The voice of Mehrab Abdollahzadeh, despite a crackly line, was clear and remarkably steady from his death row cell in western Iran. Speaking quickly, as if time was running out, his message was one of desperation.
“You are hearing my voice from Oromiyeh Central Prison, and this may be the last time you hear it,” he stated in a voice note obtained by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network. “From the very first day of my arrest, they forced confessions out of me through torture and threats, confessions that were entirely false. None of the charges against me are true. They know it, and God knows it. I am innocent.”
Mehrab was arrested in 2022 amidst nationwide protests following the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, who had been detained for not wearing her veil properly. He was accused of involvement in the killing of a member of Iran’s Basij militia force. After 42 months, he was executed earlier this month, part of what human rights groups describe as a surge in executions of individuals on political and security charges.
Rise in Executions Reported
Since late February, the UN says it has verified the execution of at least 32 political prisoners. This marks a sharp year-on-year increase, with Amnesty International reporting 45 executions on politically-motivated charges across the whole of 2025 (note: original text states 2025, likely a typo for 2024 or 2023).
The UN’s Human Rights Office has warned that the death penalty is increasingly being used to silence political dissent. Several individuals executed this year were accused of spying for Israel or the CIA, while others were reportedly affiliated with an exiled opposition group. Fourteen were arrested in connection with the uprising in January this year, which was reportedly suppressed with lethal force, leading to thousands of deaths.
Nassim Papayianni of Amnesty International stated, “In Iran, the authorities carry out executions by hanging. They carry them out at dawn. People in Iran have been waking up to near-daily announcements of executions.” She added, “They weaponise the death penalty as a tool of political repression, to instil fear among the population, and essentially crush and stifle any dissent that there might be.”
While some executions are announced publicly, a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office expressed concern to the BBC that others might be occurring in secret. Last year, Amnesty International reported Iran carried out 2,159 executions, the highest number since 1989, with the vast majority for drugs-related offences or murder. The UN fears this figure could be even higher this year.
Authorities’ Stance and Human Rights Concerns
According to Kaveh Kermanshahi of the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, the Iranian authorities, through increased use of the death penalty, are attempting to restore authority after their image was reportedly damaged by the January uprising and regional tensions. He stated, “At a time when it is confronting multiple internal and external crises, it is attempting, through intensified repression and an increase in executions, to stage a display of power and project the message: ‘I am still here, and I still control the situation.'”
Late last month, state-run television reported on the execution of Sasan Azadvar, a 21-year-old karate champion from Isfahan. He had been convicted of “moharabeh” or “waging war against God,” and “effective collaboration with the enemy” for allegedly attacking police forces during January’s protests. He was shown confessing to using a stick to break a police car window and asking for petrol to set it on fire. However, he was not accused of any lethal offence, which, under international law, is the legal threshold for the use of the death penalty.
Iranian authorities did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment on their increased use of the death penalty or claims of torture. On April 30, however, the head of Iran’s judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, dismissed international criticism of death sentences linked to January’s unrest, asserting that his courts would not be swayed.
Patterns of Concern
Human rights activists highlight disturbing patterns, noting that the death sentence is reportedly disproportionately used against members of the country’s minorities. Erfan Shakourzadeh, a 29-year-old master’s student, was hanged on May 11. Iran’s judiciary stated he had been convicted of sharing classified information with Israeli and US intelligence.
However, the Norway-based Hengaw human rights organization published a note they say he wrote before his death: “I was arrested on fabricated espionage charges and, after eight and a half months of torture and solitary confinement, was forced into a false confession. Do not let another innocent life be taken in silence.” Hengaw expressed deep concern over the speed of trials, sentencing, and executions, alongside a “complete lack of transparency” in judicial proceedings.
Aywar Shekhi of Hengaw told the BBC, “The Islamic Republic continues its systematic repression of the population by arbitrarily accusing dissidents and critics of being ‘Israeli spies’ without presenting credible evidence or guaranteeing fair trial standards,” adding that “many lives are at risk.”
In his final voice message, Mehrab Abdollahzadeh described the psychological toll of being on death row: “A condemned person thinks every single night and day that at any moment, they might be called and taken away to be executed. A condemned person can only find a sliver of peace after 1am at night, perhaps letting go of their racing thoughts to sleep for two or three hours.” The 29-year-old Kurdish shop owner was executed, according to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, without prior warning to his relatives or lawyers, and his body has not been returned to his family.
#Iran #HumanRights #Executions #DeathPenalty #PoliticalPrisoners #AmnestyInternational #UnitedNations #KurdistanHumanRightsNetwork #MahsaAmini #JudicialSystem
Leave a Reply