UN Special Rapporteur: Death Penalty in Iran Must End

Mai Sato, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Iran, called for an end to the death penalty in Iran in a video message ahead of October 10, World Day Against the Death Penalty. In her video message published on the social media platform 'X', Ms. Sato emphasized that this day is particularly significant for Iran due to the 'alarming increase' in the use of the death penalty by the Islamic Republic, with over 500 executions this year (since January 23, 2024). The UN Special Rapporteur on Iran identified one of the main concerns as the 'targeted use' of the death penalty by the Iranian government against women activists and supporters of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement following the death of Zhina Mahsa Amini while in custody of the morality police in September 2022. Ms. Sato stated that instead of addressing the demands of this movement, including accountability regarding human rights and gender equality, the Islamic Republic's officials responded with increased violence and punitive measures. She noted that crimes punishable by death in Iran are 'far beyond' international standards, encompassing offenses related to drug trafficking, extramarital relationships, homosexuality, and political and religious crimes. In part of her message, the UN Special Rapporteur also referred to the so-called 'Noor' plan and the 'Chastity and Hijab' bill in the Islamic Republic, which she emphasized further displays 'forms of governmental oppression to create an atmosphere filled with fear and widespread control.' Mai Sato praised the 'courage of the Iranian people, especially women and girls, despite increasing pressure and repression,' and referenced the 'Tuesdays Against the Death Penalty' campaign in Iranian prisons; an initiative led by political prisoners who go on hunger strikes every Tuesday to oppose the death penalty. She described this action as a demonstration of 'unwavering commitment to human rights and justice.' The 'World Day Against the Death Penalty' was first introduced in 2003 by the 'World Coalition Against the Death Penalty' to support the abolition of the death penalty and raise awareness of the conditions of death row prisoners. In 2024 and 2025, the focus of this global day will be to challenge the misconception that the death penalty can make people and societies safer, emphasizing that determining who is considered a 'threat' and who should be protected is often influenced by power, discrimination, and inequality. Previously, a coalition of human rights activists and the 'Abdul Rahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran' also reported the breaking of a decade-long record of executions in Iran in a statement on the occasion of the 'World Day Against the Death Penalty.' The statement, published on Tuesday, October 8, noted: 'In 2023, the Islamic Republic of Iran accounted for over 75% of the total recorded executions worldwide, having executed at least 811 Iranians from October 2023 to October 2024, and recorded the highest number of executions of women in the past decade with 23 women executed during this period.' The Iran Human Rights Center also identified one of the main reasons for the increase in executions by the Islamic Republic as the 'severe repression of public protests.' In this context, the Iran Human Rights Organization and the 'Global Campaign Against the Death Penalty in Iran' launched a 24-hour live program on Tuesday with the cooperation, support, and participation of human rights, civil, and political organizations, activists, experts, and political and civil figures in support of the 'Tuesdays Against the Death Penalty' movement. In this program, several families of victims, families of political prisoners sentenced to death or political prisoners, representatives of European parliaments, as well as Iranian and international human rights lawyers and victims of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement have released video messages. The execution of 11 prisoners in Qezel Hesar ahead of the World Day Against the Death Penalty, a joint statement by a coalition of human rights activists and the Boroumand Foundation: the decade-long record of executions in Iran has been broken, support for the 'Black Tuesdays' campaign in the virtual meeting against the death penalty, the 'Tuesdays Against the Death Penalty' campaign: 30 executions in two days, an analysis by a human rights organization on the causes of the increase in executions in the Islamic Republic; 370 executions in the first six months of the current year, the implementation of death sentences in the prisons of the Islamic Republic continues.