A repressive crackdown by the federal government rapidly adopted, together with mass arrests, shutting down web entry and violence towards protesters.
Various protesters have additionally been executed following what critics have decried as hasty sham trials within the nation’s Revolutionary Court.
But the executions are shrouded in secrecy, with the trials held behind closed doorways and sentences usually not introduced till lengthy afterwards.
So what will we really know in regards to the executions in Iran?
Is Iran executing protestors?
Yes. We know of 4 Iranians who’ve been executed after participating in protests.
The first, Mohsen Shekari, was hanged on December 8. Majdireza Rahanavard was put to loss of life 4 days later, and this 12 months there have been two extra identified executions of protesters: Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Mohammad Hosseini, each on January 7.
According to the United Nations, all 4 have been killed with out their households being notified.
On January 10, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) mentioned two extra folks – 19-year-old Mohammad Boroughani and 22-year-old Mohammad Ghobadiou – have been going through “imminent” executions, and {that a} additional 15 had been sentenced to loss of life.
More nonetheless are going through capital fees that would result in execution. The UNHCR places that quantity at “up to 100”, however the Center for Human Rights in Iran (Iran HR) says there are much more.
“This is a minimum as most families are under pressure to stay quiet, the real number is believed to be much higher.”
However, the previous high-ranking defence ministry official was an in depth ally of prime safety official Ali Shamkhani, and his hanging suggests an ongoing energy battle inside Iran’s regime because it tries to comprise the demonstrations.
It’s value noting that the variety of folks killed within the protests far exceeds the quantity executed. The whole protester loss of life toll, in keeping with Iran HR, is a minimum of 481, a determine which incorporates 64 kids and 35 ladies.
Nonprofit organisation Human Rights Activists in Iran places the quantity even greater at 525, plus 68 pro-regime forces who’ve been killed.
What are folks executed for in Iran?
Iran has quite a lot of capital crimes which can be extraordinarily imprecise which it has used to convict protesters.
Shekari, for instance, was accused of injuring a paramilitary officer through the demonstrations, however he was convicted of “moharebeh” – waging struggle towards god.
Other related crimes embrace “efsad-e fel arz” – corruption on Earth – and “baghi” – armed revolt.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk says such fees fall effectively in need of “the most serious crimes” as required by worldwide human rights legislation for the loss of life penalty.
He mentioned the executions are tantamount to state-sanctioned killing.
“The weaponisation of criminal procedures to punish people for exercising their basic rights – such as those participating in or organising demonstrations – amounts to state-sanctioned killing,” Türk mentioned on January 10.
Trials are sometimes held behind closed doorways and, in keeping with Amnesty International, Iran has well-documented patterns of conducting “grossly unfair” authorized proceedings.
“Defendants are systematically deprived of access to lawyers of their choice during the trial, are subjected to tortured and coerced confessions and then rushed to the gallows,” Tara Sepehri Far, an Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch, mentioned.
How many individuals has Iran executed in 2022?
The whole variety of executions carried out by Iran in 2022 is tough to search out, given it has solely simply ended.
If the second half of the 12 months contained an identical quantity, it might make for probably the most executions carried out by Iran in a single 12 months in round half a decade.
The nation repeatedly has one of many highest execution charges on this planet. According to information from Amnesty International, it has had the second-most confirmed executions behind China in each single 12 months from 2005-2021.
Are executions public in Iran?
Iran does conduct public executions, though there was a pause as a result of pandemic in 2020 and 2021. However, Amnesty International mentioned they resumed final 12 months.
“The Iranian authorities carried out one public execution in 2022, none in 2021, one in 2020, 13 in 2019 and 13 in 2018,” it mentioned.
“Official announcements indicate that in early 2022, at least two other people in Esfahan province and one person in Lorestan province were sentenced to be executed in public.”
However, not all executions are public and plenty of are as a substitute shrouded in secrecy and misinformation.
Activists say Iranian authorities have developed refined strategies of spreading disinformation on how, why and when executions can be carried out.
Civil rights activist Atena Daemi mentioned, for instance, that a number of Iranian news retailers had reported that activists on loss of life row had been launched, news that was refuted by the prisoners’ households.
– With CNN, Associated Press
