At the same time as the nationwide protests happening in Iranian cities, 8 prisoners have been executed in order to heighten the sense of intimidation among the people.
On Thursday, January 11, two prisoners were executed publicly in Salmas and Qazvin. The prisoner executed in Salmas suffered from mental illness. The young man executed in Qazvin Prison was on death row for eight years.
On January 8, two prisoners were executed in Sari and on January 4; two other prisoners were executed in Gohardasht, Karaj. Amir Hossein Pour Jafar, one of the executed, was 16 years old at the time of committing alleged crime.
Following the recent wave of protests in Iranian cities, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Asma Jahangir and High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein released statements calling out to the people as well as the authorities. Asma Jahangir said in a tweet on Jan. 2nd 2018 'Iranian citizens have a right to unprovoked peaceful protest My condolences for the martyrs and urge end of violence.' In addition, Mr Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, in his statement confirmed that 'more than 20 people, including an 11-year-old boy, have died and hundreds have been arrested'. He also said that 'Iranian authorities must respect the rights of all demonstrators and detainees, including their right to life, and guarantee their safety and security', echoing the words of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres who also insists the need to preserve the right of peaceful protests in the country.
