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The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has expressed his concern about Iran’s ongoing executions, which disproportionately target minorities, and has called on the Iranian regime to abolish the death penalty.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk issued a press briefing on Friday expressing deep concern over the recent execution of 29 individuals by Iranian authorities within just two days, and the execution of 345 people, among them 15 women, this year.
The rising number of executions in Iran has alarmed UN officials. The United Nations website, citing the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk reported “an alarmingly high number of executions in […] a short period of time.” He further noted, “We have also verified that 38 people were executed in July. This brings the reported number of executions to at least 345 this year, among them 15 women.”
The Norway-based Iranian Human Rights Organisation reported that 29 men, including two Afghans and one from the Baloch ethnic minority, were executed in Kizil Hesar Prison in Karaj and the central prison of the same city. Based on data collected, this organisation revealed that at least 22 women have been executed in recent years. Of these, 15 were sentenced to Qesas (retribution in kind) for murder, three for drug-related offences, and one for alleged espionage for Israel. The identities of eight of these women remain unknown, and the charges against three are unspecified.
In another part of his address, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated, “Minorities, including Kurds, Ahwazi Arabs and Baluch continue to be disproportionately affected by these executions. It is time for Iran to join the growing consensus worldwide… to ultimately abolish the death penalty.”
The UN official also highlighted concerns within the organisation about the lack of adherence to legal standards and fair trial procedures in many cases. He noted that “Several executions were carried out with neither the prisoner’s family nor legal counsel being informed.” This was the also case for Reza Rasai, previously reported in Medya News.
According to statistics published by human rights organisations, at least 767 individuals, including 21 women and two juvenile offenders, were executed in 2023 alone. A staggering 85% of all executions recorded in the 2023 annual report were not officially announced by the Islamic Republic’s authorities and are classified as secret executions.
At least 87 people have been executed in Iran’s prisons since the election of Masoud Pezeshkian as the new president in July. The Iranian government’s ongoing human rights violations against its citizens, including the mistreatment of female prisoners, continue unabated.
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This news was originally published by Medyanews.
Iran executes 29 prisoners in single day, human rights activists say
