Sixteen days into the new wave of anti-government nationwide protests in Iran, at least 648 protesters, including nine children under the age of 18, have been killed, and thousands injured.
At the same time, unverified reports indicate that at least several hundred people, and according to some estimates more than 6,000, may have been killed. Due to the internet blackout since 8 January and severe restrictions on access to information, it is extremely difficult to independently verify these reports. The number of people arrested in the recent protests is estimated to exceed 10,000.
Meanwhile, officials of the Islamic Republic have described protesters as rioters, mohareb (enemies of God), terrorists and agitators, linking them to Israel and the US, offences that are punishable by death. They have also vowed to deal with the cases “severely” and swiftly” in special branches of the Revolutionary Courts.
Unverified reports suggest that at least one protester is at risk of execution only days after arrest. Sources close to the family of Erfan Soltani, 26, who was arrested on 8 January in Fardis, Karaj, told IHRNGO that “his family were told that he had been sentenced to death and that the sentence is due to be carried out on 14 January.”
Iran Human Rights expresses deep concern about the escalation and continuation of the killing of protesters, and the risk of mass executions of protesters and calls for an immediate response from the international community.
IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam stated: “The widespread killing of civilian protesters in recent days by the Islamic Republic is reminiscent of the regime’s crimes in the 1980s, which have been recognised as crimes against humanity. The risk of mass and extrajudicial executions of protesters is extremely serious. Under the Responsibility to Protect, the international community has a duty to protect civilian protesters against mass killings by the Islamic Republic and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. We call on people and civil society in democratic countries to remind their governments of this responsibility.”
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