December 10, 2024 – International Human Rights Day Update:
On Human Rights Day, Iran Human Rights Monitor announced that 3,000 former world leaders, heads of governments, ministers, ambassadors, UN officials, human rights experts, Nobel laureates, and NGOs have endorsed the global call for an end to executions in Iran.
The announcement came on the 46th week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign by political prisoners in 26 Iranian prisons.
The signatories expressed concern that “Iranian authorities are using these executions for political purposes, seeking to instill fear and terror to prevent the potential outbreak of uprisings by the Iranian people. Thus, any execution carried out under the ruling theocracy should be recognized as political in nature.”
They also voiced support for opposition leader “Maryam Rajavi’s call to end executions in Iran and her steadfast commitment to abolishing the death penalty, as outlined in her Ten-Point Plan for Iran’s future over the past two decades,” noting that “She reaffirmed this call at the International Jurists’ Conference on August 24, 2024, in Paris.
The text of the “No to Executions” statement is as follows:
According to Amnesty International, Iran accounted for 74% of global executions in 2023, with 342 executions since the new president took office. In October alone, 152 prisoners were executed, including 10 women.
Among the executed were several political dissidents, including Reza Rasaei, arrested during the uprising in November 2022 in Shahriar, Tehran province.
In its latest report in March 2024, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran (FFMI) wrote: “The legal proceedings leading to death sentences were held in a summary fashion amid repeated calls by the State authorities to expedite the trials and carry out executions.” The FFMI has stated that “many of the serious human rights violations outlined in the present report amount to crimes against humanity, specifically those of murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence.”
In his latest report in July, titled “Atrocity Crimes and grave violations of human rights,” Professor Javaid Rehman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, described the 1988 massacre, during which 30,000 political prisoners were executed, as a “crime against humanity” and “genocide” and wrote, “There is considerable evidence that mass killings, torture and other inhumane acts against members of the PMOI were conducted with genocidal intent.”
Iranian authorities are using these executions for political purposes, seeking to instill fear and terror to prevent the potential outbreak of uprisings by the Iranian people. Thus, any execution carried out under the ruling theocracy should be recognized as political in nature.
Unfortunately, on the global stage, the lack of response to ongoing suppression, massacres, and executions over previous decades has emboldened the clerical regime to persist in its suppression and torture, particularly through executions.
Since the start of 2024, political prisoners in 20 Iranian prisons have been staging a hunger strike every Tuesday as part of the “No to Executions” campaign to halt executions in Iran. This campaign is expanding within Iranian prisons. Additionally, a significant movement has emerged outside of Iran to support this cause.
Against this backdrop, we endorse and support Maryam Rajavi’s call to end executions in Iran and her steadfast commitment to abolishing the death penalty, as outlined in her Ten-Point Plan for Iran’s future over the past two decades. She reaffirmed this call at the International Jurists’ Conference on August 24, 2024, in Paris.
1,500 Prominent International Figures Support the “No to Execution” Campaign in Iran
October 10 – International Day Against the Death Penalty
Over 1,500 prominent political, judicial, religious, and social figures Support the “No to Execution” call in Iran
October 10, 2024 – More than 1,500 prominent personalities from 78 countries across five continents, representing various political affiliations, have signed a statement in support of the “No to Execution” campaign in Iran, initiated by Iranian communities in Europe, the Iran Human Rights Monitor, and human rights organizations.
The signatories include over 450 current members of parliaments from various parties, as well as 34 political leaders, including former presidents and prime ministers, and nearly 60 former ministers.
Nobel Prize laureates, ambassadors, judges of European courts and the International Court of Justice, former UN rapporteurs, and experts in human rights, international law, international humanitarian law, crimes against humanity, and genocide, as well as elected representatives and artists, are also among the signatories.
The following is the full text of the statement:
Global Call for “No to Executions” in Iran
According to Amnesty International, “Iran alone accounted for 74% of all recorded executions” in the world in 2023. This alarming trend has intensified after the new president took office. In August 2024 alone, over 100 prisoners, including 10 women, have been executed, indicating the persistence of this pattern.
Among the executed were several political dissidents, including Reza Rasaei, arrested during the uprising in November 2022 in Shahriar, Tehran province.
In its latest report in March 2024, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran (FFMI) wrote: “The legal proceedings leading to death sentences were held in a summary fashion amid repeated calls by the State authorities to expedite the trials and carry out executions.” The FFMI has stated that “many of the serious human rights violations outlined in the present report amount to crimes against humanity, specifically those of murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence.”
In his latest report in July, titled “Atrocity Crimes and grave violations of human rights,” Professor Javaid Rehman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, described the 1988 massacre, during which 30,000 political prisoners were executed, as a “crime against humanity” and “genocide” and wrote, “There is considerable evidence that mass killings, torture and other inhumane acts against members of the PMOI were conducted with genocidal intent.”
Iranian authorities are using these executions for political purposes, seeking to instill fear and terror to prevent the potential outbreak of uprisings by the Iranian people. Thus, any execution carried out under the ruling theocracy should be recognized as political in nature. Unfortunately, on the global stage, the lack of response to ongoing suppression, massacres, and executions over previous decades has emboldened the clerical regime to persist in its suppression and torture, particularly through executions.
Since the start of 2024, political prisoners in 20 Iranian prisons have been staging a hunger strike every Tuesday as part of the “No to Executions” campaign to halt executions in Iran. This campaign is expanding within Iranian prisons. Additionally, a significant movement has emerged outside of Iran to support this cause.
Against this backdrop, we endorse and support Maryam Rajavi’s call to end executions in Iran and her steadfast commitment to abolishing the death penalty, as outlined in her Ten-Point Plan for Iran’s future over the past two decades. She reaffirmed this call at the International Jurists’ Conference on August 24, 2024, in Paris.
