According to reports from sources in Iran, the scheduled executions have been postponed until Saturday morning. The source that contacted IHR underlined that the sentences have not been stopped but only postponed for another two or three days.

It is believed that media attention on the case, both from inside and outside Iran, may be a main reason why the executions were not carried out today.

None of the prisoners have been in contact with their families since yesterday.

According to sources from Iran, Majid Sedighi, the brother of one of the prisoners, was arrested last night by Iranian Intelligence forces, allegedly for giving interviews to the international media, such as VOA and BBC.

In a comment on the postponement of the executions, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR said: “We urge the international community to do whatever they can to stop these executions. We have two days to save these people.”

IHR published names of five of the 10 prisoners scheduled for execution today:

• Saeed Sedighi, 31 years old (picture)
• Abbas Namaki, 39 years old, father of two children
• Hamid Rabiei, 31 years old
• Mohammad Ali Rabiei, 55 years old, father of Hamid
• Ali Darvish, 44 years old

IHR has also received information about a sixth prisoner whose name will not be published.

The prisoners were issued death sentences for drug-related charges.

IHR has received reports indicating that several of the prisoners have been subjected to torture and forced confessions.

Earlier this week, IHR urged the UN and any country which has diplomatic ties with Iran to use all their channels to stop these executions.

AUTHOR: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
URL: http://iranhr.net/
E-MAIL: amirymoghaddam [at] gmail.com

A human rights group, Justice for Iran has published the names of five of the prisoners:

• Saeed Sedighi, 31 years old (picture)
• Abbas Namaki, 39 years old, father of two children
• Hamid Rabiei, 31 years old
• Mohammad Ali Rabiei, 55 years old, father of Hamid)
• Ali Darvish, 44 years old
• All the prisoners are allegedly convicted of drug-related charges.

Iran Human Rights (IHR) strongly condemns the scheduled executions, which are to take place one day after the World Day against the Death Penalty. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson for IHR, urged the international community to react. He said: “We ask the UN and all countries with diplomatic ties with Iran to do use all their channels to stop these executions”.

Earlier today, IHR together with four other NGOs published an open letter to the UN and authorities of several countries that have been cooperating with Iran to fight drug trafficking to halt all aid to Iran, until the Iranian authorities have abolished the death penalty for drug-related crimes.

AUTHOR: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
URL: http://iranhr.net/
E-MAIL: amirymoghaddam [at] gmail.com

The full text of the letter calling for the moratorium can be read below or downloaded here. The Farsi version of the letter can be read HERE.

According to reports from human rights groups that document executions in Iran from both official and unofficial sources, roughly 650 executions were carried out in 2010 and 676 in 2011. So far, in 2012, at least 330 individuals have been executed. Of these executions, it is estimated that more than 70% are of individuals sentenced to death under the Islamic Republic’s Anti-Narcotics Law, which mandates the death penalty for a wide range of drug-related offenses.

The letter—which is jointly signed by Justice for Iran, Iran Human Rights, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, Arseh Sevom and Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM)—addresses its concerns to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and country donors including Norway, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Ireland and Japan which provide funding to the Islamic Republic’s anti-drug trafficking programs.

Shadi Sadr, Executive Director of London-based Justice for Iran, says:

“Our research shows how thousands of people, including women who are the single-income providers for their children, have been sentenced to death without minimum standards of due process whilst Iranian judges and other authorities that bear responsibility in these severe violations of human rights enjoy absolute impunity.”

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, spokesperson for Iran Human Rights—a Norwegian-based group that focuses on documenting executions in Iran—maintains that

“the fact that Iranian authorities execute several hundred people every year on drug-related charges, and then proudly announce these executions, shows that the nature of international collaboration in combating the trafficking of illegal drugs through Iran may be sending the wrong signals to the Iranian authorities. Any aid provided to Iran to fight drug trafficking must be contingent on whether the Iranian authorities are willing to abolish the death penalty for drug-related charges.”

Gissou Nia, Executive Director of the US-based Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, further notes that

“though largely cosmetic, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s recent amendments to its Islamic Penal Code that purport to abolish stoning for adultery and juvenile executions demonstrate that the IRI does care about international perceptions of its execution laws. In contrast, the IRI has only made mandatory execution laws for drug-related offenses even harsher in recent years. The international community must send a strong message, not only through words but through a cut-off of funding to Iran’s anti-drug trafficking programs, that the high numbers of executions in Iran is unacceptable.”

