Amnesty International Reacts to Secret Execution of Hedayat Abdullahpour, Kurdish Political Prisoner
Amnesty International issued a statement reacting to the secret execution of Hedayat Abdullahpour, a Kurdish political prisoner, stating that Iranian authorities must stop their “cruel games” with the family of this political prisoner.
Amnesty International announced on Thursday, June 22, in a statement that Iranian authorities must immediately clarify the fate and whereabouts of this Kurdish political prisoner who was recently secretly executed in an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) prison.
According to this human rights organization, Iranian authorities commit the crime of “enforced disappearance” under international law as long as they refuse to disclose the fate or whereabouts of their victims. According to the statement, Iranian authorities have a long history of secretly executing members of ethnic minority groups and burying them in unmarked graves, and in some cases have refused for years to disclose details of their killings.
According to Amnesty International’s report, Hedayat Abdullahpour, who was sentenced to death following a completely unfair trial regarding armed clashes between the IRGC and members of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan Iran, was transferred to an unknown location on April 9. The head of the enforcement of sentences center in Urmia in West Azerbaijan Province announced on Wednesday, June 21, to his family that this Kurdish political prisoner was executed three weeks ago in the city of Oshnavieh.
This human rights organization states that the head of the enforcement of sentences center in Urmia, in response to the family’s inquiry about why they were not informed of the execution time, said he was not allowed to provide further information and only added that the execution was carried out following “orders from above.” According to Amnesty International, this probably means that the IRGC had ordered the execution of Mr. Abdullahpour.
Amnesty International states that the case prosecutor had previously sent a message to this Kurdish political prisoner’s family stating: “When the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC do not tell you where your relative is, it is better to go to the cemetery.”
Diana Al-Tahawi, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa region, referring to the fact that Hedayat Abdullahpour’s body should be handed over to his family for independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the unlawful execution, says: “The fact that Iranian authorities are engaged in these cruel games with Hedayat Abdullahpour’s family further demonstrates their contempt for human life. By refusing to disclose the truth, they are intentionally causing indescribable distress and psychological anguish for his loved ones.”
Hedayat Abdullahpour, a Kurdish political and civil activist who was arrested in Oshnavieh in June 2016 along with six others and was sentenced to death on the charge of “rebellion,” was announced by the Islamic Republic authorities on Wednesday, June 21, to his family to have been executed a month ago in Urmia Central Prison, and until now the authorities had not informed his family and lawyers that the execution sentence had been carried out.
The execution of Hedayat Abdullahpour was carried out at a time when, according to available information, his case file was sent to the Amnesty and Pardon Commission after confirmation of the execution sentence, and according to legal experts, carrying out this sentence before the final result is announced by the Amnesty and Pardon Commission is contrary to law.
Source: Voice of America
