On February 21, Branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced Jamshid Sharmahd, 67, a German-Iranian citizen with United States residency, to death on the charge of “corruption on earth,” according to Mizan news agency. As of September 20, authorities executed 7 people, and 11 cases were overturned by the supreme court. Following grossly unfair trials where many of defendants did not have access to the lawyer of their choice, authorities issued 25 death sentences in connection to the protests. Judicial authorities drastically increased the use of vaguely defined national security charges that could carry the death penalty against protestors, including for allegedly injuring others and destroying public property. Among those executed, 238 were charged with “intentional murder,” and 390 with “drug-related offenses.” Furthermore, 10 individuals received death sentences for political or security-related charges or blasphemy, and 1 person was sentenced to death on espionage charges. This marks a substantial increase compared to the same period in 2022. Iranian law deems actions like “insulting the prophet,” “apostasy,” same-sex relations, adultery, alcohol consumption, and certain non-violent drug-related offenses to be punishable by death.īased on a report from the Iran Human Rights Organization, more than 700 executions took place in Iran during the period between January and November 2023. Iran remains one of the world’s top practitioners of the death penalty, applying it to individuals convicted of crimes committed as children and under vague national security charges occasionally, it is also used for non-violent offenses. In the majority of cases, security forces reportedly shot the victims using various types of bullets.Ĭases Human Rights Watch documented included security forces sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy, security forces pushing a high school student onto a lit gas range during the arrest and beating and whipping her during interrogation, and interrogators torturing a boy by shoving needles under his nails. Human rights groups are investigating the reported deaths of approximately 500 protestors, including at least 68 children. Security forces repressed widespread protests that erupted across the country in September 2022 with unlawful killing, torture, sexually assault, and enforced disappearances of protestors, including women and children, as part of a pattern of serious violations. Excessive and Lethal Force, Torture, and Sexual Assault President Ebrahim Raeesi is accused of overseeing the mass extrajudicial executions of political prisoners in 1988. Security agencies have also targeted family members of those killed during the protests. Authorities have expanded their efforts in enforcing abusive compulsory hijab laws. Security forces’ impunity is rampant, with no government investigations into their use of excessive and lethal force, torture, sexual assault, and other serious abuses. Scores of activists, including human rights defenders, members of ethnic and religious minorities, and dissidents, remain in prison on vague national security charges or are serving sentences after grossly unfair trials. Iranian authorities brutally cracked down on the “woman, life, freedom” protests sparked after the September 2022 death in morality police custody of Mahsa Jina Amini, an Iranian-Kurdish woman, killing hundreds and arresting thousands of protestors.
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