Death Penalty News

February saw the Iranian regime ratchet up social clampdown in step with the growing discontent and the spread of popular protests. The increasing repression was vividly evident in the regime’s persistent use of the death penalty and widespread arrests of civil activists and dissidents. Torture, degrading punishments, and persecution of citizens continued in Iran. The regime violated the right to peaceful assembly by the arrest of a number of teachers, during the nationwide sit-ins and demonstrations of Iranian teachers. The regime also escalated pressure on prisoners, especially those incarcerated on political grounds. Meanwhile, new prison sentences were issued for civil activists in various cities, and some were summoned to serve their sentences. The clerical regime also violated the principle of separation of crimes by banishing political prisoners to remote prisons and among ordinary convicts. Iran HRM Monthly Report, February 2022, is a brief review on the abysmal conditions of h...

Hacked footage from security cameras in Iran’s Evin Prison and the publication of some of the prison’s documents published online by a group of hackers “Edalat-e Ali” (Ali’s Justice) revealed a fraction of the crimes committed in Iran’s prisons. The footage shows guards beating and dragging prisoners on the floor. The videos also show inmates attempting to commit suicide, overcrowded cells, and cells with horrible conditions. The release of these images provoked strong reactions from international human rights organizations. The head of Iran’s prisons, Mohammad Mehdi Haj Mohammadi tweeted on August 24, 2021, that he accepts “responsibility,” asks “forgiveness” from God, and said he would make an “effort” to prevent further mistreatment yet has yet to follow through on his pledge. It was a rare admission of abuse by authorities. After the videos surfaced, human rights organizations and activists reiterated calls to hold the regime to account for its human rights abuses. “This disturbing...

Disturbing photos of men tarred in black with nooses around their necks have emerged in a sign there could be dark days ahead. The Taliban is claiming victory in Afghanistan, declaring “the war is over”. Photos have emerged of the Taliban parading men through the streets tarred in black and nooses as fears grow the militants will reimpose brutal Sharia law. The puritanical Islamic group first seized control of the country in 1994 led by former mujahideen commander Mohammad Omar. The Taliban notoriously imposed strict punishments, including stoning suspected adulterers and carrying out public executions. Women barred from working Women were barred from working, girls were banned from attending school.  Men were forbidden from trimming their beards and women were forced to wear head-to-toe burkas. Much of that changed when the US invaded in 2001, with women and ethnic minorities granted greater freedoms. Now the Taliban is again on the verge of taking power again — having taken contr...

The Iranian regime again attempted to destroy the mass grave site of victims of the 1988 massacres to eliminate the evidence of its crimes against humanity. Iranian authorities in the past month banned members of the Baha’i minority from burying their loved ones in a cemetery that they have used for decades and pressured Baha’is to bury them at the Khavaran mass grave site for victims of the 1988 massacre. Khavaran and other mass grave sites for the victims of the massacre in various cities including Ahvaz, Tabriz and Mashhad have been bulldozed or destructed multiple times in recent decades. In a statement released on April 29 Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Diana Eltahawy said: “This is the latest in a series of criminal attempts over the years by Iran’s authorities to destroy mass grave sites of victims of the 1988 prison massacres in a bid to eliminate crucial evidence of crimes against humanity, denying truth, justice and reparation to...

October saw the State Security Force’s violent approach towards Iranian citizens, even torturing them in public. This comes in tandem with the clerical regime’s expansion of its repressive plans to contain increasing social discontent, particularly on the eve of the anniversary of the protests in November 2019. On October 18, SSF forces tied a young man, Mehrdad Sepehri, to a pole in a street in Hojjat Township in Mashhad. They tortured him right there in the street using stun guns and pepper spray, which led to his death. The vicious murder was revealed by a video clip posted on social media on October 24, provoking a wave of outrage among the public in Iran and abroad. The young man who had lost his consciousness due to torture and use of pepper gas, died in the SSF car. His body bore vivid scars of beating and torture. Another video clip posted on social media on October 25 showed several SSF officers dragging and beating a citizen on the ground in one of the streets of Esfarayen, i...

September saw the third wave of the coronavirus sweeping across Iran. The scale of the disaster is such that the regime is no longer able to deny it. The Iranian regime’s deputy Minister of Health asserted: “The situation we have is beyond the wave. We are engulfed in a stormy sea. It is meaningless to speak of different color zones. The entire country is in the red zone.” The regime has been trying over the past months to fend off anti-regime protests by deliberately sending people to their death by early opening of businesses, and the reopening of schools without providing the necessary hygienic equipment and sanitary facilities. Seemingly, this tactic has not worked out as the regime has failed to contain the volatile society. IRGC seeking to secure presence in every neighborhood In step with the growing social disgruntlement, the Iranian regime officials have resorted to new means of imposing repression. The IRGC put up a show of force by announcing formation of “hit squads” and “...

A man is facing a possible death penalty after large quantities of drugs were allegedly found in his house on a notorious party island near Bali. A US citizen is facing a possible death penalty if convicted over a trafficable quantity of drugs allegedly found in a house in Indonesia over the weekend. The 46-year-old man identified only by his initials CS and a 24-year-old Indonesian man identified as MR were arrested and charged after police raided a house in Gili Trawangan, a party island 100km west of Bali known as a hub for ecstasy and where hallucinogenic “magic mushroom” shakes are sold openly at restaurants and bars. Police claim to have discovered 1224 grams of marijuana in various bags and boxes in the house. They also said they found an unspecified quantity of methamphetamine separated into 13 small ziplock bags, an unspecified quantity of magic mushrooms, as well as smoking implements and cash, allegedly obtained from selling drugs to tourists on the island. ...