In the past year, from July 2013 to June 2014, Iran executed at least 852 people, according to a United Nations report. Shahriar Kia reported this in May last year, in the story Execution of Prisoners on The Rise in Iran, after Iran hanged 11 prisoners, including a woman, in Ghezel Hessar Prison, in one day. Those 11 brought the total for the preceding 20 days, to 70 executions.
Last week, members of both Houses of the UK Parliament called on the government to review the human rights violations, public hangings, state-sponsored violence against women in Iran, actions against Iranian refugees in Camp Liberty and the ISIS crisis.
Even though Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani had been labeled “moderate,” the number of public executions has greatly increased, including more than 30 women and 11 juveniles recently. More than 1000 people have been executed since Rouhani assumed the office.
To mark the International Day of Human Rights, a cross-party panel of members from both Houses of the UK Parliament addressed the recent increase in the number of people executed by Iran.
A conference in the Boothroyd Room of Portcullis House, in the House of Commons included Rt Hon. Lord Carlile of Berriew CBE QC, Rt Hon. David Jones MP and Rt Hon. the Lord Dholakia OBE DL as speakers. Guests included Mr Struan Stevenson, the President of European Iraqi Freedom Association and former chairman of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with Iraq, Dr. Tahar Boumedra, former UN human rights Chief in Iraq, Senator De Lange, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Dutch Senate and Dowlat Nowrouzi, the UK Representative of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
Speakers addressed what they called “the appalling human rights situation in Iran,” and they spoke about the safety and security of the Iranian refugees in Camp Liberty, in Iraq. MPs from all parties planned to announce their initiative for the security and rights of the camp residents, with the support of more than 115 members of the House of Commons.
United Nations sanctions monitors said earlier this week, that the head of Iran’s terrorist Quds-Force, Qassem Soleimani, was in Iraq, and that may be a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. This report comes as Iranian regime is breaching the terms of the Joint Plan of Action by engaging in illicit activities at its heavy water facility in Arak.
U.S. President Barack Obama has been criticized for not applying pressure to Iran over its human rights abuses, throughout the failed nuclear negotiations, because this has effectively given Iran a free pass, and legitimized their actions.
