Public Statement by a number of Iranian human rights, civil rights and women’s rights activists

May 11, 2010

In the early hours of Sunday five prisoners including one woman were hanged in the Evin prison in Iran:

Shirin Alam-Hooli (Ms)

Farzad Kamangar

Ali Heydarian

Farhad Vakili

Mehdi Eslamian

Shirin appealed her sentence and denied charges even under torture but was turned down. Farzad was a teacher who also denied charges against him. His file was under review but the last time his attorney was told it was ‘lost’. Non of the families nor the attorney or the prisoners themselves were aware of their imminent execution, nor were they given the opportunity to a final farewell.

Among the countries that uphold the death penalty, Iran ranks the top especially of the prisoners of conscience. Since 2009, at least 388 people have been executed out of which 130 juvenile offenders, 22 Kurds, 6 Baluchis, 1 Arab and 14 individuals have been identified.

The execution of prisoners of conscience has been carried out throughout the life of the Islamic Republic. Against widespread demands by the international community Iran continues to detain and tortures and execute political prisoners especially the Kurds without due regards to the legal processes set out by its own judicial system.

At this moment our thoughts go with the families of the recent victims and we express our abhorrence to their executions and express our grave concern for those who are kept in the Iranian prisons under torture, under false charges which can potentially carry the death penalty.

We condemn the state’s acts of violence against human rights activists, women’s rights activists, journalists, students, workers and civil rights activists and urge the international community of human rights defenders, especially the United Nations to also condemn recent executions and put pressure on Iran to facilitate the visit of Special Rapporteurs to Iran to examine the prisons, talk to the families and investigate the atrocities committed by the Islamic Republic.

We urge the international community of human rights to condemn the use of death penalty against political prisoners as means to terrorise the nation and force them into silence.