Two Human Rights Organizations: 21 Prisoners in Qazalhessar Transferred to Solitary Confinement for Execution

Two human rights organizations have reported that 21 prisoners in Qazalhessar prison in Alborz province have been transferred to solitary confinement for the execution of their death sentences. According to "Hrana," the media organ of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, prison officials moved five prisoners who had previously been sentenced to death for "drug-related crimes" to solitary confinement on Tuesday, August 7. Sixteen others were transferred two days earlier, on Sunday, August 5, for execution. This human rights organization warned that currently, there are "21 prisoners awaiting execution" in Qazalhessar prison. Most of these individuals have been imprisoned and sentenced to death on drug-related charges, while four have been sentenced to death for murder. The Iran Human Rights Organization also reported the transfer of 21 prisoners, including "four Afghan nationals who have mostly been sentenced to qisas (retribution) or execution for murder or drug-related charges," noting that some of these prisoners were transferred from the central prison of Karaj to Qazalhessar for execution. The organization once again urged the international community to respond to the mass executions of prisoners by the Islamic Republic. Mahmoud Amiri-Moghaddam, the director of the Iran Human Rights Organization, stated: "The people of Iran are considered the most significant threat to the Islamic Republic regime" and emphasized that "the international community must not allow the leaders of the Islamic Republic to exploit the global attention on tensions between Iran and Israel to carry out mass executions of prisoners and intensify the atmosphere of repression within the country." According to a report from August 1, the organization stated that "the execution machine of the Islamic Republic has once again accelerated," with at least 300 individuals executed in Iran in the first seven months of the current calendar year. Of the 300 executions recorded in the past seven months, only 28 were reported by domestic media or through official sources, while the rest were confirmed through at least two independent sources associated with this human rights organization. Among those executed, at least 172 were charged with drug-related offenses, 110 with murder, 15 with charges of corruption on earth, moharebeh (waging war against God), and baghi (rebellion), including five charged with "espionage for Israel," five with connections to "Sunni groups," five with "political or security charges," and three with charges of "rape."