Head of judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, c/o Embassy of Iran to the European Union
Avenue Franklin Roosevelt No. 15, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium

Dear Mr Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei,

Humanitarian aid worker and civil society activist Pakhshan Azizi, 40, from Iran’s oppressed Kurdish ethnic minority, is at risk of execution after Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran sentenced her to death in July 2024.

She was convicted of “armed rebellion against the state” (baghi) solely in relation to her peaceful human rights and humanitarian activities. For instance, between 2014 and 2022 she was involved in providing humanitarian support to women and children displaced following attacks by the Islamic State armed group (IS) and sheltering in camps in northeast Syria and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Her appeal before the Supreme Court is pending.

On 4 August 2023, Ministry of Intelligence agents arbitrarily arrested Pakhshan Azizi from her family home in Tehran and subjected to her an enforced disappearance, a crime under international law, by refusing to disclose her whereabouts to her family. Agents had transferred her to section 209 of Tehran’s Evin prison, which is under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence, and held her in prolonged solitary confinement for five months without access to a lawyer and her family. According to informed sources, during this time Pakhshan Azizi was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment during interrogations. Agents repeatedly told her that she had no right to live and threatened to execute her. They also subjected her to gender-based violence in order to compel her to make forced “confessions” of having ties to Kurdish opposition groups, which she repeatedly denied. In early December 2023, she was transferred to the women’s ward of Evin prison.

Pakhshan Azizi’s trial, which took place over two sessions on 28 May and 16 June 2024, was grossly unfair. She was denied adequate time and facilities to prepare her defence. She was only permitted a few phone calls with her chosen lawyers about three weeks before her trial commenced and met with them for the first time at trial. The court verdict includes Pakhshan Azizi’s arrest in 2009 at a protest against the execution of an Iranian Kurdish man as “evidence” against her. The verdict also states that she supported families of those unlawfully killed during 2022 nationwide protests.

I urge you to halt any plans to execute Pakhshan Azizi, quash her conviction and death sentence and release her immediately and unconditionally, as she is held solely for her peaceful humanitarian work and human rights activism. Pending her release, provide her with adequate healthcare and regular visits from family and lawyers; protect her from further torture and other ill-treatment; and order an independent, effective and impartial investigation into her torture allegations, bringing anyone suspected of criminal responsibility to justice in fair trials. Also, immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.

Yours sincerely,