Two Rights Groups: Iran Executions Surge in Bid to 'Spread Fear'

IHR director Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam and ECPM director Raphael Chenuil-Hazan speak during a press conference held Thursday (Iran Human Rights)
IHR director Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam and ECPM director Raphael Chenuil-Hazan speak during a press conference held Thursday (Iran Human Rights)
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Two Rights Groups: Iran Executions Surge in Bid to 'Spread Fear'

IHR director Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam and ECPM director Raphael Chenuil-Hazan speak during a press conference held Thursday (Iran Human Rights)
IHR director Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam and ECPM director Raphael Chenuil-Hazan speak during a press conference held Thursday (Iran Human Rights)

Two rights groups revealed on Thursday that Iran is using death penalty as an “execution machine” aimed at spreading fear as protests shook the country in 2022.

According to Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and France's Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), Iran hanged 75 percent more people in 2022 that the previous years and it executed at least 582 people last year, the highest figure since 2015.

In a joint report published Thursday, the two organizations said that the death penalty was used “once again as an essential tool of intimidation and repression by the Iranian regime in order to maintain the stability of its power.”

HR director Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam said, “In order to spread fear among the demonstrating population and youth, the authorities have intensified executions of prisoners sentenced for non-political reasons.”

He noted that in order to stop the killing machine used by the Iranian regime, the international community and civil society must actively show their opposition whenever someone is executed in the country.

Amiry Moghaddam said that while the international reaction was keeping protest-related executions in check, Iran was pressing ahead with executions on other charges to deter people from protesting.

Last year was marked by the eruption in September of nationwide protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old ethnic Kurd who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress rules for women.

The authorities responded with a crackdown that saw four men hanged in protest-related cases, executions that prompted an international outcry.

The report said that after the four men were executed on protest-related charges, 100 more protesters risk execution after being sentenced to death or charged with capital offences.

The figure of at least 582 executions was the highest for Iran since 2015 and exceeding even 2015 when, according to the rights groups, 972 people were put to death in Iran.

“We fear the number of executions will dramatically increase in 2023 if the international community does not react more,” Amiry Moghaddam told AFP.

“Every execution in Iran is political, regardless of the charges,” he added, describing those executed on drug or murder charges as the “low cost victims” of Iran's “killing machine.”

Amiry Moghaddam also said that with over 150 executions in the first three months of this year alone, the overall total for 2023 risked being the highest in some two decades, exceeding even 2015.

The report confirmed that hundreds of detainees are currently sentenced to death or are being tried on charges that carry the death penalty.

A fall in the number of drug-related executions -- driven by 2017 amendments to the anti-narcotics law -- had been behind a drop in the overall number of executions in Iran up to 2021.

More than half of those executed after the start of the protests, and 44 percent of the 582 executions recorded in 2022, were on drug-related charges.

This was more than double the number in 2021, and 10 times higher than the number of drug-related executions in 2020, it said.

The rights groups lamented what they said was a lack of reaction from the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) and its donor states to this "dramatic surge".

Meanwhile, ECPM director Raphael Chenuil-Hazan said that “lack of reaction by the UNODC and donor countries to the reversal of these reforms (of 2017) sends the wrong signal to the Iranian authorities.”

The report said members of the mainly Sunni Muslim Baluch minority accounted for 30 percent of executions nationwide, even though they account for just two to six percent of Iran's population.

The numbers of ethnic Kurds and Arabs executed were also disproportionate, especially for drug crimes, the report said.

“The death penalty is part of the systematic discrimination and extensive repression ethnic minorities of Iran are subjected to,” it said.

The most executions -- 288, or 49 percent -- were for murder, the highest in more than 15 years.

Two people, including protester Majidreza Rahnavard, were hanged in public, the report said. At least three juvenile offenders were among those executed while at least 16 women were hanged.

Iran's penal code allows execution by methods that include firing squad, stoning and even crucifixion but in recent years all executions have been carried out by hanging.

Chenuil-Hazan said Iran executes more people annually than any nation other than China -- for which no accurate data is available -- and more in proportion to its population than any nation in the world.

“Iran has always used the death penalty since 1979 (the Islamic revolution) in a systematic and significant way,” he said.

Tehran has rejected a report by Javaid Rehman, the council's rapporteur on Iran. It bans Rehman from visiting the country.

At a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council last month, Ali Bahraini, Iran’s permanent ambassador to the United Nations Office in Geneva, slammed false reports prepared on the human rights situation in Iran, including by Rehman.

The Iranian ambassador said Rehman’s allegations were imaginary and Iran was being singled out and targeted in the council.

“They try to portray their imaginations as the reality of the situation in Iran,” he said.



Firefighters Race to Contain Los Angeles Wildfires with Menacing Winds Forecast to Return

 An helicopter flies as smoke billows from the Palisades Fire at the Mandeville Canyon, in Los Angeles, California, US, January 11, 2025. (Reuters)
An helicopter flies as smoke billows from the Palisades Fire at the Mandeville Canyon, in Los Angeles, California, US, January 11, 2025. (Reuters)
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Firefighters Race to Contain Los Angeles Wildfires with Menacing Winds Forecast to Return

 An helicopter flies as smoke billows from the Palisades Fire at the Mandeville Canyon, in Los Angeles, California, US, January 11, 2025. (Reuters)
An helicopter flies as smoke billows from the Palisades Fire at the Mandeville Canyon, in Los Angeles, California, US, January 11, 2025. (Reuters)

Firefighters raced Saturday to cut off spreading wildfires before potentially strong winds return that could push the flames toward the world famous J. Paul Getty Museum and the University of California, Los Angeles, while new evacuation warnings left more homeowners on edge.

