Iran executes extra individuals a yr than every other nation besides China, in response to human rights teams
Paris:
Iran executed seven males in two prisons exterior Tehran on medication and rape fees Wednesday, a rights group stated, accelerating what activists describe as a dangling spree over the previous two weeks.
The United Nations had warned on Tuesday of a “frighteningly” excessive variety of executions within the nation after a uncommon execution on Monday of two males on blasphemy fees.
Three males had been executed on drug-related fees in Ghezal Hesar jail within the metropolis of Karaj exterior Tehran, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGO stated.
It added that 4 different males had been hanged on rape fees in Rajai Shahr jail, additionally in Karaj.
The judiciary’s Mizan On-line web site confirmed the three executions on drug fees, saying the convicts had been members of a cocaine distribution cartel. There was no official affirmation thus far of the 4 executions on rape fees.
IHR stated the most recent hangings imply Iran has seen not less than 64 executions within the final 12 days alone.
“The killing machine of the federal government is accelerating — its objective is to intimidate the individuals and its victims are the weakest individuals in society,” stated IHR director Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam.
IHR posted footage which it stated confirmed households of the three males executed on drug fees protesting exterior Ghezel Hesar jail in a last-ditch bid to cease the hangings.
Gunfire was audible within the video and it stated police used tear fuel and batons to disperse the protest. One member of the family was hospitalised with extreme accidents after being overwhelmed, it added.
‘Silence dissent’
Campaigners accuse Iran of utilizing the loss of life penalty as a method to intimidate the general public following weeks of protests that erupted in September final yr following the loss of life in custody of Mahsa Amini after she was arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s gown guidelines for girls.
No less than 582 individuals had been executed in Iran final yr, the best variety of executions within the nation since 2015 and properly above the 333 recorded in 2021, IHR and Paris-based Collectively Towards the Demise Penalty (ECPM) stated in a joint report in April.
However the tempo of executions has been much more intense in 2023, with IHR now counting not less than 218 executions thus far this yr.
On Tuesday, UN human rights chief Volker Turk cautioned that Iran is on an “abominable” monitor document this yr with a median of greater than 10 individuals being put to loss of life every week.
Iran executed two individuals on Monday in a uncommon case of conviction for desecrating the Koran and insulting the Prophet Mohammad, prompting US condemnation and an outcry from human rights teams.
Mizan On-line stated the three executed on medication fees had been “members of the Panjak gang, the most important cocaine distribution cartel, which was one of many important drug cartels within the nation”.
The New York-based Middle for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) stated the supreme court docket had confirmed loss of life sentences towards three males over the alleged killing of a Basij militiaman throughout protests within the metropolis of Isfahan in November.
It described the executions as a “killing spree” to “silence dissent”.
Rights teams have warned that members of ethnic minorities — particularly the Baluch minority, who in contrast to most Iranian are largely Sunni Muslim — have been disproportionately focused by the present wave of executions.
Iran executes extra individuals a yr than every other nation besides China, in response to human rights teams together with Amnesty Worldwide.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)