Joint Statement to condemn the public executions and the surge of executions in 2022 in Iran

Statement

By World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, on 11 August 2022

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty strongly condemn the resumption of public executions in Iran and the surge in the executions in 2022, which goes against the international trends towards abolition of the death penalty.

The World Coalition further condemn the arbitrary use of the death penalty and the violation of a number of international human rights standards:

•  Iman Sabzikar-Jonaghi was publicly executed for the murder of a police officer on 23 July 22 in Shiraz, making it the first public execution since June 2020. Public executions are in violation of Article 7 the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which Iran is a signatory to
• Four other men who were all also sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for the murder of police officers are currently at risk of public executions
• Iran has executed over 300 people, including 9 women, since the beginning of 2022, making it in 7 months as much as the 12 months of 2021 when 333 executions were reported.
• The trials by the Revolutionary Courts for drug-related and security charges were highly secretive and deeply unfair, with no right to adequate legal assistance at any stage of the proceedings
• A significant portion of all the people executed since January 2022 were charged with drug-related offenses which are not considered “most serious crimes” (intentional killing) under international law
• Their right to life and their right to be free from torture or cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment or punishment were denied 

The World Coalition call on the United Nations and its Member States, to take concrete measures to prevent further executions, including by making public outcry about public executions and imposing sanctions connected with human rights abuses in Iran.

The World Coalition express its solidarity with people opposed to the death penalty in Iran, as well as to the families and relatives of those who were executed, to the murder victims’ families, and to the hundreds of people, including juvenile offenders, still facing the death penalty.

The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty is an alliance of more than 160 NGOs, bar associations, local authorities and unions. The aim of the World Coalition is to strengthen the international dimension of the fight against the death penalty. Its objective is to obtain the universal abolition of the death penalty.

For more information on the public execution: https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5366/ 

And on the surge of executions in 2022: https://iranhr.net/en/