Cruel and Inhuman: Executions and Other Punishment in Iran
Executions
Methods of Execution
Iran executes the majority of convicts by hanging within prisons. The regime, however, also regularly carries out executions in public, including at least 33 in 2016. In many of these cases, the victim is publicly hanged from a construction crane, an especially slow and painful method of execution.
Stoning also continues to be a state-sanctioned form of execution. In 2017, a man and woman were sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. Other legal methods of execution include firing squad, beheading, and being thrown from a height.
Other Abuses
Political Prisoners
Iran presently incarcerates an estimated 647 political prisoners. Such prisoners include:
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Political prisoners are often sentenced—and sometimes executed—on trumped-up, nonpolitical charges, including drug smuggling. Consequently, the true number of political prisoners incarcerated or executed remains unknown.
Trampling on the Legal Rights of the Accused
The Iranian government frequently violates the legal rights of the accused by denying them:
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Torture and Other Degrading Treatment of the Accused
Those arrested or detained in Iran face appalling treatment—often to coerce confessions—including:
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Forms of Punishment
Extreme methods of punishment in Iran include:
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What's a Crime in Iran?
Iran violates the human rights of its citizens by arresting, detaining, imprisoning, and often executing them for “crimes” often committed merely by exercising fundamental freedoms. Many of these offenses are vaguely defined and can thus be exploited for arbitrary detention and punishment. Such crimes include (those punishable by execution are marked with an asterisk):
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Barbaric Conditions Inside Iran's Prisons
Those incarcerated in Iranian prisons are subject to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, including:
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