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The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, expressed concern on Friday, August 19, about Iran’s execution process, saying: Reports indicate that the authorities of the Islamic Republic have executed at least 29 people across Iran.
Mr. Turk added: “It is very worrying that these people were executed in a short period of time,” noting that 38 people were also executed in July, according to the UN website.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights added that at least 345 executions had been reported this year, 15 of them women.
The report said Volker Türk noted that most of those executed were convicted of drug-related crimes or murder, and that almost half of the executions since the beginning of 2024 were for drug-related crimes.
Mr. Turk also said the United Nations has many concerns that the rules and standards of procedure and fair trial were not followed in many of these cases, and that several executions were carried out without the knowledge of the prisoners’ families or the prisoners’ legal counsel.
In this case, we can mention the execution of Reza Rasaei, a 34-year-old protester from Sahne, Kermanshah province, and a follower of the Yarsan religion.
The judicial authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran executed Reza Rasaei on the morning of Tuesday, August 16, and buried his body secretly without the knowledge of his family and without a final visit.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights added: “Minorities, including Kurds, Ahwazi Arabs and Baloch, continue to be disproportionately involved in these executions.”
He stressed: Now is the time for Iran to join the growing consensus around the world to abolish the death penalty.
Human rights groups are calling on the international community to take decisive action after the latest statistics showed an unprecedented increase in executions since Masoud Mezikian was elected to succeed Ibrahim Raisi.
“Executions in the Islamic Republic are state murder, spreading in defiance of the right to life, the rule of law and accountability to the international community,” said Hadi Qami, executive director of the Iran Campaign for Human Rights.
He added: “These executions will accelerate if all relevant UN bodies and governments around the world correct the Islamic Republic authorities’ misconception that their heinous murders can go on without consequence.”
Meanwhile, the Iranian Human Rights Activists Organization News Agency announced on Thursday, August 18 that the 39th Branch of the Supreme Court confirmed the death sentences of six political prisoners accused of “treason” in Mashhad’s Wakil Abad Prison.
Currently, a number of other political prisoners including Sharifa Mohammadi, Pahahan Aziz and Mujahid Kolkur have also been sentenced to death.
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