Iranian Human Rights Organization: At least 46 people were executed in Iran in January 2022 alone
The Iranian Human Rights Organization says that in January of this year alone, at least 46 people, including 17 prisoners on "drug-related" charges, were executed in prisons in 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 Islamic Republic's executions in its latest report and called on the international community to pay attention to the deteriorating human rights situation and the increase in executions in Iran.
According to the report, which was published on Thursday, February 14, a comparison of executions in January 2022 (January 11 to February 11) with the same period in at least the past four years shows that the number of executions has increased "significantly."
This is despite the fact that Iranian media and official sources have "announced only six executions" in recent weeks, while 40 other prisoners have been "independently" confirmed by the Iranian Human Rights Organization.
According to the organization, out of the 46 prisoners executed, 17 were sentenced to death on charges related to "drugs" and 21 prisoners were sentenced to self-retribution on charges of "premeditated murder." Also, 15 of those executed in January were Baluch and from Sistan and Baluchestan.
This statistic is being announced while 27 executions were recorded in the prisons of the Islamic Republic of Iran during the same period in 2021, 33 in 2020, and 36 in 2019.
According to human rights defenders, these sentences are often issued and enforced following “unfair” trials. For example, according to international law, access to a defense attorney is a right for all defendants from the moment of arrest, but the Islamic Republic of Iran’s judiciary violates this law.
The Iranian Human Rights Organization has noted that during the 2015 nuclear negotiations, "the number of executions increased sharply due to the lack of international attention to human rights violations in Iran."
In this context, Mahmoud Amiri-Moghaddam, founder of the Iranian Human Rights Organization, stated that "the issue of executions should be at the forefront of any negotiations between the international community and the Islamic Republic," adding: "The international community should not close its eyes to the wave of executions in Iran while simultaneously negotiating the revival of the JCPOA."
Earlier, on December 15, 2019, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the human rights situation in Iran. Among the issues of concern expressed in the resolution is the continued use of the death penalty in the Islamic Republic of Iran for minors. The adopters of the resolution called on the authorities of the Islamic Republic to stop the use of the death penalty against children.
Source: Radio Farda
