6 Kurds may face execution in Iran

The Iranian authorities must urgently halt the execution of six men on death row in Ghezel Hesar Prison near Tehran. Two of them have been transferred to solitary confinement today sparking fears they are at imminent risk of execution Amnesty International said. Hamed Ahmadi and Sedigh Mohammadi are among six Sunni Muslim men from Iran’s Kurdish minority who were sentenced to death after being convicted of vaguely-worded offences including “enmity against God” and “corruption on earth”. “The news of the transfer of two Iranian men to solitary confinement indicate the worst for the men. It is known as the execution waiting room for inmates sentenced to death,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “The death penalty is the ultimate cruel and inhuman punishment. For decades Iranian authorities have issued death sentences ruthlessly and on a regular basis.” Amnesty International has also learned that prison authorities intend to transfer the four others on death row – Jamshid Dehgani, his younger brother Jahangir Dehgani, Kamal Molayee, and Hadi Hosseini – to solitary confinement. They too may face imminent execution. The organization believes some of these men have been tried in proceedings falling short of international standards. “While recent releases of political prisoners offered a glimmer of hope , executions have continued and token gestures will not be enough to address the abysmal human rights record of the Iranian authorities.” Iran is the world’s most prolific executioner after China. More than 400 executions are believed to have taken place in total in 2013. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception.