Statistics on human rights violations in Iran from August 20 to September 20, 2021
27-September-2021
Category: executions، Freedom of Expression، Prisoners
26-September-2021
Newsgroup: Freedom of Expression – Execution – Prisoners –
Implementation 115 death sentences over the last 6 months
Execution of 31 prisoners, including 3 women and two Afghan nationals, in the past one month
Issuance and upholding of the 12 death sentences
Detention at least 115 activists
Issuance of 56 years, 4 months and 11 days imprisonment for various activists
Breathing in Confinement: The last month of the summer of 2021 was accompanied by the horrific news of the suspicious death of the only witness to the torture of Navid Afkari, the Iranian national wrestler who was executed in September 2020.
Executions and issuance of death sentences, detention of various activists, continued torture of prisoners, and deplorable prison conditions are examples of ongoing human rights violations by the authorities of the Islamic Republic.
On Tuesday, September 21, 2021, the news of the suspicious death of Shahin Naseri following his transfer to solitary confinement in the Greater Tehran Prison, was published in social media. Shahin was known for his courageous testimony for the torture of Navid Afkari. On Wednesday, September 22, twenty four hours after his death, Shahin’s family was asked to go to the criminal court in Tehran to receive his body. Two days after this tragic and inhumane event, the Iranian judiciary, in a statement without providing any details, confirmed the news saying: “Cardiac massage, ventilation, IV line fixation and injection of epinephrine was performed for 45 minutes, and despite the efforts of the medical staff, the prisoner died.”
In an audio message recorded before Navid afkari’s execution, Shahin Naseri stated that he was threaten by the case investigator who had told him: “Because of your involvement in a security case, I will inflict such a chastisement on you that you will be melted”!
In his audio message, Shahin Naseri explained that he had witnessed the beating of Navid Afkari at the Police Investigation Department in Shiraz, and that he tried to testify for Navid Afkari’s innocence. In this voice message, he asked the Iranian people to help save the life of Navid Afkari.
Shahin Naseri holding a master’s degree in business, was arrested on September 17, 2018 in Qazvin, on financial charges and transferred to the Police Investigation Department in Shiraz on September 26, 2018. He was later transferred to the Greater Tehran Prison at his own request, willing to be close to where he lived. He said that in his interrogations he was subjected to severe torture, and that it motivated him to inform the judiciary about what he had witnessed when Navid Afkari was being tortured. In his audio message, he said that while torturing and beating Navid, plainclothes agents told him: “The truth is whatever we say and you have to write it down.”
The lawyer Babak Paknia, wrote on his personal Twitter page about the death of Shahin Naseri: “A day before his death, Shahin called me from the Greater Tehran Prison and asked me to be his lawyer again. He continued that he had been taken out of the ward and that his phone card had been confiscated and he was using his friend’s phone card.” What Mr. Paknia says, proves that Shahin had been in a critical situation when he asked him for help.
Ongoing suspicious deaths of dissident prisoners, urgently necessitates the involvement of international authorities and human rights organizations in the matter. International authorities should set up a fact-finding committee to hold Islamic Republic officials accountable for human rights abuses in prisons.
Violations of human rights in Iran is ongoing, and the authorities of the Islamic Republic continue to issue and execute numerous death sentences; detain dissidents including political, civil, and social activists; issue harsh sentences; and issue and execute floggings, without being held accountable for their actions.
Over the past month, security forces continued shooting and killing the Kulbars and Sukhtbars (the workers who carry goods and fuel across the borders). Killing and wounding the people who have to endure such a the deplorable conditions to earn money for their living is a gross violation of the right to life which has never been questioned by the international entities.
Execution statistics:
According to the Statistics Center of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, in the past one month, at least 31 prisoners, including three women, were executed in various cities.
Furthermore, at least 12 death sentences have been issued or upheld by the judiciary. Among the death sentences which have been upheld is the death sentence of a fortune teller charged with “corruption.” Due to the unfair process of detention, interrogation, and trial, as well as denying the prisoners of the right to counsel, these death sentences are extrajudicial with no legal basis and must be revoked immediately.
Of the death sentences carried out in the past one month, only six have been reported by the official and state media. The other 25 have been carried out in secret. In the other words, only 19% of executions have been officially announced by the judiciary. And the remaining 81% were reported by human rights activists, despite their limited access to news sources.
Of the 31 executed prisoners, 21 were charged with murder and 10 were charged with drug offenses.
Due to the lack of sufficient evidence, one prisoner executed in Yasuj, had been sentenced to death for murder through Qasameh (swearing) ceremony. In Qassameh ceremony, 50 people swear to God that the murder was committed by the accused, and the court issues the death sentence solely on this basis.
Qassameh is one of the most unjust and baseless methods of proving a crime, and the execution on this basis is in fact the murder of a prisoner.
Geographical extent of the executions:
Executions over the past month have taken place in the cities of Qom, Zahedan, Ardabil, Yazd, Yasuj, Karaj, Mashhad, Taybad, Iranshahr, Birjand and Zanjan. The city of Karaj, located in Alborz province, had the highest number of executions, with 14 prisoners executed in Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj and one in Karaj Central Prison.
Adding up the last month’s executions, in the past six months at least 145 prisoners including five women have been executed in various prisons.
Detention of citizens:
At least 115 activists have been arrested in the past month, including civil and political activists, teachers, workers, lawyers, etc.
More than a month after his arrest, Mustafa Nili, lawyer of political prisoners is still in custody.
In addition, in recent days, the houses of a number of women activists have been searched by the security agents of Revolutionary Guards. The houses of Pouran Nazemi, Sara Sahranvard Fard and Maryam Rahmani were searched and some of their personal belongings were confiscated. At Ms. Nazemi’s home, security forces searched and destroyed her belongings, including her ancient books and magazines.
Issuance of 56 years, 4 months and 11 days imprisonment for civil and human rights activists and prisoners of conscience
Arresting and imprisonment of the citizens of different faiths, including Christian converts and Baha’i citizens are ongoing. In the past month, the Court of Appeals in Alborz sentenced three Christian converts to a total of nine years in prison. Many Baha’i citizens also have either been arrested or received prison sentences.