Tenth of October, is the international day against the Death penalty; however, in Iran under the current despotic regime of mullahs, gallows are everywhere to take the lives of citizens every day. According to the annual report of Amnesty International Iran is still the number one state in execution per-capita as well as in torture and lack of legal procedures.

The Iranian regime is widely using the death penalty to terrorize and intimidate society. In many occasions, it uses this apparatus to target political and conscience opponents, and also ethnic and religious minorities in a discriminative manner.

Last year, Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Iranian regime, appointed Ebrahim Raeesi, the key figure in the Death Committee during the 1988 massacre in Iran, that sent 30000 MEK members and supporters to the gallows, as the head of Judiciary. Since Raissi took the office the number of executions has raised dramatically.

Robert Paladino, the US State Department speak person, in a Tweet in March 2019 wrote:

” Ebrahim Raeesi, involved in mass executions of political prisoners, was chosen to lead #Iran’s judiciary. What a disgrace! The regime makes a mockery of the legal process by allowing unfair trials and inhumane prison conditions. Iranians deserve better!”

350 death sentences in three months

According to the State-run agency, IRNA, 18 June 2019, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’ i, first deputy of regime’s Judiciary, admitted that just during the first three months of this year, there had been 350 death sentences and 250 more are under consideration. During August, 40 death sentences have been issued in Iran. In a statement on 8 August 2019, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) stated that there have been 46 executions for five weeks, 39 just in July.

Rouhani’s record

Gross violation of human rights since Rouhani took office, clearly shows the dire situation in Iran. According to the human rights organizations, in the last five and half years, during Rouhani’s presidency, 400 people have been executed, 56 per month; with ninety-seven women executed in this period.

Political death sentences

Based on statistics released by Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK), 120,000 Iranians have been killed by the Iranian regime. MEK has published the names and particulars of 20,000 of MEK members and supporters in two books, “Crime against Humanity”, and in “Fallen for Freedom”.

In an unprecedented crime against humanity since world war two, 30,000 political prisoners, mainly MEK members and supporters were executed in cold blood in just a few months in 1988 on direct orders of Khomeini, the founder of the mullahs’ regime.

Executions of ethnic and religious minorities, such as Kurds, Arabs, Baluchis, Sunnis, and Baha’is have turned to a routine in Iran. 22 prisoners of conscience, Sunnis, were killed in a mass execution on 2 August 2016.

NO death penalty in a Free Iran

Our resistance movement seeks to establish a society devoid of torture or executions, a republic based on freedom, democracy and separation of religion &state which will cherish human rights and gender equality as its highest principles #Iran #NoDeathPenalty #NoImpunity4Mullahs pic.twitter.com/zd2yGds2PL

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) October 10, 2019

On 10 October 2015, in a speech delivered to a conference on the International Day against Death penalty Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the NCRI, said:

“Our plan for future is an Iran without the death penalty, obliterating the mullahs’ religious decrees and establishing an independent judiciary, defending democratic values, freedom, equality, and sanctity of every citizen’s private life; no one will be arrested arbitrarily and torture is banned.”

Staff Writer

The Committee for the Support of Human Rights in Iran (CSDHI) held a conference in Paris on Wednesday, October 10th, in recognition of “World Day Against the Death Penalty.” The event was hosted by the Mayor of the 5th District of Paris and included speeches by politicians, dignitaries, and celebrities.

 

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), spoke about the execution of 120,000 political prisoners, most of whom were MEK members, by the Iranian regime. Mrs. Rajavi said, “Their deaths are an everlasting disgrace for the mullahs who have built the pillars of their rule on blood.”

Mrs. Rajavi went on to say that the Iranian regime continues to use the death penalty to control and intimidate the Iranian people: “The death penalty is a tool for terrorizing the society and a significant instrument for preserving the regime. Both factions benefit from such endless savagery to prolong the regime’s rule,” she said.

I urge the world’s governments to stop their political and economic relations with the Iranian regime unless the regime ends torture and executions of prisoners and abandons its involvement in terrorism.
#NoToExecution #Iran pic.twitter.com/gkU72qBjyp

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) October 10, 2018

Mrs. Rajavi further called upon governments worldwide to condition all political and economic relations with the Iranian regime upon the cessation of torture and executions and the dismantling of their terrorist apparatus.

 

Florence Berthout, Mayor of the 5th District of Paris, lauded the NCRI’s struggle against the Iranian regime, quoting Victor Hugo. “The death penalty is the eternal sign of barbarism,” she quoted.

