Justice For Iran: According to reliable sources, 10 men are scheduled to be executed tomorrow morning, October 22, in Evin prison in Iran. On October 10, the World Day against the Death Penalty, reports surfaced that Saeed Sedighi, Abbas Namaki, Mohammad Ali Rabiei, Hamid Rabiei, Ali Darvish, and six other individuals would be executed on the following day. The news followed joint action by several NGOs calling on the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and donor countries to cease funding the Islamic Republic of Iran’s anti-drug trafficking programs, which results in hundreds of executions of prisoners convicted on drug-related charges each year.
The executions were then postponed due to widespread media coverage of the executions and timely international action from UN Special Rapporteurs.
On Sunday October 21st, Justice For Iran received reports from several family members saying that the 10 men have been granted one last visit before execution scheduled tomorrow morning. Several of these prisoners have been tortured to obtain false confessions and have suffered the lack of due process.
Justice For Iran calls for immediate action of international community, specially the European Parliament delegation, which is about to visit Iran on October 27, to urge Islamic Republic to halt the executions and to commute these death sentences.
Marietje Schaake, a member of the European Parliament who has a long standing record supporting human rights in Iran says: “I call on those in power in the Islamic Republic to end the death penalty. It is important that Iran moved closer to the international community when it comes to human rights as well, not only with regards to the nuclear issue.”
Once again, the Islamic Republic is breaching its international commitments and dismissing worldwide concerns over its human rights practices. By planning to execute prisoners over a long weekend holiday, Iran is hoping to dodge international attention and pressure. In this context, the visit of the European Parliament delegation would not have any positive impact on human rights situation in Iran, but would instead legitimate the Islamic Republic by giving it undeserved credibility. Justice For Iran expresses its objection to this visit and demands that the EU delegation cancel it immediately in order to express their protest to the continuation of the death penalty and systematic human rights violations by Islamic Republic of Iran.
