By Alok Bhatt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
TEHRAN, Iran – Amnesty International recently published a study with statistical information regarding nations retaining a form of capital punishment. The late proliferation of judicial executions in Iran has invoked the apprehensions of numerous human rights groups, as it raises suspicions that the Iranian government is utilizing its capital punishment system as a mechanism by which it can quell political unrest and detractors of the state.
The temporal context of the surge in executions in Iran further suggests that the state has been using judicial executions to serve political purposes. Studies revealed a discernable rise in execution rates during last years tumultuous presidential elections. The widely publicized riots subsequent to the unfavorable outcome of the elections, which reinstated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president of Iran, caused much disorder in Iranian city streets and created an opportunity for people to voice their often suppressed opinions.
However, the opportunity created by the disorder in the streets did not entail the freedom to do so without punishment. Within the weeks beginning with the summer elections and ending with the actual inauguration of Ahmadinejad, it has been reported that approximately 112 individuals had been put to death. The executions also seemed served as a deterrent for political activism. Even if the executions did not actually eliminate enemies of the current regime,, they have the effect of conveying a morbid message to individuals and organizations speaking against the state.
Including the spike in executions done during the weeks surrounding Iran’s June elections, Amnesty International has reported that the Iranian government killed 388 people in the year 2009. Further studies demonstrate that the number of executions in Iran has multiplied nearly four-fold since Ahmadinejad became president five years ago. The execution statistics, if correct, signify that Iran under the presidency Ahmadinejad has seen the most capital punishment since the Islamic Revolution of the late 1970s.
The international community has taken significant steps to express its collective disdain towards the extensive use capital punishment. Multilateral UN documents contain articles either restricting or moving for the elimination of the death penalty in signatory states. Iran’s proliferation of judicial killing, and the purpose of these killings, signifies an abuse of power largely condemned and inhumane in its results.
For more information, please see:
Amnesty Int’l – Iran executions send chilling message – 30 March 2010
IOL News – Iran execution rates rising – 12 May 2008
Refworld – Execution date moved forward for Iranian young offender – 02 Febrary 2009
