Statement from Families of Victims in Iran: Stop Executions

More than eighty families of victims residing in Iran, including the families of Bakhtiari, Mojadam, Ketabdar, Shekari, and Karami, issued a statement calling for a halt to death sentences. In their statement, they wrote: "For over forty-three years, the deep wound of executions and the killing of people based on government decrees has stabbed the body of our society, inflicting deeper wounds on our souls every day. However, killing people is not limited to death sentences; during every period, the killing of innocent people in the streets, solely for the crime of protesting and opposing the rights of the oppressed and discriminated people, has left many families grieving and has drawn them into the ranks of the seekers of justice." The statement also referred to the recent wave of executions as "revenge against the protesting people who took to the streets with the cry for women's rights, life, and freedom" and emphasized: "We, the families of victims who bear the deep wounds of losing our loved ones, whether in the streets or on the gallows, cry out to stop executions and killings of people, to immediately annul all death sentences; executions for any reason and any crime must cease, and we will no longer allow our loved ones to be killed." These families of victims residing in Iran concluded their statement by asserting: "We, the seekers of justice, ask you, honorable people and all advocacy organizations and human rights institutions around the world, to join us in our demand for the abolition of death sentences and to save our loved ones, and to strive by any means possible to stop death sentences in Iran. As we have said many times, we are all together, united, and in one voice demanding the abolition of death sentences." Amnesty International, on May 23, issued a statement calling for immediate action to stop executions in Iran. The organization noted that at least seven people in Iran have been sentenced to death in connection with the recent nationwide protests, declaring that dozens of others are also on the brink of execution. Memorials for executed protesters have been held by a group of Iranians in Sydney, Australia. Molavi Abdolhamid: So many executions have occurred, why do representatives not protest? Tablet: The people of Iran say no to the execution government. Open Line Forum; an opportunity for free and unrestricted expression of your views. Pegah Bani Hashemi, a lawyer: Public execution is a "heinous punishment" with "perpetual adverse effects." Execution of 10 prisoners in one day; the Iran Human Rights Organization warned about the implementation of public executions.