The UN report said that more than 300 people were executed in Iran in 2021. (Representative)
Geneva:
According to a report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, which was presented on Tuesday, Iran, which killed more than 100 people in the first three months of 2022, continues a worrying upward trend.
Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, UN Deputy Human Rights Chief Nada al-Nasif presented Guterres’ latest report on Iran, saying the number of executions in the country is rising.
“While 260 persons were executed in 2020, at least 310 persons were executed in 2021, including at least 14 women,” he said, adding that the trend had continued this year as well.
Between January 1 and March 20, she said, “at least 105 people were executed,” many of whom belonged to minority groups.
Nasheef said Guterres’ report expressed deep concern over the increase in the number of executions for lesser crimes, including drug-related offences.
“The death penalty continues to be imposed on the basis of allegations of ‘the most serious offences’ and on the basis of methods inconsistent with fair trial standards,” she told the council.
Nasheef said 52 people sentenced to death on drug charges were transferred to Shiraz prison for execution in March.
He also lamented the continued use of the death penalty for juvenile offenders in violation of international law.
– ‘Use of excessive force’ –
He said that between August 2021 and March 2022, at least two people who committed their alleged crimes as minors were hanged and more than 85 juveniles are on death row.
Nashif said, “In February 2022, in a positive development, the Supreme Court decided to quash the death sentence against a juvenile delinquent who was serving the death sentence for 18 years.”
The deputy rights chief also condemned other rights abuses in Iran, particularly in response to protests over the past year over significant social, political and economic challenges.
“Excessive use of force by the authorities constitutes the default response to the management of assemblies,” she said.
“In April and May 2022, at least 55 individuals – teachers, lawyers, labor rights defenders, artists and academics – were arrested during the protests, many of whom are facing national security charges.”
He said that till date, no steps have been taken to establish accountability for the violations committed during the nationwide protests in November 2019.
Nashif told the council that unnecessary deaths continued at the border due to excessive force by authorities against couriers, peaceful protesters and those detained.
“The scale of the custodial deaths … is a matter of grave concern,” she said.
Mehdi Ali Abadi, Iran’s Deputy Permanent Representative in Geneva, condemned the report, saying it was based on malicious mandates forced by Western countries to stigmatize Iran, and stressed that it was “by default”. biased”.
“It is appalling and shameful to reduce the high code of human rights into a petty political tool,” he told the council.
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