Iran is undertaking a “binge” of executions:
Iranian authorities have unleashed an “execution binge” with an average rate of one person hanged every eight hours since the beginning of the year, a rights group monitoring the Islamic Republic said Sunday.
“The Iranian Judiciary is on an execution binge orchestrated by the intelligence and security agencies,” stated Aaron Rhodes, a spokesman for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
A statement by the New York-based group said at least 47 prisoners have been hanged since Jan. 1, including a reported Kurdish activist accused of fighting against the state. It said other jailed Kurds also are at risk of facing the gallows for alleged links to a groups battling for greater rights for Iran’s Kurdish minority.
The EU is adding human rights to the arguments for extending sanctions:
Iran’s execution of Dutch-Iranian citizen Sarah Bahrami was firmly condemned by Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs in a resolution voted on Tuesday. Future EU relations with Iran – including possible further sanctions – should focus not only on the nuclear dispute but also on human rights abuses since the 2009 presidential elections, they added.
Firmly condemning the execution of Dutch-Iranian national Zahra Bahrami in Tehran on 29 January, MEPs are “dismayed that the Iranian authorities denied consular access to Ms Bahrami and did not ensure a transparent and fair judicial process”, says the resolution drafted by Bastiaan Belder (EFD, NL).
