Iran Executes Kurdish Prisoner As Minority Oppression Continues

Ayub Karimi, a Sunni Kurd and a religious prisoner, was executed early on Wednesday in Karaj's Ghezel Hesar Prison.

Karimi, who had been sentenced to death approximately 14 years ago, was transferred to solitary confinement a week before the execution. Amnesty International had issued warnings in recent days, highlighting the imminent danger of Karimi's execution and urging authorities to cancel the sentence. Despite the pleas, Karimi, along with six other prisoners whose identities remain undisclosed, was hanged Wednesday morning.

Notably, Karimi was denied a final meeting with his family before his execution, mirroring the fate of his co-defendant, Qasem Abasteh, who was executed on November 5.

The human rights organization Hengaw has identified five more religious prisoners facing imminent execution: Davoud Abdollahi, Farhad Salimi, Anwar Khezri, Khosrow Besharat, and Kamran Sheykha. All of them were arrested in 2009 and held in the intelligence ministry’s detention center in Urmia.

In 2015, they were tried and sentenced to death, a verdict confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2020 after prolonged legal battles. Despite a plea for retrial in September 2020, the Supreme Court rejected their request.

The charges against the prisoners include "War against God," "corruption on earth," "support for Salafi groups," and an alleged "murder". However, the accused individuals consistently denied any involvement in the allegations in letters published by human rights organizations.

The situation for minority rights in Iran remains precarious. In July alone, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported that Iranian security forces detained at least 54 Kurdish activists and citizens in the western provinces of Iran.