URGENT ACTION! Islamic Republic Implementing Mass Executions in Advance of the One-Year Anniversary of the Iranian Uprising

UPDATE, June 9 2010: NORWAY’S FOREIGN MINISTER FIRST TO CONDEMN RECENT WAVE OF EXECUTIONS IN IRAN!

Norwegian newspaper Dagen Magazinet first mass media outlet to cover these executions from a grassroots perspective.  Send your thanks to Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stor.

UPDATE, June 8 2010: STILL NO MASS MEDIA COVERAGE! Yet 5 more executions reported.

TOTAL NUMBER OF EXECUTIONS REPORTED IN THE PAST THREE WEEKS: 35

The Islamic Republic is implementing mass executions in an effort to terrorize the Iranian people into submission in advance of the one-year anniversary of the ongoing Iranian uprising, June 12. Urgent action is required by all concerned people to pressure the regime to refrain from implementing these executions.

On Sunday June 6 2010, reliable human rights organization RAHANA (EN | FA) reported that 26 people in Gezelhasar prison in Karaj, who had been charged with “drug-related offenses,” had been moved to solitary confinement in preparation for their imminent execution. The the lawyer of one of them has provided several names: Mohammad Jafari, Bagher Amini, Mohammad Azarfam, Mohammad Moradi, Nader Azarnoush and Mr. Soltanabadai.  On the morning of June 7 2010, 13 of these 26 were executed (EN | FA | DE). On June 8 5 more executions were reported.

Furthermore, there has been a recent, renewed urgency around the imminent executions of several known political prisoners: Zeinab Jalalian, Habibollah Latifi, Shirko Moarefi, Rostam Arkiya, Hossein Khezry, Anwar Rostami, Mohammad Amin Abdollahi, Ghader Mohammed-Zadeh, Mostafa Salimi, Hassan Taley, Iraj Mohammadi, Rashid AkhKandy, Mohammad Amin Agushy, Ahmad Pouladkhany, Seyed Samy Hosseini, Seyed Jamal Mohammadi, Aziz Mohammad-Zadeh, Habibollah Golpary. In addition, there are 5 others accused of affiliation with MKO and thereby sentenced to death; we have also had news of a Canadian citizen who has been detained by the Islamic regime and sentenced to death (page 7 in Anternasional [pdf]; English translation).

The international community should not remain silent in the face of these ongoing mass executions of people whose lives are being used by this regime as political tools to spread terror among the Iranian people.

We demand that our national and international institutions and organizations raise their voices against these executions NOW and call for an immediate halt to executions in Iran. We demand that they do this now,  to draw immediate attention to the regime’s murderous crimes, instead of waiting for yet more lives to be taken and then issuing a condemnation after the fact.

The freedom loving and honorable people of the world should stand united against the state-sponsored terrorism of the Islamic Republic, and we demand that our voices be amplified by our civil society organizations. We therefore open this campaign against these executions and ask all concerned people to participate.

OBJECTIVE OF THE CAMPAIGN:
Pressure the Islamic Republic to halt these ongoing executions and put an end to executions in Iran.

TARGETS OF THE CAMPAIGN:

1) International organizations: Write to the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, the United Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch and ask them to issue a statement demanding an immediate halt to all executions in Iran.

2) Media: Write to the media to demand that:

a) In their NEWS section, they cover these ongoing mass executions NOW. The atrocities being committed by Islamic regime are newsworthy and the world demands coverage NOW. It is neither desirable from a human rights perspective, nor justifiable from a journalistic perspective, for media to refrain from covering these executions until more blood spills.

b) In their OPINION section, they condemn the Islamic Republic’s use of executions as a political tool of terror, and demand a halt to executions in Iran.

SAMPLE LETTERS AND ADDRESSEES:

1) Letter to international organizations:
International Committee of the Red Cross: Florian Westphal and Dorothea Krimitsas
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies: Web contact form
Amnesty International: Web contact form
Human Rights Watch: Find your local office here and contact

For those who can handle mass-mailings, we provide an expanded list of organizational and governmental contact emails below the draft letters.

Sample letter to international organizations:

Dear (add correct addressee),

The Islamic Republic is implementing another round of mass executions in an effort to terrorize the Iranian people in advance of the one-year anniversary of the ongoing Iranian uprising, June 12. These mass executions reflect a recent increase in executions in Iran: according to multiple sources, more than 35 people have been executed in various Iranian cities in the past 3 weeks alone (see footnote).

The Islamic Republic is now resorting to mass executions, and has made credible promises for more. We have witnessed the executions on May 9 2010 of 5 political prisoners: Farzad Kamangar, Shirin Alam-Houli, Ali Heydarian, Farhad Vakili and Mehdi Eslamian, whose remains have not yet been released by the government for fear of protests. On the morning of June 7, the Islamic regime executed 13 prisoners, one right after the other.  Five more executions were reported on June 8. There is no rationale for delaying immediate action.

I therefore urge you to focus strong public attention on these executions. The depredations of the Islamic Republic can no longer go without the fiercest condemnations and demands to halt the slaughter. Concerned citizens around the world are appalled and sickened with the official inaction by our governments and our international organizations with regard to this thuggery by the Islamic Republic, and we demand real action be taken.

1) The Islamic Republic must be warned in the strongest terms against going forward with these executions, which constitute nothing less than state-sponsored murder. We do not accept the Islamic Republic’s utter disregard for human rights, and we expect our national and international organizations to reflect and amplify that sentiment.

2) National governments must be lobbied by both citizens and by international organizations to cut off all diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic as an expression of the strongest form of condemnation of this regime’s brutalities and incessant violations of human rights.

