Iran Human Right, October 13: Following the increased international focus on the scheduled execution of 11 prisoners three UN Special Rapporteurs appealed Friday to Iran to halt the executions and to declare a moratorium on the death penalty.

Iran Human Rights (IHR) and several other human rights NGOs urged the international community to react in order to stop the excutions that were scheduled to take place Saturday.

At the time of publishing this report (Saturday morning) IHR has not received any news regarding implementation of the executions.

In another statement on the occasion of the World day against the death penalty, IHR along the NGOs Ensemble Contre la peine de mort (ECPM), Justice for Iran, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center and Arse Sevom urged the UN to cease anti-drug trafficking funding until Iranian authorities renounce use of death penalty for drug-related offences.

The statement by the UN Special Rapporteurs on Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, on extrajudicial executions, Christof Heyns, and on torture, Juan E. Mendez says:"We urge the Iranian authorities to stop the executions of Saeed Sedeghi and 10 other individuals scheduled for Saturday, 13 October,"

Sedeghi was sentenced to death on June 2 for drug-related offenses. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights says he did not receive a fair trial and was subjected to torture.

"In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, the sentence of death can be imposed only for the most serious crimes, which do not include drug crimes. Cases that do not meet these standards are tantamount to arbitrary executions," noted the experts, who are appointed by the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council to report on specific human rights themes.

"We have repeatedly urged Iran to halt executions," they said. "We regret, however, that instead of heeding our calls, the Iranian authorities have stepped up the use of the death penalty."