Just two days after the murder of these two prisoners of conscience by the Islamic Republic, the United Nation (UN) officially appointed Iran to Chair the UN Human Rights Council Social Forum. Hillel Neuer from the group UN Watch tweeted: “This year's theme is technology and promotion of human rights; Iran just hanged Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare for using social media to criticize religion.”  He called for opposition to the Iran’s UN appointment which he deemed “an insult to the tens of thousands of victims beaten, brutalized, tortured, raped and murdered by this regime.”

The uncanny timing of this UN appointment is objectively legitimizing or even giving a green light to the IRI's brutal repression and surge of executions.  Many progressive people in the world had placed hopes on appealing to institutions such as the UN – and were perhaps dismayed if not shocked by this UN action.  But it is a reality check and a reminder that the people of the world have our SHARED interests and that’s who we must rely on for justice.  Putting our hopes on reactionary governments (e.g., US, UK, EU, etc.) or on reactionary institutions (e.g., UN) is an illusion and leads to confusion and demoralization.

On May 6, a Swedish-Iranian dual citizen and Arab activist, Habib Chaab (or Asiod), was executed after a sham trial without evidence that convicted him of masterminding a terrorist attack in 2018 (which ISIL claimed credit for). Arabs are one of the many oppressed minorities in Iran that are severely repressed.  Then six Arab political prisoners, condemned earlier to the death penalty, were moved into solitary cells, a common precursor to execution.

The death penalty was also upheld on appeal for three protesters in Isfahan (see photo and caption below) from the Women, Life, Freedom uprising who were convicted solely on the basis of forced confessions under severe torture. They have been moved into solitary cells, and state TV is airing videos of their forced confessions.

These egregious murders and threats on political prisoners are taking place in the context of a horrific surge in executions of so-called “common” prisoners, most of them convicted on drug-related charges and about 40% of them from the Kurdish and Balochi oppressed nationalities where the uprising has been particularly strong and persistent. In 2022 the largest numbers of the executed were for supposed “common crimes” of drug-related charges, followed by murder.^[3]‍

Three things to point out: First, due process for prisoners in Iran does not exist in any recognizable form as to innocent until proven guilty, impartial trial, access to lawyers and legal files, etc., etc.  So, EVERY conviction should be suspect. Second, it is against current international law to execute people for so-called drug related charges, and in Iran, even alcohol is deemed a drug. Lastly, any execution sets a horrible chill throughout society and is a means to terrorize the entire population.

Note that in 2022 the pace of “common prisoner” executions surged in the last three months of the year during the Women, Life, Freedom uprising^[4]. On top of the official executions, extra-official killings continue, with many people still forcibly disappeared since fall of 2022 and others found dead. For example, the body of revolutionary activist and laborer Sadegh Fouladivandi was found 18 days after his arrest in February, thrown in a canal with signs of torture and hanging.

Continuing Protests in Iran and Calls for Global Protests of Iran’s Executions

On May 5 and 12, 2023, the streets of Zahedan in the province of Sistan and Balochistan were once again filled with marchers, on the incredible 31^stand 32^nd weeks of continuous protests after Friday morning prayers. This time, on the heels of the execution of dozens of Baloch prisoners^[5], an additional slogan rang out: “Death to the Republic of Executions!” And on the evening of May 9, in front of Ghezal Hezar prison in Karaj (outside Tehran), family members of prisoners sentenced to death gathered to protest. They were met with tear gas, bullets fired above them, and truncheons: one was hospitalized with severe injuries. Protests outside the prisons where executions appear imminent have become more common, albeit still incipient and limited, as well as protest actions by prisoners themselves.z

Significantly, there are beginning calls by various political forces to immediately protest these executions and potential ones in different countries around the world. For example, an Instagram post by @azadi.daily called for protests on May 14 to Free Toomaj Salehi and ALL political prisoners which lists London; Washington DC; Paris and eight other cities in France; Italy; Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and more. (See IEC’s call for groundswell needed to #FreeToomaj.)

Among statements calling for opposition to the surge in executions, there is one from the Mothers of Laleh Park, an organization of mothers of protesters killed by the Islamic Republic, formed after suppression of the Green Movement in 2009. It was reposted by Burn The Cage and translated to English by IEC volunteers. It reads, in part:

“Execution is a deliberate murder by the State! Let's all stand up against it! We, the mothers of Iran’s Laleh Park, as a voice of the Iranian people's justice movement, consider execution to be an intentional murder by the state and a criminal act by the Islamic Republic of Iran. We strongly condemn these crimes and ask all freedom loving people to rise up and take urgent action for abolition of the death penalty, and for saving the lives of freedom fighters on the streets and in prisons. We are together and alongside with the "Woman, Life, Freedom" uprising, demanding freedom and liberation from dictatorship and elimination of any discrimination and injustice.”

On May 8, six women prisoners in Evin Prison in Tehran bravely issued a statement. It includes:

“Charges of ‘corruption on earth’ and ‘war on god’ and issuance of death sentences and its execution across the country from Sistan and Balochistan, Khuzestan, Azerbaijan, Kurdistan to Tehran, is accelerated, and without fair trials lacks legal and moral direction…

“[T]he government will not achieve anything by suppressing people and creating fear and terror through killing, and it is doomed to failure. We urge international organizations and the world media to support the people and put pressure on the Islamic Republic to prevent the continuation of government violence and to help the people of Iran achieve their will.”

In sum, the serious danger of an intensified wave of executions, including of political prisoners, emphasizes the importance of endorsing and promoting the demands of the Emergency Appeal of the International Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners, now signed by nearly 5,000 people in 50 countries, including renowned people of conscience such as Noam Chomsky, Shirin Ebadi, Dan Ellsberg, Raymond Lotta, Gloria Steinem and Ariel Dorfman.

All justice loving people who had been inspired by, and had supported, the courageous Women, Life, Freedom uprising in Iran must intensify efforts to speak and act in protest of these executions and to free all Iran’s political prisoners with urgency.

^[1] Daily toll on Iran Human Rights, based on information from contacts in Iran and media. Islamic Republic of Iran often does not publicize execution data. See IHR’s Annual Report on the Death Penalty 2022.

^[2]Three Hangings in Three Days: The Islamic Republic Continues its Killing Spree, Center for Human Rights in Iran, May 8, 2023.

^[3]Iran’s Execution Rate Rises Alarmingly with at Least 57 Executions in Eleven Days, Human Rights Activists News Agency, May 9, 2023. Article cites statistics from HRANA’s 2022 report.

^[4]Annual Report on the Death Penalty 2022, Iran Human Rights.

^[5]Almost half of those executed over the previous week were Balochis, who make up only about 4% of the population of Iran.