The international community is expressing outrage over the death sentences handed down to Behrouz Ehsani, 69, and Mehdi Hassani, 48, two political prisoners in Iran. Both men, supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), have been accused of “rebellion,” “waging war against God,” and “conspiracy against national security.” Their sentences were issued by Judge Iman Afshari, known for harsh rulings, and were accompanied by reports of physical and psychological torture during their imprisonment.
In response to these developments, Hands Off Cain, a human rights organization that advocates for the abolishment of the death penalty, has issued an urgent appeal directed towards United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, and Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. The statement demands immediate intervention to prevent the executions, citing the Iranian regime’s ongoing persecution of PMOI supporters.
“We know your commitment for the respect of the right to life,” reads the appeal. “For this reason, we ask you to intervene to avoid Mr. Behrouz Ehsani’s and Mr. Mehdi Hassani’s execution.”
The statement highlights historical atrocities committed by the Iranian regime, referencing the 1988 massacre of political prisoners and drawing parallels to the ongoing executions. The organization calls on the UN to push for a universal moratorium on executions, emphasizing that such a measure could “save lives” and provide a path toward the abolition of capital punishment globally.
Full Text of the Hands Off Cain Statement
Urgent appeal to stop the execution of Mr Behrouz Ehsani and Mr Mehdi Hassani sentenced to death for political reasons in Iran
We, representatives of Hands off Cain – the association behind the approval of the Resolution calling for a universal moratorium on executions – know that Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani, two political prisoners who supported the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), have been sentenced to death. They have been sentenced on charges of “baghi (rebellion), moharebeh (waging war against God), corruption on Earth, membership in the PMOI, collecting classified information, and conspiracy against national security.”
The 69-year-old political prisoner Behrouz Ehsani was arrested on December 6, 2022, in Tehran and transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence detention center (Ward 209 of Evin Prison), where he was subjected to torture. He is currently held in Ward 4 of Evin Prison.
Mehdi Hassani, 48, was arrested on September 11, 2022, in Zanjan and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison, where he was subjected to physical and psychological torture. He is currently imprisoned in Ward 8 of Evin Prison.
We know the bloody fury of the Iranian regime towards supporters of the PMOI recently recognized and denounced also by Javaid Rehman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran. In his accurate analysis of the first decade after the assumption of theocratic power, with the massacre in 1988 of tens of thousands of political prisoners, many of them members of PMOI, the Special Rapporteur notes that the “atrocity crimes” as reported – which took place all across Iran – represent the commission of the worst and the most egregious human rights abuses of our living memory whereby high[1]ranking state officials connived, conspired and actively engaged to plan, order and commit crimes against humanity and genocide against the nationals of their own state.
Through the prism of the first decade after the Revolution of 1979 in Iran, the Special Rapporteur provides an insight into the nature of the Iranian regime which executed at least 464 people during 2024. A number that grow up day by day without respite.
We know your commitment for the respect of the right to life and for the life of the right. For this reason we ask you to intervene to avoid Mr Behrouz Ehsani’s and Mr. Mehdi Hassani’s execution.
We appeal you now that the General Assembly will adopt a new Resolution calling for a universal moratorium on executions aware, as we are, that the moratorium we propose is the only pragmatic way to save life giving the time needed by different States to definitively abolish this form of punishment which represents only a tool of the past.
