Iran hanged 75% more people in 2022 than in previous years, according to two rights groups, who denounced an “execution machine” aimed at spreading fear as protests shook the country. According to the report by Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), the figure of at least 582 executions was the highest since 2015 and far exceeded the figure of 333 in 2021. In September of last year, nationwide protests erupted in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old ethnic Kurd who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress rules for women. The authorities responded with a crackdown that saw four men hanged in protest-related cases, eliciting international condemnation. While the international reaction was keeping protest-related executions in check, IHR director Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam stated that Iran was pressing ahead with executions on other charges in order to intimidate the general population. According to the report, after the four men were executed on protest-related charges, one hundred more protesters faced execution after being sentenced to death or facing charges carrying the death penalty.
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