A fierce battle against the flames was underway in Mandeville Canyon, home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities not far from the Pacific coast, where swooping helicopters dumped water as the blaze charged downhill. Firefighters on the ground used hoses in an attempt to beat back leaping flames as thick smoke blanketed the chaparral-covered hillside.

At a briefing, CalFire Operations Chief Christian Litz said a main focus Saturday would be the Palisades Fire burning in the canyon area, not far from the UCLA campus.

"We need to be aggressive out there," Litz said.

County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said the LA area "had another night of unimaginable terror and heartbreak, and even more Angelenos evacuated due to the northeast expansion of the Palisades Fire."

Only light breezes were fanning the flames, but the National Weather Service warned that locally strong Santa Ana winds — the nemesis of firefighters — could soon return. Those winds have been blamed for turning wildfires into infernos that leveled entire neighborhoods in the LA area, where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months.

The fire also was threatening to jump over Interstate 405, a main traffic artery through the area, which could become a gateway to densely populated areas in the Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley.

The hunt for bodies continues

Even as the fires spread, the grim work of sifting through the devastation continued Saturday, with teams conducting systematic grid searches with cadaver dogs, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna. A family assistance center also was being set up in Pasadena, said Luna, who urged residents to abide by curfews.

"We have people driving up and around trying to get in just to look. Stay away," he said. "We understand that this is extremely stressful and absolutely challenging, but we appreciate the public’s cooperation as we work together to get through this crisis."

The fires have consumed about 56 square miles (145 square kilometers) — an area larger than San Francisco. Tens of thousands of people remained under evacuation orders and new evacuations were ordered Friday evening in an area that includes part of Interstate 405 after a flare up on the eastern side of the Palisades Fire.

Since the fires first began popping up around a densely populated, 25-mile (40-kilometer) expanse north of downtown LA, they have burned more than 12,000 structures, a term that includes homes, apartment buildings, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles. No cause has been identified yet for the largest fires.

Survivors return to the wreckage of their homes

On Friday, many residents returned in a state of shock. For some, it was a first look at the stark reality of what was lost as the region of 13 million people grapples with the ominous challenge of overcoming the disaster and rebuilding.

Bridget Berg, who was at work when she watched television coverage of her house in Altadena erupt in flames, came back for the first time with her family two days later "just to make it real."

Their feet crunched across the broken bits of what had been their home for 16 years.

Her kids sifted through debris on the sidewalk, finding a clay pot and a few keepsakes as they searched for Japanese wood prints they hoped to recover. Her husband pulled his hand out of rubble near the still-standing fireplace, holding up a piece of petrified wood handed down by his grandmother.

"It’s OK. It’s OK," Berg said as much to herself as others as she took stock of the destruction, remembering the deck and pool from which her family watched fireworks. "It’s not like we just lost our house — everybody lost their house."

City leadership accused of skimping on firefighting funds

Allegations of leadership failures and political blame have begun and so have investigations. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered state officials to determine why a 117 million-gallon (440 million-liter) reservoir was out of service and some hydrants had run dry. Meanwhile, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said city leadership failed her department by not providing enough money for firefighting. She also criticized the lack of water.

"When a firefighter comes up to a hydrant, we expect there’s going to be water," she said.

At least 11 people have been killed, five in the Palisades Fire and six in the Eaton Fire, according to the LA County medical examiner's office. Officials said they expected that number to rise as cadaver dogs search leveled neighborhoods and crews assess the devastation, and on Friday authorities established a center where people could report the missing.

The disaster took homes from everyone — from waiters to movie stars. The government has not yet released figures on the cost of the damage, but private firms have estimated it will climb into the tens of billions. The Walt Disney Co. announced Friday it will donate $15 million to respond to the fires and help rebuild.

The flames hit schools, churches, a synagogue, libraries, boutiques, restaurants, banks and local landmarks including the Will Rogers’ Western Ranch House and a Queen Anne-style mansion in Altadena that was commissioned by wealthy mapmaker Andrew McNally and had stood since 1887.

Progress made on fighting the Eaton fire

Firefighters for the first time made progress Friday afternoon on the Eaton Fire north of Pasadena, which has burned more than 7,000 structures. Officials said most evacuation orders for the area had been lifted.

LA Mayor Karen Bass, who faces a critical test of her leadership as her city endures its greatest crisis in decades, said several smaller fires also were stopped.

Crews earlier Friday had been gaining ground on the Palisades Fire, which burned 5,300 structures and is the most destructive in LA's history.

California National Guard troops arrived on the streets of Altadena before dawn to help protect property in the fire evacuation zone, and evening curfews were in effect to prevent looting after several earlier arrests.

The level of devastation is jarring even in a state that regularly confronts massive wildfires.

Meghan and Harry visit On Friday, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan visited the Pasadena Convention Center to help hand out food to evacuees.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who live about 90 miles (145 km) north of the Los Angeles area, also listed organizations supporting fire victims on their website.