While human rights groups have raised concerns to the Iranian government about the mandatory death sentencing for drug-related offenses, the Iranian authorities have failed to respond to this criticism in any meaningful fashion. The letter calls on UNODC and donor countries to stop funding the Islamic Republic’s anti-drug trafficking programs until the Islamic Republic ceases its application of the death penalty to those convicted of drug-related offenses.

Letter:

To: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Governments of Norway, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Ireland & Japan
Cc: Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Iran, United Nations Human Rights Council, European Union

We, the undersigned organizations, strongly oppose the continuing use of the death penalty in the Islamic Republic of Iran. We are concerned that the Islamic Republic’s radical policies, which allegedly aim to eradicate drug-trafficking and result in the execution of several hundred prisoners every year, are supported in part by international funding.

Of the countries that continue to apply the death penalty in their domestic jurisdictions, the Islamic Republic leads in number of executions per capita. Many of these executions are conducted in secret and go unreported by official sources.

According to reports from human rights groups that document executions in Iran from both official and unofficial sources, roughly 650 executions were carried out in 2010 and 670 in 2011. At the time of the publication of this statement, at least 329 individuals have been executed in 2012. Of these executions, it is estimated that more than 70% are for drug-related offenses.

Pursuant to Article 6(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a State Party, countries that have not abolished the death penalty may only sentence someone to death for the “most serious crimes”. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, a body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the ICCPR by its State parties, has found on numerous occasions that drug-related offenses do not meet the criterion of “most serious crimes.”

Nonetheless, Iranian authorities have been unabashed in their application of the death penalty to individuals convicted of drug-related offenses. In June 2011, Mahmoud Zoghi, the prosecutor of Mashhad, said: “Considering the number of cases we have had, these many hangings are proportionally adequate. Foreign media is exaggerating the issue for no reason.”

The Islamic Republic’s Anti-Narcotics Law mandates the death penalty in cases of possession or trafficking of more than a specified amount of various drugs. The range of offenses punishable by death was broadened with a series of amendments to the Anti-Narcotics Law that came into force in January 2011. The amended law mandates the death penalty for a wider range of illegal drugs—including the possession or trafficking of more than 30 grams of methamphetamine.

According to reports from human rights groups, many of those executed are arrested on spurious charges of alleged drug trafficking, are interrogated without a lawyer present, have confessions extracted under torture admitted as evidence against them in court, are convicted without legal counsel or the ability to review the evidence against them and sentenced to death without a right of appeal.

Too often, the targets of these sweeping anti-drug laws are the most vulnerable members of Iranian society. Poor and marginalized groups, including ethnic minorities and foreign nationals who have been historically discriminated against by the Iranian government, are targeted by the Islamic Republic’s drug laws, as are single mothers who, with no other means to support their children, engage in drug trafficking to feed their children.

In addition to the cruel and inhumane treatment of those sentenced to death under these anti-drug laws, the imposition of the mandatory death penalty for these offenses has a deleterious effect on Iranian society as a whole. Executions carried out at large public gatherings, often with young children in attendance, have the effect of normalizing the use of the death penalty and state-sanctioned violence in Iranian society.

Also, while Iranian officials maintain that execution of drug traffickers is effective in combating the abuse and sale of drugs, there is no clear evidence to support this. Many of those executed are not at the top of the drug sale chain and drug use in Iran is on the rise. Recent statistics on opiate abuse place Iran second in the world in the percentage of the population using opiates, exceeded only by Afghanistan. The rate of addiction to high-potency heroin is also on the rise, especially among the youth.

While human rights groups have raised concerns to the Iranian government about the mandatory death sentencing for drug-related offenses, the Iranian authorities have failed to respond to this criticism in any meaningful fashion. At the same time, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and country donors including Norway, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Ireland and Japan provide funding to the Islamic Republic for its anti-drug trafficking programs.

While we appreciate that country donors are trying to stop the flow of drugs into Europe and North America, the efforts of these Western governments should not result in human rights abuses in Iran and similarly situated countries. With no reason to believe it will be penalized by an international community that in fact funds these efforts, the Islamic Republic has continued its ongoing campaign of executing individuals for drug-related offenses with virtual impunity. Efforts by human rights defenders and others to request information through official channels about the nature of UNODC’s support to the Islamic Republic have been met with vague or otherwise unresponsive answers.

