Several Labor and Professional Organizations: The Government Wants to Push the People Back with Executions and Repression

A number of labor, retirees, and professional organizations in Iran condemned the executions and repressions by the Islamic Republic government in a joint statement, stating that "the government wants to push us, the people, back." They referred to the ongoing protests by workers, teachers, retirees, women, and all people under various forms of oppression, who declared their right to a decent life, dignity, and human existence with the slogan "Women, Life, Freedom." The statement was signed by the Union of Retirees, the Association of Electrical and Metal Workers of Kermanshah, the Painters' Syndicate of Alborz, the Council of Retirees of Iran, the Council for Organizing Protests of Informal Oil Workers (Third Elements), the Council for Organizing Protests of Contract Oil Workers, the Coordinating Council of Nurses' Protests, the Independent Retirees Group of Tehran, the Voice of Iranian Women, and the Justice Seekers' Institution. They described executions as a "dangerous tool" for advancing the government's repression policy to "intimidate society" and added that "in addition, security case-making, forced confessions under torture, prison sentences, exile, dismissal, and suspension from work are other components of this policy." The signatories of the statement called for unity and the establishment of a barrier against these repressions, adding that "the immediate threat of execution hangs over Mojahid Korkor and Reza Rasayi; detainees of the Women, Life, Freedom movement, as well as Ahmad Reza Jalali and Jamshid Sharmard (dual nationals), and also eight others, with new news of executions coming every day." These organizations described the Islamic Republic's use of the gallows as a tool for "state murder," emphasizing that it is a "dirty and dangerous policy aimed directly at intimidating the people." In the past ten days, dozens have been executed in Iranian prisons. The statement from the labor, retirees, and professional organizations coincided with the execution of Davood Abdollahi, a Sunni Kurdish prisoner, in Qazal Hessar prison in Karaj on the morning of Tuesday, January 2. Abdollahi was sentenced to death for moharebeh (waging war against God) and ifsad fil arz (corruption on earth) through "armed action and membership in a jihadist Salafi group" as part of a seven-member group. The Iran Human Rights Organization stated that Abdollahi's execution occurred while two of his co-defendants, Ghasem Abasteh and Ayoub Karimi, were executed in this prison on November 5 and December 29, respectively. Abdollahi was arrested in a joint case with Ghasem Abasteh, Ayoub Karimi, Anwar Khazari, Farhad Salimi, Khosrow Basharat, and Kamran Sheikhe in Bahman 1388 (January-February 2010) and was transferred for interrogation to Urmia and then to Evin Prison in Tehran. They were later moved to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj in 1391 (2012) and, following the closure of this prison this year, were transferred to Qazal Hessar Prison in Karaj. The Iran Human Rights Organization emphasized that there are now concerns regarding the status of four other defendants in this case. This organization condemned the excessive executions, which have intensified in recent months, and called for immediate global attention to this issue. Mahmoud Amiri-Moghaddam, the director of this organization, stated: "The current trend of executions is unprecedented even by the standards of the Islamic Republic. The international community, especially the governments committed to human rights principles that have diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic, must break their silence regarding the wave of executions and respond appropriately." The labor, retirees, and professional organizations emphasized in part of their statement that "we must use the power of our nationwide unity to stop the movement of this machine of repression and crime." The signatories of the statement wrote in another section that the government, in addition to using executions, employs other repressive capacities, referring to "the machine of security case-making, summonses, and judicial sentences." The statement noted that "in this past year, many workers, teachers, retirees, women, students, bereaved families, and social activists have received prison sentences, dismissals, and exiles for their protests. However, the unity and solidarity of the people against all methods of repression have not stopped for even a moment." The signatory organizations concluded by demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, stating: "For us, the people who are fed up with poverty and discrimination, plunder and deprivation of our most basic human rights, who have lost loved ones in our quest for lost rights, there is no other way but to move forward."