The UN's human rights office is sounding the alarm that 29 people have been executed in two days in Iran this week, according to reports. This is an alarmingly high figure, according to the UN office.
Minorities such as Kurds, Arabs, and people from the border province of Baluchistan are overrepresented among those executed. Some are executed without their relatives or legal representatives being informed.
Throughout the entire month of July, 38 people were executed, which has been verified by the UN. In total, at least 345 people have been executed in the country this year, including 15 women. Most of them were convicted of drug-related crimes or murder.
Sentencing to death for crimes that are not intentional murder is incompatible with international norms and human rights, says the UN office's spokesperson Liz Throssell.
The UN's human rights chief Volker Türk is very concerned, she adds.