In light of the reasons enumerated above, we, the undersigned, set forth the following demands to the international community, including UNODC, states that donate or have donated in the past to UNODC, or other international government organizations engaged in anti-drug trafficking initiatives with the Islamic Republic:

• Immediately halt the provision of any monetary funds, services or other resources to the Iranian authorities for anti-drug trafficking purposes until such time the Iranian government renounces its policy of executing individuals for drug-related offenses.
• Demand that until the Iranian government renounces the policy of execution for drug-related offenses, funds only be used for treatment and other anti-drug initiatives unrelated to law enforcement.
• Impose strict transparency guidelines on any funding intended for treatment and other anti-drug initiatives unrelated to law enforcement, with strict guidelines on amounts and a detailed reporting of its specific use.

Signed on this 10th day of October 2012 (International Day against the Death Penalty) by:

• Arseh Sevom
• Iran Human Rights
• Iran Human Rights Documentation Center
• Justice for Iran
• Together against the Death Penalty/ Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM)

AUTHOR: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
URL: http://iranhr.net/
E-MAIL: amirymoghaddam [at] gmail.com

The official website of the Iranian judiciary in Fars Province, reported that two of the prisoners were hanged publicly in different squares of Shiraz, while the three others were hanged inside Adelabad prison.

According to the report the prisoners were identified as “A. P.” convicted of carrying 185 kilograms of heroin and 72 kilograms of crack, “A. K.” convicted of participation in selling 39 kilos and 800 grams of opium and carrying 9 kilos and 960 grams of opium, “M. A.” convicted og carrying 4 kilograms of heroin, “A. S.” convicted og keeping and selling 29 kilograms of Marijuana and more than 14 kilograms of opium, and “A. Z.” convicted of keeping 2 kilograms of heroin.

Age and gender of the prisoners was not specified in the report.

According to Iran Human Rights’ annual report on the death penalty in 2011, more than 80% of those executed in Iran were charged with drug-related crimes, while only 9% of them were identified by their full names.

AUTHOR: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
URL: http://iranhr.net/
E-MAIL: amirymoghaddam [at] gmail.com

20.000 Iranian rial

Iran’s currency, the rial, fell as much as 18% on Monday to a record low against the US dollar, according to media reports. It dropped to as much as 35,000 to the dollar, according to agencies citing currency exchange sites in the country.The currency has reportedly lost 80% of its value since the end of 2011.

The fall suggests economic sanctions imposed over its disputed nuclear programme are hitting economic activity ever harder. The rates were not available on the exchanges’ websites later in the day, supposedly because Iran did ot want to make known the full extend of the fall.

Iran is all but frozen out of the global banking system as a result of US-led sanctions, which are related to Iran’s presumed ambition to obtain an atomic bomb. The sanctions, which are backed by the European Union, include a ban on the trade of Iranian oil, which means Iran is unable to sell its oil to most other countries. Analysts think it may also have to accept lower prices from countries still willing to trade with it.

According to a recent report by the Iranian newsagency Fars, which was translated by BBC Monitoring, “Iranian technological analysts” said in an open letter to the president that most of the country’s economic problems had been caused by the weakness of the currency – as imported raw materials used by manufacturers need to be paid for in hard currency. A weaker domestic currency makes imports more expensive and is expected to raise prices for people inside Iran.Latest figures indicate that inflation is running at an annual rate of 24% in Iran.

AUTHOR: Martin Hijmans
URL: http://the-pessoptimist.blogspot.com/
E-MAIL: m.hijmans [at] planet.nl

Masoud Rajavi

The U.S. State Department on Friday formally removed the Iranian dissident group Mujahadin-e Khalq from its official list of terrorist organizations in a move which, according to political analysts is bound to deteriorate the relations with Iran even further. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took the decision, as the State Department stated, in view of the MEK’s public renunciation of violence, the absence of confirmed acts of terrorism by the MEK for more than a decade, and their cooperation in the peaceful closure of their paramilitary base in Iraq, where several thousand members of the MEK got stranded in 2003 after their former mentor, Saddam Hussein, disappeared from the political stage. It seems the remaining MEK-members have agreed to be move to Camp Liberty, a former U.S. military base under UN-supervision in Baghdad, from where they are expected to be resettled overseas.

