Letter from Six Iranian Human Rights Lawyers to UN Secretary-General Regarding Death Penalty Executions in Iran

Six Iranian human rights lawyers have written a letter to the UN Secretary-General regarding the execution of death sentences in Iran.

In the past, a number of human rights lawyers and legal advocates protested the execution of death sentences, and in conjunction with the Isfahan House case, issued a statement to the judiciary warning them and calling for the cancellation of death sentences for three defendants in the Isfahan House case and other citizens condemned to death in nationwide protests.

Now, six Iranian human rights lawyers have expressed concern about the increasing execution of death sentences in Iran and have presented solutions regarding the improvement of Iran’s current situation and the execution of death sentences following nationwide protests.

This letter addressed to “António Guterres” states: “The increasing trend in the execution of death sentences is due to the ineffectiveness of current laws and regulations, and the international community can do nothing more than express condemnation and abhorrence of these inhumane acts to prevent them.”

While referencing the duty and commitment of UN Charter member states to human rights, they emphasized the importance of upholding human rights, particularly the protection of human life, which is the right of every individual, and preventing violations of this right on the global stage. They also cited proposals such as “declaring executions of political defendants prohibited and classifying such acts as crimes against humanity” as among their recommended solutions.

The signatories of this letter are Mehrangiz Kar, Shirin Ebadi, Qassem Sholeh-Saadi, Saeid Dehghan, Mohammad Oliyaei-Fard, and Hossein Raisi.