At least five individuals in Iran are under sentence of death in connection with the “Woman Life Freedom” uprising of 2022, while at least 15 others are at risk of the death penalty and eight have been arbitrarily executed following unfair sham trials. The authorities have severely violated their fair trial rights and subjected many to torture and other ill treatment, including beatings, electric shocks, and sexual violence. Concerns of further protest-related executions are mounting amid a spike in the use of the death penalty with the authorities having executed at least 115 people in November alone.
take action:
- Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
- Click here to let us know the actions you took on Fifth Urgent Action 103.22. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.
contact information:
Head of judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei
c/o Embassy of Iran to the European Union, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt No. 15, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
Supreme Leader ‘Ali Khamenei
c/o Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
622 3rd Ave, 34th floor, New York, NY 10017
Email: [email protected]
sample letter:
Dear Mr. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei,
I am gravely concerned that at least 20 people are at risk of the death penalty in connection with the “Woman Life Freedom” nationwide protests of September-December 2022. Among them are at least five individuals – Manouchehr Mehman Navaz, Mansour Dahmardeh, Mohammad Ghobadlou, Mojahed (Abbas) Kourkouri and Reza (Gholamreza) Rasaei – currently under the sentence of death and at grave risk of execution following grossly unfair trials. At least one other – Mahan Sadrat (Sedarat) Madani – is facing a retrial on capital charges after his conviction and death sentence were quashed by the Supreme Court in December 2022 and his case returned to lower courts. At least two others – Saeed Shirazi and Abolfazl Mehri Hossein Hajilou have undergone trial on charges that carry the death penalty. The authorities have used torture-tainted “confessions” as evidence to issue convictions. Amnesty International has documented torture of four of those under sentence of death, through beatings, electric shocks, suffocation, sexual violence, and deliberate denial of healthcare.
I urge you to immediately quash all convictions and death sentences stemming from the protests, refrain from seeking further death sentences, and ensure that anyone charged with a recognizable criminal offense is tried in proceedings meeting international fair trial standards without recourse to the death penalty. I call for the release of all those detained for peacefully exercising their human rights. I urge you to provide detainees access to their families and lawyers of their own choosing, protect them from further torture and other ill-treatment, and investigate torture allegations, bringing anyone found responsible to justice in fair trials.
Yours sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
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