Iran executions are 'state sanctioned killing' - UN rights chief
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[January 10, 2023]
By Emma Farge
GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. human rights chief said that the death
penalty was being weaponised by Iran's government to strike fear into
the population and stamp out dissent, saying the executions amounted to
"state sanctioned killing".
"The weaponization of criminal procedures to punish people for
exercising their basic rights – such as those participating in or
organizing demonstrations - amounts to state sanctioned killing," U.N.
High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said, adding the
executions violated international human rights law.
Iran hanged two men on Saturday for allegedly killing a member of the
security forces during nationwide protests and more have since been
sentenced to death.
The U.N. Human Rights office has received information that two further
executions are imminent, the statement said, while up to 100 face
charges for capital crimes.
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Turk said in a statement that there were numerous violations of due
process and fair trial in the cases, including the application of
vaguely worded criminal provisions, denial of access to a lawyer of
choice, forced confession under torture and denial of a meaningful right
of appeal.
The Islamic Republic, which has blamed the unrest on its foreign foes
including the United States, sees its crackdown on protests as aimed at
preserving national sovereignty.
The strongly worded U.N. rights office statement comes as Turk continues
to push for a trip to the country and a meeting with its Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a senior U.N. rights official Mohammad Ali
Alnsour said at a Geneva press briefing on Tuesday.
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![](../images/011023PIX/news_y59.jpg)
A group of people and clerics from the
city of Qom attend a meeting with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran January 9, 2023. Office of the Iranian
Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS.
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A separate in-person meeting is planned between Turk and Iranian
authorities "very soon", Alnsour added, without giving details.
"We cannot just stay silent when there are very serious violations,"
he said.
The Geneva-based Human Rights Council voted in November to set up a
three-member independent fact-finding mission into Iran's crackdown
on protests. Alnsour said it had already received thousands of
submissions.
The protests, among the boldest challenges to the clerical
leadership since the 1979 revolution, have drawn support from
Iranians in all walks of life and challenged the Islamic Republic’s
legitimacy by calling for the downfall of its rulers.
The start of executions, which have been condemned by a growing
number of countries, has coincided with a slowdown in the protests.
(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Madeline Chambers, William
Maclean and Bernadette Baum)
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