08 August 2024 :
August 7, 2024 - IRAN. 29 men executed in Karaj on August 7
maybe also 2 women
26 in Ghezel-Hesar Prison of Karaj, and 3 in Karaj Central Prison.
29 Men including including 13 Kurdish, Baluch prioners, and 4 Afghan nationals, were executed for murder, drug-related and rape charges in Ghezelhesar Prison and Karaj Penitentiary this morning. At least 87 people have been executed in Iranian prisons in the one month since the presidential elections on 6 July.
Iran Human Rights continues to warn against unprecedented executions under the shadow of the Iran-Israel tensions and calls for the international community’s urgent attention to the Islamic Republic’s killing machine.
IHR Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: "The Islamic Republic, by exploiting global attention on its tension with Israel, is currently engaged in mass killing prisoners and intensifying the suppression in Iran. Without an immediate response from the international community, hundreds of individuals could become victims of the Islamic Republic's killing machine in the coming months! All countries with diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic are obligated to react to these crimes and prevent further atrocities."
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, 26 men were executed in a group execution in Ghezelhesar Prison and three men executed in Karaj Penitentiary (Central Prison) on 7 August. Two of the men were Afghan nationals and on death row for rape charges. Two other Afghan nationals were returned to their cells.
So far, the identities of 12 of these prisoners have been verified by Hengaw, Hrana and IHR as follows:
Abdullah (Shehbakhsh) Shahnavazi, 45 years old, a Baluch minority from Zahedan (Drugs);
Khalil Nahtani, 35 years old, from Zahedan, and formerly residing in Tehran;
Esmail Sharifi (Esmaiel Sharafi) from Kermanshah (Drugs);
Foroud Garavand (Geravand), 50 years old, from Kuhdasht (Drugs);
Khalil Shahoozi (Drugs);
Mehrdad Ghanbar Beigi;
Mohammad Karami (Gholami) from Kuhdasht (Drugs);
Mohammad Nazari;
Omid Farhikhteh, 42 years old from Tehran (Murder);
Rasoul Heidari, 42 years old from Tehran (Drugs);
Shahriar Foroutan, 38 years old, from Kermanshah and a resident of Tehran (Murder),
Shahab Maleki from Harsin, Kermanshah Province (Drugs);
Additionally, four Afghan nationals were executed simultaneously. Three of them were accused of rape, and one was convicted for murder. Their identities are currently under investigation.
A source told IHR: “17 people were executed for murder charges, seven for drug-related charges and 3 for rape charges.”
There have also been reports of two women being executed which IHR has not been able to confirm at the time of writing.
The 29 men were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions from the wards of Karaj Penitentiary and Ghezelhesar Prison on 5 and 6 August.
The other men’s identities have not been established at the time of writing. IHR continues its efforts to identify them and will publish updated reports.
Group executions of this size are unprecedented in the last two decades. The last recorded case was at the height of the 2009 nationwide protests when 20 people were executed for drug-related offences in Rajai Shahr (Gohardasht) Prison on 3 July 2009.
https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6838/
https://www.en-hrana.org/twenty-two-prisoners-executed-in-ghezel-hesar-prison-karaj/
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2024/08/article-27
