In a grim escalation of state violence, eight prisoners have been executed in Iran over the past two days. Among them was Khosrow Besharat, a Sunni political prisoner who had endured 15 years of incarceration in Qezelhessar Prison. His execution took place this morning, preceded by two weeks in solitary confinement.
The Case of Khosrow Besharat
Khosrow Besharat’s journey through Iran’s judicial system began with his arrest in December 2009, alongside six other Sunni individuals. The group was subjected to severe torture within the Urmia Intelligence Department, aimed at extracting forced confessions. In March 2016, they were sentenced to death by Judge Mohammad Moghisei (Nasirian), a sentence reaffirmed by Judge Salavati in June 2018. The Supreme Court upheld these sentences in 2019.
The charges against Besharat and his compatriots were severe: they were accused of killing the Friday prayer imam at the Khulafa al-Rashidin Mosque in Mahabad, an act attributed to the December 2009 uprising and allegedly directed by Ali Khamenei.
A Pattern of Executions
Besharat’s execution follows a series of others related to the same case. Anvar Khezri was executed on May 1, 2024, with Farhad Salimi, Davood Abdollahi, Ayyub Karimi, and Qasem Abesteh executed on January 23, January 2, November 29, and November 5, 2023, respectively, all in Qezelhessar Prison. Kamran Shaykheh remains on death row, the last individual in this case yet to be executed.
Recent Executions
Today, along with Besharat, Mohammad Reza Rahim Pour, Sirus Hayat Bini, Mohammad Karim Fazeli, and another unidentified prisoner were executed in Qezelhessar Prison. Yesterday, Reza Gholamhoseini, Farrokh Khanmohammadi, and another prisoner were executed in Ilam Central Prison. Additionally, on May 12, Amin Jafari was hanged in Dastgerd Prison, Isfahan, adding to the tally of executions in recent weeks.
A Call to Action
The Iranian Resistance is urgently calling on the international community to intervene. They urge the UN Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, relevant UN rapporteurs and bodies, as well as the European Union and its member states, to take immediate action to halt the wave of executions and save those still on death row, including Kamran Shaykheh and other political prisoners.
The Cost of Silence
The Iranian Resistance warns that continued silence and inaction in response to these executions only embolden the regime, which they describe as the “godfather of terrorism and executions.” They argue that this silence tramples on human rights and democratic values, enabling the regime to escalate its domestic crimes and international aggression.
A Call for Justice
The resistance group insists that the international community must ostracize the Iranian regime. They call for the regime’s crimes to be referred to the UN Security Council, and for its leaders to face justice for their actions. The hope is that with international pressure and condemnation, the cycle of violence and executions in Iran can be broken, and a path to justice and human rights can be forged.
Source » irannewsupdate