Iran's children look on and families cry for pardons at daily hangings

[struggle4progress]

Human rights watchers say regime in Tehran is executing many hundreds of people, often on the flimsiest of evidence and after trials held behind closed doors
Saeed Kamali Dehghan
The Observer, Saturday 15 September 2012

... Executions in Iran are mostly the result of grossly unfair trials which are usually held behind closed doors without the presence of a defence lawyer. Activists believe that many of those on death row were convicted on the basis of "forced confessions", a method believed to be commonly used in the country at the moment. Moreover, when a death sentence is handed down, families are often not given prior notice of the execution ...

Human rights organisations estimate that as many as 600 people were put to death in Iran last year, of which at least 488 executions were carried out for alleged drug offences. In the first half of 2011, Iran was executing at the rate of two people a day ...

The country's judicial system has also been criticised for handing down death sentences against juveniles. In 2011 at least 143 child offenders were on death row in Iranian prisons, waiting to go to the gallows when they reach 18.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/16/iran-public-executions-hangings-human-rights?newsfeed=true

[struggle4progress]

1. Has Britain's war on drugs led to more executions in Iran?

Human rights campaigners are increasingly worried that funding to combat the narcotics trade is providing indirect assistance to a judicial system that is engaged in what has been described as 'a killing spree of staggering proportions'
Jamie Doward
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 15 September 2012 08.57 EDT

... The true number of those executed in Iran is impossible to quantify, especially for those convicted of drug offences, but it is clear there is a large disjunction between official figures and the reality. In 2010 the Iranian authorities acknowledged that 172 people had been executed for drugs offences. However, the Foreign Office is aware of credible reports suggesting the real figure could be at least 590 ...

There is no shortage of those awaiting execution. It is estimated that as many as 4,000 Afghans alone are on death row in Iran for drugs offences. There are reports that some are executed without a trial and that others are juveniles. Human rights groups claim that many of those executed come from the most disadvantaged sectors of society. Some are women. Many of those arrested have been duped into carrying drugs for others.

One man who was executed is believed to have been Haj Basir Ahmed, a 40-year-old Afghan, hanged at Taybad prison on 15 September 2011. He phoned his family at eight in the evening to say he had learned he was to be executed the following hour. His family have heard nothing since and his body has not been returned because Iran demands £10,000 for the repatriation of the executed. His is a typical case, according to human rights groups ...

Tackling trafficking through Iran – particularly heroin – is seen as crucial by western governments. UNODC estimates that 140 tonnes (37%) of the 380 tonnes of heroin produced in Afghanistan is trafficked annually through Iran and on to the European market. But human rights groups are concerned that the UK has supported a programme that has resulted in excessive punishments for often minor players in the drugs trade ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/15/britain-drugs-war-executions-iran