{"id":1590,"date":"2026-09-24T10:21:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T08:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zagros-centre.org\/en\/?p=1590"},"modified":"2026-09-24T11:20:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T09:20:58","slug":"the-islamic-republic-of-iran-behind-every-execution-a-life-and-a-family-shattered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zagros-centre.org\/en\/?p=1590","title":{"rendered":"Written statement ; The Islamic Republic of Iran: Behind Every Execution, a Life and a Family Shattered"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Human Rights Council<\/strong>
\nSixty-third session<\/strong>
\n7 September\u20139 October 2026
\nAgenda item 4<\/p>\n

Human rights situations that require the Council\u2019s attention<\/strong><\/p>\n

Written statement submitted by Centre Zagros pour les Droits de l’Homme, a non-governmental organization in special consultative status*<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Secretary-General has received the following written statement, which is circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996\/31.<\/p>\n

The Islamic Republic of Iran: Behind Every Execution, a Life and a Family Shattered<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. Purpose of the statement<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Centre Zagros pour les Droits de l\u2019Homme urges the Human Rights Council and the international community to focus on the alarming scale of the death penalty in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Behind the figures lies a human reality: every execution ends a life and shatters a family. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the death penalty does not serve criminal justice. It is used as an instrument of state intimidation, designed to silence dissent and spread fear across society.<\/p>\n

    This statement relies primarily on Centre Zagros\u2019s verified documentation – names, dates, prisons, charges, and direct testimony from families or local networks. Confirmed cases are strictly distinguished from those pending verification, and records are cross-checked with published data from the \u2018Iran Human Rights Society\u2019 (Iran HRS), the \u2018Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran\u2019 (CFPPI) and the \u2018Hengaw Organization for Human Rights\u2019 (Hengaw). State secrecy makes it impossible to document every execution, but this victim-centred approach establishes a credible minimum baseline.<\/p>\n

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    1. An Escalating, Hidden Practice<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Iran HRS reports at least 894 executions across the Islamic Republic of Iran during the first six months of 2026 – nearly five a day. This is its documented count, not a consensus figure: Hengaw\u2019s monthly reports identify at least 375 over the same period. The gap reflects different sources and verification thresholds amid official secrecy. It cannot obscure the central fact that hundreds of lives were taken without a complete public record.<\/p>\n

      In July 2026, Hengaw verified the identities of 67 people executed that month, among them two women. Only eight of those 67 executions -12 per cent – were officially announced; seven were carried out in secret, with no notice to the family and no final visit. Two took place in public, turning urban space into a display of intimidation. Capital punishment remains wrapped in state-imposed silence: prisoners are isolated in their final hours, and grieving families are threatened if they speak out or honour their dead.<\/p>\n

      III. When the death penalty becomes a political language<\/strong><\/p>\n

      At least nine of the people executed in July 2026 were political prisoners, prisoners of conscience, or citizens arrested during the January 2026 protests and the \u201cWoman, Life, Freedom\u201d movement. Vaguely defined security charges – moharebeh (\u201cenmity against God\u201d), efsad-e fel-arz (\u201ccorruption on earth\u201d), espionage and other national-security offences – have been applied to protest, media activity and alleged associations, exposing defendants to death sentences.<\/p>\n

      Documented cases illustrate the pattern:<\/p>\n