Speaking at a session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called for the immediate suspension of executions in Iran and warned that following the recent protests, a growing number of Iranians are at risk of execution.
Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said on Friday, February 27, that “I am horrified by reports that at least eight people, including two children, have been sentenced to death in connection with the protests.”
Türk added that it appears 30 others may also be at risk of receiving similar death sentences.
According to information compiled by Amnesty International, at least 30 people are at risk of the death penalty in connection with the protests that took place in January.
Human Rights Watch Warns About Tsunami Of Arrests And Enforced Disappearances In Iran
Eight of these individuals, who were sentenced to death in February within just weeks of their arrest, are: 18-year-old Saleh Mohammadi, 19-year-old Mohammad Amin Biglari, Ali Fahim, Abolfazl Salehi Siavoshani, Amirhossein Hatami, Shahin Vahedparast Kolour, Shahab Zahedi, and Yaser Rajaeifar.
At least 22 others, including two 17-year-old teenagers, are currently undergoing legal proceedings or awaiting trial.
Amnesty International stated that these individuals have faced confessions extracted under torture and other serious violations of fair trial rights, including being denied access to legal counsel during the investigation phase and the rejection of independent lawyers chosen by their families.
The human rights organization called for the immediate halt of executions and the annulment of the related convictions.
Many other detainees from the January protests are facing charges that could result in heavy sentences, including the death penalty, and reports indicate that arrests related to these cases are still continuing in various parts of the country.
According to human rights reports, tens of thousands of people have been arrested in recent weeks, and some independent sources estimate the actual number of summonses and arrests to be close to 100,000 or even higher.
A significant portion of these individuals are teenagers, young people, and citizens under the age of 30—a generation that often has no prior experience dealing with security interrogations or expedited court proceedings.
This trend has heightened concerns about the widespread use of harsh judicial sentences as a tool to suppress popular protests, and human rights bodies have once again warned about violations of fair trial rights and the danger of carrying out death sentences against protesters.
