UN experts urge Iran to stop indicting protesters with charges punishable by death

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) - UN experts on Friday urged Iranian authorities to stop indicting people with charges punishable by death for participation in peaceful demonstrations.

Eight people were charged on Oct. 29 by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran province, with crimes carrying the death penalty, including “waging war against God” and “corruption on earth,” the experts said in a statement.

They urged Iranian authorities to stop using the death penalty to squash protests.

On Nov. 6, 227 members of parliament called on the judiciary to act decisively against people arrested during the protests and to carry out punishment carrying the death penalty, experts noted.

Since nationwide protests in November 2019, the imposition of the death penalty has been widely used against individuals for participating in protests under unsubstantiated murder charges or vague national security charges.

In 2020, at least two individuals were executed following their participation in protests.

On Oct. 31, the Tehran prosecutor announced that some 1,000 indictments had been issued in connection with recent “riots” in Tehran province alone.

The prosecutor said trials were scheduled in the Islamic Revolutionary Court for cases against several individuals.

Public trials would take place “in the coming days,” the prosecutor said.

The UN experts said: “With the continuous repression of protests, many more indictments on charges carrying the death penalty and death sentences might soon be issued.”

“We fear that women and girls, who have been at the forefront of protests, and especially women human rights defenders, who have been arrested and jailed for demanding the end of systemic and systematic discriminatory laws, policies and practices might be particularly targeted,” the experts said.

Thousands of peaceful protesters have been arrested since Sept. 16, including many women, children and youth, lawyers, human rights defenders, and activists, the statement said, adding that at least 51 of them were journalists.

Fourteen were reportedly released on bail, while 37 remain detained. Many of the arrested individuals remain in incommunicado detention, it added.

“The crackdown on peaceful demonstrations has continued unabated, and the death toll has risen to at least 304 people killed, including 24 women and 41 children. Baluchi and Kurdish minorities have continued to be disproportionately affected by the repression,” the experts said.