Report on Iran: More than 400 Executions in 2009

Iran: More than 400 Executions in 2009

Iran Human Rights, the organization that works on the files of executed Iranian citizens, reported at least 400 executions for the year 2009.

HRANA - The year 2009, according to the annual report from Iran Human Rights, has seen the highest number of executions in the past decade.

The Summary of the Annual Report about Execution in Iran—2009

The current report is based mostly on published reports by official Iranian media from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009. In some cases, Iran Human Rights has used the information acquired through its own sources or authentic sources which belong to other human rights networks.

Following the start of the post-election civil protests in June 2009, it has become increasingly difficult to collect and pass on information. There is proof however that the real number of executions is much higher than the statistics published in the report.

On February 20, 2010, Ahmad Reza Rashidi, the deputy public prosecutor in Ahvaz, said in an interview with a Mehr reporter that since the beginning of 2009 there has been 38 execution sentences and Qesas-e Nafs issued (Qesas is a retributive ‘eye-for-eye’ punishment). Four amputation sentences have also been carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Ahvaz. Meanwhile, the official statistics of executions published in the Iranian media and human rights websites confirm only 14 executions in Ahvaz at the same period of time.

The number of executions in the Kurdish regions of Iran are considerably higher than the number reported by official authorities. Nevertheless, Iran and China were at the top of the international list of executions last year.

The statistics published in the following report do not include those killed during street protests or while detained in prison after the 2009 election. There are no exact statistics on citizens who lost their lives during the protests, but according to various sources, the number is over 70 deaths.

A comparison between statistics of 2009 with 2008:

• The number of executions reported by the official Iranian media: 339 people (282 people in 2008)
• The total number of executions including those unannounced by the official media: 402 people (346 people in 2008)
• The number of executions in the year 2009 has increased approximately 20% compared to 2008.
• In 2009, an average of over one person a day was executed in Iran.
• The highest number of executions has been during the month before the election (May 2009: 50 executions) and the month after the election (July 2009: 94 executions).
• In 2009, at least five alleged juvenile offenders were executed.
• According to Iranian media sources, 13 women were among the executed.
• In 2009, at least one person was stoned.
• One prisoner sentenced to stoning was hanged.

The statistics of executions in Iran during 2009 compared to the previous years (the statistics of the previous years are based on Amnesty International annual reports):

• Year 2000: 165 people
• Year 2001: 75 people
• Year 2002: 316 people
• Year 2003: 154 people
• Year 2004: 108 people
• Year 2005: 94 people
• Year 2006: 177 people
• Year 2007: 317 people
• Year 2008: 350 people (Iran Human Rights statistics); 346 people (Amnesty International statistics)
• Year 2009: 403 people (Iran Human Rights statistics)

The highest number of executions per month after the 2009 election:

• In July 2009 (period July 1 to August 1), at least 94 people were executed. 50 out of the 94 were executed in Evin and Rajai Shahr prisons.

The execution of minors:

• In 2009, there were at least five minors among the executed.

1. Molla Gol Hassan, Afghan citizen, male; executed in Tehran
2. Delara Darabi, female; executed in Rasht
3. Gholamreza H., Afghan citizen, male; executed in Shiraz
4. Behnoud Shojaee, male; executed in Tehran
5. Mosleh Zamani, male; executed in Kermanshah

The geographical distribution of the executions

• According to the media in Iran, the cities of Tehran (77 people), Ahvaz (41 people), Isfahan (39 people), Zahedan (35 people), Shiraz (36 people), Kermanshah (19 people), Kerman (17 people), and Mashad (10 people) have seen the highest number of executions.

The information announced by Iranian government authorities:

• Many of the executed were identified either with the initials of their first names or were executed without their names announced.
• In many cases, the crime and age (or the age that the crime was committed) of those executed was not announced.

The accusations of the executed:

• Among those executed whose crimes were announced, 140 people were accused of drug deals, 56 people of murderer, 24 people of sexual violations, and 31 people of Moharebeh (enmity against God). The accusations have not been confirmed by any reliable source.
• The number of those executed in 2009 accused of Moharebeh increased compared to the previous year. 27 people out of the 31 accused of Moharebeh (and consequently executed) were charged with membership in Jundullah (also known as the People’s Resistance Movement of Iran- PRMI). According to received reports, most of the accused people had no connection with Jundullah. One other executed prisoner accused of Moharebeh was Ehsan Fattahian, a Kurdish political prisoner who was first sentenced to two years in prison for attempting to cross the border. Later he was accused of membership in a political party, hence he was considered Moharebeh. There was no evidence of any form of armed resistance in his file.
• In 2009, two people were executed who were accused of adultery and one person was executed under the charge of being licentious.
• Most of those executed by the Revolutionary Courts of the Islamic Republic were condemned behind closed doors.

Arbitrary executions:

• On May 30th, 2009, three people were executed for participating in a bomb attack that took place in Zahedan three days before the execution. The legal process of their court lasted 30 hours.
• After the June 2009 election, there was an increase in arbitrary executions. On July 14, 2009, 13 people were executed in Zahedan, after being accused of Moharebeh and membership in Jundallah. According to reports received, most of the people had no ties with Jundallah. One of the people, 26 year old Manoucher Shahbaksh was arrested by Pakistani authorities and handed over to Iran. Manoucher Manoutschehr had no ties with Jundallah and was not aware of his death sentence until the day before he was executed.
• On July 30, 2009, 24 people were executed in Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj. The next day, the Iranian regime announced 24 international drug dealers had been executed. According to the Afghan newspaper Harat, one of those executed was an Afghan citizen who was arrested two weeks before the executions near Azadi Square in Tehran (the location of a large protest). The newspaper claims the Afghan citizen had no ties with drug deals.
• Most of the families of those executed after the 2009 election have been threated by Iranian authorities. The executed bodies were returned to the families under the condition that the families keep “silent.”

Methods of Executions in the year 2009:

• Most of the executions were carried out in the form of hangings inside the prisons.
• Nine people were hanged in public.
• One man, according to the official reports, was stoned to death in Sari.
• The execution of two people in Sirjan was [initially] prevented by public protest. After a few hours, the two people were re-arrested by official forces. Again, the public did not allow authorities to execute the two prisoners in public. They were eventually executed in Kerman prison. At least seven people were killed by official regime forces in the Sirjan clashes.

Translation by: Siavash Sartipi | Persian2English.com