Iranian authorities have reportedly executed more than 50 people in 2023

The execution of 55 people within 2023 shows how his principles have progressed Iranaccording to a statement issued on Friday by the non-governmental organization Iran Human Rights (IHR), based in Norway, adding that the increasing resort to the death penalty is intended to instill “terror” in the country, which has been rocked by mass protests since September.

For its part, Amnesty International reported that three young people, who were sentenced to death for taking part in protests – the youngest is only 18 years old – suffered “horrifying torture” in prison.

The IHR said it confirmed at least 55 executions during the first 26 days of the year: four related to the protests, another 37 to drug cases. The NGO was unable to verify the reasons the remaining 14 people were executed.

At least 107 people are at risk of execution for taking part in the protests, the IHR added.

“Every execution of the Islamic Republic is political” and the main purpose is “to instill fear and terror in society”he underlined.

“To stop this state killing machine, no execution, political or otherwise, must be tolerated”IHR director Mahmoud Amiri-Moghadam insisted.

Activists they accuse Iran of using the death penalty as a tool of intimidation, as part of the regime’s attempt to crack down on protests that have continued non-stop since September 16, following the death at the hands of the morality police of Mahsha Amini, 22, of Iranian Kurdish origin, who had been arrested three days earlier for violating the strict dress code for women in the Islamic Republic. Thousands of protesters have been arrested.

For the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, “the instrumentalization of criminal proceedings” by Iranian authorities to punish protesters “is tantamount to state-sanctioned murder.”