Iran weaponising death penalty to crush dissent: UN

GENEVA: Iran is weaponising the death penalty, attempting to crush dissent by frightening the public with the execution of protesters, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

The Islamic republic has been rocked by a wave of protests since the death in custody on September 16 of Mahsa Amini, following the 22-year-old´s arrest for allegedly violating Iran´s strict dress code for women.

Tehran has executed four people in connection with the demonstrations, following expedited trials that did not meet the minimum guarantees of fair trial, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said.

“Criminal proceedings and the death penalty are being weaponised by the Iranian government to punish individuals participating in protests and to strike fear into the population so as to stamp out dissent, in violation of international human rights law,” OHCHR said.

Two further executions are scheduled imminently and at least 17 other individuals have reportedly been sentenced to death, said the office of Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“The weaponisation of criminal procedures to punish people for exercising their basic rights -- such as those participating in or organising demonstrations -- amounts to state-sanctioned killing,” Turk said in a statement.

OHCHR spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the UN was against the imposition of the death penalty in all circumstances. “However, in these instances, what we have seen is a lack of due process; charges that are completely spurious and don´t make sense,” she told a press briefing.