<\/p>\n
The appeal by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran follows the July 19 execution of two men in the same case, Erfan Esfandiari, reportedly 18, and Gol Mohammad Mohammadi, a 23-year-old Afghan national.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The UN investigators said relatives of some of the remaining defendants have already been called for final visits, raising fears that further executions may be imminent. \u201cAccording to credible information, the families of at least two of the remaining 10 men have been summoned for final visits, suggesting that more executions are imminent,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
All 12 men were arrested in connection with protests held on January 8 in Alikhani Square in Isfahan, where four members of the security forces were killed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The investigators strongly condemned the two executions already carried out and warned that the cases appear to form part of a wider pattern linked to nationwide protests that began last December.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The fact-finding mission said Iranian authorities have carried out several protest-related executions in recent months. In March, three young men were executed in Qom after convictions linked to the killing of security personnel. In April, four young men were executed after convictions relating to an alleged attack on a Basij base in Tehran.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The mission said credible reports indicate that more than 60 people, including at least three women and two boys, have been sentenced to death since December. According to Iran\u2019s judiciary, 23 men have been executed in connection with the protests since March.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The experts also raised concern that Iran is fast-tracking death penalty cases linked to protests and national security matters.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The mission pointed to a July 15 announcement by Tehran Prosecutor General Ali Salehi, following a directive from Head of the Judiciary Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje\u2019i, to expedite proceedings.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to the prosecutor, cases linked to hostilities in June and February 28, as well as protests that began on December 28, had been finalised and referred to courts.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The UN investigators warned that this announcement raises serious fears of more death sentences and executions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The experts reiterated calls for Iran to immediately halt all executions, including cases connected to the protests, and establish a moratorium on the death penalty with a view to abolition.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran was established by the UN Human Rights Council in November 2022. The mission is led by Chair Sara Hossain, alongside Viviana Krsticevic and Max du Plessis.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":40513,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-40512","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The United Nations (UN) human rights investigators have urged Iran to halt the execution of 10 men linked to protests in Isfahan earlier this year.","published_date":"","news_description":"The United Nations (UN) human rights investigators have urged Iran to halt the execution of 10 men linked to protests in Isfahan earlier this year.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40515,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40512\/revisions\/40515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=40512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}