Iran on Sunday hanged 3 men sentenced to death for armed robbery, all of them executed in public in front of a crowd of onlookers, Iranian judiciary’s website Mizan reported.
It took place on January 13, in the city of Yasuj, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province.
The victims were identified by the state media as Keykavous Jamal Sirat, Rostam Rezaei, and Abdullah Johari.
It followed Thursday’s hanging of a 31 year old man on sodomy charges in the southwestern city of Kazeroon.
In August 2018, Iran hanged six men convicted of stealing 10kg of gold jewelry using cold weapons, according to the state media.
Iran is the world’s leading executioner per capita, with many hangings carried out in public. At least 285 executions including 11 in public were carried out in the period spanning December 2017 to December 2018. The real numbers were likely to be much higher as use of capital punishment in Iran is often shrouded in secrecy.
Most of those executed during the period in question were sentenced to death for smuggling, narcotics, and murder. However, human rights groups say capital punishment is not limited to violent crimes. Adultery, non-violent drug offenses, sodomy (consensual or otherwise), apostasy (conversion to another religion from Islam), insulting the Prophet Muhammad, and vague national security crimes like ‘sowing corruption on Earth’ are all punishable by death.
International human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned Iran for its high rate of executions.
The UN General Assembly in December 2018 approved a resolution criticizing Iran’s human rights record.
The resolution had condemned the systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the regime and the alarmingly high number of executions, as well as torture and cruel treatment in prisons.
