UN Fact-Finding Mission Calls on Iran To Stop Executions
A UN investigation told Iran Wednesday to stop executing people sentenced to death for participating in anti-government protests.
Tehran has executed at least seven people since December 2022 for protesting, including three in May for their alleged involvement in killing three security force personnel.
Iran has experienced a wave of public unrest since September 2022, when an Iranian woman of Kurdish descent, Mahsa Amin, died in the custody of the country’s morality police.
Critics said police had beaten Amin to death, sparking demonstrations led by women, youth, and ethnic minorities.
Dissidents say the demonstrations were sparked by anger at Iran’s heavy-handed morality police and the clerical regime’s authoritarianism. The government says the protests are the work of Iran’s foreign enemies.
Thousands of demonstrators have been arrested by the Iranian authorities, and several dozen sentenced to death. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, say the trials of those suspects sentenced to death appear to have relied on unclear evidence, improper procedures, and forced confessions.
The UN Human Rights Council established a fact-finding mission for Iran in late 2022, appointing Bangladeshi lawyer Sara Hossain to chair the mission.
“We call on the Iranian authorities to stop the executions of individuals convicted and sentenced to death in connection with the protests and reiterate our requests to make available to us the judicial files, evidence, and judgments regarding each of these persons,” Hossain told the Human Rights Council.
