Amnesty urges Iran to halt Kurdish woman's imminent execution
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Amnesty International on Monday called on Iran to 'immediately' release Kurdish humanitarian aid worker Pakhshan Azizi and call off her execution, saying she was sentenced in a 'grossly unfair' trial.
'The international community must immediately urge the Iranian authorities to halt the execution of arbitrarily detained humanitarian aid worker Pakhshan Azizi, who was sentenced to death following a grossly unfair trial before a Revolutionary Court last year,' said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Azizi, 40, had her request for a retrial rejected by Iran's Supreme Court, her lawyer said on Friday. She was sentenced to death for being a member of Iranian Kurdish groups considered terrorists by Tehran, such as the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK).
Her lawyer has denied she ever took up arms but said she was an aid worker in refugee camps in northeast Syria (Rojava) and Shingal (Sinjar) where she was helping those affected by Islamic State (ISIS) attacks.
She was sentenced to death in June 2024 for charges of 'armed rebellion.'
Amnesty said that Azizi was detained solely for her humanitarian activities and 'instead of facing imminent execution she should be immediately and unconditionally released.'
'The death penalty is abhorrent in all circumstances; but imposing it after a grossly unfair trial before a Revolutionary Court, in which Pakhshan Azizi's allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, including gender-based violence, have gone uninvestigated, renders its use arbitrary and illustrates yet again the Iranian authorities' shameless disregard for the right to life,' it added.
The United States and the European Union in January called on Iran to overturn her death sentence.
Iran ranks second globally for known executions, according to Amnesty.
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