Fears are growing over the increased use of the death penalty by the Iranian authorities against those involved in the protests.
SourceAFP
© ATTA KENARE / AFP
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L’Iran executed more than 500 people in 2022, far exceeding the number of executions in 2021 and heightening concern over the increased use of the death penalty in the Islamic Republic, the NGO Iran Human Rights ( HRI). At least 504 people have been executed in Iran since the beginning of 2022, the NGO, which is seeking to confirm other cases of convicts who were allegedly executed by hanging, told AFP.
The IHR tally includes four people who, according to state media, were executed on Sunday after being convicted of “cooperation” with Israel, the Islamic Republic’s sworn enemy.
“Spreading Fear”
According to the NGO based in Norway, these people were executed just seven months after their arrest, “without a fair trial, behind closed doors before the Revolutionary Court”. “Their sentences lack any legal validity,” IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in a statement. “These executions are intended to spread fear in society and divert public attention from the failures of the Islamic Republic’s intelligence services,” he added.
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Another person recently executed is a woman convicted of murdering her stepfather, IHR said. NGOs have expressed concern about the number of women executed in Iran, often convicted of killing partners or relatives in domestic violence. The number of women executed this year is already the highest in five years, observes IHR. Iran now executes more convicts than any other country except China, reports Amnesty International, which counted 314 executions there in 2021.