ARTICLE 19 condemns the recent executions and the order of additional death sentences in Iran, part of the regime’s persistent crackdown on dissent and human rights across the country. In recent weeks, at least six people have been executed, including a teenager. As the war in the Middle East continues, we call on Iran to cease public executions and stop forced confessions and the broadcast of them, and ensure all detainees have access to legal representation. All prisoners detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression must be released. We also call on social media companies to prioritise removal of images and videos of forced confessions, ensure swift action on notifications, and enhance coordination across platforms to tackle such content and prevent its dissemination.
The killings and threats of executions come against a backdrop of war, as people in Iran endure ongoing bombardment and attacks from the United States and Israel, as well as widespread, continued repression. Since the beginning of the war, individuals continue to be arrested on a range of charges, and the ongoing internet shutdown limits access to information about their whereabouts and wellbeing, in addition to clear and credible updates on the conflict.
Four of the men were executed in connection with the protests that took place in December and January, including one as recently as today. Another person was executed on charges of espionage linked to Israel, and two men were executed on 30 March for baghi (armed rebellion against foundations of the Islamic Republic). On 1 April, reports emerged that the regime was planning the imminent execution of at least seven dissidents and protesters. Recent executions have reportedly followed arbitrary, unjust trials before the Revolutionary Court, using forced confessions broadcast on state television as evidence. Accounts indicate that the executed were blocked from having contact with family or access to legal representation. Lawyers who do represent protesters face harassment, imprisonment, and disbarment.
The regime has also announced that filming sites targeted by US and Israeli forces during the ongoing war may now result in execution and the seizure of assets.
Prior to the recent executions, Dr. Mai Sato, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran and other UN Special Rapporteurs issued urgent messages to authorities in an effort to prevent the execution of two individuals as they underwent unfair trial and torture.
“The people of Iran are enduring a long-standing pattern of human rights violations, including an extraordinary rate of executions, the systematic dismantling of civic space, and discrimination against women and girls,” Dr. Sato and fellow rapporteurs said in a further statement issued on 30 March.
ARTICLE 19 expresses full support for the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran to carry out an urgent inquiry into these violations of international law to collect and preserve evidence for use in legal proceedings, and calls for all resources necessary to be allocated to the mandate to carry out its investigations.
In line with the UN fact-finding mission and recommendations from the Special Rapporteurs, the international community must urge the Iranian authorities to:
- Immediately cease public executions
- Cease confessions obtained under duress, and the broadcast of them
- Release prisoners detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression
- Establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty for offences not meeting the most serious crimes threshold
- Publish comprehensive disaggregated data on executions
- Ensure prompt access to legal counsel of the detainees’ choosing at all stages of proceedings
Furthermore, global institutions and governments must call on social media companies to prevent the publication and sharing of videos and images of forced confessions. Publicising these confessions violates the principle of due process, endangers the individuals involved, and serves to intimidate others from exercising their rights to protest and free expression.