Iran on Saturday executed Javid Dehghan, an ethnic Baluchi man accused of belonging to a “terrorist” group, despite calls from the United Nations and international organizations for Tehran to end its killing spree, Iran International reported.
The 31-year-old was executed in the Zahedan Central Prison in the Sistan-Baluchestan province, according to the report.
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The UN human rights office had urged Iran to halt the hanging of Dehghan and several other prisoners from minority groups only a day earlier.
“#Iran: We strongly condemn the series of executions – at least 28 – since mid-December, including of people from minority groups. We urge the authorities to halt the imminent execution of Javid Dehghan, to review his and other death penalty cases in line with human rights law,” the UN human rights office said on Twitter.
Iran – which regularly receives criticism from international organization for its human rights violations against minorities and anti-regime activists – frequently dismisses the accusations as baseless.
Sistan-Baluchestan, Iran’s poorest province, is mostly populated by ethnic Sunni Baluchis. As a minority in the mostly-Shia country, the group complains of ethnic and religious discrimination and accuses the Iranian regime of deliberately neglecting the province due to the population’s Sunni faith.
In December 2020, Iran executed two ethnic Baluchi citizens on unclear charges in Zahedan, the Europe-based rights group Baluchi Activists Campaign said.
(With Reuters)
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Last Update: Saturday, 30 January 2021 KSA 10:02 – GMT 07:02
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