Clinton’s decision, which was expected for some time, was sharply criticized. “For my money, the chances of war with Iran only get a boost insofar as Iranians didn’t already assume the worst of U.S. intentions,” wrote Ali Gharib at the Daily Beast already before the Sate Department made its announcement. Others pointed out that the decision to take the MEK from the list of terrorist groups could be used by the Iranian regime as a pretext to renew its crackdown on the opposition in general in Iran, by accusing them of having ties with the MEK. This the more so, since the group was reported to have been involved – in cooperation with Israel – in a recent string of sabotage acts against military objects and assassinations of nuclear scientists in Iran.

The group, which was founded in 1963 as an armed Marxist-Leninist opposition group to the shah, was already terrorist in the 70-ties, with assassinations of American diplomats and personnel, among other things. After the 1979 revolution in which it took an active part, it fell out with the Khomeini-regime and thereafter it became extremely violent. It committed bomb attacks against the Islamic leadership in which hundreds were killed. According to IPS in a thoroughly written profile of the group, this went on in the eighties at a rate of three killings per day. The leaders, the couple Massoud and Maryam Rajavi,  moved to Paris in 1981, but after France recognized the Islamic Republic, they went to Iraq, where the movement got tanks and heavy weapons from Saddam Hussein with which it made frequent incursions into the eastern Kurdish areas of Iran and caused havoc and destruction. Since that time the group is generally perceived by Iranians as a bunch of traitors and quislings.

The internal relations within the group deserve a special mention. I myself interviewed Massoud Rajavi in 1984 in Paris for the Dutch daily ‘de Volkskrant’ and was struck by the cult like way his followers talked  about the fact that his wife Maryam, shortly beforehand, had left her husband in order to marry Rajavi ‘for the sake of the movement’. In later years I heard many stories about the way people were deceived or even duped in becoming members of the MEK. In the 7 June issue of the London Review of Books, Owen Bennet-Jones painted a detailed picture of the movement, including the incredible ways in which it deals with its members.

The lifting of the terrorist status by Hillary Clinton came after several years of lobbying by the MEK itself and a number of influential supporters. Among them, are according to the IPS, which published a profile of the MEK, two former CIA. directors, R. Jame Woolsey and Porter J. Goss; a former F.B.I. director, Louis J. Freeh; a former attorney general, Michael B. Mukasey; President George W. Bush’s first homeland security chief, Tom Ridge; President Obama’s first national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones; big-name Republicans like the former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Democrats like the former Vermont governor Howard Dean; and even the former top counterterrorism official of the State Department, Dell L. Dailey.” Mitchell Reiss, a top foreign policy advisor to Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan presidential campaign, also spoke on behalf of the group.

IPS notes: One potential explanation for this diverse list of supporters are the large speaking fees the MEK network has offered to big-name public figures. “Your speech agent calls, and says you get $20,000 to speak for 20 minutes,” said a State Department official quoted by the Christian Science Monitor. “They will send a private jet, you get $25,000 more when you are done, and they will send a team to brief you on what to say.”[16] Pro-MEK individuals and organizations also reportedly donated thousands of dollars to the campaigns of several sitting members of Congress, including Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Bob Filner, Ted Poe, Mike Rogers, and Dana Rohrabacher.[17]

The American State Department did keep some distance from the MEK when it took the group from the terrorism list. For instance it commented that  “with today’s actions, the Department does not overlook or forget the MEK’s past acts of terrorism, including its involvement in the killing of U.S. citizens in Iran in the 1970s and an attack on U.S. soil in 1992.” Also it implicitly recognized the sectarian traits of the MEK and the internal terror it exercizes in order to keep the group together when it said that ”the Department also has serious concerns about the MEK as an organization, particularly with regard to allegations of abuse committed against its own members.” 

Also a State department official stated in a briefing that “We have no evidence and we have no confidence that the MEK is an organization that can promote democratic values that we would like to see in Iran.They are not part of our picture in terms of the future of Iran.” This, however, does not neutralize the fact that the rehabilitation of the MEK is a new dangerous step in the ongoing confrontation between the West ad Iran.

