Ahmad Shaheed: 2015 Had Highest Execution Rate in Iran
Ahmad Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, announced in his eleventh report to the UN Human Rights Council that the Islamic Republic of Iran government had the highest execution rate in 2015 over the past decade.
According to the Hrana news agency, the organ of a collection of human rights activists in Iran, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran stated at the thirty-first session of the UN Human Rights Council: “Human rights organizations monitoring executions by the Islamic Republic of Iran government estimate the number in 2015 to be between 966 and 1054 executions, which was the highest rate in the past decade.”
Mr. Ahmad Shaheed in his latest report described the number of executions during the period from April to June 2015 as an “alarming execution rate” and in other words stated: “That is to say, on average four executions occurred per day during these three months.”
In Ahmad Shaheed’s recommendations, the Iranian government was asked to “abolish juvenile executions”; to set a legal deadline for the review of execution sentences that do not fall under “serious crimes” according to international standards, and to “ban stoning and public executions.”
Increased pressure and suppression of Baha’is, denial of freedom of association for civil activists, lack of access to fair trials for the accused, confession under torture, holding detainees in solitary cells, disregard for minority rights and others are among the issues emphasized in other sections of this 22-page report.
