Execution of Three Prisoners in Shiraz Ahead of UN Human Rights Commissioner's Visit to Iran

Amid a wave of protests against executions by the Islamic Republic and hunger strikes by dozens of political and ideological prisoners to stop executions in Iran, a human rights organization reported the execution of at least three prisoners in Shiraz. According to the report by the Human Rights Activists in Iran on Thursday, January 25, Islamic Republic officials executed at least three prisoners in connection with crimes related to murder and drugs in Adelabad and Pirbano prisons in Shiraz. The identities of two of these three prisoners, executed in the early hours of Wednesday, January 24, were reported as 'Fazel Shafiei, 40 years old' and 'Morteza Nadimi, 35 years old.' According to this report, Fazel Shafiei had been detained 'for four years' and Morteza Nadimi 'for two years' on 'drug-related charges,' and the judiciary had sentenced them to death. These two prisoners, held in 'Ward 11 of Adelabad Prison in Shiraz,' had recently been transferred to solitary confinement for the execution of their sentences. The name of the third prisoner executed in Pirbano prison in Shiraz is still unknown, but according to the report by the Human Rights Activists in Iran, 'he had been detained for five years on murder charges and sentenced to death.' These three prisoners were executed on the eve of the visit of Nada Al-Nashif, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to Iran. Shirin Ebadi, head of the Defenders of Human Rights Center and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, urged Nada Al-Nashif to cancel her trip to Iran, emphasizing the increase in executions by the Islamic Republic. Nada Al-Nashif is scheduled to visit Iran on February 3 to address two human rights issues regarding 'executions' and 'women's rights.' The UN Secretary-General reported in November that the Islamic Republic executes prisoners 'at an alarming rate,' with a 30% increase in executions in the first seven months of the current year compared to the same period last year. The Secretary-General at that time urged Islamic Republic officials to immediately halt all executions, abolish the death penalty, and release all individuals who have been arbitrarily detained. However, the trend of executions by the Islamic Republic continues. Meanwhile, 61 political and ideological prisoners in the women's section of Evin Prison have gone on a public hunger strike today, Thursday, in protest against the wave of executions and to call for their cessation, an action that has received significant solidarity from many political and civil activists inside and outside the country. A senior U.S. official stated that none of the dimensions of the political system in the Islamic Republic of Iran is democratic or transparent, including the management, judiciary, and electoral sectors. According to Vedant Patel, the world has been aware of this reality for some time.