Urgent Action: Iran - Grave risk of more executions for protestors

Risk of protest-related executions amid killing spree by Iranian government

At least 14 individuals in Iran are at grave risk of execution in connection with the “Woman Life Freedom” uprising of 2022. At least ten other individuals have been arbitrarily executed following grossly unfair sham trials. The authorities have severely
violated their fair trial rights and subjected many to torture and other ill-treatment, including beatings, electric shocks and sexual violence. Concerns of further protest-related executions are mounting amid an ongoing execution spree.

Demand the immediate and unconditional release of all those convicted and sentenced to death!

Mojahed (Abbas) Kourkouri is at imminent risk of execution. He is being held in solitary confinement and has been repeatedly subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including severe beatings.

To date, the authorities have arbitrarily executed at least ten people in connection with the uprising after grossly unfair trials marred by torture allegations. For example, Mohammad Ghobadlou, a 23-year-old protester with a mental disability, was unexpectedly and unlawfully executed on 23 January 2024. Reza (Gholamreza) Rasaei was arbitrarily executed in secret on 6 August 2024 in Dizel Abad prison, Kermanshah province. According to information provided to Amnesty International by an informed source, the authorities did not give prior notice to Reza Rasaei, his family or lawyer. Within hours of informing his family of his execution, the authorities cruelly forced his family to bury his body in a remote area far from his home and in the presence of security forces.

In 2023, authorities carried out at least 853 executions, marking a 48% increase from 2022. So far in 2024, the Iranian authorities have continued their execution spree, including against ethnic minorities and dissidents, and carried out at least 250 executions as of 20 May 2024.

Call on the Iranian authorities to immediately quash all convictions and death sentences now and establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty!

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Dear Mr Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, I am gravely concerned that at least 14 people are at risk of the death penalty in connection with the “Woman Life Freedom” uprising of September-December 2022. Among them are at least seven individuals – Fazel Bahramian, Mahmoud Mehrabi, Mamousta Mohammad Khazrnejad, Manouchehr Mehman Navaz, Mehran Bahramian, and Mojahed (Abbas) Kourkouri – currently under the sentence of death and at risk of execution following grossly unfair trials involving convictions on charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh), “corruption on earth” (efsad-e fel arz) and “armed rebellion against the state” (baghi). On 23 January 2024, authorities arbitrarily executed Mohammad Ghobadlou, a youth with a mental disability, bypassing legal processes to deny him a retrial and implement his death sentence, even though the Supreme Court overturned his conviction and death sentence and ordered a retrial in July 2023. Amnesty International is aware of at least two others – Saeed Shirazi and Abolfazl Mehri Hossein Hajilou – who were tried on capital charges. At least five others are being investigated for capital crimes brought in relation to the protests, amid grave concerns about the imposition of death sentences on more individuals as authorities arrested and indicted thousands in connection to the uprising. The aforementioned individuals have faced grossly unfair trials before Revolutionary Courts and/or Criminal Courts across the country including in the provinces of Alborz, Esfahan, Tehran, Kermanshah, Khuzestan and West Azerbaijan. Authorities violated their fair trial rights including the right to: adequate defence and access to lawyers of their choosing; the presumption of innocence; remain silent; meaningfully challenge the legality of their detentions; and receive a fair, public hearing. The courts have used torture-tainted “confessions”, some of which were broadcast on state media prior to their trials, to convict them. Methods of torture and other ill-treatment documented by Amnesty International against the aforementioned individuals include beatings, electric shocks, suffocation, sexual violence and deliberate denial of healthcare. I urge you to immediately quash all convictions and death sentences stemming from the protests, refrain from seeking further death sentences and ensure that anyone charged with a recognizable criminal offence is tried in proceedings meeting international fair trial standards without recourse to the death penalty. I call on you to immediately and unconditionally release all those convicted and sentenced to death, indicted, or undergoing investigations solely for the exercise of their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. I further urge you to provide those detained access to their families and lawyers of their choosing, protect them from further torture and other ill-treatment and investigate torture allegations, bringing anyone found responsible to justice in fair trials. Finally, I urge you to grant independent observers access to capital trials and individuals on death row connected to protests and, more broadly, immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view of abolishing the death penalty. Yours sincerely,
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Urgent Action: Iran – Grave risk of more executions for protestors

Risk of protest-related executions amid killing spree by Iranian government

TAKE ACTION NOW

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