AN international group of academics, legal and political figures has written to the UN Commissioner for Human Rights urging him to step in to halt two executions of political prisoners in Iran.
Behrouz Ehsani, 71, a political prisoner since the 1980s, and Mehdi Hassani, 48, have been taken from the infamous Evin Prison in Tehran to the city’s Qezelhessar Prison, where the regime carries out its executions.
The charges against them include being members of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and enmity against God.
In their letter to Volker Türk, the public figures say the prisoners’ transfer “suggests authorities are preparing for their secret execution”.
They wrote: “The sentences were imposed following credible reports of physical and psychological torture during their detention in … Evin Prison after their arrests in late 2022.
“Denied a fair trial, their appeals were summarily dismissed, violating Iran’s obligations under international human rights law.
“Alarmingly, Iranian authorities executed approximately 1000 prisoners last year, using mass executions to terrorise the population and suppress dissent.”
The letter has also been sent to UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
It came as Amnesty International called for “urgent action” to halt the planned execution of six men in Iran after a “grossly unfair” trial, which saw them convicted of “armed rebellion against the state”.
The human rights group has written to the head of Iran’s judiciary, at the Iranian Embassy to the EU in Brussels, and urged others to do likewise.
The human rights activists said the six were convicted of being members of the PMOI and taking up arms against the state, and “colluding to commit crimes against national security”.
Amnesty said: “According to informed sources, agents subjected the men to torture and other ill-treatment at the time of arrest and/or during inter- rogations, including repeated beatings, floggings, restricting access to toilet facilities, prolonged solitary confinement and death threats at gunpoint.”
They urged supporters to use their letter as a model, adding that Iranian authorities had “repeatedly violated the men’s rights to a fair trial, including access to a lawyer; not be compelled to self-incriminate, including as a result of torture or other ill-treatment; and to be tried before an independent, competent and impartial tribunal”.
