The human rights group of Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi warned in its annual report on Sunday against a "systematic violation" of human rights in Iran.

The Defenders of Human Rights Centre criticized the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's treatment of dissidents, journalists, student activists, labour unionists and women as well as an increased use of the death penalty.

The group said it "deplores and denounces the systematic violation of human rights in Iran.

"The lack of a real and effective observance of human rights deepens the gap between the people and the government and breaks the pillars of peace, stability and development in the country," it warned.

"In the year 1386 alternative thinkers and those who are not in line with the ruling policies, regardless of their leanings, faced a lot of intimidation and sentences," the group said, referring to the Iranian year to March 2008.

The group, formed by five prominent lawyers and headed by the 2003 Nobel peace prize winner Ebadi, is one of most vocal critics of the human rights situation in Iran.

"Freedom of expression and freedom of circulating information have further declined" since Ahmadinejad came to office in August 2005, the report said.

"Censorship and indirect pressure has reached the highest level," it said, adding that 32 media workers were sentenced to jail, lashes and fines, and that 17 publications as well as eight news websites were shut down.

"Despite vast criticism against issuing and carrying out executions, they increased in the past year," it said, adding that at least nine minors were executed.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International reported that in 2007 Iran made more use of the death penalty than any other country apart from China, executing 317 people during the year.

Tehran insists the death penalty it is an effective deterrent that is carried out only after an exhaustive judicial process.