The Iran Human Rights Monitor (Iran HRM) intends to present an overview of the human rights situation in Iran in the month of August. However, as the Iranian judiciary continues to widely employ execution as the most ruthless and in the first month since Pezeshkian took office, these executions have gained further momentum Therefore, the focus of this report is on executions in Iran.
Based on the statistics recorded by the Center for Statistics and Documentation of Iran Human Rights Monitor (Iran HRM), and with extensive research conducted in this area, the final number of executions in August 2024 has been obtained. Although we emphasize that the actual figures are significantly higher, as most executions in Iran are carried out without media coverage and in media silence.
In the August 2024 report, we intend to explore executions along the following axes.
- Total Number of Executions
- Cruel and Inhumane Forms of Executions
- Execution of Political prisoners
- Media-Uncovered Executions and Media-Covered Execution
Total Number of Executions
In August 2024, the statistics of executions have alarmingly and significantly increased. The Iranian judiciary has executed 106 prisoners this month, the highest number of executions in the past 8 months. Compared to July, where 53 prisoners were executed, executions have increased by 100%. and it has doubled in growth. The increase in the number of executions has stirred serious concerns among human rights activists this month. These calculations indicate that the statistics of executions in Iran are escalating, and the Iranian judiciary has employed a ruthless trend in executions in Iran.
Cruel and Inhumane Forms of Executions
Mass execution: The Iranian judiciary, on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, carried out the death sentences of twenty-six prisoners who had previously been sentenced to death for non-political charges collectively in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj. The mass execution of 26 prisoners in one day in Iran in the past two decades has been unprecedented. The last mass execution took place on July 3, 2009, where 20 prisoners with drug-related charges were executed in one day in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj.
Public execution: The Iranian judiciary, on Monday, August 26, 2024, carried out the public execution of a prisoner who had previously been sentenced to death for the murder of a judicial attorney in Shahroud. Public executions are not only contrary to international human rights laws but also have deep psychological impacts on society, especially on children, and contribute to the normalization of violence within the community.
Secret execution: Early morning on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, the death sentence of the political prisoner Reza Rasaei was carried out secretly without informing his defense lawyer and without his family’s knowledge. The family of this political prisoner was not allowed to meet with him before the execution. Security forces informed Rasaei’s family on Tuesday morning about the execution of their son and warned them that they do not have permission to bury him in his hometown, the city of Sahneh.
Execution of political prisoners
In August 2024, the Iranian regime executed a political prisoner. On Tuesday, August 6, 2024, the death sentence of Reza Rasaei, a Kurdish political prisoner and one of the detainees of the nationwide protests in 2022, was carried out in Diezelabad Prison in Kermanshah. The execution sentence of the 34-year-old political prisoner Reza Rasaei was carried out without informing his defense lawyer, secretly and without notifying his family. The family of this political prisoner was not allowed to have a meeting with him before the execution. The Tuesday morning, security forces informed the Rasaei family of the execution of their son and warned them that they are not allowed to bury him in his hometown.
Executions without media coverage and executions covered by the media
In August 2024, the death sentences of 100 prisoners were carried out in media silence, and only the death sentences of 6 prisoners were covered by the media. Consequently, 94% of executions in Iran have never been announced due to the boycott and silence of the media, with only 6% of executions being reported by the media.
The Iranian regime considers the dissemination of information about execution statistics in the country as “security and confidential,” and in recent years, some activists of the anti-execution movement in the country have been detained and imprisoned for publishing news related to executions. Therefore, it is evident that the numbers and figures of executions in Iran are significantly higher, which unfortunately do not reach independent media due to media silence.
Call on International Human Rights Authorities
Iran Human Rights Monitor (Iran HRM) calls for an investigation against extra-judicial executions in Iran from Mrs. Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran Affairs. It also urges the United Nations, the European Union, and member countries not to remain silent in the face of these executions, to condemn this state-sponsored massacre, and to demand immediate and practical action to halt this bloodshed. Silence in the face of this regime’s crime is a violation of the most fundamental human rights and democratic standards.