AUTHOR: Martin Hijmans
URL: http://the-pessoptimist.blogspot.com/
E-MAIL: m.hijmans [at] planet.nl

The denial of medical treatment is a way by which Iranian authorities put pressure on political prisoners.

Zanyar and Loghman Moradi are two political prisoners who, under torture, signed a document holding them responsible for the murder of a regime official that took place in a Kurdish city in Iran.

According to a report by Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, Zanyar and Loghman Moradi been subjected to torture and threatened with rape.

Neither of these two political prisoners have been allowed visits with their families in more than six months.

AUTHOR: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
URL: http://iranhr.net/
E-MAIL: amirymoghaddam [at] gmail.com

The prize committee acknowledged Tavakoli for his “non- violent fight for freedom of speech and democracy.” The Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, commenting on the win, said: “The Student Peace Price is this year awarded to a young and brave person.” The Peace Prize’s website wrote: “The winner of the Student Peace Prize has thus become a symbol and a representative for Iranian students and political activists alike.”

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR, who spoke at the announcement ceremony in Norway, said in an interview: “The Iranian authorities think that by keeping Majid Tavakoli in prison they can silence his voice. But, today we proved the Iranian authorities wrong. Maid’s voice is stronger than ever. His words have been spread around the world. Majid’s win demonstrates that the Iranian student movement is not forgotten and that the world supports the legitimate demands and rights of Iranian students.”

Majid Tavakoli is currently held in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj. He was majoring in shipbuilding when he was violently arrested on December 7, 2009, Iranian National Student Day. He was reportedly arrested after delivering a speech at Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran. Sources have said Tavakoli’s speech criticized high-ranking regime officials, including Ali Khamenei, the leader of Iran.

The Student Peace Prize is awarded biennially, on behalf of all Norwegian students. Majid Tavakoli will be honored with a ceremony during ISFiT (International Student Festival in Trondheim) and will also receive a personalized monument in Jomfrugata in Trondheim, as a part of the “Walk of Peace”.

MORE INFORMATION ON MAJID TAVAKOLI

He was initially transferred to Evin prison and endured long periods in solitary confinement, subjected to physical and psychological torture. He was transferred to Rajai Shahr prison in August 2010. He has launched multiple hunger strikes in prison, leading to the deterioration of his health. There were reports in 2010 that he was suffering from abdominal bleeding.

He was first arrested in 2007 for protesting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presence at Amirkabir University. He was held in prison for 15 months and tortured. He was arrested again in March 2009, during a memorial ceremony for Mehdi Bazargan. He endured 115 days in solitary confinement in Evin Prison before his release on bail.

The Tehran Appeals Court sentenced Majid Tavakoli to a total of nine years in prison: 5 years for “Association and collusion with the intent to act against national security”, 1 year for “Propaganda against the regime”, 2 years for “Insulting the Supreme Leader”, and 6 months for “Insulting the President”. In November 2011, the Tehran Appeals Court issued an additional 6 months for a fresh charge of “Propaganda against the regime”.

AUTHOR: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
URL: http://iranhr.net/
E-MAIL: amirymoghaddam [at] gmail.com

One prisoner hanged in Western Iran

According to the official Iranian news agency IRNA, one prisoner was hanged in the prison of Doroud, Lorestan Province (West of Iran). The prisoner who was not identified by name, was convicted keeping 9 kilos and 618 grams of heroin, said the report.

Three prisoners were hanged in Northern Iran

According to the official website of the Iranian judiciary in Semnan province (Northern Iran), three prisoners were hanged in the prison of Shahrud early this morning, Thursday September 20.

The prisoners were identified as “M.M.”, “A. M.” and “M. R.” and convicted of “keeping and carrying large amounts of the narcotic substance crack”, said the report.

At least two prisoners were hanged in Urmia (Northwestern Iran)

According to the unofficial Kurdish news agency Kurdpa, sex prisoners were hanged in the prison of Urmia early this morning September 20. Execution of two of the prisoners has been confirmed by another independent source. These prisoners are identified as “Hashem Jahangiri” and “Iraj Deylami”, both charges with drug-related offences.

AUTHOR: Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam
URL: http://iranhr.net/
E-MAIL: amirymoghaddam [at] gmail.com