Executions in the dark, burials in silence, and the Islamic Republic's fear of handing over the bodies of the victims

More than two weeks after the secret execution of Naser Bakrzadeh and Mehrab Abdullahzadeh, two Kurdish political prisoners in Urmia, the Islamic Republic has not only refused to return their bodies to their families, but has also prevented public mourning ceremonies through threats and security pressure; behavior that human rights activists see as a continuation of the policy of "enforced disappearances" and the organized use of executions to create fear and silence the voices of protesters.

While the Islamic Republic has been using the death penalty as a tool of political repression for years, the cases of Nasser Bakrzadeh and Mehrab Abdullahzadeh have revealed a more horrifying picture of this machine of repression; a government that, after taking the lives of its opponents, refuses to even return their bodies to their families, turning mourning into a security threat.

According to reports published by Kurdish human rights organizations, Urmia Central Prison authorities have informed the families of the two political prisoners that “no bodies will be delivered.” The families have also been pressured and threatened not to hold any public ceremonies in the city of Urmia. Ultimately, mourning ceremonies were held in the villages where the two prisoners were born, with limited attendance.

Human rights organizations have considered this behavior a clear example of "enforced disappearance," a practice that is considered one of the most severe forms of human rights violations under international law and is usually associated with repressive governments and unaccountable security structures.

In one of the most shocking parts of this case, an informed source said that after Nasser Bekerzadeh's execution, security agents contacted his family and said, "We have executed your son and thrown away his body. Go find him yourself."

Nasser Bekerzadeh, a 26-year-old political prisoner from Urmia, was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court after several attempts to overturn his death sentence in the Supreme Court. The verdict was ultimately upheld and carried out despite numerous legal challenges. His lawyers have repeatedly stressed that the case was based on forced confessions and lacked conclusive evidence.

Amir Raisian, one of the political prisoner's lawyers, had previously announced that lawyers' access to the case had suddenly been restricted and no clear explanation had been provided about the execution process. Seydad Shirzad, another lawyer in the case, had also warned that the Urmia Revolutionary Court had not even paid attention to the Supreme Court's explicit objections.

After the execution, state media released a video of Nasser Bekerzadeh’s confession, showing him in an unknown position in front of a camera, appearing to read from a pre-written text. Human rights groups have described the video as a clear example of the Islamic Republic’s use of confessions extracted under torture to legitimize death sentences.

The situation was not much different in the case of Mehrab Abdullahzadeh. The 27-year-old political prisoner, who was arrested during the “Genesis, Life, Freedom” protests, had repeatedly stated that his confessions were extracted under torture. However, the Islamic Republic’s judiciary sentenced him to death on charges of “rebel” and “corruption on earth” without providing independent and credible evidence.

Human rights activists say his case was also based on the judge's "knowledge" and forced confessions, and repeated requests for technical review of videos and cellphone data were ignored. Even after a request for a retrial was filed, the verdict was carried out without a stay of legal proceedings.

After the execution of Mehrab Abdullahzadeh, state media also published vague images without a specific time or place, claiming that he had a role in the murder of a Basij force member; a video that, according to critics, lacks any valid judicial proof criteria and looks more like part of a propaganda operation by the security apparatus than a legal document.

The execution of these two political prisoners took place at a time when the Iranian atmosphere was affected by regional tensions and security crises; a situation that, according to observers, the Islamic Republic has once again exploited to intensify the atmosphere of fear, settle political scores, and silence the voices of protesters.

Critics say that what happened in Urmia is not just a legal case, but a naked display of a government that uses trials, torture, forced confessions, executions, and even depriving families of the right to mourn as tools of control and intimidation.