A report on the violations of human rights in Iran and the protests rallies held across the country in January 20- February 20, 2022
26-February-2022
Category: executions، Freedom of Expression، Labor and guilds، Prisoners
25-February-2022
Newsgroup: Freedom of Expression – Execution – Prisoners – Repression – Workers and Guilds – Teachers –
Breathing in Confinement: The Statistics Center of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran presents a report on human rights violations in Iran and the protests rallies held across the country over the past month.
Execution of at least 21 prisoners
Issuance and execution of at least 395 inhumane sentences of flogging
Issuance of 43 years, 8 months and 1 day of imprisonment
675 protest rallies held by various groups of people across the country
A look at the legal loopholes and the grounds which resulted in the horrible honor killing happened in February 2022
One of the most painful events in month of February was the horrific crime of decapitating a 17-year-old girl named Mona Heydari and carrying her severed head on display in the street by her husband. Mona was a girl from Ahvaz who was forced to marry as a child and had a 3-year-old child when was killed. The so called honor killing is not only a product of a patriarchal culture and the idea of ownership of women, but also a consequence of the regressive policies of the ruling system which encourages child marriage. In numerous similar cases, such crimes have been encouraged by the government authorities and officials, and the perpetrators have been spared punishment. The honor killings are rooted in inhumane laws and the legal gaps which pave the ways for such crimes including:
- 1-Legal permission for child marriage which violates the rights of children and has no compatibility with today’s developed societies. It should be noted that the legal age for voting is 18, while marriage of a 9-year-old girl can be legally permitted and justified! Obviously, the marriage is not a choice made by the children, but a decision made by their parents or guardians, and a child at this age is not able to make the right choice or decide about their future. The child marriage is mainly caused by the Islamic Republic’s propaganda which actively promotes it.
- 2- According to Article 630 of the Islamic Penal Code: Whenever a man sees his wife committing adultery with another man and knows that the woman is obedient, he can kill them on the scene. Needless to say, such a law calls into question the existence of the judiciary and the courts, where the “man” is personally authorized to commit murder.
- 3- Paragraph C of Article 302 of the Islamic Penal Code explicitly reads that except in cases of reluctance and being forced, the blood of adultery perpetrators is wasted, and the husband is permitted to kill them, and that he will be exempted from retaliation and payment of diyat (blood money). Of course, such authorization encourages and promotes committing the so-called honor killings and justifies similar killings.
- 4-Failure of the government authorities to categorize honor killings as premeditated murder, and their abuse of the prevailing culture and false social traditions has ended up in the promotion of honor killing which is supported by the authorities (including judicial officials, rulers and clerics), and even the victim’s families which has guaranteed the impunity of the perpetrators.
Conclusion: In view of the above, as long as the government supports the extremely regressive and misogynistic culture of Honor killing and enacts and enforces laws to protect it and spares the perpetrators from punishment, unfortunately such crimes will be repeated in future.
Statistics on issuance and execution of death sentences in the past month and correction of statistics released in the previous month
It is noteworthy that as the executions are mostly carried out in secret, and because of severe news censorship, some of the death sentences carried out in late December and early January, were later revealed by human rights activists. The number of death sentences issued or upheld by the Supreme Court has been documented as a total of 12 cases and the total number of death sentences issued and carried out in the previous month has been documented as 52 cases (with names and identities of the executed prisoners). In addition, a case of execution, which had taken place on July 3, 2021, was revealed in late January, and involved the execution of a prisoner named Idris Shahbakhsh in Zahedan Prison, who was hanged for murder. Therefore, the provided figures are not complete and are subject of amendment with the disclosure of new cases.
According to the Statistics Center of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, from January 20- February 20, twenty one executions were carried out and 7 new death sentences were issued, bringing the total to 28. It is worth mentioning that none of the executed sentences were announced by the state media.
Flogging sentences in the past one month
Flogging is a punishment that, in addition to physical pain, bears psychological suffering and humiliation of the convict. Flogging has been justified in the laws of the Islamic Republic under the title of “hadd and ta’zir”. In fact, “hadd and ta’zir” is a torture that is legally justified in the Islamic Penal Code.
