Saeed Masouri’s Revelation of the Machinery Behind Executions in Iran

In a harrowing letter, Saeed Masouri, a long-time political prisoner who has spent nearly 25 years in the prisons of the Islamic Republic without a single day of furlough, sheds light on the hidden and rarely seen processes that lead to executions in Iran. Addressed to international human rights institutions, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Ms. Mai Sato, this letter is an urgent warning regarding the unprecedented wave of executions and the inhumane processes that accompany them.

Masouri doesn’t just refer to the shocking figure of more than 170 executions carried out in the month of May 2024. He offers direct testimony from inside prison, exposing what he calls “the hidden preparations of a crime”: psychological torture, denial of the right to legal defense, sham trials lasting only minutes, threats to families, and fabricated cases orchestrated by the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC Intelligence Organization.

Saeed Masouri, who was arrested in January 2001 upon entering Iran and was initially sentenced to death before the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, possesses a unique lived experience within the judicial-security system of the Islamic Republic. In his letter, he emphasizes that the legal processes in Iran—particularly in political cases—are not only devoid of justice but are part of a systemic campaign of violence and repression to instill fear in society.

Masouri and his co-defendant Gholamhossein Kalbi have endured one of the longest periods of political imprisonment in Iran’s contemporary history. Throughout these years, Masouri has been subjected to beatings, death threats, denial of medical treatment, and relentless psychological pressure. He has repeatedly resorted to hunger strikes in protest against prison conditions and the systematic violation of human rights.

Full Letter of Political Prisoner Saeed Masouri to Ms. Mai Sato

To all awakened consciences, especially human rights reporters, Ms. Mai Sato, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: The crime of execution has criminal preconditions, too.

With 25 years of experience as a political prisoner, I am now witnessing a wave of executions that is unprecedented in the past two to three decades—over 170 people have been executed in just the past month.

It is often said that every criminal act is preceded by criminal preparations, hidden beneath the surface. For instance, when an execution is carried out, the inhumane and rights-violating acts that preceded it remain hidden from view.

As a cellmate to many prisoners who were sentenced to death and taken to the gallows over these 25 years, I have observed a highly repetitive pattern in the cases of death row inmates—especially those accused of political offenses (actions against national security).

In such cases, from the very beginning, the entire process—case construction through to completion—is carried out by interrogators from the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC Intelligence Organization. Formal steps like prosecution, indictment, and trial are mere facades. Every detail, from A to Z, is orchestrated by these security agencies. The accused is then brought before the judiciary with a fabricated case file, making it appear as though the process followed a fair and legal procedure—while in reality, neither the Ministry nor the IRGC are officially acknowledged as having had any role.

Everyone knows that the so-called “case summary report” attached to the file by the Ministry or the IRGC is the sole basis for issuing indictments and the only source used by the judge to issue a verdict. These so-called “judges” don’t even read the actual files.

This is why there is no logical argumentation or credible evidence in the case files, no opportunity for defense (as trials rarely last more than 10 minutes), and no access for lawyers to review the case materials—despite Article 48 of the Islamic Republic’s own Criminal Procedure Code.

Verdicts are predetermined and simply announced. Empty phrases about “resolving disputes,” “equality before the law,” “prohibition of injustice,” or “delivering rights to rightful owners” are just lip service. In reality, defendants are denied the right to a fair defense, and the courts are devoid of justice and even basic adherence to their own laws. Meanwhile, the stripping of civil rights is carried out to the fullest extent possible.

The head of Branch 33 of the Special Prosecutor’s Office explicitly stated in front of political prisoners that the cases of our fellow inmates, Mr. Mehdi Hassani and Mr. Behrouz Ehsani, were classified and confidential. With a bit of reflection, it becomes obvious that this seemingly simple statement—“these files are confidential and must not be made available even to the defendant or their lawyer”—is a blatant violation of the defendant’s right to defend themselves against unproven allegations.

If the accused is to be executed based on those same documents and reports, why are they denied the right to know the reasons for their death sentence? Why are their lawyers denied access to the case files?

Under such circumstances, where is the right to defense? Where is the fair trial based on the principle that “justice is the foundation of governance”? Where is the proportionality between crime and punishment—when the alleged crimes, evidence, and reasoning are all secret?

When the so-called evidence in a case has no real basis or credibility, the only way to keep it hidden is to declare the entire file confidential—thus allowing the system to coerce forced confessions, such as televised admissions or baseless claims presented as “documentaries.” In return, the accused is promised clemency or a reduction in punishment.

In this way, the defendant is forced to choose: either confess to lies or face execution.

Lawyers—stripped of any ability to defend their clients—are left to weigh between refusing to participate in injustice and doing something, anything, to save their client’s life. Often, the only path left is for the accused themselves to express remorse, seek forgiveness, or act in whatever way they think may help.

But even that is not enough for the government. The accused’s family is summoned and threatened: if your loved one does not repent, if they do not write a confession, if they do not seek a pardon—then execution is inevitable, and nothing can stop it. If the execution happens, the blame lies with them—and with you.

Thus, when families and lawyers are left with no means of defense, they may blame themselves, one another, or even the defendant. The government and judiciary, meanwhile, are absolved of any responsibility.

This method of extracting forced confessions and portraying the accused as remorseful—along with all its consequences—is itself part of the criminal and inhumane prelude to the crime of execution. This pattern has persisted for years. And with every case in which it is applied, the way is paved for its repetition in future cases.

My message to you and to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is this:

Is this scale of blatant human rights violations and the mass executions that follow not yet serious enough to warrant action—or at least referral to the United Nations Security Council?