NCRI – The Iranian regime has executed more than 100 people in the northeastern city of Mashhad in the span of a few months, according to a human rights group on Tuesday.
The International Campaign for Democracy in Iran released a statement citing a “credible source” as saying that each week dozens of people on death row are executed in Vakil-Abad prison in Mashhad. The Iranian regime has hanged many of them on charges of “drug trafficking.”
“Last Wednesday alone, 68 people were executed and more will be hanged in the coming weeks,” according to the statement.
The group also cited comments by Ahmad Qabel, who spent more than 170 days in Vakil Abad prison during the past several months. “I did not see any prisoners from up close,” Qabel said, “but prison guards spread the news, and according to them, 50 people were hanged in the 170 days I was there.”
He added, “It is very common for people on death row to spend a great deal of time in prison.”
According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, the victims were executed in the Ward 6 of Vakil Abad prison in Mashhad, which is controlled by the regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security. Two groups of 30-40 prisoners each month were collectively executed.
The source told the group, “For example, from September 2009 to April 2010, about 150 people were executed. Meanwhile, there was one report of only 5 hangings which were published on April 8, 2010. But, 35 people met this fate on that day, eight of whom were women.”
This month, four groups of prisoners were executed, according to the group, totaling 60-70 people. Hundreds more are currently on death row.
The Iranian regime carries out the most number of hangings in the world per year on a per capita basis. In 2009, the clerical regime executed more than 388 people, according to rights groups, but news of many of the executions do not get revealed.
