Statement from 30 Human Rights Organizations: The Death Penalty in Iran Must Be Abolished

On Saturday, March 9, the Human Rights Activists in Iran announced that along with 29 other human rights organizations, they have called for the abolition of the death penalty in Iran in a joint statement on the occasion of International Women's Day, March 8. According to the news agency HRANA, the statement reads: "In the current circumstances, where attacks on the rights of women and gender minorities continue, it is more important than ever to remain united in this struggle." The statement further emphasizes that "the death penalty, which unjustly and discriminatorily targets minorities and is applied arbitrarily and inhumanely, has no place in any of our societies." Organizations and groups such as the "World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran, Asian Network Against the Death Penalty, Human Rights Activists in Iran, and the International Network of Women and Harm Reduction" are among the signatories of this statement. Meanwhile, Amnesty International wrote on the social media platform "X" on Friday that since the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement, the Iranian authorities have intensified the use of the death penalty as a tool for repression, including against women detained on politically motivated charges. The organization emphasized that global action to pressure Iranian authorities to stop all executions is essential. In this context, Amnesty International called for the annulment of the death sentences of Variesh Moradi and Sharifeh Mohammadi, two political prisoners sentenced to death. The campaign "Tuesdays Against the Death Penalty" is calling for new actions against the regime's killing machine. On International Women's Day, at least 30 women have been executed by the Islamic Republic in the past year. Eight more executions have taken place in Iran; observers state that the "killing machine" is operating non-stop. The Iran Human Rights Organization reported that 74 people were executed in one month.