The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom condemns in the strongest terms the recent mass executions in Iran and is deeply concerned by a new wave of executions by the fundamentalist regime.

The Iranian authorities’ increasing use of barbaric forms of execution, many carried out in public, are an outrageous and desperate attempt by the theocratic dictatorship to intimidate its own people.

On 8 November, five prisoners were hanged in the city of Shiraz. Sixteen other prisoners were hanged the day before in the Iranian cities of Tehran, Shiraz, Zarand and Mashhad, raising the number of executions during the last two days to 21.

Also on 8 November, international media reported the case of Sattar Beheshti, a blogger and political prisoner, who died in an Iranian prison due to severe torture. Mr Beheshti, 35, was tortured in an attempt to obtain a forced confession, a method used extensively by the Iranian regime against the opposition and dissidents.

At least 383 people have been executed in Iran since the beginning of 2012, according to the tally publically announced by the Iranian authorities. The true number is far greater.

We have seen reports that 1,000 prisoners in Gohardasht Prison are currently on death row.

The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom warns of a looming mass execution in Gohardasht amid reports of the appointment of a death panel to expedite the implementation of the death penalties for prisoners on death row.

It is time that the international community demands accountability for members of the fundamentalist regime who violate their citizens’ human rights.

The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom calls on the UK Government and EU to bring Iran’s appalling human rights record, and especially its treatment of dissidents and opposition members, to the UN Security Council for the adoption of binding punitive measures and demand that those responsible for these horrifying acts be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom

9 November 2012