Iran continues to hand down death sentences as its judiciary said Tuesday it would “punish severely” women who violate strict dress codes, while the United Nations warned Tehran was trying to quell protests with the death penalty.
Demonstrations have swept across Iran since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16 after she was arrested in Tehran on charges of violating dress codes that require women to wear the headscarf.
After nearly four months of protests in which Iran hanged four people for their part in the riots, the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva said that executions in Iran without due process of law amounted to “state-sanctioned killings.”
Since the protests began, the vice squads tasked with enforcing the hijab rules have become less visible, with many women taking to the streets bareheaded.
But as the demonstrations continue, the Attorney General on Tuesday issued a directive ordering “the police to severely punish any violation of the hijab,” the Mehr news agency reported.
“The courts should sentence violators, as well as fine them with additional penalties, such as exile, bans from certain professions and job closures,” Mehr quoted the judiciary as saying.
Death sentences are on the rise
Iran’s judiciary said on Tuesday it had sentenced another person to death in connection with the protests, while Javad Ruhi was found guilty on charges of “corruption on earth.”
Rukhi was found guilty of “leading a group of rioters”, “inciting people to create danger”, as well as “apostasy by desecrating the Quran by burning it”, according to the judicial news site Mizan Online.
The verdict, which is still subject to appeal, has raised the total number of people sentenced to death in connection with the protests to 18.
Of those 18 confirmed, four are already dead and six are awaiting retrial.
However, Oslo-based Iranian Human Rights (IHR) reports that at least 109 protesters currently in custody have been sentenced to death or face charges that could lead to the death penalty.
Iran has blamed hostile foreign forces for the unrest, and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that the authorities are treating those involved in the “unrest” “seriously and fairly”.
In an updated death toll, the IHR said on Monday that 481 protesters, including 64 minors, have been killed since the unrest began.
Iranian authorities say hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed.
“Strike with fear”
The UN has warned that Iran is using the death penalty to intimidate the public and stifle dissent.
“The Iranian government is using criminal prosecution and the death penalty to punish individuals participating in protests and to instill fear in the population to suppress dissent, in violation of international human rights law,” UN Human Rights Representative Volker Türk said.
“Using criminal procedures to punish people for exercising their fundamental rights, such as participating in or organizing demonstrations, is tantamount to state-sanctioned murder,” Turk added.
The repressions and executions caused global outrage and new Western sanctions against Tehran.
Human rights groups have also accused Iran of extracting confessions under duress and denying due process to thousands of those arrested.
Iran is second only to China in its use of the death penalty, with at least 314 people executed in 2021, according to London-based human rights group Amnesty International.
