Iran Human Rights Organization: At Least 46 People Were Executed in Iran in January 2022
Iran Human Rights Organization states that in January of the current year alone, at least 46 people, including 17 prisoners with charges related to “drug trafficking,” were executed in the prisons of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This non-governmental organization, which has been a member of the global coalition “Against the Death Penalty” since 2009, condemned the implementation of execution sentences by the Islamic Republic in its recent report and called for the attention of the international community to the deteriorating human rights situation and the increase in executions in Iran.
Based on this report, which was released on Thursday, February 4, a comparison of executions in January 2022 (December 31 to February 4) with a similar period in at least the past four years shows that the number of executions has increased “significantly.”
This is while domestic Iranian media and official sources over the past weeks had “announced only six executions,” with 40 other prisoners “independently” confirmed by the Iran Human Rights Organization.
According to the organization’s report, of the 46 executed prisoners, 17 were sentenced to execution on charges related to “drug trafficking,” and 21 prisoners were also sentenced to “retaliatory execution” on charges of “premeditated murder.” Additionally, 15 of those executed in January were Baloch and from Sistan and Baluchestan.
This statistic is announced at a time when in a similar period in 2021, 27 executions were recorded, in 2020, 33 executions, and in 2019, 36 executions were recorded in the prisons of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
According to human rights defenders, these sentences are mostly issued and implemented following “unjust” legal proceedings. For example, according to international law, access to defense counsel from the beginning of detention is the right of all defendants, but the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran disregards this law.
The Iran Human Rights Organization has reminded that during the 2015 nuclear negotiations, “execution statistics increased sharply in the shadow of international neglect of human rights violations in Iran.”
In this regard, Mahmoud Amiri-Moghaddam, founder of the Iran Human Rights Organization, stating that “the issue of executions should be at the forefront of any negotiations between the international community and the Islamic Republic,” added: “The international community should not close its eyes to the wave of executions in Iran while simultaneously conducting JCPOA revival negotiations.”
Previously, the United Nations General Assembly on December 16 of the current year approved a resolution condemning the human rights situation in Iran. Among the issues expressed concern about in this resolution was the continued implementation of the death penalty in the Islamic Republic of Iran for individuals below the legal age. The approvers of this resolution called on the authorities of the Islamic Republic to stop the execution of children.
Source: Radio Farda
