A human rights organization said the families of the Sunni-Kurdish prisoners whom Iran executed earlier this month revealed that Iranian intelligence members had tortured their sons prior to executing them by hanging. The Defenders of Human Rights Center in Kurdistan quoted the families of the executed prisoners as saying that they've seen torture marks on their son's bodies in addition to broken legs and arms. On Aug. 2, members of the intelligence and masked members of the Iranian special security units raided the political prisoners' section in the Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, and led 36 Sunni Kurdish activists, who were sentenced to death at the time, to an unknown location. The next day, news of executing 25 of them was released. The Defenders of Human Rights Center quoted an activist in Sanandaj, capital of the Kurdistan province, as saying that Iranian intelligence members threatened to arrest the family members of the executed men if they speak to the media about the torture marks on their children's bodies. The activist added that security forces also warned them of holding funerals for those hanged. The Human Right Activists News Agency (HRANA) had reported that prior to executing the Sunni Kurdish activists, security officers handcuffed, blindfolded and physically assaulted them up and then held them in solitary confinement. The execution of the 25 Sunni activists, who included young preacher Shahram Ahmadi, was met with a wave of international condemnation against Tehran.
