The UN accuses Iran of using the death penalty to “frighten” the population and “pressure” protesters

10 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, accused the Iranian government on Tuesday of using the death penalty to “frighten” the country’s population and “pressure” the demonstrators, who have been protesting against authorities since last September.

Turk has described the police action as a “violation of International Law” and has condemned the execution of four individuals who participated in the protests after “expedited trials” that “do not meet the minimum guarantees to be considered fair trials.” “This makes their executions qualify as arbitrary,” she asserted.

Thus, it has attacked “the militarization of the procedures to punish people for exercising their basic rights, such as participating in or organizing a protest”, as indicated in a statement in which it has suggested to the Iranian government “serving the interests of its people and listen to their demands, in addition to carrying out political reforms to guarantee respect for the diversity of opinions and freedom of expression”.

In this sense, it has indicated that the death sentences have been imposed after filing charges for crimes such as ‘moharebé’ (making war against God), which “are significantly far from what are considered serious crimes by International Law”. .

The UN estimates that there are 17 people sentenced to death in the country and a hundred accused of serious crimes. Thousands of people have been arrested since protests began in September after young Mahsa Amini died in police custody after being detained for violating the Islamic dress code.

“I once again reiterate my concern and my call on the Government of Iran to respect the lives and voices of the people and impose an imminent moratorium on the death penalty to stop all executions,” he said.

Turk has stressed the need for Iran “to implement concrete measures to carry out the reforms that its own people demand in order to respect and protect Human Rights.”