The Norwegian NGO Human Rights of Iran (IHR) said on Monday (5) that Iran has executed more than 500 people since the beginning of 2022, a number that is much higher than all of last year.
According to the NGO, at least 504 people were executed this year. The organization is in the process of verifying additional cases of the alleged hangmen.
This number raises growing concerns over Iranian authorities’ use of the death penalty against people who participated in anti-government protests in Iran in September.
According to the official press, the IHR figures include four people executed on Sunday (4), accused of belonging to the Israeli Intelligence agency.
The human rights group said these people were executed at Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj, also known as Gohardast, near Tehran, after seven months in detention.
“These individuals were sentenced to death behind the closed doors of the Revolutionary Court without due process or fair trial,” IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in a statement. Said.
“His punishments have no legal validity,” Amiry-Moghaddam said, adding that these executions “are aimed at creating public fear and diverting public attention from the Islamic Republic’s intelligence failures.”
One of those hanged recently is a woman who was executed last Saturday in Dastgerd, central Iran, for the murder of her father-in-law, the UST reported.
Human rights groups say they are concerned about the number of women executed in Iran accused of killing their spouses or family members, often in abusive relationships.
The UST said the number of people executed in 2022 was the highest in the last five years. According to these data, at least 333 people were executed in 2021, a 25% increase from 267 people in 2020.
Amnesty International estimated the number of executions in Iran at 314 last year, which is a higher total than any other country in the world, although China for which data are not available may reach the thousands.
The IHR says six people were sentenced to death because of the protests in Iran “in tough trials, without access to their lawyers and without the necessary procedural safeguards”.
The NGO says 26 people, three of whom are minors, face charges that could be sentenced to hanging.
Authorities have described the defendants as “agitators” who attacked security forces and public buildings, but activists debate the circumstances of the cases.
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© Agence France-Presse
source: Noticias
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.