The Association of Human Rights Activists in Iran revealed that, over the past year, 2003 people were executed in that country, while warning that Tehran is using this punishment as a tool for political repression and creating fear in society.
Today, Saturday 10 October 2026, coinciding with the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the Association of Human Rights Activists in Iran stated that, over the past year, it had recorded (2003) executions in the country, of which (69) cases were connected to political and security charges.
The organization warned of the marked increase in the implementation of death sentences and stressed that the Iranian authorities systematically use the death penalty for political repression, creating fear and terror within society, and violating the right to life.
The statement called for an immediate halt to the implementation of the death penalty throughout Iran as a first step toward the complete abolition of this punishment. It also called for death sentences to be commuted to other sentences, particularly in political cases, cases related to protests, and those of defendants who were under 18 years old when the crime was committed.
In another part of the statement, the Association of Human Rights Activists stressed the need to end torture and the extraction of forced confessions, while providing defendants with the opportunity to access independent counsel and rejecting all confessions obtained under torture. It also called for an independent and impartial investigation into respect for defendants' rights in death-penalty cases.