 

Jean-François Legaret, Mayor of the 1st District of Paris, paid tribute to the 30,000 political prisoners (mostly MEK members) executed during the 1988 Massacre in Iran. He emphasized that “these barbarities still continue” and went on to describe more recent attempts by the Iranian regime to silence the opposition, specifically the MEK. He mentioned the foiled terrorist attack on the annual NCRI gathering outside of Paris in June. “An Iranian minister sponsored the attack on Villepinte,” he said. “The Iranian regime is desperate and is trying to execute those outside, who stand in solidarity with the resistance in Iran.” Legaret stressed. “I call on the French government to launch an international investigation under the auspices of the UN to shed light on this state terrorism and the barbarities in Iran.”

Jean-François Legaret Mayor of Paris 1, @JF_Legaret I greet #MaryamRajavi and reaffirm my solidarity with the #Iran'ian Resistance.
#NoDeathPenalty#HumanRights@MBachelet pic.twitter.com/QMjedK0E05

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) October 10, 2018

Ingrid Betancourt, former FARC hostage and Colombian presidential candidate, also discussed the foiled terrorist plot on the NCRI gathering in her speech. She commended France for standing up to the Iranian regime despite its threats and pressure, and for demanding that the terrorists responsible for the attack face justice. She also called upon all of those who were present at the NCRI gathering to join her in filing a civil lawsuit in Belgium regarding the attack.

.@BetancourIngrid: We are survivors of an attack if the Belgian, German and French police had not thwarted the Iranian regime's plot aiming to eliminate @Maryam_Rajavi who opposes Islamist extremism #Iran#NoDeathPenalty #1988Massacre#HumanRights @JavaidRehman pic.twitter.com/J7Y9iq88Rh

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) October 10, 2018

 

Gilbert Mitterrand, the President of the Danielle Mitterrand Foundation, said, “Iran is, unfortunately, the world champion, the world record holder of executions.”

Gilbert Mitterrand: this year 2018 also coincides with the 30th anniversary of the #1988Massacre. We are not just paying tribute to the 30,000 victims. If mullahs continue with enough executions as they do, we’ll eventually end up with a 2nd 30,000.#NoDeathPenalty #HumanRights pic.twitter.com/KpVipVJ1uM

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) October 10, 2018

Jean-Pierre Béquet, former Mayor of Auvers- sur-Oise, congratulated the Iranian Resistance for including the abolition of the death penalty in its political platform. He also noted the positivity of the MEK members he had encountered. “When we went to Tirana to see the Ashrafians who had just arrived, with many wounded and maimed as a result of the regime’s attacks. These people had no hatred or revenge,” he said.

.@mkpbequet: #Iran continues to apply the death penalty #PeineDeMort day after day. I congratulate the Iranian Resistance 4 including the abolition of the death penalty in its programme despite suffering tens of thousands of victims#NoDeathPenalty#10Oct @MBachelet@JavaidRehman pic.twitter.com/FzJfGhIw3h

— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) October 10, 2018

Jean-Pierre Muller, Mayor of Magny- en-Vexin said, “There are no moderates in Iran, only barbarians.” He proposed a day of solidarity between the people of France and the MEK.

Jean-Pierre Brard, Mayor of Montreuil also spoke about the foiled terrorist attack in June, emphasizing that “the attack not only targeted the resistance, but it also targeted our country. This embodies the hate seen in the mullahs.” Brard flatly rejected the idea that moderates exist in Iranian politics, saying, “A fascist is always a fascist.”

 

Bruno Macé, Mayor of Villiers-Adam, had also visited the MEK camp in Albania. “I saw in Tirana people who want to set up this secular democracy that we all aspire to.”

Staff Writer

 

 

A distinguished professor and member of the UK’s House of Lords has urged the UK government and its European allies to seriously consider a US appeal for multilateral participation on economic and diplomatic sanctions on Iran.

Lord Alton: Disagreements over Nuclear Deal must not distract from larger Iranian threats | #Iran @Maryam_Rajavi https://t.co/Ofn5tvs5NC

— Central Lobby (@CentralLobby) October 10, 2018

Different Approaches

Following the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, the US has reintroduced stringent economic sanctions on the Iranian regime.

However, the UK and European governments have been reluctant to follow suit, instead preferring to salvage the JCPOA in some way.

Lord Alton wrote, “It is understandable that there are different attitudes on each side of the Atlantic”, adding, “but it is important that neither the US nor Europe allows this discord to distract them from the imperative to establish a coordinated, cohesive strategy for dealing with other pressing issues related to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The nuclear issue may have grabbed headlines, but it is by no means the only threat the Iranian regime poses.

World Leaders…

For example, the Iranian regime has maintained its title as the world’s leading state-sponsor of terrorism. In 2018 alone, the regime orchestrated two terror attacks on European soil. Both targeted the Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK), and both were foiled in the late stages of the operation.

The regime also leads the world in executions per capita, with Alton calling it a “representative example of the repressiveness of ideological dictatorships.”

What is perhaps even more troubling, is that under the JCPOA, which allowed for the easing of sanctions and inflow of aid to the regime, these two issues were allowed to increase unfettered.

