REVISED: Monthly report for August 2008: At least 27 executions including two minors and one woman

in the prison of Isfahan for an offence he allegedlt committed when he was 15. According to his family he had confessed to the crime under pressure and torture. His family were noticed just few hours prior to the scheduled execution.

Behnam Zare (18) was hanged on August 26. in the Adelabad prison of Shiraz, for an offence he allegedly committed when he was 15. Neither his family nor the lawyer were informed about his execution in advance.

Blogger and civil rights activist executed:

The blogger Yaqub Mehrnehad (28) was executed in Zahedan on August 4. He was sentenced to death in a revolutionary court (closed to the public and media), charged with membership in Jondollah (an armed group in Baluchestan province struggling against the Iranian authorities). However, he was known as a blogger, journalist and civil rights activist. Several of those executed in Zahedan were sentenced to death in the revolutionary courts.

Women:

One woman was executed in August 2008. Shabnam Parastesh (34) was hanged in Tehran’s Evin prison on August 27.