On May 7, 1975, the Senate passed the Law mandating the country to join the Convention on Prohibition of Torture and other Cruel and Inhuman Treatment. However, based on the available evidence, the government of the time did not practically comply with the Covenant. After the revolution, although the Islamic Republic has not withdrawn from the convention to date, but in practice, the punishment of flogging is in use as a religious and legal punishment by the Sharia courts. Whereas the punishment of flogging is in clear contradiction with human rights conventions. According to Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948): No-one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also states: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Undoubtedly, the punishment of flogging is an example of humiliating punishments and denial of human dignity. In the Islamic Republic, flogging, in addition to being widely used as a tool of torture and for obtaining forced confessions from the prisoners for making spurious cases against them, is also recognized as a legal punishment in the laws of the Islamic Republic.
From January 20 to February 20, 2022, according to the Statistics Center of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, sentences of a total of 395 lashes were either carried out or issued. The sentence of 74 lashes, which was issued following the complaint of Jahangirzadeh, a member of parliament from Damghan, against a media activist named Shapur Waghar, was carried out on January 22, 2022. Amir Hossein Moradi, a political prisoner, was released from prison after serving 25 lashes for absenteeism after his leave had been over. Political prisoner Narges Mohammadi was also sentenced to 74 lashes. In addition to imprisonment, a convict of financial crimes was also sentenced to 74 lashes. Another defendant was sentenced to 148 lashes for “robbery with harassment.”
Statistics on protests rallies by various groups of people held from January 20 to February 20, 2022
During the last month, following the increasing economic pressures and the poor living conditions, the protest rallies staged by various groups of people showed a significant growth, with 675 gatherings took place in this period breaking the record of the protest rallies held since March 2021.
The most important, widespread, and nationwide protests held in last month by teachers. The protests took the form of either sit-ins at workplaces or in street protest rallies and demonstrations which evoked the support of students as well as other groups of people. The protests were so large that made it impossible to accurately estimate the true statistics. For example, according to independent sources, the teachers’ sit-in on January 30 took place in over 11,000 locations in more than 300 cities, towns and villages. Existing statistics, however, describes the location of the protests as a whole in the cities where the rallies took place. For instance, in large cities, protest sit-ins were held in all areas and most schools, but the figures were released as the cities where in the rallies took place.
Teachers protest against the passage of a law in parliament which does not meet their expectations and the country’s economic situation. However, the government is neither willing nor able to respond appropriately to teachers’ protests or to solve their problems. And therefore, the authorities have taken a repressive approach. In many cases, the government tried to prevent the formation of protests or to disperse the protesters by deploying repressive police forces. A number of teachers’ union activists were arrested and in some cases sentenced to prison. On February 19, teachers rallied across the country to reaffirm their commitment to their demands.
Over the past month, other groups of people, including retirees and pensioners, workers, drivers, nurses and health care workers, shareholders, and others, have been protesting and demanding their rights and their problems to be addressed.
Statistics of detainees and issued detention sentences
According to the Statistics Center of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran , 129 arrests have been reported in the past month, showing an increase compared to the previous month. Sentences of a total of 42 years, 8 months and 1 day in prison have been either issued or upheld for political prisoners.
Some of the arrests made in last month are as follows:
During the past month, following the nationwide protest rallies held by teachers, some of the teachers’ union activists were arrested in various cities, including Shiraz, Tehran, Marivan, Jolfa, Islamshahr, Karaj, and Aligudarz.
At least 20 teachers, including Ms. Shabnam Baharfar, Zahra Ajorlou, Azadeh Mokhtari and Mr. Salemi, Shahriari and Ruhollah Mardani Jamshidi, were detained by security forces in Alborz and Lorestan provinces in a protest rally held by the employed and retired teachers on February 19.
Furthermore, a number of participants in the ceremony held on the occasion of the 40th day of the death of Baktash Abtin were arrested.
In addition, Kamal Palangi was also arrested for reporting the murder of his 7-year-old daughter. Mr. Palangi’s daughter was killed after police officers opened fire on his car without warning.