An 84% Increase in Issuance of Death Sentences in Iran, Continuing "State-Sanctioned Killings"

Iranian authorities have issued the highest number of death sentences globally after China between October 10, 2022, and October 8, 2023.

October 10, 2023, marks the 21st anniversary of the day designated as World Day Against the Death Penalty by the "World Coalition Against the Death Penalty."

The Islamic Republic, in an attempt to instill fear, began executing some protesters as "state-sanctioned killings" during the national uprising in December last year, which was met with global condemnation.

Mohsen Shekari was the first prisoner to be publicly sentenced to death for participating in the 2022 protests.

Article 18 Organization, in a statement condemning this execution, wrote, "Mohsen Shekari was sentenced to death in a sham trial, lacking transparency and legal legitimacy, based solely on forced confessions obtained under torture, like countless other victims over the past 44 years."

Since the early days of the Islamic Revolution, the regime has used executions as a tool to instill fear in society and eliminate its opponents, political activists, and dissenters.

Among the thousands of political activists executed, there have also been state-sanctioned killings of believers in other religions, who were executed solely because of their faith and peaceful religious activities.

Examples of such state-sanctioned killings include the execution of ten Bahá'í women in Shiraz 40 years ago and the state-sanctioned killing of Pastor Hossein Soodmand in Mashhad.

Hossein Soodmand was the only Christian convert who was publicly executed on charges of apostasy in 1990. He had converted to Christianity before the Islamic Revolution and had been active in various Christian organizations, including the Bible Society, and was a pastor at the Assemblies of God Church in Isfahan.

The path to state-sanctioned killings often begins with the torture and coercion of defendants into making forced confessions. In many cases, they do not even have access to a lawyer. Families and even lawyers are subjected to pressure. Charges are presented without evidence in sham trials.

Even after execution, the harassment does not end. Gravestones are not spared from destruction by security and intelligence forces. Numerous reports have surfaced about the destruction of gravestones belonging to those killed during the recent national uprising in Iran.

In January 2020, it was reported that the burial site of Pastor Hossein Soodmand had been destroyed.

Anti-death penalty activism has been ongoing in the country for many years. Narges Mohammadi, who recently won the Nobel Peace Prize, is one of the activists involved in "Legam" (Step by Step Abolition of the Death Penalty) in Iran.