The Express has published an article about the shocking mass execution of Sunni prisoners in an Iranian prison which came just a week after the Foreign Office said the country’s human rights abuses are getting worse.Ahmad Ebrahimi, a human rights campaigner who was born in Iran but now lives in London with his son, explained that he has lost many close friends and family members at the hand of the “tyrannical” Iranian regime.
He said that the international community needs to become more involved in helping to end the deaths which have increased over the last decade.
Several dozen Sunni prisoners were executed this week before their families could even say goodbye.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani promised to improve the freedoms of his people but this has not happened. It is estimated that 966 to 1,025 people were executed last year in Iran – the highest number in a decade. There were also 170 recorded executions in the first six months of 2016.
The Express states that Ahmad Ebrahimi, the president of the former Iranian political prisoners association in the UK, says “the barbaric punishment – which is even handed out for minor crimes such as drug offences – must stop”.
He was a political prisoner for 10 years and saw many of his friends be taken away for execution. “Being in prison was just everything horrible, from their care of the political prisoners to whatever I saw – the abuses I saw there. Every time was different, there was nothing the same. We never knew what to expect. Sometimes we would not be given food, sometimes we would be tortured. We lost many friends, noticed the people disappearing. People were called and taken from their cells and, we learned after, went to their so-called court. Then the people would come back to their rooms, to their cells, and when they were called again they were taken to be executed. With bullets.”
He told how they counted bullets to see how many people had been killed. After 10 years in prison, he was finally released and fled to the UK where he began a new life with his family.
Now he fights against the tyrannical regime, campaigning so that more is done to overthrow the government.
He said: “The international campaign like from Amnesty International is doing very well, it is very good, and the campaign from international media is fantastic. People should know what is going on in Iran, the hanging, the abuse, the executions. There is much media coverage of the Middle East – Iraq, and Syria – but less about the human goths in Iran. We do not want this government, and we want people to know that.”
Chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Mohammad Mohaddessin, said: “The mullahs’ regime is facing absolute social isolation and widespread abhorrence by the people and thus is resorting to increased executions to create a climate of fear and to prevent the possibility of a nationwide uprising. More than 2,500 people have been executed in Iran under Hassan Rouhani, who falsely claimed to seek moderation. For as long as the mullahs’ regime is in power, there will continue to be further executions, torture and other crimes.”
The article pointed out that hundreds of officials from around the world gathered in Paris for the annual Free Iran rally last month. It was organised by the NCRI, a France-based umbrella group for Iranian exiles living in Europe.
London MP Bob Blackman said: “There are concerning accounts of a rising tide of executions and politically motivated arrests in Iran, as well as undiminished sponsorship of terrorism and escalating Tehran’s involvement in the affairs of Middle Eastern countries including Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon.”
“I believe firm pressure must be put on the Iranian Government to comply with international demands to adhere to higher standards of compliance with regards to its nuclear programme and to also heed concerns from the international community about human rights abuses.”
