Iran: Reports indicate an alarming increase in execution orders for prisoners, including the famous artist Toomaj Salehi

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He has been a vocal critic of the Islamic Republic regime, using his platform to express dissent and advocate for change. Following his arrest last November, he was charged with "armed rebellion", "assembly and collusion against the state", "spreading propaganda", and "inciting riot". Such charges often silence peaceful activism and justify draconian measures against dissenters. Despite recommendations from the Supreme Court to consider amnesty and adjust the original sentence against Salehi, the Revolutionary Court last week reinstated the death penalty without substantive legal justification. It was additionally documented that in the previous ten days, ten detainees were executed in various prisons in Iran.

In 2023, Iran executed 853 people, marking the highest number recorded in the last eight years, solidifying its position as the country with the second-highest execution rate in the world. This trend continues in 2024, with 35 death sentences issued and 86 individuals executed in January alone. This underscores the grave human rights violations and highlights the systematic use of the death penalty as a tool of repression.

It has also been reported that more prisoners have joined the Black Tuesday Campaign recently. Launched in January this year, the campaign is a collective action by prisoners who hold weekly hunger strikes on Tuesdays in protest at the escalating number of executions and the lack of fair trial rights to highlight state-sanctioned repression and call for international intervention.

Recent decisions by the Iranian authorities to uphold death sentences against individuals accused of vague and politically motivated charges are alarming. Such actions not only violate fundamental human rights principles but also perpetuate a climate of fear and intimidation in Iranian society.

The UN Human Rights Council has expressed serious concerns about the disproportionate use of the death penalty against members of minorities, such as the Baluchi, Ahwazi Arab and Kurdish minorities

The high number of executions was also raised by the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), which monitors Iran's implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The HRC has also expressed serious concerns about the disproportionate use of the death penalty against members of minorities, such as the Baluchi, Ahwazi Arab and Kurdish minorities, the lack of fair trial guarantees, the use of coerced confessions, closed trials in the Revolutionary Courts, the low standard of evidence required for conviction, restrictions on lawyers' access to clients and the fact that families and lawyers are not always informed of executions.

We reiterate our call on the Iranian authorities to immediately halt all executions and commute the sentences of those facing the death penalty. We urge Iran to comply with its international obligations, including ensuring fair trials, respecting due process rights, and upholding the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment.