Iran executed at least 975 people last year, the highest number since 2015, UN report says
U.N. deputy human rights commissioner Nada Al-Nashif, who presented the report to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council on Wednesday, urged Iran to halt all executions as a first step toward a ban.
She also called for urgent diplomatic negotiations to end the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel.
The 975 people executed in 2024 surpassed the estimated 834 in 2023 and was the highest rate of executions since 2015, said the report by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Four of the executions were carried out publicly. Iran carries out executions by hanging.
Of those executed, 52% were for drug-related offenses, 43% for murder, 2% for sexual offenses and 3% for security-related offenses, the report said.
The number of women executed also increased. According to information received by the U.N. human rights office, at least 31 women were reported to have been executed in 2024, up from at least 22 in 2023. Among those 31 women were 19 reportedly executed for murder, including nine convicted of killing their husbands in cases involving domestic violence, forced marriage or child marriage.
Also among those executed were women and men connected to protests that began in September 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was arrested by Iran's morality police and accused of not wearing her head covering correctly.
The report also said a disproportionate number of those executed were from Iran's minorities, with at least 108 Baluch prisoners and 84 Kurdish prisoners among those executed last year.
Citing information received by the human rights office, the report said at least 31 people, including political dissidents, were executed for national security-related offenses such as spying for Israel.
The rights office said it also received reports of torture, arbitrary detention and trials that failed to comply with due process and fair trial standards.
As for the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, the report said information received by the rights office found that at least 125 journalists were prosecuted for their work in 2024. At least 40 female journalists were prosecuted or summoned for their reporting, the report said.
Al-Nashif said Iran has cooperated with the human rights office, but Guterres regrets that the government has denied access to the independent international fact-finding mission on Iran that the Human Rights Council established.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
Oklahoma ideology test for teachers from New York and California draws criticism
Oklahoma will require applicants for teacher jobs coming from California and New York to pass an exam that the Republican-dominated state's top education official says is designed to safeguard against 'radical leftist ideology,' but which opponents decry as a 'MAGA loyalty test.' Ryan Walters, Oklahoma's public schools superintendent, said Monday that any teacher coming from the two blue states will be required to pass an assessment exam administered by PragerU, an Oklahoma-based conservative nonprofit, before getting a state certification.
National Post
2 hours ago
- National Post
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas forms committee to draft constitution for 'Palestine'
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas on Monday evening issued a presidential decree establishing a committee to draft an interim constitution, the Ramallah-run Wafa news agency reported. Article content The move comes against the backdrop of France, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia declaring their intentions to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations meeting next month. Article content Article content 'President Abbas took this step in the context of preparations for holding general elections following the cessation of Israeli genocidal aggression on the Gaza Strip, the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Strip, and after the State of Palestine assumes responsibility in the Strip in the process of transition to Palestinian statehood,' the article states. Article content The last general P.A. election was held on Jan. 25, 2006, when the Hamas terrorist group won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council. Abbas, 89, was elected on Jan. 9, 2005 and is still serving what was to have been a four-year term ending in January 2009. Article content Jerusalem opposes a Palestinian state and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently stated that neither Hamas nor the P.A. can govern Gaza after the war's conclusion, saying on Saturday night that the next entity controlling the Strip 'will live in peace with Israel.' Article content Article content According to the Wafa report, the constitution-drafting committee is a step 'intended to lay the foundations for the establishment of the State of Palestine and its institutions through preparing a draft constitution that enshrines the constitutional principles of a democratic system of governance based on the rule of law, the separation of powers, the respect for and protection of rights and public freedoms, and the peaceful alternation of power.' Article content Article content Eight lawmakers from Israel's ruling Likud Party on Monday published an open letter to Netanyahu, calling on him to apply the country's civilian law to parts of the West Bank. Article content Article content The move 'is both a national imperative and a necessary response to growing international momentum for the recognition of a Palestinian state,' wrote signatories Dan Illouz, Ariel Kallner, Galit Distel-Atbaryan, Keti Shitrit, Avichay Boaron, Afif Abed, Moshe Passal and Hanoch Milwidsky. Article content Ilouz, who initiated the letter, told JNS: 'The moment to apply sovereignty is now. We have a stable right-wing government, a sympathetic American administration, and we are faced with a dangerous move by countries that are pushing for the establishment of a Palestinian terrorist state in the heart of the Land of Israel. Every delay comes at a price — in security, legitimacy and our national future. This is the time to decide.' Article content
