Iranian inhumane hanging practices

Photo credit (unknow photographer)

By: Jabbar Fazeli, MD

Many are already aware that Iran carries many executions, some of which are done in secret making it difficult to get accurate figures; The regime's preferred method is hanging.

What most are not aware of is that most, if not all, of these executions are performed by amateurs, and don't conform to the most basic of hanging practices.  The favorite method of hanging in Iran is "suspension hanging" which involves slow suffocation; Condemned Iranians are elevated from the ground by a crane, their hands tied behind their backs and a noose around their neck. This method of execution is not used anywhere else in the world, in this case the regime can claim the honor of being the first and only.

In the best case scenario for Iranians about to die by execution, the hangmen use a "short drop hanging" where the condemned is dropped from atop a car as it drives away or an empty crate that gets kicked away, leaving the person dangling. Keep in mind that this method has not been used since the mid-1800s in the rest of the world.

Even in the middle ages and the Wild West, the condemned had the benefit of being dropped from a "standard distance" during hangings in order to ensure that their neck brake promptly to give them a fast and humane death. In the 19th century the "standard drop hanging" evolved into the more scientific "long drop hanging" to make it more humane. The latest method comes with weight charts that dictate the length of the rope being used to allow for individualized drop distance and guarantee the neck to brake.

{Long drop:

The long drop process, also known as the measured drop, was introduced in 1872 by William Marwood as a scientific advancement to the standard drop. Instead of everyone falling the same standard distance, the person's weight was used to determine how much slack would be provided in the rope so that the distance dropped would be enough to ensure that the neck was broken.(http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Hanging).}

The Islamic republic of Iran's hangings are done inhumanely and  haphazardly by armatures, with only one objective, to kill the person one way or another as they stand helpless with their hands tied behind their backs.

Assuming that the "enemies of god" (political prisoners), "separatists" (equal rights activists), drug dealers, gays, "confessed killers", etc.  all deserve to die, then the regime should at least give them a clean and humane death using the same standards applied in 1872, or the standards used by the Nazis.

Pulling a person up with a noose around their neck and waiting until they stop kicking is barbaric even by barbarian standards.

There used to be many videos on YouTube showing such hangings in Iran, but they all have been flagged for their brutality and they can't be shown anymore. The only videos left online showing this hanging practice are on militant or separatists websites and so I felt it would be inappropriate to provide such links as it might distract from the point being made here.

This piece is not about asking the regime to stop killing our people, it's simply about asking the Islamic republic to consider using the "long drop", more humane, hanging method to kill us, if it's not too much trouble that is.

For the regime hangmen's convenience here is a link to a US military document from 1947 that comes with a weight chart and rope lengths (skip to page 9) as well as procedures involved in a proper hanging.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/procedure_dec-1947.pdf

2013 hangings Update: http://www.uskowioniran.com/2013/01/hangings-for-everyone-iran.html?m=1