Info:
Vakilabad Prison also called Central Prison of Mashhad, is a prison in Iran, located in the city of Mashhad in the northeast of the country. The prison has reportedly been the site of hundreds of secret executions carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran government;
The United States sanctioned several Iranian officials and entities for gross violations of human rights on September 24, 2020. Pursuant to Section 106 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017 (CAATSA), U.S. determined that Vakilabad Prisons is responsible for certain gross violations of human rights. This includes prior incidence of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary detentions, and denials of the right to liberty of those seeking only to practice their faith, peacefully assemble, or to express themselves;
From the beginning of the summer of 2009 to the end of the summer of 2011, Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad has carried out secret mass executions at least 35 times without revealing any information on the trial and sentencing process and without providing any information on names and details of those who were executed. The number of secret executions carried out in Vakilabad prison in Mashhad between 2009 and 2011 is estimated at 550 people. These large-scale executions were “secret”, “collective”, “unannounced” and without regard to due process. Death sentences have been handed down in trials, sometimes lasting only a few minutes. And many defendants have been deprived of the right to a fair trial. These conditions place these executions in the category of “illegal” and “extrajudicial” executions;
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) and other sources have reported on secret executions taking place in Vakilabad Prison throughout 2011, primarily on drug-related offenses.
ICHRI has documented that the following secret mass executions have taken place inside the prison:
– 7 prisoners hanged on 20 September 2011
– 7 prisoners hanged on 11 August 2011
– 18 prisoners executed on 3 July 2011
– 12 prisoners executed on 29 June 2011
– 26 prisoners executed on 15 June 2011
– 4 prisoners executed on 24 May 2011
– 12 prisoners executed on 23 May 2011
– 10 prisoners executed on 16 May 2011
– 12 prisoners executed on 13 April 2011
– 10 prisoners executed on 6 April 2011
In October 2011, a report released by Ahmed Shaheed, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, documented more than 300 secret executions in Vakilabad in 2010 and at least 146 secret executions in the prison to date in 2011;
Ahmad Ghabel, Iranian religious scholar and political dissident. In August 2011, he was sentenced to a 20-month prison sentence in Vakilabad for reporting on mass executions taking place within the prison;
Invovled In:
Human Rights Violations
Also Known As:
Central Prison of Mashhad
Country:
Iran
Address:
Mashhad, Iran
Reason for the color:
» Major New Human Rights-Related Listings and Accompanying Sanctions on Iran – September 24, 2020 – Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State;