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Iranwire – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk says he is alarmed by the “sharp spike” in the use of the death penalty in Iran, including the executions of two men earlier this week.
“The right to due process and a fair trial for all defendants must be adhered to. I am also deeply disturbed by reports of forced confessions obtained under duress. Such confessions should not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings,” Türk said in a statement on January 24.
On January 23, Mohammed Ghobadlou became the ninth person to be executed in connection to the 2022 nationwide protests. Farhad Salimi, a Kurdish man, was executed on the same day after spending 14 years in detention.
The two executions brough to at least 54 the number of people put to death in the country so far this year.
According to Human Rights Watch, at least 11 prisoners in Iran are at risk of imminent execution.
Türk urged the government to enact an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty, with a view to abolishing the practice, which the UN official said “is not consistent with the most fundamental of rights – the right to life.”
Nearly three quarters of the countries in the world have abolished or introduced a moratorium on the death penalty either in law or in practice.
