Perilous
Times
Iran secretly executing hundreds of prisoners: UN
October 18, 2011 - 7:24AM
AFP
Iran's authoritarian regime has been secretly executing hundreds
of prisoners, according to a new UN report detailing growing
rights abuses in the Islamic republic.
The mysterious executions at Vakilabad prison in Mashhad in
eastern Iran were highlighted in a report compiled by Ahmed
Shaheed, the new UN special rapporteur on the human rights
situation in Iran.
Shaheed, who assumed responsibility for the mandate on August 1,
billed this as an interim report cataloguing the most recent
trends in the human rights situation in Iran.
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The report details a raft of abuses from freedom of expression to
the denial of women's rights to the torture of detainees, but
perhaps the most shocking data was on the skyrocketing rate of
executions.
The report, obtained by AFP after first appearing on the Foreign
Policy website, said 200 officially announced executions had taken
place in 2011 with at least 83, including those of three political
prisoners, in January alone.
"Furthermore, authorities reportedly conducted more than 300
secret executions at Vakilabad prison in 2010," the report said.
"Vakilabad officials, in violation of Iranian law, allegedly
carried out the executions without the knowledge or presence of
the inmates' lawyers or families and without prior notification to
those executed," it said.
"It has also been reported that at least 146 secret executions
have taken place to date in 2011."
Shaheed also noted that four per cent of executions stipulated no
charges, that 100 juveniles were on death row, and that more than
100 executions this year alone for drug-related offences.
Human Rights Watch counted 388 executions in Iran in 2010, while
Amnesty International put the figure at 252, ranking the Islamic
republic second only to China in the number of people put to death
last year.
Tehran says the death penalty is essential to maintain law and
order, and that it is applied only after exhaustive judicial
proceedings.
Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are
among the crimes punishable by death in Iran.