July 26, 2008

Today, Iran executed 29 people which is the biggest known mass execution event in recent years.

The day before Tehran's prosecutor said "Thirty people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, illegal relationships, disturbing public security ... will be executed on Sunday at dawn,"

In January, Iran hanged 13 people including the mother of two young children who had been found guilty of murdering her husband.

Iran has so far hanged at least 155 in this year. Iran doesn't publish official execution stats but we know so far at least 355 people were put to death row last year and 215 in 2006.

Adultery, armed robbery, apostasy, serious drug trafficking, male homosexuality, murder and rape are punishable by death under Iran's sharia law, practiced since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Unfortunately, earlier this month, parliament in Iran approved a draft bill which could expand death penalty for bloggers who promote apostasy (atheism), pornography, prostitution and corruption.

Islamic Iran is making excessive use of the death penalty to spread fear among people mostly dissidents and activists. Although Iranian officials insist death penalty is an effective deterrent but in fact experience in past 29 years proved that death penalty is not an effective way to prevent crimes.

Also Iran officials claim that death penalty is carried out only after an exhaustive judicial process which doesn't have any meaning while suspect doesn't go through a fair trial. Police force in Iran torture suspects to confess to crime whether they have done it or not and their confession under torture is a main argument that judges take into consideration to sentence suspects to death. Sadly most of judges are illiterate and they don't have any knowledge about law but sharia. They do careless about suspect rights from the beginning of trial to the end.

Under above circumstances all of these sentences are against international laws and Iran is in violation of them. (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights)

We urge Islamic Republic of Iran's officials bring an immediate end to these executions.

http://stop.torturing.us/2008/07/stop-executions.html