Iran: More demonstrators sentenced to death
More death sentences have been handed down this month in Iran, human rights groups report. Demonstrators are once again among those facing execution.
As the Oslo-based organization Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) reports, last week at least eight death sentences were handed down against individuals who had been charged in connection with the “Woman, Life, Freedom” demonstrations or were being held as political prisoners.
In fall 2022 protests against the Iranian government broke out across the country in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman. Amini was detained by the morality police for allegedly wearing an “improper” hijab and died soon after while in police custody. In the months that followed the authorities employed brutal measures in their response to the demonstrations. Tens of thousands were arrested.
Demonstrators sentenced to death
According to IHRNGO and Human Rights Watch (HRW), on November 13 six demonstrators were sentenced to death. They are alleged to have injured a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during a protest in October 2022, leading to his death. A total of 14 people were charged in connection with the incident.
Before the sentence was handed down, the confessions, obtained by torture, of at least four of the defendants were reportedly broadcast on Iranian television. Their executions would not be the first that Iran has carried out in connection with the Woman, Life, Freedom protests. The sentences of the six condemned men are still subject to appeal, HRW reports.
Both HRW and IHRNGO also report that Warisha Moradi has been sentenced to death by a revolutionary court in Tehran for allegedly engaging in “armed rebellion against the state.” The Kurdish activist is a member of the Free Women’s Society of Eastern Kurdistan and has advocated for women’s rights. During the trial Moradi’s lawyer was not allowed to present a defense, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) reports.
Moradi was arrested in August 2023 and later transferred to the notorious Evin prison. There she spent several months in solitary confinement and was also reportedly tortured. The authorities have not allowed her family to visit since May.
Nahid Naghshbandi of HRW said in a statement: “Iranian authorities use the death penalty as a tool of fear, particularly targeting ethnic minorities and political dissidents after unfair trials. This brutal tactic aims to suppress any opposition to an autocratic government through intimidation.”
According to the rights groups, death sentences were also handed down against members of the Kurd and Baluch minorities in recent weeks. In August the UN Fact-Finding Mission reported that since 2022 ethnic and religious minorities in Iran had been “disproportionately impacted” by the government’s crackdown against protesters – “in particular Kurd and Baluch minorities.”
Warning of new wave of executions
IHRNGO believes that the latest wave of death sentences should be seen as a warning that new executions are imminent. The government’s aim is to instill fear in Iranian society, the group writes. IHRNGO also fears that more executions could be carried out in Iran while international attention is diverted elsewhere amidst other domestic and international crises.
IHRNGO director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in a statement: “The relatively low political cost of executing hundreds of ordinary crime prisoners in the past months has prompted the authorities to intensify the execution of protesters and political prisoners.” He added: “The Islamic Republic, which is going through the most critical period of its rule, can only survive by resorting to repression and executions.” Amiry-Moghaddam calls for “a stronger response from the international community” to put a stop to the state’s “execution machine.”
Human rights organizations have long criticized the Iranian government’s practice of systematically executing people who are sentenced in unfair trials.
The UN’s Fact-Finding Mission reported in September that women who had engaged in activism in Iran were increasingly being sentenced to death for alleged national security offenses. In the last two years, the death penalty has been used “to terrorize and deter Iranians from protesting and expressing themselves freely.”
According to statistics from the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, the government has already carried out 748 death sentences in 2024 – in August 29 people were killed in a single day. The organization, in collaboration with Amnesty International, publishes an annual report on executions in Iran. (js)