Amnesty International: Four Kurdish Prisoners in Qazalhessar at 'Serious Risk of Execution'

Amnesty International announced that Anwar Khazari, Farhad Salimi, Kamran Sheikhe, and Khosrow Basharat, from the Sunni Kurdish minority in Iran, are at serious risk of execution in Qazalhessar prison in Alborz province. The organization highlighted the increase in executions across Iran and the arbitrary execution of three other Kurdish men between November and January, who were tried in the same case, warning of the imminent danger to these four individuals. Amnesty International emphasized that their trial was severely unfair and accompanied by torture and other ill-treatment. These seven were sentenced to death in Esfand 94 (March 2016) by Branch 28 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, presided over by Judge Mohammad Mogheiseh. This sentence was overturned by Ali Razini in the Supreme Court. Their case was referred for re-examination to Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, and their court session was held from June 17 to 19, 2019. Judge Abolqasem Salavati again issued a death sentence for them. An informed source told Amnesty International that prison officials subjected Qasem Abasteh to torture and other ill-treatment, resulting in a broken nose before his execution. Officials also conditioned the delivery of the bodies of Davood Abdollahi and Ayoub Karimi to their families on not publicizing their executions. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported that Anwar Khazari, Farhad Salimi, Kamran Sheikhe, and Khosrow Basharat have been on hunger strike since January 3 in protest against the execution of Davood Abdollahi and the risk of their own death sentences being carried out. Following their arrest in West Azerbaijan province, they were transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Urmia under the accusation of membership in 'Salafi groups.' They denied the charges against them. Anwar Khazari, Kamran Sheikhe, and Khosrow Basharat were later accused of assaulting a man with a vehicle, which they denied involvement in his death. In open letters, Anwar Khazari, Khosrow Basharat, and Farhad Salimi wrote that Ministry of Intelligence agents repeatedly tortured them during interrogations, forcing them to 'confess.' In an open letter to Ebrahim Raisi, who was then the head of the judiciary, Anwar Khazari detailed several serious human rights violations by Ministry of Intelligence agents, judges, and prison officials, stating that after 56 days of torture in the Ministry of Intelligence detention center, he attempted suicide. He explained that after his suicide attempt, he was returned to prison against medical advice and was again tortured, forcing him to sign 'confessions.' Amnesty International reported that Khosrow Basharat was also beaten multiple times with an electric cable while tied to a bed and was hung from the ceiling with handcuffs for a long time, forced to listen to the screams of those who appeared to be tortured, leading to severe insomnia and distress. After three weeks, he was coerced into signing a pre-written 'confession.' Amnesty International described the arbitrary executions of Qasem Abasteh, Ayoub Karimi, and Davood Abdollahi as 'concerning' and noted that in November 2023 alone, Iranian authorities executed at least 115 people, double the number of executions in November of the previous year. Amnesty stated that Iranian officials use the death penalty as a tool to suppress minorities, protesters, and dissenters while simultaneously restricting access to education, employment, and political positions for ethnic and religious minorities. In November this year, Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, presented a report to the General Assembly and the Third Committee of the organization, stating that the report depicts the 'bitter reality' of human rights in Iran. He also described the increase in executions as 'concerning,' stating that 'at least 582 people were executed in 2022, with over 256 cases related to drug offenses, which is significantly higher compared to 2021.'