On May 14th, MEK’s website reported on Iran’s record of executions. The article referenced a report by Amnesty International, that said that Iran is responsible for 51% of executions worldwide. Even these numbers do not account for all of the executions in Iran because executions of political prisoners, opposition members, and protesters were not counted.

Amnesty International provided numbers from four prisons in Iran. These figures paint a shocking picture of the human rights crisis in Iran, under its ruling regime.

Rajaie Shahr (Gohardasht Karaj) Prison

86 inmates, or one-third of the 264 prisoners held in Ward 10 of this prison, are on death row. The youth ward, Ward 3, has 180 inmates, of whom 80 have been sentenced to death. All of the inmates Ward 3 are under the age of 25, and many were under 18 when they were arrested. Ward 3 has 120 of its 210 inmates on death row. Ward 2 has 160 inmates, 120 of whom have been sentenced to death.

Qezel Hessar Prison

1,000 death row inmates are held in Unit 2 of this prison. Its death row inmates have been convicted of either murder or drug charges.

Urmia Prison

113 inmates of Wards 1-4 are on death row. Wards 1 and 2 are designated for inmates suffering from mental illness. Eight of these inmates are on death row. Ward 12 houses another three death row inmates. Ward 15, which is designated for those convicted of drug offenses, has six inmates awaiting the death penalty. The Youth Ward at Urmia has six death row inmates.

Zahedan Prison

136 inmates are on death row in this notorious prison, where they are held in appalling conditions, often waiting for years for their sentences to be carried out. Death row inmates include drug offenders and political prisoners. Ward 4 houses 24 death row inmates, who received their sentences primarily for drug offenses, murder, and affiliations with political groups. Another 21 inmates are held in Wards 1 and 3.

The Amnesty International report only covers four Iranian prisons and does not include the many political prisoners who are executed each year. In the summer of 1988 alone, 30,000 political prisoners were executed by the regime, many of the members of the MEK. To date, over 120,000 people have been executed by the Iranian regime for political reasons.

Drug offenses are punishable by death in Iran. In 2014, Iranian regime parliament speaker Ali Larijani was quoted in the state-run Mashreq daily as saying, “Nearly 80% of all executions in Iran are due to this country’s intense fight against narcotics.”

It is worth noting that drug smuggling in Iran is controlled by a variety of military, intelligence, and diplomatic agencies, most notably the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and Quds Force.  These entities traffic drugs across Iran and also internationally, netting billions of dollars from the practice. The IRGC uses its power and authority to bypass security and smuggles drugs.

As a wealthy nation, it makes no sense for Iran to lead the world in executions. Countries rich in resources and wealth rarely lower themselves to executions on this level. Unfortunately, 80-90% of the citizens of this wealthy nation live in poverty, creating an unequal class system which contributes to the large-scale unrest among the people of Iran. The motive for the regime’s excessive use of the death penalty is to suppress the people and prevent them from rising up and demanding change. The regime has established a climate of fear to prevent change from taking place. This is how the regime has remained in place to date, but the people have begun to rise up in spite of these threats to demand regime change.

Staff writer

The Iranian regime unleashed a wave of violence against prisoners in Iran this week. The regime brutally executed 19 prisoners across the nation’s prisons, with eight of the 19 hung in a mass execution at Gohardasht Prison in Karaj province.

On April 17^th, the wave of violence began with the execution of a prisoner in Tabriz. The next day, the hanging of the eight martyrs took place in Gohardasht Prison. On the same day, Bahman Varmazyar, a sports coach imprisoned in Hamadan, was executed by the regime. Five days later, on April 23^rd, five prisoners from Urmia Prison were hanged, three from Kermanshah and one prisoner interned in Ilam were also sent to the gallows.

It was not just those that the regime executed that met their end this week. Mohsen Parvas took his own life on the 21^st of April. He committed suicide in protest at the appalling conditions and overwhelming pressures on him in prison. Another 31-year-old, Nasir Zoraghi, died following restrictions on his access to medical assistance. He collapsed following a stroke in Zahedan Central Prison.

Many of those executed had endured show trials and arbitrary suspension of their human rights. They were prisoners like Ramin Hossein Panahi, a Kurdish political prisoner who had his death sentence upheld this week by the Iranian Supreme Court. His trial lasted less than an hour.

His lawyer described his illegal treatment at the hands of the Iranian authorities. There was no evidence pointing to Panahi’s charge of “taking up arms against the state”. He was unarmed when he was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

While in prison, Panahi has been subject to torture, apparent from the marks and bruises on his skin. He was also only permitted to speak to his legal counsel on one occasion. On that occasion, the meeting took place under the watch of Iranian security agents.

These show trials and brutal executions are a violation of international law. It represents the Iranian regime attempting to maintain its weakening grip on power through the brutal administration of violent reprisals towards its critics.

The rise in executions is a desperate attempt to intimidate the public, who are taking to the streets to express their discontent, given the growing protests in objection to the reign of terror and corruption and the growing poverty.

The authorities wave of executions is unacceptable. It is time to put an end to these arbitrary executions, show trails, torturous interrogations, and illegal imprisonments. The Iranian people must mobilize and throw off the shackles of the regime.

Staff Writer