Iran’s authorities executed 582 people by hanging in 2022, according to a report published by the non-governmental organizations Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), which have highlighted that the figure is the highest since 2015 and claimed that the Iranian government’s goal is to »instill fear in order to cling to power.»
The NGOs have indicated in the preface of the report that »due to a very difficult context, lack of transparency and the obvious risks and constraints faced by activists in Iran, the report does not give a complete picture about the use of the death penalty in Iran.»
»There are reports of executions that are not included in this report due to insufficient details or the inability to confirm cases through two different sources,» they explained, before stressing that it also does not include the 537 protesters killed during the protests following the death of Mahsa Amini and »suspicious deaths in custody» or »those killed by torture.»
In this regard, they recalled that to date four people have been executed for their role in the protests, which erupted in September following the death in custody of Amini, a young Kurdish-Iranian woman arrested in the capital, Tehran, for allegedly wearing the veil incorrectly.
More than 100 protesters face charges carrying the death penalty and at least 20 have been sentenced to death in first-instance trials,» they said, before noting that »strong international criticism» has »spared» some of those convicted for now.
However, they explained that »the authorities intensified the execution of prisoners on non-political charges, with at least 127 executed in November December 2022». These include 67 sentenced for drug offenses and 53 on murder charges.
IHR Director Mahmud Amiri-Moqadam said that »international reactions to the death sentences against protesters made it difficult for the Islamic Republic to carry out the executions. To compensate and spread fear among the people, the authorities intensified executions on non-political charges,» he lamented.
»These are the low-cost victims of the Islamic Republic’s execution machine. To stop this machine, the international community and civil society inside and outside Iran must show the same reaction to each and every execution,» he stressed.
In this line, the aforementioned NGOs have detailed that more than half of those executed since the beginning of the protests and 236 of the total — representing 44 percent — had been convicted of drug offenses, which is more than twice as many as in 2021 and ten times more than in 2020.
The report further notes that only 71 of the executions (12 percent) were announced by official sources, down from 16.5 percent in 2021 and the average of 33 percent between 2018 and 2020, while the 288 ajusticiamientos for murder is the highest figure in more than 15 years.
On the other hand, they have indicated that 23 people were executed on rape charges, while 15 were executed on security-related charges, including two participants in the protests. In addition, two people, including one convicted of acts during the demonstrations, were hanged in public spaces.
EXECUTIONS OF MINORITY MEMBERS The NGOs further stated that »executions of members of ethnic minorities also continued to rise in 2022» and specified that »data collected shows that Baloch prisoners account for 30 percent of all those executed in the country, despite representing only two to six percent of Iran’s population».
»According to the report, 130 people were executed in the ethnic provinces of West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan, Sistan and Balochistan and Kurdistan, which is more than double the figure in 2021 (62) and in 2020 (60),» they said, before adding that »over the past ten years, most of the prisoners executed on security-related charges were Arabs, Baloch and Kurds.»
»Ethnic minorities are among the socio-economically marginalized groups in Iran. The death penalty is part of the systematic discrimination and extensive repression to which ethnic minorities are subjected in Iran,» they denounced.
On the other hand, they pointed out that in 2022, 288 people were executed for murder and indicated that among them were three minors. Most of those executed on murder charges were not accused of premeditated murder,» said Amiri-Moqadam.
A change in legislation to distinguish between premeditated murder and manslaughter could significantly limit the use of the death penalty in Iran, but as with the Anti-Drug Law, changes need sustained international pressure,» argued the IHR director.
Finally, the report notes that »coerced confessions obtained under torture, denial of access to lawyers, due process and fair trials, and a judicial apparatus that functions as a repressive organ of government without separation of powers and judicial independence are key obstacles to the abolition of the death penalty in Iran.
More than 44 years after its establishment, the revolutionary courts are still responsible for a large number of death sentences handed down in Iran,» say the NGOs, who also note that »at the same time, calls for accountability and justice have increased in Iran and have gained the support of the international community».
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
