The Defenders for Human Rights Centre’s Statement on recent mass executions in Iran
At dawn on Tuesday, 2 August 2016, a number of Sunni and Kurdish citizens were executed for alleged vague and non-specific accusations. Moreover, the identity, place of burial or even the exact number of those executed remains unknown.
After the 1980s, it was thought that the era of mass executions of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience had come to an end. But this disaster once again sounded the alarm bells in the Iranian legal community and reaffirmed the lack of independence of the judiciary.
Those executed were deprived of a fair trial, spent some time in solitary confinement and were tortured. The lawyers and the defendants had not been officially notified of the verdict and therefore it is not clear that all legal procedures had been followed for them. Not only do these mass executions based on vague and non-specific grounds demonstrate absence of justice, but they also indicate the establishment of an atmosphere of fear and terror in society.
On the other hand due to the political situation in the Middle East, the illegal performance of the judiciary could be harmful to national security and exacerbate religious differences that have always been exploited by politicians.
Therefore, the Defenders for human rights Centre while condemning this act of the Iranian government and offering its condolences to the families of those who have been executed, calls on Iranian authorities to respect their international obligation on the implementation of human rights standards.
Shirin Ebadi
President of the Defenders for Human Rights Centre