It is not acceptable to wait until the noose has tightened around the neck of yet another innocent before the international community takes tangible steps against the reprehensible actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Sincerely,
xx

Footnotes:

On Sunday June 6 2010, reliable human rights organization RAHANA (EN | FA) reported that 26 people in Gezelhasar prison in Karaj, who had been charged with “drug-related offenses,” had been moved to solitary confinement in preparation for their imminent execution. The the lawyer of one of them has provided several names: Mohammad Jafari, Bagher Amini, Mohammad Azarfam, Mohammad Moradi, Nader Azarnoush and Mr. Soltanabadai.

On the morning of June 7 2010, 13 of these 26 were executed (EN | FA | DE). Five more executions were reported on June 8.

Furthermore, there has been a recent, renewed urgency around the imminent executions of several known political prisoners: Zeinab Jalalian, Habibollah Latifi, Shirko Moarefi, Rostam Arkiya, Hossein Khezry, Anwar Rostami, Mohammad Amin Abdollahi, Ghader Mohammed-Zadeh, Mostafa Salimi, Hassan Taley, Iraj Mohammadi, Rashid AkhKandy, Mohammad Amin Agushy, Ahmad Pouladkhany, Seyed Samy Hosseini, Seyed Jamal Mohammadi, Aziz Mohammad-Zadeh, Habibollah Golpary. In addition, there are 5 others accused of affiliation with MKO and thereby sentenced to death; we have also had news of a Canadian citizen who has been detained by the Islamic regime and sentenced to death (page 7 in Anternasional [pdf]; English translation).

2) Letter to major newspapers in each country:
Please target the most widely-read and influential newspaper in your country; the point is to make sure that so many people send in demands for coverage that the paper cannot ignore it. For this reason, it is important to target 1 or possibly 2 papers per country.

For those who can handle mass-mailings, we provide an expanded list of media contact emails below the draft letter.

Canada: The Toronto Star
Denmark: Berlingske Tidende
Germany: F.A.Z. Redaktion
Italy: Corriere della Sera
Japan: Asahi Shimbun
Netherlands: de Volkskrant
Norway: Aftenposten
Sweden: Dagens Nyheter
Switzerland: German: Tagesanzeiger | French: Le Temps | Italian: Corriere del Ticino web form; please select ‘foreign editor’
United Kingdom: The Times
United States: New York Times and L.A. Times

Sample letter to the editor:

To the editor:

The Islamic Republic is implementing another round of mass executions in an effort to terrorize the Iranian people in advance of the one-year anniversary of the ongoing Iranian uprising, June 12. These mass executions reflect a recent increase in executions in Iran: according to multiple sources, more than 35 people have been executed in various Iranian cities in the past 3 weeks alone (see footnote).

The Islamic Republic is now resorting to mass executions, and has made credible promises for more. We have witnessed the executions on May 9 2010 of 5 political prisoners: Farzad Kamangar, Shirin Alam-Houli, Ali Heydarian, Farhad Vakili and Mehdi Eslamian, whose remains have not yet been released by the government for fear of protests. On the morning of June 7, the Islamic regime executed 13 prisoners, one right after the other.  These politically-motivated executions are newsworthy, as is the political context in which these executions are taking place: the impending one-year anniversary of the Iranian uprising. Five more executions were reported on June 8.

I therefore demand coverage of this newsworthy situation:

a) In your NEWS section: The Islamic regime’s ongoing and threatened mass executions are newsworthy and the world demands coverage NOW. It is neither acceptable from a human rights perspective, nor justifiable from a journalistic perspective, for the media to refrain from covering these ongoing executions until more blood spills. Please cover this situation immediately as news.

b) In your OPINION section: As a public institution, it is the duty of the press to reflect the concerns of the citizenry. I ask you to reflect the universal public disgust with the Islamic regime’s deplorable use of executions as a tool of terror in your opinion pages. I expect your opinion pages to reflect the public’s condemnation of the Islamic Republic’s utter disregard for human rights, and I also expect to see a demand to halt executions in Iran in the opinion pages of this publication.

It is not acceptable to wait until the noose has tightened around the neck of another innocent before we report on and publicly condemn the reprehensible actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Sincerely,
xx

On Sunday June 6 2010, reliable human rights organization RAHANA (EN | FA) reported that 26 people in Gezelhasar prison in Karaj, who had been charged with “drug-related offenses,” had been moved to solitary confinement in preparation for their imminent execution. The the lawyer of one of them has provided several names: Mohammad Jafari, Bagher Amini, Mohammad Azarfam, Mohammad Moradi, Nader Azarnoush and Mr. Soltanabadai.  On the morning of June 7 2010, 13 of these 26 were executed (EN | FA | DE). Five more executions were reported on June 8.

Furthermore, there has been a recent, renewed urgency around the imminent executions of several known political prisoners: Zeinab Jalalian, Habibollah Latifi, Shirko Moarefi, Rostam Arkiya, Hossein Khezry, Anwar Rostami, Mohammad Amin Abdollahi, Ghader Mohammed-Zadeh, Mostafa Salimi, Hassan Taley, Iraj Mohammadi, Rashid AkhKandy, Mohammad Amin Agushy, Ahmad Pouladkhany, Seyed Samy Hosseini, Seyed Jamal Mohammadi, Aziz Mohammad-Zadeh, Habibollah Golpary. In addition, there are 5 others accused of affiliation with MKO and thereby sentenced to death; we have also had news of a Canadian citizen who has been detained by the Islamic regime and sentenced to death (page 7 in Anternasional [pdf]; English translation).

Extended lists of contacts:

_____________________________________

Also of interest: guidance and materials on how to organize a protest or campaign against execution