The protests erupted in September 2022 following the dying of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was arrested and, in line with her household, crushed by police for failing to put on a hijab correctly.
A repressive crackdown by the federal government shortly adopted, together with mass arrests, shutting down web entry and violence towards protesters.
A lot of protesters have additionally been executed following what critics have decried as hasty sham trials within the nation's Revolutionary Courtroom.
However the executions are shrouded in secrecy, with the trials held behind closed doorways and sentences typically not introduced till lengthy afterwards.
So what can we really know concerning the executions in Iran?
Is Iran executing protestors?
Sure. We all know of 4 Iranians who've been executed after participating in protests.
The primary, Mohsen Shekari, was hanged on December 8. Majdireza Rahanavard was put to dying 4 days later, and this 12 months there have been two extra recognized executions of protesters: Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Mohammad Hosseini, each on January 7.
Based on the United Nations, all 4 had been killed with out their households being notified.
On January 10, the United Nations Workplace of the Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) stated two extra folks – 19-year-old Mohammad Boroughani and 22-year-old Mohammad Ghobadiou – had been going through "imminent" executions, and that a additional 15 had been sentenced to dying.
Extra nonetheless are going through capital costs that would result in execution. The UNHCR places that quantity at "as much as 100", however the Heart for Human Rights in Iran (Iran HR) says there are much more.
"At the very least 109 protesters are at present prone to execution, dying penalty costs or sentences," it stated in a report on January 9.
"This can be a minimal as most households are beneath strain to remain quiet, the actual quantity is believed to be a lot increased."
One other high-profile execution, that of twin Iranian-British nationwide Ali Reza Akbari which drew large worldwide condemnation, isn't straight linked to the protests.
Nonetheless, the previous high-ranking defence ministry official was an in depth ally of high safety official Ali Shamkhani, and his hanging suggests an ongoing energy wrestle inside Iran's regime because it tries to comprise the demonstrations.
It is value noting that the variety of folks killed within the protests far exceeds the quantity executed. The entire protester dying toll, in line with Iran HR, is not less than 481, a determine which incorporates 64 kids and 35 girls.
Nonprofit organisation Human Rights Activists in Iran places the quantity even increased at 525, plus 68 pro-regime forces who've been killed.
What are folks executed for in Iran?
Iran has various capital crimes which can be extraordinarily imprecise which it has used to convict protesters.
Shekari, for instance, was accused of injuring a paramilitary officer in the course of the demonstrations, however he was convicted of "moharebeh" – waging battle towards god.
Different related crimes embody "efsad-e fel arz" – corruption on Earth – and "baghi" – armed insurrection.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk says such costs fall nicely wanting "essentially the most severe crimes" as required by worldwide human rights legislation for the dying penalty.
He stated the executions are tantamount to state-sanctioned killing.
"The weaponisation of prison procedures to punish folks for exercising their fundamental rights – resembling these taking part in or organising demonstrations - quantities to state-sanctioned killing," Türk stated on January 10.
Trials are sometimes held behind closed doorways and, in line with Amnesty Worldwide, Iran has well-documented patterns of conducting "grossly unfair" authorized proceedings.
"Defendants are systematically disadvantaged of entry to attorneys of their selection in the course of the trial, are subjected to tortured and coerced confessions after which rushed to the gallows," Tara Sepehri Far, an Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch, stated.
How many individuals has Iran executed in 2022?
The entire variety of executions performed by Iran in 2022 is troublesome to search out, given it has solely simply ended.
Nonetheless, halfway via the 12 months, Amnesty Worldwide printed analysis at the side of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Centre for Human Rights which claimed authorities had gone on a "killing spree" and executed 251 folks between the beginning of January and finish of June – earlier than the anti-government protests even started.
If the second half of the 12 months contained an analogous quantity, it might make for essentially the most executions performed by Iran in a single 12 months in round half a decade.
The nation repeatedly has one of many highest execution charges on the planet. Based on information from Amnesty Worldwide, it has had the second-most confirmed executions behind China in each single 12 months from 2005-2021.
Are executions public in Iran?
Iran does conduct public executions, though there was a pause as a result of pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Nonetheless, Amnesty Worldwide stated they resumed final 12 months.
"The Iranian authorities carried out one public execution in 2022, none in 2021, one in 2020, 13 in 2019 and 13 in 2018," it stated.
"Official bulletins point out that in early 2022, not less than two different folks in Esfahan province and one individual in Lorestan province had been sentenced to be executed in public."
Nonetheless, not all executions are public and lots of are as an alternative shrouded in secrecy and misinformation.
Activists say Iranian authorities have developed subtle strategies of spreading disinformation on how, why and when executions can be carried out.
Civil rights activist Atena Daemi stated, for instance, that a number of Iranian information retailers had reported that activists on dying row had been launched, information that was refuted by the prisoners' households.
– With CNN, Related Press