Amnesty International issued a statement calling on the international community to urgently demand that Iranian authorities halt the execution of Pakhshan Azizi.
The international human rights organization emphasized in its statement on Thursday, February 6, that Pakhshan Azizi was “arbitrarily” arrested by Iranian authorities due to her “humanitarian activities” and sentenced to death “following a grossly unfair trial.”
Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: “Pakhshan Azizi was detained solely in relation to her peaceful human rights and humanitarian activities, including providing humanitarian support to women and children in northeast Syria who were displaced following attacks by the Islamic State armed group. Instead of facing imminent execution she should be immediately and unconditionally released.”
According to Ms. Eltahawy, “The Supreme Court’s decision to reject her request for judicial review highlights yet again how the Iranian authorities remain adamantly resolved to use death penalty as a tool of political repression to instil fear among the population.”
UN Experts Challenge Death Sentence of Iranian Political Prisoner Pakhshan Azizi
She emphasized that “The death penalty is abhorrent in all circumstances”, referring to Ms. Azizi’s statements about “torture and other ill-treatment, including gender-based violence”, and described the issuance of the death sentence for this civil activist “after a grossly unfair trial before a Revolutionary Court” as “arbitrary,” which “illustrates yet again the Iranian authorities’ shameless disregard for the right to life.”
Eltahawy emphasized that “Governments worldwide must speak out loudly now against this injustice to halt Pakhshan Azizi’s execution before it is too late.”
Amir Raeesian, the lawyer for Pakhshan Azizi, stated on Thursday that Iran’s Supreme Court has rejected his client’s request for a retrial and that the stay of execution order has been revoked, warning that “her execution could happen at any moment.”
On July 23, 2024, Pakhshan Azizi was sentenced to death and four years in prison by Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, on charges of “armed rebellion through membership in opposition groups.” She had been arrested by Iranian intelligence forces in Tehran in the summer of 2023.
A group of United Nations experts expressed deep concern on January 14, 2025, over the Iranian regime’s Supreme Court upholding Azizi’s death sentence.
On its website, the UN Human Rights Council described the charges against Pakhshan Azizi as not meeting the threshold for “the most serious crimes” required under international law to justify a death sentence and stressed that her execution would constitute a serious violation of international human rights law.
The upholding of the death sentence for Azizi has been met with widespread domestic and international criticism.
In response, Kurdish cities in Iran witnessed a widespread strike by shopkeepers and businesses on January 21, protesting the death sentences of Pakhshan Azizi and another civil activist, Varisheh Moradi.
