On August 6, Reza Rasaei was executed in Iran’s Dizel Abad prison in Kermanshah province. The authorities did not inform him, his family, or his lawyer in advance. His execution is linked to the “Woman Life Freedom” uprising of late 2022.
In response, Diana Eltahawy of Amnesty International said: ‘This execution shows once again that Iran’s criminal justice system is rotten to the core. The Iranian authorities are using the death penalty as a tool of political oppression, to spread fear among the population. It also shatters any illusion that progress on human rights will be made now that the country has a new president since last week.’
Criminal investigations
Diana Eltahawy: ‘The continued arbitrary executions of protesters in the aftermath of the ‘Woman Life Freedom’ uprising demonstrate once again that without constitutional, legal and policy reforms, human rights violations and impunity will continue. It also underscores the need for states to launch criminal investigations, based on the principle of universal jurisdiction, against anyone suspected of criminal responsibility for crimes under international law, including Iranian dignitaries.’
Background
Reza (Gholamreza) Rasaei was secretly executed on August 6, 2024 at 5:00 local time in Dizel Abad Prison in Kermanshah province. According to a reliable source, the authorities did not inform Reza Rasaei, his family, or his lawyer in advance. Within hours of informing his family of his execution, the authorities forced them to bury his body in a remote area far from his home and in the presence of security forces.
‘Confession’ through torture
Reza Rasaei was sentenced to death on 7 October 2023 after a grossly unfair trial, based on his coerced ‘confession’ extracted through torture and other ill-treatment, including beatings, electric shocks, suffocation and sexual violence. Reza Rasaei is the tenth person executed in connection with the ‘Woman Life Freedom’ uprising.
Wave of executions
In the wake of the uprising, Iranian authorities have ramped up their use of the death penalty, carrying out at least 853 executions in 2023. They have continued to do so at an alarming rate in 2024. At least 274 people have been put to death as of June 30 this year, according to the Abdorrahman Boroumand Centre for Human Rights in Iran.
Amnesty’s standpunt
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases, regardless of the nature of the crime, the perpetrator or the method used by the state to kill the prisoner. The organization has long called on the Iranian authorities to impose a moratorium on executions and ultimately abolish the death penalty.