The authorities carried out the hanging execution at dawn on Tuesday, December 14, 2021. The woman, identified as Masoumeh Zarei had been imprisoned for seven years on the charge of murder.
It is reported that none of the prison guards were willing to put the noose around her neck. Therefore, she had to wait for hours by the gallows before an agent came from outside and put the noose around her neck.
According to reports, Ms. Zarei was often beaten by her drug-addicted husband who was in relationship with other women.
This is the 128th woman executed by the Iranian regime since the summer of 2013.
The actual number of executions is much higher. The clerical regime carries out most executions in secret and out of the public eye. No witnesses are present at the time of execution but those who carry them out.
Iran holds the world’s top executioner record, with the highest number of citizens executed per capita. It is also the world’s chief executioner of women. An average of 15 women is executed in Iran every year.
The executions are grossly unfair as the regime’s rigid judicial system automatically seeks capital punishment for killing without taking into account the circumstances.
Most of the women executed in Iran in recent years have been hanged for murder, the majority of cases related to the killings of a husband or partner.
Many death row women convicted of murder have acted in self-defense in the face of violence directed against them.
Iran Human Rights Monitor calls on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Council and other institutions defending human rights to take urgent action to save the lives of Iranian prisoners on death row. The Iranian regime’s dossier of human rights violations must be referred to the UN Security Council. The leaders and officials of the clerical regime in Iran must face justice for four decades of committing crimes against humanity.
