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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights HRH Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Friday on Friday deplored the execution of 20 people in Iran this week for purported terrorism-related offences, a statement from his office said.

Reports suggest that most of those executed were from a minority group – Sunnis from the Kurdish community. "In many of the cases, there were serious doubts about the fairness of the trials, respect for due process and other rights of the accused," the statement said.

"One of the men who was hanged yesterday, Shahram Ahmadi, had allegedly been beaten and coerced into signing a blank piece of paper on which his false confession was recorded. His family members were unable to visit him before he was executed, and were reportedly directed to the cemetery instead of Rajai Shahr Prison west of Tehran," the HR Commission's statement noted.

"The application of overly broad and vague criminal charges, coupled with a disdain for the rights of the accused to due process and a fair trial have in these cases led to a grave injustice, Prince Zeid said.

The High Commissioner also condemned the execution last month of 19-year-old Hassan Afshar, who was 17 when he was arrested and convicted of rape. "The execution of juvenile offenders is particularly abhorrent and I urge Iran to respect the strict prohibition under international human rights law against this practice," he said.