Nobel Laureates Emphasize the Need to Hold the Iranian Government Accountable for 'Instrumental Use of Executions'

Shirin Ebadi, Jody Williams, Tawakkol Karman, and Leymah Gbowee, four Nobel Peace Prize winners, have urged the international community to pressure the Islamic Republic to stop the detention, imprisonment, and execution of activists, as well as to free political prisoners in Iran. In their statement on Wednesday, May 15, they also called for 'holding the Iranian government accountable' for the instrumental use of 'executions to intimidate opponents.' The signatories of this statement emphasized that Iran has intensified the use of the death penalty against political and human rights activists and regime opponents due to the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East. According to Amnesty International's 2023 report, Iran has intensified the repression of women, executions, and human rights violations. The four Nobel laureates stated: 'Now, under the shadow of escalating war, the instrumental use of executions to silence and quiet opponents and spread fear has increasingly grown. According to Amnesty International, executions (in Iran) have reached their highest level in the past eight years.' The statement stressed: 'There is a system of gender apartheid in Iran that, in addition to imprisonment, mistreatment, and execution of regime opponents, particularly affects women. Systematic human rights violations and blatant disregard for human dignity and rights necessitate a decisive international response.' The Nobel Peace Prize winners called on the global community to force the Islamic Republic to 'stop the detention and execution of activists' and to work towards 'the release of all political prisoners.' The statement also refers to the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement following the death of Mahsa Amini in custody of the morality police in September 2022, noting that thousands were arrested and hundreds killed during these protests. The four Nobel laureates deemed a decisive international response regarding gender apartheid in Iran and systematic human rights violations in the country as essential, and called for the formulation of a comprehensive diplomatic strategy to compel the Iranian government to stop serious human rights violations and gender-based violence. They also urged civil and women's movements to provide more support for the human rights situation in Iran. The statement concluded by asking the UN Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on Iran, and the fact-finding mission to prioritize this issue in their efforts to accurately and comprehensively reflect the dimensions and severity of gender-based harassment and gender apartheid in Iran. Amnesty International previously announced that following the onset of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests, Iranian authorities have accelerated the implementation of death sentences, with at least 834 people executed in Iran in 2023. This international organization also stated that the use of the death penalty in Iran as a tool of political repression has intensified, with executions doubling since 2022: 'Unfair trials continue, and systematic impunity for past and ongoing crimes related to the massacre of opponents and political dissidents in 1988 and other international crimes persists.' Amnesty International emphasized the widespread violations of the rights of detainees and their humiliation and torture in facilities controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Ministry of Intelligence, and various police command bodies of the Islamic Republic, stating that the Iranian judiciary plays a key role in reinforcing the trend of impunity for human rights crimes due to the lack of independence and the presence of high-ranking officials who should themselves be prosecuted for committing 'crimes.'