UN Human Rights Council Condemns Rise in Executions in Iran

 

The growing number of executions in Iran, including those of those who got the death penalty in connection with the country's violent protests, was criticized on Tuesday by the UN Human Rights Council.

A resolution expressing "great concern at the reported spike in the number of executions, including of people sentenced to death in relation to their alleged involvement in the recent protests" was passed by the top United Nations rights committee.

23 of the council's 47 members voted in favor of the resolution, which also extended the UN Special Rapporteur's mandate on the human rights situation in Iran for an additional year. Eight voted against the text, including China, Cuba, Pakistan, and Vietnam, and 16 others abstained.

Ali Bahreini, the ambassador of Iran, spoke out against the resolution, calling it a "weaponization of human rights as a foreign policy tool."

Strong worldwide condemnation of the nation's repression of the protest movement that began in September was mirrored in the resolution.

In response to the protests, Iran has murdered four people. Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who had been detained for allegedly breaking the country's severe dress code for women, died on September 16.

Rights organizations have issued warnings that executions on a variety of accusations are on the rise, claiming that this is done to dissuade the public from protesting.

At least 144 people have been put to death this year, according to the Iran Human Rights (IHR) organization, which has its headquarters in Norway.

According to the resolution passed on Tuesday, Tehran was urged to "take all necessary legal, administrative, and other steps" to make sure that no one was put to death for "offenses that do not surpass the threshold of the most heinous crimes."

Iran must also make sure that no one is put to death "for purported crimes committed before the age of 18 years" and that only "capable, independent, and impartial courts" issue judgments, according to the resolution.

The council also condemned "systematic discrimination and violence based on gender, race, religion or belief or political opinion" in Iran, in addition to the country's executions.