The number of publicly announced executions thus rises to 135 for the year 1996. 57 persons (or 42%) have been murdered recently in less than three months and this shows a continuous escalation of repression and terror by the mullahs' regime. The actual figure of executions in Iran is actually much higher, as most of them take place in secret. This figure does not account for the victims killed in the anti-government uprisings recently in the Kermanshah province.
The unprecedented surge in such suppressive measures, as well as the increasing assassinations of opponents abroad, more than any thing else indicate the regime's fear of the Iranian people's overwhelming support for the Iranian Resistance. They further show that the regime's officials are gravely concerned about the repetition of incidents similar to what happened in Kermanshah. They are thus trying in vain to confront the growing resistance and upheavals of the people.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran urges the international community to adopt a decisive policy against the mullahs' religious, terrorist dictatorship which has trampled upon its international commitments and the most basic principles of human rights. The NCR calls for an international arms and oil boycott of the regime.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran - Paris
December 24, 1996
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