October 3, 2021
Statement: On the occasion of October 10, the International Day Against the Death Penalty
Iran: No to a regime with a top record in executions
On the eve of the 19th anniversary of the International Day Against the Death Penalty, we the three organizations that signed this statement, namely the International Committee Against Execution, the Campaign to Free the Political Prisoners in Iran, and the Campaign to Free Jailed Workers in Iran (Free Them Now), call on all the people around the world to stand up against the widespread executions, murders and tortures by the Islamic regime in prisons in Iran; and to stop these organized state crimes, put the Islamic criminal regime under constant and serious pressure.
Death penalty is a premeditated and organized state murder. The governments use the death penalty to impose their power over society. Wherever executions are carried out, human lives become worthless. Carrying out the death penalty by the governments aims to maintain their control and sovereignty over society. Since the establishment of the Islamic regime in Iran, the regime has deprived millions of people of their basic rights, and carrying out the death penalty has become the main tool to maintain its power. In Iran, political dissidents are executed. The Islamic regime has executed thousands of political prisoners over the last 42 years, particularly in the 80s, to name a few is the execution of Farzad Kamangar, a well-known protesting teacher, and Navid Afkari, an Iranian wrestling champion, who have become a symbol for all the victims of the regime’ crimes. The crimes that are a clear example of genocide, ideological cleansing and the elimination of political opponents on a large scale, and could only be compared to the mass killings committed by the Nazi’s massacre of innocent people in Germany, or the massacre of people in Indonesia, the genocide in Rwanda, and the bloody repressions in Chile under Pinochet. Moreover, under the Islamic regime in Iran, stoning women, the most heinous form of murder and execution, was carried out, which was met with global protests and forced the regime to practically stop it.
Under the Islamic Republic, atheists, homosexuals, women who defend themselves against sexual violence, journalists, Baha’is who have other religions and beliefs, and protesters who oppose the Islamic regime are executed. Execution in the Islamic Republic means enmity with the political and civil liberties of citizens and their basic rights to protest, assemble, and organise and partisanship. Therefore, the struggle against the death penalty is a part of the people’s struggle for freedom.
The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty has dedicated the International Day Against Execution 2021 to women who have been executed, are at risk of being sentenced to death or been sentenced to death. In this regard, the Islamic Republic has a bloody record. The misogynist Islamic Republic has already hanged many women including women who protested, who were part of opposition groups, and who were victims of gender violence. Among these women are for example Fatemeh Haqiqatpajuh, Reyhaneh Jabbari, and Somayyeh Shahbazi Jahrouii, Maryam Ayoubi, who was executed by stoning this heinous Islamic sentence, and Zahra Esmaeili, whose body was hanged after she suffered from a fatal heart attack because of the shock. The above-mentioned names are only a few examples of the horrendous murderous act by the Islamic Republic.
The barbarism that prevails in Iran has always been confronted by the people even in the form of mass protests in several cities across Iran. Currently, the movement against the death penalty is a movement that demands an end to executions with the slogan of “Execution is a state-sponsored murder”. This is a widespread movement everywhere in Iran and has so far been able to make any executions costly for the Islamic regime.
On the occasion of the International Day against the Death Penalty, we call on all people in Iran and around the world to raise their voices in protest against the regime whose power is tied to the death penalty, and to stop this unbridled state savagery. Wherever you are, express your disgust and hatred against the inhuman punishment of the death penalty and call for an immediate end to the executions in Iran, by organizing rallies and protests, by supporting the families of those victims who are sentenced to death, by holding gatherings and meetings, by writing slogans on the city walls and doors, by issuing resolutions and mass statements, by preparing clips and videos and publishing on social media and so on. If with the struggle and public unity in Iran and the world, the weapon of repression of the Islamic Republic, of which execution and killing are an important part, becomes ineffective or neutral, there will undoubtedly remain no trace of this criminal Islamic regime. The Iranian people are determined to overthrow the Islamic regime and with international support, people of Iran with their power are ready to overthrow this regime and end the system of terror and executions in Iran.
The Islamic Republic must be overthrown so that we can get rid of executions, tortures and terrorism. This should be shouted loud everywhere in commemoration of the 19th anniversary of the International Day against the Death Penalty, and the world should be called upon to increasingly support the struggles of the Iranian people to overthrow the Islamic regime.
International Committee Against Execution (ICAE)
https://noto-execution.blogspot.com
Campaign to Free the Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
Campaign to Free Jailed Workers in Iran (Free Them Now)
http://free-them-now.blogspot.com
