A statistical report on the violation of human rights in Iran over the past one month (July 20 to August 20, 2021)
24-August-2021
Category: executions، Freedom of Expression، Prisoners، Women
23-August-2021
Newsgroup: Freedom of Expression – Execution – Women – Prisoners –
Breathing in Confinement: The examples of the ongoing human rights violations by the authorities of the Islamic Republic over the past month, included the executions, arrests, imprisonment, and floggings.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news organ of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, the presidential swearing of Ebrahim Raisi, a member of “death committee” and one of the perpetrators of the massacre of political prisoners in the summer of 1988, was the main example of human rights violation by the Iranian government.
Concurrently with Ebrahim Raisi’s presidential swearing, Amnesty International wrote on a Twitter thread: “Crimes against humanity loom large over Ebrahim Raisi’s inauguration as president of Iran. We continue to call for him to be criminally investigated for his role in past and ongoing crimes against humanity related to 1988 massacre.
Amnesty International continued: “The international community, including the EU, which is sending Enrique Mora to Raisi’s inauguration, must publicly demonstrate its commitment to fight against systematic impunity in Iran for extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings, enforced disappearances and torture. World leaders must call on the UN Human Rights Council to establish an independent investigative and accountability mechanism to prevent further cycles of bloodshed & secure justice and accountability for victims and survivors.”
Over the past one month, people in various cities held protest rallies in support of the uprisings in Khuzestan against water crisis. The rallies were dealt with violently by security forces, who arrested and beat some of the protesters. During the uprisings in Khuzestan, at least 11 protesters were killed by security agents in various cities of Khuzestan province.
In addition, over the past month, death rate from the Covid-19 pandemic dramatically increased, with in this time period, according to the official statistics, at least 13,975 people died from the disease. Ban on the import of vaccine as well as the government’s refusal to quarantine the cities and to provide simultaneous economic support, have been the reasons for the spread of the disease and its catastrophic consequences, for which most people blame Ali Khamenei. In his speech in January 2021, Ali Khamenei prohibited the import of foreign vaccines, especially American and British ones.
Below, the Statistics Center of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran has tried to provide a brief explanation about the violations of human rights, practiced by the Iranian government during the past month.
Executions
At least 34 prisoners have been executed in the past one month, when 13 death sentences also have been issued.
Among the executed prisoners, 20 were the prisoners charged with drug offences and 14 others were hung on murder charges.
Over the past month, the execution of prisoners on drug charges has significantly increased.
While 4 years have passed since the passage of the Law on Reducing the Death Penalty for Drug-Related Crimes, the execution of drug-involved offenders has increased since the appointment of Gholam-Hossein Ejei as head of the judiciary.
In addition, secrete executions have continued, with from 34 executions, only three were reported by the official media, and the remaining 31 (more than 90 percent), were made public by human rights activists alone.
During the past one month, an accused child named Sajjad Sanjari was executed in Dizelabad Prison in Kermanshah. Sajjad Sanjari, who was only 15 years old at the time of the alleged crime, was born on July 19, 1995 and committed the “premeditated murder” on August 2, 2010.
After the execution, Sajjad’s body was handed over to his family and his funeral was held on August 3.
In terms of geographical spread, the largest number of executions were carried out in Isfahan prison. The rest of the executions took place in 14 other cities, including Rajai Shahr, Karaj, Mashhad, Kermanshah, Urmia, and Qazvin. And simultaneously, at least 13 death sentences were issued by the revolutionary courts.
Arrests and detentions
Over the past one month, the uprisings in Khuzestan against the water crisis continued. The protest rallies started on July 15, 2021, in various cities of the Province, and rapidly spread to the other cities and provinces of the country. According to local sources, a large number of citizens were arrested during the protests.
Hamshahri newspaper revealed the arrest of at least 300 people only in the city of Susangard. So far, no information has been made available on the identities, the whereabouts, or the conditions of the detainees.
Over the past one month, at least 418 people from various cities in Iran have been detained by security forces. Most of the detainees were protesters who had rallied in support of the uprisings in Khuzestan.
Despite the heavy presence of counter-insurgency forces and widespread repression, the people of Tabriz staged a protest rally on July 24, 2021, in support of the uprisings in Khuzestan. A large number of activists were arrested in Tabriz and other cities in East and West Azerbaijan as well as Ardabil Province. “Breathing in Confinement” previously published a report, identifying 30 of these detainees.
In addition, a group of families of those killed in November 2019, gathered in support of the protests in Khuzestan, but were treated violently by the security forces and all of them were arrested to be released a few hours later.
During this month, civil, ideological, political, and human rights activists received at least a total of 218 years, 3 months, and 5 days prison sentences.
Furthermore, while the sentence of 30-year imprisonment, as well as 111 lashes for the lawyer, Amirsalar Davoodi, had been revoked in the Supreme Court, Amir Raisian, Mr. Davoodi’s lawyer, announced that the sentence was reaffirmed by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.
In the last one month, while the three prisoners arrested during November 2019 uprisings, Saeed Tamjidi, Amir Hossein Moradi and Mohammad Rajabi, were still expecting the retrial to be held, their execution sentences were overturned and replaced by 25 years and one day in prison for each one of them, without a court hearing.
It should also be noted that in a rare act, Branch 18 of the Court of Appeals in Gilan, sentenced eight detained citizens who had previously been acquitted, to six months in prison.
Flogging sentences
During the past one month, the sentences of at least 709 lashes were either issued or upheld for 8 defendants, of which the heaviest was the sentence of 111 lashes for the lawyer Amirsalar Davoodi.