A group of United Nations human rights experts has urged the Iranian government to halt the execution of Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani, whose death sentences were recently upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court despite allegations of torture and forced confessions.
In a statement posted on the UN’s official X (formerly Twitter) account, the experts emphasized that executing individuals for broadly defined national security offenses without ensuring fair trial guarantees violates international human rights law.
The statement was endorsed by:
Mai Sato, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran
Margaret Satterthwaite, UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
Morris Tidball-Binz, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Mai Sato’s Direct Appeal for a Stay of Execution
On Tuesday, February 25, 2025 Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, also published a statement in Persian on her personal X account, calling for an immediate halt to the executions. She wrote:
“I call on the Islamic Republic of Iran to stop the execution of Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani. Their death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court following trials reportedly marred by torture and forced confessions.”
Amnesty International’s Prior Warning
This appeal follows a January 2025 statement by Amnesty International, which also demanded an immediate halt to the executions. Amnesty reported that Ehsani and Hassani had been subjected to torture, prolonged solitary confinement, and other forms of ill-treatment to coerce confessions. The organization also condemned their trial at Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, as highly unfair.
Unlawful Detention and Supreme Court Approval
On January 26, 2025, the two political prisoners were abruptly and violently transferred to high-security cells in Unit 3 of Ghezel Hesar Prison. Their lawyers announced the next day that their execution had been temporarily halted after the Supreme Court accepted a request for judicial review.
However, the original death sentences had been issued in late September 2024 by Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. On January 7, 2025, the Supreme Court upheld the sentences without allowing an appeal process, raising serious concerns about judicial irregularities and due process violations.
The situation remains critical, with global human rights advocates closely monitoring developments in the case.
