Jahanshah Rashidian

Appeal to U.N. for Stopping Execution of Political Prisoners in Iran   
To Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, the General Secretary of the United Nations  
(Also to all freedom-loving people and all governments of the Free World)  

Five prisoners are scheduled to be executed in Iran on charges of taking part in protests following the fraudulent presidential election in June. All freedom-loving people, free-world governments, and particularly the U.N. must intervene in this gross violation of human rights by the Iranian Islamic regime. 

Following the fraudulent presidential election in Iranian, Tehran's Revolutionary Court has recently sentenced five political activists to death, and their execution has been scheduled. With all due respect, we all freedom-loving Iranians expect you, the people and authorities of the free world, to call on the Iranian authorities to halt these death sentences.

Among those five activists, Mohammad Ali Zamani was sentenced to death on October 18. He is among the hundreds of detainees, who were brought before Tehran's Revolutionary Court on June 12. In reality, Zamani was arrested before the presidential election for his membership to a monarchist circle. He was, thus, in prison during the election, as well as, during the post-election revolution in Iran. However, he has been sentenced to death on the charge of taking part in the post-election protests.

Three other prisoners waiting for their execution, namely Arash Rahmanpour, Hamed Rouhaninejad and Davoud Faricheh Mirardebili, were convicted of being members of a monarchist circle. The fifth prisoner, Nasser Abdolhosseini, awaiting execution, is sentenced to death for his connection with the People's Mojahedin Organization. The accused, deprived of their right to defence, were forced to confess against themselves by repeating a fabricated readout of the judicial authorities.

Reports say that these scheduled executions can be a prelude to wide-ranging executions of political prisoners in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). The IRI has frequently committed such crimes, the 1988 massacre of political prisoners being a notorious example. It has been charged with genocide for killing several thousand political prisoners between June and September 1988, when all factions of the regime worked side by side.  

Human rights violation has a long history in Iran. It has now turned critical after the sham June election. The Iranian regime uses various methods of torture (including psychological torture), torture of persons close to prisoners, rape, and drugging in order to crush their resistance. Human rights violation in Iran is widely documented; there are many pictorial evidences and video films showing violent actions of the IRI security forces toward peaceful demonstrators. Other reports refer to many cases of torture and mistreatment of political prisoners.

Given the biased and atrocious character of the Iranian judiciary, we solicit you for an immediate intervention by pressuring the Iranian regime to stop these scheduled executions. There is no way that the Iranian people can go to court and use lawful ways to contest these death sentences, because the Iranian judiciary is a tool of repression of Islamic regime. Mr. Secretary General, please express your concern about these planned executions by reminding the Iranian authorities that Iran is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

We also believe that the ongoing Iranian nuclear issue should not overshadow your concern about the human rights catastrophes in Iran. It is expected that your esteemed institution would send a human rights panel to scrutinize and control the violation of human rights in Iran.