Human Rights Watch (HRW) says at least 11 prisoners in Iran are at “imminent risk” of execution, most of whom are Kurdish.
In a statement dated January 23, the rights group said all 11 had been sentenced to death on political or security-related charges, which “under international law should never result in the death penalty, a grave violation of the right to life.”
Some of the prisoners were convicted of “corruption on earth” and moharebeh, which translates to “enmity against God.”
HRW urged the international community to “put pressure on Iran to end the use of the death penalty for such charges.”
“Iranian authorities are notorious for wielding the death penalty against people after unfair trials to instill fear into a population that has mobilized nationwide protests calling for fundamental reforms,” said Michael Page, HRW’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
The rights group identified eight of those at imminent risk as Anvar Khezri, Kamran Sheikha, Khosro Besharat, Pejman Fatehi, Vafa Azarbar, Mohammad Faramarzi, Mohsen Mazlum, and Reza Rasaee.
HRW’s statement comes after Iran executed Farhad Salimi, an ethnic Kurd, and Mohammad Qobadlou, a protester arrested during the antiestablishment unrest in 2022.
“Iran’s brutal government takes an especially harsh response to ethnic minority communities,” said Page.
HRW said Iranian authorities substantially increased the rates of executions in 2023. Some foreign-based Iranian human rights groups have said the Islamic republic executed more than 700 prisoners last year.
Citing an April 2023 report by the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights, HRW said ethnic minorities were disproportionately targeted in executions.
The report showed that, in 2022, the execution of ethnic Kurds, Azeris, and Baluchis had more than doubled compared to the previous year.
“This underscores the intensified targeting of minority communities with capital punishment,” HRW said.
