Photo: A protester holds a sign in French saying “Stop executions in Iran” during a rally in support of the Iranian people in Paris, January 16, 2023.
UN experts have expressed alarm over a spike in executions in Iran in August, bringing the total number of executions in the country since the start of the year to more than 400.
Iran carried out 81 executions in August alone, up significantly from the 45 reported in July, a group of 11 independent UN experts said in a statement, Agence France-Presse reported.
They said the country had executed more than 400 people since the start of 2024, including 15 women. “We are deeply concerned by the sharp increase in executions,” the experts said.
The experts were appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, but they cannot speak on behalf of the United Nations itself.
Iran carries out the highest number of executions per year, second only to China, according to rights groups including Amnesty International.
UN experts, including the special rapporteurs on human rights in Iran and on extrajudicial or arbitrary executions, said 41 of those executed in August were convicted of drug-related offences.
“Executions for drug-related offences violate international standards,” they said.
The experts also noted that they had received reports that trials leading to death sentences often failed to meet due process guarantees.
They pointed to the case of a Kurdish protester named Reza Rasai, who was executed on August 6 for the murder of a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
His conviction was based on a confession that was reportedly extracted under torture, despite the fact that his co-defendants had retracted their statements incriminating him in the murder.
"Reports of serious violations of fair trial and due process rights mean that the death penalty as currently practiced in the Islamic Republic of Iran amounts to an unlawful execution," they said.
The experts said they were “extremely concerned that innocent people may have been executed” and called for an end to the executions.
Prepared by: Sergei Daga