(ANSA) - NICOSIA, DECEMBER 05 - Iran executed more than 500 people in 2022, far exceeding the number of executions in 2021. This was announced by the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR).
At least 504 people have been executed since the start of the year, said the NGO, which is trying to confirm other cases of convicts allegedly executed by hanging.
The count includes the 4 who according to state media were executed yesterday after a conviction for links with Israel.
According to the Norway-based NGO, these people were executed just seven months after their arrest, "without due process, behind closed doors before the Revolutionary Tribunal".
"Their sentences have no legal validity," IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in a statement.
"These executions are intended to spread fear in society and divert public attention from the failures of the Islamic Republic's intelligence services," he denounced.
NGOs have expressed concern about the number of women executed in Iran, often convicted of killing partners or relatives in domestic violence.
The number of women executed this year is already the highest in five years, notes Ihr.
And there is also growing concern over the increased use of the death penalty against demonstrators who have been protesting since mid-September, following the death of Mahsa Amini.
Amnesty International recorded 314 executions in Iran in 2021.
(HANDLE).