The international community annually celebrates October 10th as a world day against the death penalty. Human Rights organizations, activists, and the United Nations reiterate their calls on several governments to abolish this inhumane punishment.
Instead, the regime in Iran has increased death sentences, reaching over 586 cases in the past 12 months. “Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appointed Ebrahim Raisi as President and Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i as Judiciary chief, trying to strike fear into the society through mass death penalties,” observers say.
Notably, Raisi and Eje’i were directly involved in the extrajudicial executions of political prisoners. Raisi himself led thousands of Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) members and supporters to the gallows in Tehran during the 1988 massacre.
Details about Death Penalties
The Scale
In a detailed report about the ayatollahs’ heinous crimes from October 10, 2021, to October 10, 2022, the statistics center of the Iran Human Rights Society declared:
The confirmed number of executions is 586 cases, including 565 men and 21 women. Authorities have hanged at least 13 political prisoners, including one in public. The regime also executed eight juvenile offenders.
“More than 20% of those executed are Baloch compatriots,” The Iran HRS declared.
The Charges
The society also provided details about the charges, including:
The regime hanged 236 inmates due to drug-related charges; 285 for murder charges; 21 for rape cases; 15 for armed robbery and clashes with security agents; and 21 for political activities. Authorities also arbitrarily hanged several inmates. For instance, they hanged Hamid Qareh-Lor on September 1, who had exposed the regime’s efforts to execute his brother Ali extrajudicially on August 5.
Where Death Penalties Carried Out?
Damning details about the location of executions revealed that authorities hanged at least 86 inmates in Sistan & Baluchestan province.
Notably, this number doesn’t show the dimension of the regime’s atrocities against the Baluch minority in Iran. Indeed, many Baluch inmates were hanged in exile and banned from last visiting their family members.
The regime also hanged 83 inmates in Alborz province, 76 in Fars, 42 in Isfahan, 28 in Razavi Khorasan, 20 in Qom, 20 in Golestan, etc. The location of several executions is unknown.
Arbitrary Killings on Iran’s Streets
Furthermore, the State Security Forces, Revolutionary Guards, Ministry of Intelligence agents, and other armed forces arbitrarily gunned down dozens of citizens in the past year.
According to the MEK, the regime has murdered more than 400 protesters and bystanders during recent nationwide demonstrations. This number is excluded from the annual death penalty.
Authorities also targeted dozens of unarmed porters in the Kurdish area and fuel carriers in Sistan & Baluchestan, leading to many victims. Moreover, interrogators have killed several inmates under torture in the regime’s notorious dungeons.
Read More: Iran’s Narcotic Forces Open Fire and Kill Civilians in South-Eastern Iran
International Condemnations Against Death Penalties in Iran
In his report to the UN Human Rights Council in July 2022, Professor Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, wrote, “the extent of arbitrary deprivation of life in the Islamic Republic of Iran is of serious concern. On the one hand, the national legal framework justifies arbitrary deprivation of life in some areas, such as extensive grounds for the imposition of the death penalty and the use of force by security forces in ways that are incompatible with international law.
“In other areas, violations are a result of practices and acts contrary to the national legal framework itself, such as the use of torture, the lack of timely access to medical care in detention and failure to take appropriate measures to address the general conditions in society that may give rise to direct threats to life or prevent individuals from enjoying their right to life with dignity.”
Iranian Dissidents Call on Civilized World to Hold Tehran Accountable
For decades, Iranian dissidents have called on the international community to hold the regime to account for egregious crimes. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), emphasized the abolition of the death penalty in her ten-point plan for a free Iran.
“On the World Day Against the Death Penalty- Criminal executions are a sign of the mullahs’ desperation in the face of an explosive society, but they will not escape inevitable overthrow,” she insisted on her pledge for an Iran without the death penalty.
On the World Day Against the Death Penalty- Criminal executions are a sign of the mullahs’ desperation in the face of an explosive society; but they will not escape inevitable overthrow.#StopExecutionsInIranhttps://t.co/Kig1vW8r6y pic.twitter.com/WA3T34HJZA
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) October 10, 2022
