A UN team of experts on Monday (2/9) voiced concern over a spike in executions in Iran last month, which pushed the total number of people executed in the country so far this year to more than 400.
At least 81 people were executed in Iran in August alone, far more than the 45 people reported to have been executed in July, a group of 11 independent UN human rights experts said in a statement.
The number of executions reported since the start of 2024 has risen above 400, including 15 women, they said.
The team of experts, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but not speaking on behalf of the UN, said it was “deeply concerned by the sharp increase in executions in Iran.”
Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have previously said that Iran executes more people per year than any other country except China.
UN experts, including the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran and extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, said 41 executions last month were carried out of people convicted of drug offences.
“The death penalty for drug cases violates international standards,” they stressed.
The team of experts lamented the substantial increase in executions for drug offenses in Iran since 2021, with more than 400 drug-related executions carried out last year alone.
They added that they had also received reports indicating that death penalty trials in Iran often do not meet due process guarantees.
The team of experts referred to the case of Reza Rasaei, an ethnic Kurdish protester, who was executed on August 6 for the killing of a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps at an event where he held up a sign that read: “Women, Life, Freedom.”
Reza Rasaei's conviction was based on a confession reportedly obtained through torture. The sentence was upheld despite the co-defendants recanting testimony implicating Reza in the killing and forensic evidence disproving his involvement.
“Reports of serious violations of fair trial rights and due process of law mean that the death penalty currently practiced in the Islamic Republic of Iran constitutes an unlawful execution,” the team of experts added, saying they were “deeply concerned that innocent people have been executed” and calling for a halt to executions. (us/us)
