Political Prisoner on Death Row Attempts Suicide in Zahedan Prison
Adham Naroui, a political prisoner facing the death penalty in Iran's Zahedan Prison, attempted suicide on Thursday amid fears of imminent execution.
Adham Naroui, a political prisoner facing the death penalty in Iran's Zahedan Prison, attempted suicide on Thursday amid fears of imminent execution.
According to Haalvash, a news outlet covering the Sistan-Baluchestan province, Naroui was rushed to a local hospital after overdosing on sedatives. He is the latest prisoner to attempt suicide amid Iran's escalating killing spree, last year alone, over 850 Iranians executed.
Naroui, arrested by security forces in June 2021 in Lashar, and later transferred to Zahedan, was charged along with Mohammad Zeinoddini in October 2020. In 2022, both were convicted of "waging war through armed action" and their death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court in November 2023.
They were accused of murdering three members of the Revolutionary Guard during an operation, charges they have repeatedly denied, claiming they played no role in the incident.
The incident is part of a broader pattern of neglect and abuse in Iranian prisons, which the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) highlights in its annual report saying between March 2023 and March 2024, at least six prisoners died due to illness, twenty committed suicide, and eight were murdered in custody.
The report details physical torture, denial of medical services, solitary confinement, forced confessions, lack of access to chosen lawyers, and inappropriate detention conditions endured by political prisoners.
Iran has consistently failed to acknowledge responsibility for the deaths and suffering of political prisoners caused by torture, lack of medical care, and other forms of systemic abuse.
The controversial politician, who has been largely sidelined by the regime's ruling core for nearly a decade, arrived at the Interior Ministry to officially submit his credentials and register for the election.
“Today, I have come to once again greet the people of Iran,” he said as he registered his candidacy.
“The challenges we face today in all spheres are far greater than those of 2013," said the former president, pointing out that the economic hardships of the people have exhausted their patience.
Iran is grappling with soaring food prices amidst economic and social turmoil and the devaluation of the rial compounded by regional tensions. The root cause of this alarming price surge lies in Iran's faltering economy, exacerbated by the continuous devaluation of the Iranian rial. The rial has continuously fallen since the inception of the Islamic Republic in 1979, but it turned into a steep fall in 2018 when the United States withdrew from the JCPOA nuclear deal, demanding its revision. Oil export sanctions and international banking restrictions imposed by the Trump administration badly hurt Iran’s oil-dependent economy.
“My top priority will be to address the economic problems of the people," added the former president.
However, registering as a candidate does not mean that a politician can automatically participate in the election. Iran’s governing system has a powerful watchdog called the Guardian Council that vets all candidates and according to obscure criteria decides whose name can be on the ballot.
Asked if he thinks he will be permitted by the Guardian Council to run for the presidency, Ahmadinejad kept silent and just smiled, a video of him at the Interior Ministry shows.
The Guardian Council, loyal to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei barred Ahmadinejad from running in the 2017 and 2021 presidential elections. Following his disqualification in 2017, the hated and loved politician became a vocal critic of the ruling elite’s governance, even going as far as criticizing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
He was not the only well-known figure who was barred from running in mid-2021. Former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and former Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri were also barred, opening the path for Ebrahim Raisi to win a low-turnout election as a hardliner candidate.
After Raisi’s victory, Ahmadinejad was apparently put on a short leash and mostly stopped commenting and criticizing. With Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash last month, he came out of the shadows and began commenting about a bright future for Iranians.
Among these prisoners is Aref Rasouli, a 20-year-old young man whose case has underscored a significant ongoing issue: Iran's persistent violation of international human rights standards by sentencing minors to death.
Rasouli was reportedly born on 25 April 2004, making him 17 years old at the time of his alleged crime. Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), which reported on his transfer to solitary confinement, has urged the international community and all countries with diplomatic relations with Iran to use every available channel to halt these executions. IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam stated:
“The international community’s reaction can prevent the execution of Aref Rasouli and the other death row prisoners. Executing child offenders is a flagrant breach of international law and the Islamic Republic’s treaty obligations. The international community shouldn’t allow child offender executions to continue.”
The Islamic Penal Code and Iran’s Breach of International Laws
Executing individuals for crimes committed under the age of 18 contravene international human rights norms, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which Iran has ratified.
According to Iran's 2013 Islamic Penal Code, the age of criminal responsibility is 15 for boys and 9 for girls. This means they can be sentenced to death for murder and other capital crimes in Iran.
Although the May 2013 update to the Islamic Penal Code allowed judges to replace the death penalty if juvenile offenders lacked an understanding of the crime or their mental maturity was in doubt, Iran persists in imposing such sentences. Amnesty International stated that Iran’s claims of reform of the justice system with the 2013 May are “not reality” and that “little has changed in practice”.
Notably this provision further emphasized Iran’s disregard for meeting its international obligations, which strictly prohibit such sentences for juvenile offenders under any circumstances in the first place.
Even if Iran were to adhere to its obligations under international law, the country's judiciary faces scrutiny by International rights groups for its track record of sham trials and blatant disregard for due process, with detainees frequently denied legal representation.
Recent Cases of Child Offenders on Death Row Executed in Iran
Earlier this month, 20-year-old Ramin Sa’adat was executed at Miandoab Prison in West Azarbaijan province for a murder he committed at the age of 16, as reported by Kurdpa. Despite Saadat maintaining his innocence throughout his trial, his sentence was carried out on 18 May 2024.
Transparency remains elusive, with Iran withholding crucial data on executions, including those of juvenile offenders. However, as many as 85 juveniles could be on death row in Iran’s prisons as per a 2021 UN report.
Of the juvenile offenders on death row, at least 5 were executed in 2023, as per Amnesty reports.
One of those executed in 20203, was Hamid Azari who not only was sentenced to death when he was a minor, but also executed when he was only 17 years old.
“Hamidreza Azari was arrested when he was just 16 years old and executed less than seven months later after a grossly unfair trial that was expedited by prosecution authorities. The Iranian authorities misrepresented his age as 18 in domestic media to evade accountability for violating international law which prohibits the imposition of death sentences on people under 18 at the time of the crime,” Amnesty stated.
In 2022, at least 3 juvenile offenders were executed on murder charges according to IHRNGO. Of those executed, included Yousef Mirzavand who was sentenced to death for a murder he allegedly committed at age 16.
“His family said he was innocent...someone else committed the murder and Yousef had taken the wrap for it…Yousef was from the Mirzavand tribe in Lorestan…” an informed source told IHRNGO. Mirzavand was executed in Dezful Prison on 26 December 2022.
With the fate of Rasouli and other juvenile offenders including Arvin Ghahremani hanging in the balance, and as advocacy groups continue to sound the alarm, the imperative to confront Iran's egregious human rights violations grows ever more urgent.
