17 Prisoners Transferred To Solitary Confinement In Karaj For Execution

Human Rights in Iran – Wednesday, September 7, 2022 – At least 11 prisoners at Rajaei-Shahr Prison, as well as 6 others at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj were transferred to solitary confinement for the implementation of death sentence.

According to the report of Human Rights in Iran, since Sunday, September 4 (2022), at least 17 prisoners with crimes related to murder, narcotics and armed robbery, whose death sentences were confirmed by the Supreme Court, have been transferred to solitary confinement in Rajaei-Shahr and Ghezel Hesar prisons in Karaj for the enforcement of death sentence.

All prisoners were charged with murder, narcotics and armed robbery, and some of these prisoners made the last visitation with their families، according to the report.

Regarding the situation in Rajaei-Shahr Prison in Karaj, an informed source told Human Rights in Iran: “Since 2 days ago, the internal situation of this prison has become highly secure, and in several stages, the prison guards suddenly entered the halls and wards looking for the inmates’ mobile phones.”

“According to the prison authorities, if the cell phone is recovered from a prisoner on death row, his sentence will be carried out in less than 1 week,” the source added.

After the appointment of Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ezhe’ei as the head of the judiciary and his claim to speed up the enforcement of old cases and as a result the implementation of death sentences with the aim of reducing the country’s criminal crimes, this process lead to the protest of Amnesty International by publishing a report on 27th June, 2022, explaining the situation of the implementation of death sentences in the first 6 months of 2022 in Iran.

Also, on August 23, 2022, Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, in his periodic report on cases of human rights violations in Iran, protested the increasing process of issuing and executing death sentences in Iran.

Due to the non-transparency of the Iranian authorities, it is difficult to find out the actual number of executions in this country, and the number is certainly much higher than the announced figure.

Issuing and executing death sentences violates international human rights documents, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.