Human Rights Watch and the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center stated in a joint report that Iranian authorities have executed political dissidents and protesters on a weekly basis in recent months following “grossly unfair” trials, with dozens more facing imminent execution.
In the joint report published on Thursday, September 10, the rights organizations documented that at least 59 men were executed on vague political and security charges following flawed judicial proceedings between March 17 and August 31.
Of those executed, at least 29 were detained in connection with the January protests, while at least three others were arrested during the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement. Some of the executed individuals were just 18 or 19 years old, with many others in their early twenties.
Five of the executions were carried out publicly. The rights groups noted that the resumption of public executions reflects an intensifying reliance on the death penalty as a tool of terror to deter further civil unrest.
Bahar Saba, senior Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch, emphasized that Iranian authorities are sending protesters, including teenagers, to the gallows based on forced confessions extracted under torture following expedited proceedings.
