A Norway-based Iran Human Rights Organization has called on the international community to react to the group execution that has taken place in Iran.
Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) said in a report on Thursday that at least ten men have been put to death in Karaj, a city near the capital Tehran. The men appear to have been sentenced on drug related charges and were executed in Ghezel Hesar Prison in one day, according to the rights group.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the Director of the NGO, said that these are preliminary information, and the number of executions may be higher than ten. Amiri-Moghaddam mentioned that authorities in Iran are carrying out more executions and acts of violence while all international eyes are on the Hamas-Israel war.
“The Islamic Republic is taking advantage of media attention on Gaza to execute more people.”
“For the Islamic Republic, any war is a blessing,” Amiri-Moghaddam said in a post.
Earlier in October, on the occasion of World Against Death Penalty Day, IHR NGO released a report on the condition of drug related executions in Iran. Since 2010, the government has killed 3,990 people in the name of “war on drugs” according to the recent report.
Strongly condemning the group executions in Iran, IHRNGO has called on the international not to turn a blind eye on the matter.
“The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) which collaborates with the Islamic Republic on combating drug trafficking, has an obligation to take action against arbitrary drug executions.”
The UN’s silence on these executions is a green light of approval,” said Amiry-Moghadam.