Iran has executed the 22 people it arrested in late September for alleged involvement in a deadly shooting at a military parade in the southern city of Ahvaz, multiple sources told 2 rights groups on Sunday.
"It seems that authorities executed all of them on Thursday," one of the sources told Iran Human Rights (IHR). After the executions, the group said, authorities "told the prisoners’ families" of the hangings in Ahvaz Central Prison (ACO) and warned them "against public mourning."
Multiple activists also told a 2nd group, Iran Human Rights Monitor (I-HRM), that Ahvaz's Ministry of Intelligence Office phoned some of the families of the prisoners and informed them of their relatives' executions.
On Sep. 22, 4 men dressed in military uniform opened fire on a viewing stand where Iranian officials were seated to observe a procession held yearly to mark the start of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. The attack resulted in the deaths of 25, 12 of which were members of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Dozens more were injured.
After the incident, the Islamic State (IS) published a statement on their propaganda website, Amaq agency, in which they claimed responsibility for the attack. A day later, they posted a video as alleged proof.
In response, the Aerospace Force Division of the IRGC launched several ballistic missiles into eastern Syria, later saying they had killed multiple IS members in the operation. An Iraqi commander of a militia in the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), many of which receive direct backing from Iran, claimed while speaking to local media that the strikes nearly missed the organization's elusive leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Weeks later, the IRGC also said that they had killed 5 "terrorists," one of whom they asserted was the "mastermind" behind the attack, in Iraq's Diyala Province.
However, well before IS' initial statement on the attack, an Iranian Arab opposition group announced that they, in fact, had coordinated the parade shooting. The group, known as the Ahvaz National Resistance, claims to represent Iran's Arab community that has "long been neglected by the central government" and has poorer living standards in comparison to the rest of Iran.
Since the attack, security forces have arrested nearly 800 people, alleging connections to the parade attack. Some of the detainees have been transferred to unknown locations and most of them have previously been reported to be ethnically Arab Iranians.
Woman Hanged at Sanandaj Prison
A woman was hanged at Sanandaj Prison this morning.
According to the IHR sources, Sharareh Elyasi was executed on a murder charge at Sanandaj prison this morning. “Civil activists and the prisoner's family tried a lot until the last minutes to obtain a consent from the victim’s family,” the source said, "but they failed to win the consent."
The Penal Code of Iran does not specifically state that convicted murderers are subject to the death penalty, but rather to “qisas” which means “retribution in kind” or retaliation. In this way, the State effectively puts the responsibility for executions for murder on the shoulders of the victim’s family.
The Iranian media outlets have not published news related to the aforementioned execution so far.
According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 240 of the 517 execution sentences in 2017 were implemented due to murder charges.
There is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and intent.
Source: kurdistan24.net, Iran Human Rights, November 13, 2018
Sharareh Almassi, 85th woman executed in Iran under Rouhani
A young woman by the name of Sharareh Almassi was hanged on Tuesday, November 13, 2018, in the Central Prison of Sanandaj after 5 years of imprisonment.
Sharareh Almassi, 27, was arrested and jailed for 5 years for killing her husband, Kaveh Gholam Veissi in a family fight.
A group of civil and human rights activists and campaigners against the death penalty gathered outside the Central Prison of Sanandaj since 4 a.m. to prevent execution of Sharareh Almassi. Their efforts, however, did not manage to stop the execution.
Sharareh Almassi is the 85th woman who is executed under Hassan Rouhani, the mullahs’ president.
Last month, another young woman, Zeinab Sekaanvand was also hanged in the Central Prison of Urmia.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet issued a statement on October 5, 2018, condemning the execution of Zeinab Sekaanvand, in which she stressed that the UN Human Rights Office opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances, as no judiciary in any part of the world is mistake-free.
The death penalty violates the most fundamental human rights, the right to life and the right to freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. The death penalty is also considered discriminatory as it is often used against the most vulnerable in society, including the poor, ethnic and religious minorities, and people with mental disabilities.
Execution is a tool which helps the mullahs’ regime hold its grab on power. Over 3,600 people have been executed over the past five years under Hassan Rouhani. In the same period, 85 women have been executed.
Iran is the world’s leading per capita executioner. It also holds the record in the execution of women and minors. Among the reasons that lead to the execution of women are early forced marriages, being deprived of the right to divorce, domestic violence against women, and poverty.
Source: ncr-iran.org, November 14, 2018
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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
