afraid of a public backlash and protests outside the prison by the families to halt the executions.

"It is particularly cruel as none of the mothers and fathers managed to say goodbye to their loved ones."

Some of the bodies were hastily buried in the Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery.

The prisoners had been moved by security forces hours earlier with reports of inmates hands and feet being chained and their mouths taped shut and heads covered with bags.

It's believed they were moved to an undisclosed location ahead of the mass execution.

Prison authorities cut off the building's phone lines and put inmates not on death row on lockdown during the killings.

Maryam Rajavi the Iranian Resistance's President-elect, said the execution was "an appalling crime against humanity."

The hangings come during the 28th anniversary of the 1988 executions which thousands of prisoners executed in a series of state-sanctioned killings over a five month period.

Shahram Ahmadi is among the Sunni prisoners executed.

The original article can be found here.

Source: NCRI, August 2, 2016

Maryam Rajavi the Iranian Resistance's President-elect, said the execution was "an appalling crime against humanity."

Maryam Rajavi called the execution of a large number of Sunni prisoners in Gohardasht Prison, "an appalling crime against humanity." The Iranian Resistance's President-elect extended her sincere condolences to the families of the victims, the Sunni community and all the people of Iran. She called on Iranian youths to stage protests against such barbaric crimes and to rise up in support of and in solidarity with the families of the victims.

She also urged Shiite and Sunni clergies around the world to not remain silent vis-�-vis this major atrocity and denounce Ali Khamenei, the great enemy of the people of Iran and the region, for his anti-human and anti-Islamic crimes.

Maryam Rajavi added: The mullahs' anti-human regime carried out the mass execution of our Sunni brothers on the anniversary of the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran. They are trying in vain to contain the volatile social atmosphere and popular protests by terrorizing the public.

The NCRI President-elect pointed out: The 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran is the biggest crime of its kind since World War II. The clerical regime's crimes systematically committed over the past 37 years are all examples of crime against humanity, war crimes or genocide. And how the international community reacts to these crimes is its great test.

The time has come for the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Security Council to end their silence and bring the record of the Iranian regime's crimes before the International Criminal Court. Ali Khamenei and other leaders of the regime as well as direct perpetrators of these crimes must be brought to justice, Maryam Rajavi reiterated.

A large number of Sunni prisoners were hanged this morning, Tuesday, August 2, 2016, at Gohardasht Prison, in Karaj. According to the victims' families, at least 20 have been executed. Prison authorities declared a state of emergency, disconnected all telephone booths and prevented prisoners from referring to the prison's dispensary.

The regime's Judiciary had told the families of prisoners that they had time until 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon to go to prison for a final visit with their children. However, before they arrived, the Ministry of Intelligence contacted the families and said they should go to the Coroner's of Kahrizak to receive the bodies of their children.

Shahram Ahmadi is among the Sunni prisoners executed. He was wounded in April 2009 at the time of arrest by Intelligence agents and lost one kidney and part of his intestine. He was badly tortured for 43 months in solitary confinement in the Intelligence Department's detention center in Sanandaj, as a result of which he contracted various illnesses and lost his hearing to a large extent. In October 2012, the mullahs' Judiciary sentenced him to death on the alleged charge of Moharebeh, or waging war on God. His younger brother, Bahram Ahmadi who was under 18 years old at the time of arrest, was executed in Ghezel Hessar Prison in January 2012 along with five other Sunni political prisoners.

Source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, August 2, 2016

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." - Oscar Wilde

Iran: At Least 10 Sunni Prisoners Hanged

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Iran regime plans to hang teenager for crime committed at age 15

Iran's bloodstained record of sending juvenile offenders to the gallows, routinely
after grossly unfair trials, makes an absolute mockery of juvenile justice.

The Iranian regime plans to hang a teenager later this week for a crime he allegedly committed at the age of 15.

Alireza Tajiki, now 19 years old, was sentenced to death in April 2013 after a conviction by the regime's criminal court in Fars Province, southern Iran.

His family have told international media outlets that the regime plans to execute him on Wednesday, August 3. They say have been informed by the authorities in Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz, southern Iran, that they should go visit him for a final time this week prior to his execution.

The mullahs' regime had previously announced that it planned to hang Mr. Tajiki on May 15 in Adel Abad Prison. That execution was postponed due to international pressure.

Amnesty International said at the time that the Iranian regime must urgently halt the execution.

The human rights group said his conviction was primarily on the basis of "'confessions' extracted through torture which he repeatedly retracted in court."

"Imposing the death penalty on someone who was a child at the time of the crime flies in the face of international human rights law, which absolutely prohibits the use of the death penalty for crimes committed under the age of 18. It is particularly horrendous that the Iranian authorities are adamant to proceed with the execution when this case was marked by serious fair trial concerns and primarily relied on torture-tainted evidence," said James Lynch, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.

"Iran's bloodstained record of sending juvenile offenders to the gallows, routinely after grossly unfair trials, makes an absolute mockery of juvenile justice and shamelessly betrays the commitments Iran has made to children's rights. The Iranian authorities must immediately halt this execution and grant Alireza Tajiki a fair retrial where the death penalty and coerced 'confessions' play no part," he added.

In its May 12 statement, Amnesty said: "More than 970 people were put to death across Iran last year. In January 2016 Amnesty International published a report which found that despite piecemeal reforms introduced by the Iranian authorities in 2013 to deflect criticism of their appalling record on executions of juvenile offenders, they have continued to condemn dozens of young people to death for crimes committed when they were below 18, in violation of their international human rights obligations."

Source: NCR-Iran, July 31, 2016

Iran: Call off execution of teenage prisoner

Alireza Tajiki was 15 years old at the time of arrest

The Iranian Resistance calls on international human rights organizations to take urgent action and demand the cancellation of the scheduled execution of Alireza Tajiki who was only 15 years old at the time of arrest.

Repeated appeals by the family of Alireza Tajiki for revision of his case have been rejected by the mullahs' judiciary. The young prisoner has been in jail since 2012 and is going to be executed on Wednesday, August 3, 2016, in Adelabad Prison of Shiraz.

Despite his age, Alireza Tajiki was denied access to a lawyer throughout the investigation process and was tortured under interrogation to make false confessions, a routine practice in Iranian jails.

In a statement on the pending execution of Alireza Tajiki, Amnesty International wrote: �Imposing the death penalty on someone who was a child at the time of the crime flies in the face of international human rights law� It is particularly horrendous that the Iranian authorities are adamant to proceed with the execution when this case was marked by serious fair trial concerns and primarily relied on torture-tainted evidence� Iran�s bloodstained record of sending juvenile offenders to the gallows, routinely after grossly unfair trials, makes an absolute mockery of juvenile justice and shamelessly betrays the commitments Iran has made to children�s rights.�

Fifty-five executions have been registered between July 11 and 27 in Iran. This is but a small part of the wave of executions taking place throughout the country. Many executions are carried out secretly and their news do not leak out.

Source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, August 1, 2016

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Iran regime plans to hang teenager for crime committed at age 15

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Boris Johnson told to act over Saudi execution threat

Ali al-Nimr, Abdullah al-Zaher, Dawood al-Marhoon

Fears are growing that Saudi Arabia is about to behead a man for crimes committed when he was a juvenile - in violation of both international and Saudi law - triggering calls for the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, to publicly reject Saudi "propaganda" claims that the accused should have been considered an adult at the time of the crime.

Human rights groups are concerned that a Twitter account with close links to the Saudi government is now raising the profile of Ali al-Nimr, who was sentenced to death on charges relating to his role in anti-government protests in 2012 when he was 17. In the past, similar activity on the Twitter account has been a signal that an individual is about to be executed. 2 other men, Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah al-Zaher, convicted of similar offences when juveniles, also face beheading.

Under Saudi law juveniles cannot be executed. But, in its latest Human Rights Priority Country assessment for Saudi Arabia, the Foreign Office states that "all 3 were convicted of crimes committed when they were juveniles, although under Saudi law they are considered to have been adult at the time".

The case of al-Nimr was highlighted by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn last year and became a cause celebre. Following Corbyn's appeal, the Foreign Office, which raised the matter with the Saudis, said it did not expect the three to be executed. But the Foreign Office's decision to repeat the Saudi claim has alarmed human rights groups, who are concerned about the signals it sends out to the kingdom.

"The British government should not be accepting the Saudis' excuses for their appalling plans to behead people sentenced to death as children," said Maya Foa, director of the death penalty team at international human rights organisation Reprieve.

"The government must stop hiding behind the fiction that Abdullah, Ali and Dawood are considered adults under Saudi law. The reality is that the Saudis are breaking both their own laws and international law in their plans to execute these 3 - all of whom were arrested when they were under 18 and accused of involvement in protests calling for reform."

Saudi law stipulates that juveniles can be classed as adults if they have hit puberty and are close to adulthood. But this has to be made clear at their trial. Reprieve insists this was not the case. It points out that all 3 were held in juvenile detention on arrest, and has written to the Foreign Office urging it not to accept the Saudi line. It has also raised the matter in a letter to Johnson.

