Iran’s killing rampage: 1 execution every 4 hours

Freedom Messenger -- Since the start of the New Year, the Iranian regime has begun a campaign of death, executing 1 prisoner every 4 hours. If the regime continues its rampage, by the months end they will have executed 186 individuals. If the rate of their killing spree continues further, by the end of the year Iran will have murdered over 2,200 individuals. The regime has used an assortment of charges against such prisoners, in order to try to legitimize the massacre. The charges against each individual range from terrorism, espionage, drug trafficking, enmity with God, rape, and so on. Each of the prisoners has gone through a judicial system that offers little fairness, transparency, or due process. As a result, differentiating between ordinary criminals and opponents of the regime can be very difficult. Many prisoners face trumped up charges despite committing purely political offenses.

The regime has used an assortment of tactics to carry out its suppression. Prisoners who require medical attention in order to survive, are purposefully neglected, and therefore die without being added to the list of formally executed individuals. This tactic masks the true intent of the regime to the outside world, but ensures that the terror will be felt at home. Hassan Nahid and Mohsen Dokmechi are two examples of political prisoners who died due to the regime’s deliberate medical negligence.

Aside from leading the world in executions per capita in 2011, and being second only to China in the number of executions annually, Iran is currently the only country which still executes minors. In September of 2011, 17-year-old Alireza Mullah Soltani cried and begged for his life as he was publically hanged for murdering Ruhollah Dadashi, an Iranian bodybuilder. The Iranian regime chose to publically hang him for the act of murder. Undertaking this barbaric spectacle does not serve the regimes public image well in the international community. However, the necessity for the act is clear- namely to terrorize the domestic population into fear and silence.

Underlying these various acts of brutality is the implementation of a conscious policy designed to instill terror in the hearts and minds of Iranians. On the one hand, the regime faces ever growing isolation due to its nuclear program. On the other, the Arab Spring has engulfed the region in popular uprising and the instability in Syria is hitting too close to home for the Iranian Regime’s comfort. The regime knows all too well that its days are numbered. Since the protests in 2009, the regime understands the potential within the population for an explosive uprising and fears that at any moment a spark could set off another round of protests. There’s no doubt that the regime will resort to the most barbaric forms of repression in order to prolong its grip on power. However, despite the bloodbath, the regime is clearly on its last limb and will not likely be able to continue to drown its problems in the blood of its citizens.