Dozens of British MPs: Executions in Iran are for 'Creating Terror'

"The British Committee for the Freedom of Iran" announced that over 250 members of the two major parties in the UK Parliament have called for a global consensus to end executions in Iran. According to the report, these representatives, who are members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, emphasized the abolition of the death penalty and the protection of human rights in Iran. The signatories condemned the 'systematic use of the death penalty by the Iranian regime' to target dissenters and detained protesters. They described these executions as 'politically motivated' aimed at 'suppressing dissent' and 'creating terror to prevent future protests.' The signatories also highlighted the long history of the Iranian 'regime' in 'committing crimes against humanity,' from past massacres to current atrocities documented by human rights experts. The signatory representatives criticized the international community for overlooking these events, which they believe emboldens the 'regime' to intensify repression while enjoying impunity. The statement also emphasized the 'cruelties related to the government's suppression of recent protests' and the 'alarming increase in executions' under the government of Masoud Pezeshkian. The signatory representatives, referring to the weekly hunger strikes of political prisoners in the weekly campaign 'Tuesdays Against the Death Penalty' in Iran, called for immediate solidarity from the international community with this justice-seeking movement. Activists in this human rights campaign claim that in 2024, the Islamic Republic has executed at least 953 people by hanging. The campaign against the death penalty began in Bahman 1402 (January-February 2024) by 10 political prisoners imprisoned in Qazalhesar Prison in Karaj and has since been joined by political prisoners in dozens of prisons across the Islamic Republic. According to data from the 'Information Center on Executions,' the number of executions worldwide has increased for the third consecutive year, with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq at the top of the execution list. Maya Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, criticized the human rights situation and the rising number of executions in the Islamic Republic's prisons, calling for a reduction in the issuance and implementation of death sentences based on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Reports indicate that at least 883 people were executed in Iran in 2024, and the judiciary of the Islamic Republic executed at least 10 prisoners.