Iran 'hangs nine for rape, drug trafficking'

TEHRAN — Iran on Tuesday hanged three convicted rapists and six drug traffickers -- one of them a woman -- in different cities, local media reported.

Two of the men, aged 23 and 25, were hanged in public in the western city of Kermanshah, Fars news agency reported.

They were executed after being found guilty of raping a number of women, some of them university students. They were not identified.

Fars also said five men and one woman were hanged on Tuesday for drug trafficking, notably dealing in heroin. They were not identified either.

ISNA news agency also reported a young man convicted of rape and identified by the initials M.S. was hanged publicly on Tuesday in the central town of Saveh, some 120 kilometres (72 miles) southwest of the capital.

The hangings bring to 266 the number of executions in Iran so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on media and official reports.

Human Rights Watch counted 388 executions in Iran in 2010. Amnesty International put the figure at 252, ranking the Islamic republic second only to China in the number of people put to death last year.

Iran says the death penalty is essential to maintain law and order, and that it is applied only after exhaustive judicial proceedings.

Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking, homosexuality and adultery are among the crimes punishable by death in Iran.

Source: Agence France-Presse, November 29, 2011

Nine prisoners, among them one woman, were executed in Iran today- Three of the prisoners hanged in the public

Iran Human Rights, November 29: Nine prisoners were executed in two different Iranian cities this morning Tuesday 29. November, reported the official Iranian news agencies.

One woman and five men were hanged in the prison of Kermanshah:

According to the state run Fars news agency six prisoners were hanged in the prison of Kermanshah early this morning. Quoting Kermanshah’s prosecuter Mojtaba Maleki the report said: "Six prisoners, among them five men and one woman, were sentenced to death convicted of drug trafficking". None of the prisoners were identified by name.

Two prisoners were publicly hanged in Kermanshah:

According to the official Iranian news agency IRNA, two young men identified as "H. H." and "M. R." were hanged in the Azadi (freedom) Square of Kermanshah this morning. The men were convicted of kidnapping and rape of five women, said the report.

Fars news agency reported that the men were 23 and 25 years old.

One prisoner was hanged publicly in Saveh:

A young man identified as "M.S." was hanged publicly in the Khalij-e-Fars (Persian Gulf) Square of Saveh (West of Tehran) reported the state rn Iranian news agency ISNA. The execution took place this morning and the prisoner was convicted of raping a woman two years ago, according to the report.

According to the sources IHR has been in contact with, the prisoner’s name was "Mansor Salamat".

Source: Iran Human Rights, November 30, 2011

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