Vancouver Sun
3 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
Vancouver appoints Alberta lawyer to look into complaint about change of city manager
Responding to a complaint from the public, the City of Vancouver has appointed an Alberta-based lawyer to review the process through which Vancouver's former city manager abruptly left his role last month and was promptly replaced. The office of Mayor Ken Sim says the complaint is 'completely baseless'. But the complainant says he is happy that the city is taking the matter seriously enough to appoint a respected lawyer to review it. The complaint was filed earlier this month by Robert Renger, a retired senior planner with the City of Burnaby who now sometimes writes and comments on civic affairs for local media outlets. Renger said he became concerned when he read comments from non-ABC council members quoted in media reports, suggesting they were not involved in discussions involving the departure last month of former city manager Paul Mochrie, or the hiring of Mochrie's replacement, Delta city manager Donny van Dyk, the following week. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. In his complaint, Renger wrote that based on the public statements of council members from outside the city's majority ABC party, 'the implication is that before council as a whole was asked to endorse (van Dyk's) hiring, it was discussed and agreed upon by the mayor and ABC councillors.' Further, Renger wrote, 'if the mayor obtained Mochrie's resignation by threatening firing as the alternative, or by offering a severance payout deal, that should previously have been approved by council.' The matter will be reviewed by Jamie Pytel, an Alberta-based lawyer who previously served as the City of Edmonton's integrity commissioner. Pytel will review the complaint instead of Vancouver's current integrity commissioner, Lisa Southern, who is in the final months of her time in the role. Southern, an outside lawyer working for the city on a contractual retainer basis, was appointed in January 2022 to a two-year term as Vancouver's first integrity commissioner, and she was re-appointed to a second term ending Dec. 31, 2025. Reached Monday, Southern said she has the authority to ask for the appointment of an ad-hoc commissioner, and has been doing so in recent weeks so as to allow her office to finish its active files in the remaining months of her term and in anticipation of transition to a new integrity commissioner. Renger said his concerns are informed by an investigative report released earlier this year from Southern's office, which found that park board commissioners elected with ABC had engaged in what amounted to inappropriate closed-door decision-making, breaching the city's 'open-meeting principle.' After Southern's report into the ABC park board commissioners was released publicly in February , ABC president Stephen Molnar responded by telling The Vancouver Sun that the party has no intention to stop caucusing in private, despite the commissioner's findings. This prompted a statement from B.C. Ombudsperson Jay Chalke, who called Molnar's comments 'a disturbing repudiation of the rule of law' and said the situation highlighted the need for the province to ensure effective oversight of municipal officials' conduct. Southern's investigation into the ABC park board commissioners was initiated by a complaint from their political rival, Green Coun. Pete Fry, who also filed a separate but similar complaint alleging the ABC councillors had violated open-meeting rules. That second investigation is still in progress. Reached Monday, Renger said he does not know whether any in appropriate closed-door meetings happened regarding the recent change of city manager, but he is glad the city agrees it's worth a look. 'It's possible the mayor made these decisions 100 per cent on his own, without talking to ABC,' Renger said. 'But it also seemed possible that there had been some sort of discussions with the rest of his caucus. So I thought it would be very good if the integrity commissioner could have a look at that.' In an emailed statement Monday, Sim's office said: 'There have been no inappropriate or closed door meetings related to the departure of Paul Mochrie or hiring of Donny van Dyk whatsoever. Any suggestions otherwise are completely baseless.' 'The complaint is based on second-hand rumours from what a resident heard in the media, not any sort of actual evidence,' said the statement, adding that Mochrie's departure was a mutual decision between him and the mayor, and van Dyk's hiring was 'made by a vote of Council and followed all established procedures for the hiring of a new city manager.' dfumano@
