Iran Human Rights Organization: The Islamic Republic Executed 'At Least 697' People in the Past Year

The Iran Human Rights Organization reported that the judiciary of the Islamic Republic has executed 'at least 697' people since the beginning of nationwide protests in September 2022. This organization states that over the past year, officials of the Islamic Republic have 'unprecedentedly used the death penalty to instill fear in society.' Seven of those executed in the past year were protesters who were arrested during the nationwide protests and tried in courts that human rights organizations described as sham. The Iran Human Rights Organization, based in Norway, indicates that the number of executions in the past year shows a '36% increase compared to the same period in the previous year.' Amnesty International also stated on Wednesday, ahead of the anniversary of the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, that 'over the past year, the officials of the Islamic Republic have committed numerous crimes under international law, including hundreds of killings, the arbitrary execution of seven protesters, tens of thousands of arbitrary arrests, widespread torture, including rape of prisoners, extensive harassment of victims' families, and retaliatory actions against women opposing mandatory hijab.' In the past year, many Iranian protesters around the world have demonstrated against the death penalty. Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, called for an immediate halt to executions in his latest report to the UN Human Rights Council regarding the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to Guterres' report, the execution of 582 Iranians in 2022 indicates a 75% increase in the number of executions compared to the previous year, which was 333. Shirin Ebadi, Mehrangiz Kar, Ghasem Shole Saadi, Mohammad Oliaei-Fard, Hossein Raeisi, and Saeed Dehghan sent a letter to Antonio Guterres on June 8, calling for 'control or limitation' of the death penalty in Iran and other countries. Raha Bahreini, a researcher on Iran at Amnesty International, previously stated that the Islamic Republic has many people on death row and that global pressure to counter this must increase. The UN Human Rights Council emphasized that the human rights situation in Iran has worsened.