The Iranian regime tightened its control of the population, executing political dissidents, women, and juvenile offenders alike. More than 60 peaceful protestors were killed in January alone.

Similarly, the regime constructed an elaborate network of espionage and terror in Europe, using Iranian embassies as underground hubs of nefarious activities. Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat operating out of the Iranian embassy in Vienna, was the mastermind behind the plot to detonate a bomb at the MEK’s annual Grand Gathering in Paris.

Increasing Instability

Regardless of the JCPOA’s effectiveness at limiting Iran’s nuclear capabilities, it has undoubtedly failed in its other purpose: to promote regional and international stability.

Alton writes, “the lack of progress in the Middle East is particularly obvious, as hard-line Iranian institutions continue to inject themselves into the civil wars in Syria and Yemen”.

Within Iran as well, instability reigns. The economic crisis brought on by the regime has prompted protests and outrage from the Iranian public. Key industries in Iran have gone on strike and brought the country’s economy to its knees.

Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), made the connection between the regime’s ddestabilizing effect abroad and their violence within Iran.

She said, “the mullahs’ anti-human regime is hell-bent on stepping up the atmosphere of terror and repression to extinguish the Iranian people’s uprising through suppression, executions, bombardment and missile attacks”.

In continuing to treat the mullahs and Rouhani as though he is a moderate reformer on a crusade to bring stability to Iran and the Middle East is deeply flawed. Alton writes, “they [the UK and EU governments] are only turning their back on the most closely held human rights principles that define modern democratic nations.”

In his closing statement, Lord Alton called on the UK and other EU nations to address the issue, “regardless of their feelings about the JCPOA”. For Alton, this means giving a fair hearing to any proposal from the Trump administration for implementing multilateral economic and political sanctions against the Iranian regime. “It is the right thing to do for the people of Iran, and it is the right thing to do for the nations of Europe as well”, Alton concluded.

Staff Writer

 

The 10^th of October was the 16^th World Day Against the Death Penalty. To mark the occasion, Friends of a Free Iran issued a press statement expressing their concern over the current use of capital punishment in Iran.

10th October #European & #WorldDayAgainstTheDeathPenalty #Iran holds highest number in global executions
Statement by Friends of a Free Iran in the European Parliament#HumanRights #DeathPenalty @Europarl_EN @FedericaMog @davidmcallister @EP_President @Maryam_Rajavi @eu_eeas pic.twitter.com/wcOLJS7QFo

— Firouz Mahvi (@FirouzMahvi) October 10, 2018

A Violent and Barbaric Regime

The clerical regime carries out more executions per capita than any other regime or government on earth. The mullahs’ regime accounted for more than half of all the executions in the world in 2017.

In 2018 so far, the regime has executed more than 230 Iranian citizens, among them, were political prisoners, women, and juvenile offenders.

In just a month of September alone, Friends of a Free Iran report, 33 Iranians were hanged, including nine political prisoners, whose only crime was disagreeing with the hard-line, dogmatic ideology of the clerical regime.

Remembering 1988 Massacre of MEK Activists

2018’s World Day Against the Death Penalty holds a special significance. It marks the 30^th anniversary of one of the darkest chapters of Iran’s history.

In the summer of 1988, the regime rounded up more than 30,000 members of the Iranian opposition, the majority of which came from the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK). The men and women were detained, then executed on the orders of the regime’s leadership.

The most difficult part for the families of the victims, as well as MEK members today, is that those responsible for the crimes have escaped punishment. Many hold senior positions in Rouhani’s cabinet today.

The Friends of a Free Iran press release mentions Rouhani’s Justice Minister, Alireza Avaei. Avaei played a central role in the 1988 massacre. He was a member of the “death squad” that ordered and carried out many of the arrests and executions that summer.

State-Sponsored Terrorism

Friends of a Free Iran also took the opportunity to denounce the Iranian regime’s engagement in state-sponsored terrorism. 2018 has seen the clerical regime plot two plots on European soil against the MEK, both of which were foiled in the late stages.

In June, an Iranian diplomat working at the Iranian embassy in Vienna provided a Belgian-Iranian couple with explosive material. The pair were going to attack the MEK’s Grand Gathering event in Paris with an explosive-laden vehicle.

The terrorist plots, according to Friends of a Free Iran, represent the violent nature of the clerical regime. Its statement condemned the regime for “attacking its own people inside Iran and… planning terrorism on the [sic] European soil”.

Friends of a Free Iran lamented the silence from the European community. It urged the European heads of state to take a harder approach towards Iran.

The statement read, “we must tell Iran that any acts of terror in Europe is absolutely unacceptable and will have serious consequences”, adding, “we are disappointed that our European governments and the EU [are] still trying to be nice with this brutal regime”.

Finally, the statement implored the international community to “be on the side of the people of Iran and not with the mullahs”. Only then can Iran make progress on human rights.

Staff Writer