Executions and death sentences in Iran have been on the rise since March, the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights said Wednesday.
At least 56 people have been executed in Iran on national security-related charges since March 19, including 27 whose cases were linked to the widespread anti-regime protests earlier this year, Volker Türk said in a statement.
The UN human rights chief urged Iranian authorities to stop all executions and move towards abolishing the death penalty.
Türk’s comments come as non-governmental organizations — including the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR), which operates with members inside and outside Iran — say that they believe the regime has ramped up executions under the cover of conflict.
Human rights organizations and UN experts have condemned the omission of rights protections from the 14-point Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the United States and Iran in June, warning that it has allowed Tehran to accelerate internal crackdowns and executions.
Mostafa Tajzadeh, a political prisoner and veteran Iranian reformist politician who became one of the most outspoken critics of Iran’s political system from within the establishment, issued an open letter from Evin Prison on Monday, calling for an immediate halt to the executions of the “young protesters.”
He described the executions as “playing with fire,” warning that they “could once again engulf the country in devastating flames.”
“In my view, executions will only widen the divide between the state and society, reduce the prospects for dialogue and peaceful change, and significantly increase the risk of the country descending once again into a cycle of reciprocal violence,” Tajzadeh said.
Aida Karimi contributed reporting.