The Iranian regime has executed dozens of opposition activists across the country by hanging them to death in public squares, according to local sources. Families arrived and were told that the execution had already happened; one family was called while on route to the prison and told to collect their relative’s body from the morgue.
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Iran executed up to 20 Kurdish Islamists on Tuesday who were suspected of attacks on security forces, drawing condemnation from rights groups which said the convictions may have been based on forced confessions.
The Norway-based Iran Human Rights, which documents Iran’s use of the death penalty, reported that the executions had been carried out on Tuesday morning at Rajaee Shahr prison in the city of Karaj, west of the capital, Tehran.
The organisation said Iran was the second most prolific executioner in the world a year ago, after China, which executed more than 1,000 people.
Iran’s intelligence ministry earlier issued a statement detailing 24 armed attacks between 2009 and 2011, including bombings and robberies, allegedly committed by the group. We lost many friends, noticed the people disappearing.
The prisoners – whose numbers have been estimated between 10 and 28 – were Sunni Muslims, a minority in Iran.
Amnesty does not include secretive China in its figures, but the number of executions in Iran exceeded both neighbouring Pakistan and regional rival Saudi Arabia. It did not say how many people were given the death sentence or when the verdict was reached.
According to Amnesty International, Iran executed at least 977 people a year ago.
He added, “More than 2,500 people have been executed in Iran under Hassan Rouhani, who falsely claimed to seek moderation”.
Iran is one of the world’s top executioners, worldwide rights groups say.
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This vulnerability is linked to the stepping down of Dr. Ahmed Saheed, the UN Special Rapporteur monitoring Iran’s human rights situation, in July.
