Amnesty International has published a report about the reality of living in Iran under a brutal regime.

The report detailed that there were more than 500 registered executions during the course of last year. However, this means that there were undoubtedly many, many more that have not been registered.

The families of people that have been imprisoned in Iran are often left to wonder what has happened to their loved ones. Contact is prevented and families are not told the truth about what has happened in the case of death.

At the end of last year, protests broke out across the whole country and there were several deaths that occurred under suspicious circumstances. In some cases, the families were given the bodies of their loved ones for burial and it is then that they discovered clear evidence of torture through marks on the body. The regime has claimed several victims committed suicide. These claims are unlikely – for one, prisoners are searched before entering prison and do not have so much as a pair of shoelaces.

In the Amnesty International report, the situations in four different prisons were highlighted. In Ward 3 of Gohardasht Karaj Prison there are around 90 prisoners on death row who are under the ages of 25. These young people were arrested before the aged of 18. This is one example, of many, of the Iranian regime’s disregard for international law. The sentencing of juveniles to execution is not allowed.

In Zahedan Prison there are more than 130 prisoners awaiting execution, many who have been left to suffer the miserable conditions of the prison for many years. Many of these people were arrested on drugs-related charges or other non-violent crimes. Again, international law is supposed to prevent people accused of such crimes from being executed. But not in Iran.

One of the most horrific crimes of the Iranian regime was the mass execution of around 30,000 political prisoners. The incident which is now known as the 1988 massacre has gone unpunished despite the fact that evidence points to current regime officials being involved. There have been renewed calls for justice for the victims, many of whom were members of the PMOI / MEK, but no international body of law has investigated.

This crime against humanity has been followed by many more violations of human rights since and the people have reached the end of their tether. Dissent is rising and it is just a matter of time before the people instigate another huge uprising like the one that started in December last year.

The brave people of Iran know that they risk arrest, imprisonment, torture and even execution if they publicly speak out against the regime or participate in protests, but they still continue to fight for their rights and for freedom.