"The attention the Foreign Office has paid to these cases so far is welcome," Foa said. "However, they must ensure they are not giving support to Saudi government propaganda, as they have done all too often before. Boris Johnson needs to set the record straight and call on the Saudi authorities to immediately commute the death sentences handed down to these 3 juveniles."

The issue represents an urgent challenge to Johnson's authority. As foreign secretary he must recognise the UK's commitment to human rights - but will also understand the need to placate the Saudis, who have bought billions of pounds' worth of UK jets, weapons and military hardware.

Boris Johnson

The 3 young men claim that they were tortured into confessions. Along with serious crimes such as making and throwing Molotov cocktails at police, they were convicted of an array of offences including "observing the movements of vehicles belonging to the security forces", "buying for and distributing water to protesters" and "explaining how to give first aid to protesters".

All 3 deny involvement in violent activity. There are widespread concerns that their trials did not follow due process, as lawyers for the three were denied access to the evidence against them.

There have also been claims that the case against al-Nimr is politically motivated because he is the nephew of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a reformist cleric who called for an end to corruption and discrimination against minorities. Nimr was executed in a mass execution of 47 prisoners last January, including Ali Saeed al-Rebh, 18, who was arrested after attending protests when he was 17.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "The government's position is clear and understood by Saudi Arabia: we oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and in all countries. We regularly raise the case of Ali al-Nimr, and the 2 others who were juveniles when they committed the crimes of which they have been convicted, including during the former foreign secretary's most recent visit to Saudi Arabia. We expect that they will not be executed. Nevertheless, we continue to raise these cases with the Saudi authorities."

Source: The Guardian, July 31, 2016


Ministers urged to correct claims over Saudi juveniles executions

International human rights organization Reprieve is urging the UK Government to correct inaccurate statements it has made about three juveniles facing beheading in Saudi Arabia.

Ali al Nimr, Dawoud al Marhoon and Abdullah al Zaher were aged 17, 17 and 15 (respectively) when they were sentenced to death for alleged involvement in protests calling for reform in the Kingdom.

However, the UK Government has wrongly maintained that �under Saudi Law they are considered to have been adult at the time.�

This assertion � made most recently in a UK human rights assessment of Saudi Arabia, updated on 21 July � is directly at odds with the Saudi Government�s own public claims that their own law defines a child as any person under the age of 18. In their most recent report to the UN�s Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Saudi Government said that:

�Looking at the statutes adopted in Saudi Arabia, it is clear that the definition of the child in them is consistent with the requirements of article 1 of the Convention. The Child Protection Act defines the child as �any person under the age of eighteen�, as does the Act to combat crimes of trafficking in persons. Furthermore, the juvenile is defined in the criminal law regulations on arrest and the regulations on juvenile detention centres as any person who has not reached the age of eighteen.�

While Saudi law continues to allow some limited scope for a judge to determine that someone under 18 can be treated as an adult � in contradiction to Saudi Arabia�s international obligations - no such determination was in fact made in any of Ali�s, Dawoud�s or Abdullah�s cases. In addition, all three were detained following their arrest in juvenile detention centres, a clear indication that the authorities considered them to be children.

Reprieve has written to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on several occasions to welcome the attention they have paid to the case, but ask that they correct this inaccurate claim, which the charity believes runs the risk of helping to legitimise the Saudis authorities� use of the death penalty against children.

Reprieve has previously expressed concern over former Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond�s claim that the 47 people executed in a single day in January this year �were terrorists� � despite at least four of them having been convicted of offences relating to protests calling for reform in the country.

However, the FCO has so far refused to correct either of these claims. Reprieve has written to new Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson asking that he maintains the FCO�s focus on the cases of the Saudi juveniles, but that he moves further and asks the Saudi Government to commute their death sentences � something which the FCO has not done so far. It is unclear whether Mr Johnson raised the juveniles� cases during a recent meeting with his Saudi counterparts.

Maya Foa, Director of the death penalty team at international human rights organization Reprieve said:

�The British Government should not be accepting the Saudis' excuses for their appalling plans to behead people sentenced to death as children. The government must stop hiding behind the fiction that Abdullah, Ali and Dawoud are considered adults under Saudi law. The reality is that the Saudis are breaking both their own laws and international law in their plans to execute these three.

�The attention the Foreign Office has paid to these cases so far is welcome. However, they must ensure they are not giving support to Saudi Government propaganda, as they have done all too often before. Boris Johnson needs to set the record straight, and call on the Saudi authorities to immediately commute the death sentences handed down to these three juveniles.�

Source: Reprieve, July 31, 2016

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." - Oscar Wilde

Boris Johnson told to act over Saudi execution threat

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