Groups Call for Urgent Global Reaction to “Chilling” Surge in Iran Executions

The Impact Iran coalition and 11 member organizations have urged the international community to take “robust action” against the “chilling surge in executions” by the Islamic Republic over the past month.

“These executions are deliberately designed to spread fear among the Iranian population and quash any form of dissent following the unprecedented nationwide protest movement that began eight months ago,” the groups said in a joint statement published on June 6.

The 12 signatories warned that the Iranian government “will continue its ruthless spree of executions unless States, the United Nations, and the international community dramatically and collectively increase the political costs associated with these acts.”

According to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group, the Islamic Republic executed at least 142 people in May, the highest monthly number since 2015.

It said that the number of executions across the country reached at least 307 since the beginning of the year, a 76 percent rise compared to the same period in 2022.

Many human rights advocates have accused the Iranian authorities of escalating executions to try to instill fear in society following months of nationwide protests sparked by the September death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.

The Islamic Republic has cracked down hard on the protest movement, killing more than 520 people during demonstrations and unlawfully detaining over 20,000 others, activists say. 

Following biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters.

“The recent executions in Iran demand an urgent and united response from the international community,” the 12 organizations led by Impact Iran said in their statement. 

“We cannot stand idly by while scores of people are being executed, death row inmates and their families (who may themselves be persecuted for advocating on behalf of their loved ones) are waiting in terror, human rights are trampled upon, and justice is denied,” they said. “The time for action is now.”