UN calls Iran protester executions ‘state-sanctioned killing’
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran is weaponizing the death penalty to suppress dissent and strike fear into its population, and the questionable trials involved in the execution of protesters amount to state-sanctioned killing, the United Nations said Tuesday.
“The weaponization of criminal procedures to punish people for exercising their basic rights - such as those participating in or organizing demonstrations - amounts to state sanctioned killing,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said.
Iran has executed four individuals in connection with antigovernment protests this month, largely following questionable trials without any due process and has also handed death sentences to 17 other people, according to the UN.
Iran has been rocked by nearly four months of nationwide antigovernment protests that stemmed from the death of young Kurdish woman Zhina (Mahsa) Amini at the hands of Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code.
The UN human rights office said that it has received information about the imminent executions of two more individuals - Mohammed Boroughani, 19, and Mohammed Ghobadiou, 22.
“I reiterate once more my call to the Government of Iran to respect the lives and voices of its people, to impose an immediate moratorium on the death penalty and to halt all executions,” the UN rights chief said, calling on Tehran to embark on reforms “for the respect and protection” of the population’s rights.
On Saturday, Iran hanged Mohammed Mehdi Karami and Mohammed Hosseini on charges of killing a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Basij paramilitary force during antigovernment protests in Karaj, near Tehran.
As fierce international backlash mounted oh Tehran and two days following the executions, the Islamic republic handed death sentences to Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi, and Saeed Yaghoubi for “moharabeh,” or “waging war against God,” after they were similarly found gilty of killing a Basij member in the central Isfahan province.
“The weaponization of criminal procedures to punish people for exercising their basic rights - such as those participating in or organizing demonstrations - amounts to state sanctioned killing,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said.
Iran has executed four individuals in connection with antigovernment protests this month, largely following questionable trials without any due process and has also handed death sentences to 17 other people, according to the UN.
Iran has been rocked by nearly four months of nationwide antigovernment protests that stemmed from the death of young Kurdish woman Zhina (Mahsa) Amini at the hands of Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code.
The UN human rights office said that it has received information about the imminent executions of two more individuals - Mohammed Boroughani, 19, and Mohammed Ghobadiou, 22.
“I reiterate once more my call to the Government of Iran to respect the lives and voices of its people, to impose an immediate moratorium on the death penalty and to halt all executions,” the UN rights chief said, calling on Tehran to embark on reforms “for the respect and protection” of the population’s rights.
On Saturday, Iran hanged Mohammed Mehdi Karami and Mohammed Hosseini on charges of killing a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Basij paramilitary force during antigovernment protests in Karaj, near Tehran.
As fierce international backlash mounted oh Tehran and two days following the executions, the Islamic republic handed death sentences to Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi, and Saeed Yaghoubi for “moharabeh,” or “waging war against God,” after they were similarly found gilty of killing a Basij member in the central Isfahan province.