Two young men were executed in Iran on Saturday for taking part in demonstrations against the system. According to the UN Human Rights Office, a woman must now be executed.
She is one of 17 people sentenced to death for participating in protests.
Confessions obtained through torture
Two executions are imminent, Mohammad Al Nsour, head of the Middle East and North Africa office, said in Geneva on Tuesday. The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, appealed to the government in Tehran to suspend enforcement.
So far, four participants in demonstrations have been executed. Most recently, on January 7, two young men were accused of murdering a security guard.
According to Türk, the charges against the suspect are always vague and the minimum guarantees for a fair trial are not respected. According to the Bureau, alleged confessions are coerced through torture. The executions would be “state-sanctioned killings,” Türk said.
The authorities used the procedures to punish people who exercised their fundamental rights. They wanted to instill fear and terror to quell dissent. “This is against international human rights standards,” says Türk. Austria’s high commissioner has offered to travel to Tehran to speak with authorities, his office said.
First of all, there will be a meeting in Geneva soon. Such meetings were part of the routine work of the High Commissioner. For reasons of confidentiality, it is never disclosed who exactly is participating. The reason for the nationwide protests against the repressive course of the government and the Islamic regime was the death of the Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini in September. She died in police custody after being arrested for violating Islamic dress codes. (SDA)