The United Nations Human Rights Office reacted to the execution of two young men, a 17-year-old and a 22-year-old, by the Iranian government, in a statement that was released on Tuesday, November 28.
The statement comes after the execution of Hamidreza Azari on Friday, November 24. Azari, who was convicted of murder during a brawl in May 2023, was hanged in a prison in the eastern town of Sabzevar in the Razavi Khorasan province. According to a Norway-based human rights group Iran Human Rights, Azari was 16 years old when he committed the crime and 17 at the time of execution.
Although Iran is also one of the few countries that executes juvenile offenders, the execution of Azari, according to the UN Human Rights Office, was the first reported execution of a minor since the beginning of 2023. Liz Throssell, the office’s spokesperson who issued the statement, said Iran violates its commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child that prohibit death sentences and their implementation for crimes committed by individuals below the age of 18, to which the Islamic Republic is a signatory.
Iran has the second-highest execution rate after China. The Islamic Republic’s justice system enforces the death penalty for a variety of crimes, including drug offenses, national security concerns, blasphemy, and anti-government activities including participation in protests.
At least 684 people have been executed this year, the highest number of executions in Iran since 2015. The figures for 2023 also show a significant increase from previous years, which were 582 in 2023 and 333 in 2021.
On November 23, a day before the execution of Azari, Iran also executed Milad Zohrevand, a young man in his early 20s, in connection with the nationwide protests that erupted in September 2022. Zohrevand’s execution, which the UN says lacked proper due process, was the eighth case of execution in relation to last year’s protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd woman who died in police custody. The Iranian government responded to the protests with a severe crackdown, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people and the arrests of thousands more, according to human rights groups. According to the UN, Zorevand’s parents were also arrested after his execution.
Human rights groups worry that Iran’s restrictions on civil and political rights, including detention, torture, and execution of anti-government protestors and activists particularly target marginalized groups. A report by Iran Human Rights found that ethnic minorities in Iran have been disproportionately targeted by recent executions. The report found that 130 people were executed in four provinces with large ethnic minority populations in 2022. This is more than double the number of executions in those provinces in 2021 and 2020.
Human rights groups believe that Iran often uses its strict justice measures, particularly the death penalty, to solidify the regime’s grip on power by silencing critics and punishing dissent. The recent statement by the UN Human Rights Office called on the government in Tehran “to stop using criminal procedures to punish political activists and others for exercising their rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly,” a plea that has gone unanswered before.
