Execution of at Least Four More Prisoners in Two Iranian Prisons

News and human rights sources reported the execution of at least four prisoners in the early hours of Wednesday, March 8. According to reports, three prisoners were executed in Qazalhasar Prison in Alborz Province, and another prisoner was executed in Birjand. According to a report on Wednesday, March 8, by HRANA, the media organization of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, three prisoners were executed this morning in Qazalhasar Prison in Alborz Province. The identities of two of the executed, whose cases were related to the charge of 'murder,' have been identified as Mosib Azizi from Arak and Sajjad Eghbali from Kuhdasht. The third executed prisoner, whose name has not yet been disclosed, was sentenced to death for 'moharebeh (waging war against God) through complicity in armed robbery.' The state news agency, Mizan, affiliated with the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, reported the execution of a prisoner charged with 'moharebeh' through 'violent robberies' using 'knives and swords,' but did not mention his name or the location of the execution. Additionally, two human rights organizations reported that a prisoner named Abdullah Safarzahi was executed by the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic in Birjand on the morning of Wednesday, March 8. According to these reports, Mr. Safarzahi, who was arrested five years ago, faced charges related to 'drugs' and 'possession of military weapons' and was sentenced to death by the Islamic Revolutionary Court. The Human Rights Activists in Iran also reported the execution of a prisoner named Youssef Rostami from Khorramabad, charged with drug-related offenses in Shiraz. Furthermore, according to a report by the Iran Human Rights Organization, five prisoners named Shahin Goudarzi, Asghar Dehghani, Ahmad Hanafi, Mojtaba Khorramdil, and Vahid Mohabi were executed on Saturday, March 4, in Isfahan in connection with charges related to 'drugs and murder.' This comes as the process of handling cases and issuing sentences in the judiciary of the Islamic Republic has always faced criticism from human rights organizations. Javaid Rehman, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, recently wrote in a note that crimes against humanity, including the systematic killing and destruction of opponents and genocide, are among the actions carried out by the Islamic Republic, all of which have been documented. He also stated that the Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the largest executors of the death penalty in the world, with 'flagrant violations of international human rights laws' - including violations of the accused's right to a fair trial and the execution of death sentences in a manner that constitutes torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. The issuance and execution of death sentences under the title of 'qisas (retribution)' in the Islamic Republic of Iran occurs under conditions where, according to government laws, intentional murder is not graded, and 'any type of murder, regardless of severity and the motive of the accused, leads to the issuance of a death sentence.' Additionally, the execution of prisoners related to drugs has continuously increased in the past four years by the judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic, so that, according to the Iran Human Rights Organization, the number of executions last year reached '471 executions,' an 84% increase compared to the previous year. Despite the fact that the judiciary of the Islamic Republic does not officially announce executions in many cases, according to documentation gathered by independent human rights organizations, the number of executions in Iran shows the highest global rank for the violation of the right to life by the government.