A doctor, rap artists and a footballer are amongst round dozen Iranians who threat being hanged as Tehran makes use of capital punishment as an intimidation tactic to quell protests, rights corporations say.
The executions withinside the beyond week of Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard, each 23 and the primary humans positioned to dying over the protests, sparked an outcry, specially as Rahnavard changed into hanged from a crane in public as opposed to in prison.
But campaigners warn that greater executions will unavoidably comply with with out harder worldwide action, with a dozen greater humans already sentenced to dying over the protests and a comparable wide variety charged with crimes that might see them hanged.
“Unless the political price of the executions is multiplied significantly, we can be going through mass executions,” stated Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the Norway-primarily based totally Iran Human Rights institution.
He accused Iran’s leaders of the use of executions to “unfold worry amongst humans and shop the regime from the national protests”.
The in large part non violent demonstrations sparked with the aid of using the dying in September of Mahsa Amini, who have been arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s strict get dressed code for women, are posing the most important task to the Islamic republic because the 1979 revolution.
There were no reviews of a slackening in protest hobby in current days, which includes after the executions, however the motion has been marked with the aid of using stages of greater and much less extreme demonstrations.
Authorities describe the ones going through dying sentences as “rioters” who’re being judged in complete accordance with the country’s sharia law.
But activists explicit alarm over using vaguely worded sharia criminal fees towards protesters, such as “enmity towards God,” “corruption on earth” and “armed rebellion”, all of which can be capital crimes in Iran.
– ‘Unfair trial, torture’ –
Amnesty International presently confirms eleven instances of dying sentences issued towards people over the protests, and some other 9 instances wherein people were charged with crimes that might see them given the dying penalty.
One younger protester, Sahand Nourmohammad-Zadeh, changed into sentenced to dying over fees — which he denied — that he did no greater than tear down dual carriageway railings and set hearthplace to garbage packing containers and tyres, the rights institution stated.
Mohammad Ghobadlou, elderly 22, changed into sentenced to dying on fees of strolling over police officers with a car, killing one and injuring numerous others, Amnesty stated, including it had “extreme concerns” he changed into subjected to torture and different abuse in jail.
Saman Seydi, a younger Kurdish rapper, changed into sentenced to dying on fees of firing a pistol 3 instances into the air for the duration of protests, the institution stated, including it had obtained facts he had additionally been subjected to torture to extract pressured confessions.
Before his arrest, Seydi had published cloth on Instagram in help of the protests, at the same time as his rap songs had additionally been important of the government.
Hamid Ghare-Hasanlou, a doctor, and his spouse Farzaneh Ghare-Hasanlou had been on their manner to the funeral of a killed protester after they had been “stuck up withinside the chaos” of a deadly attack on a member of the Basij militia, Amnesty stated.
Hamid Ghare-Hasanlou changed into sentenced to dying and his spouse to twenty-five years in prison, with the courtroom docket counting on incriminating statements from his spouse which Amnesty stated had been coerced and later retracted with the aid of using her in courtroom docket.
Her husband changed into tortured in custody and hospitalised with damaged ribs, it stated.
Mahan Sadrat, some other younger guy Amnesty have been worried approximately, changed into granted a live of execution after a conviction primarily based totally on allegations he had drawn a knife to assault an individual, his legal professional stated Wednesday.
Those who face the dying penalty after being charged with capital crimes encompass Toomaj Salehi, 32, a outstanding rapper who changed into charged “entirely in reference to important tune and social media posts,” Amnesty stated, including that he have been tortured in detention.
The expert footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani, 26, is in a comparable function after being charged over the deaths of 3 protection officers in November withinside the town of Isfahan, it stated.
The global union of expert footballers FIFPRO stated it changed into “stunned and sickened” with the aid of using the reviews he faces dying.
– Executed ‘at any moment’ –
Campaigners are searching for to focus on all people going through the dying penalty withinside the desire that multiplied scrutiny on particular instances can assist spare lives.
But they warn the executions regularly include very little boost notice.
Rahnavard changed into hanged simply 23 days after his arrest and soon after a closing assembly together along with his mother, who changed into given no inkling her son changed into approximately to be positioned to dying.
Activists had been additionally blind to Shekari’s case till his execution changed into introduced with the aid of using kingdom media.
Amnesty stated Iranian government are issuing, upholding and wearing out dying sentences in a “rapid manner” and there’s a “extreme threat” that humans whose dying sentences have now no longer been made public will be executed “at any moment”.
“The executions of humans related to the protests in Iran are appalling, and we’re extraordinarily concerned for the lives of others who’ve been further sentenced to dying,” the workplace of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights advised AFP.
It delivered that Iran had “ignored” its pleas now no longer to perform the executions.