UPI, Tehran, May 7, 2010 — Iran must reveal how many Afghan nationals are on death row as reports that 45 Afghans were executed recently circulate, a human-rights group said.

Iranian officials have denied that number of executions and have refused to confirm how many Afghans are on death row, Amnesty International said Friday in a news release.

The organization said Iranian jails may be holding more than 4,000 Afghans, of which as many as 3,000 may be facing the death penalty, primarily for drug-related offenses.

’These numbers are truly disturbing,’ said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa deputy director. ’Iran must immediately put a stop to these executions and reveal how many Afghans it has executed.’

An estimated 1 million Afghan refugees live in Iran after fleeing more than three decades of conflict in Afghanistan, the organization said.

In Iran, trafficking more than specified amounts of illegal drugs has a mandatory death sentence, Amnesty International said.
While recognizing Iran faces serious drug-trafficking, issues, the organization said it believed Iran’s reliance on the use of the death penalty to combat drug-trafficking is misguided, ineffectual and an affront to human rights.

’Sadly, these numbers only illustrate the extent to which the Iranian authorities misguidedly resort to the death penalty. Our concerns are compounded by the serious shortcomings of the Iranian criminal justice system and discrimination against Afghans in Iran,’ Sahraoui said.