Iran executed at least 975 people last year, the highest number since 2015, UN report says
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran carried out executions at 'an alarming rate' last year with at least 975 people killed, the United Nations chief said in a report that also cited other human rights abuses, from barriers to freedom of expression to the use of torture and arbitrary detention.
U.N. deputy human rights commissioner Nada Al-Nashif, who presented the report to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council on Wednesday, urged Iran to halt all executions as a first step toward a ban.
She also called for urgent diplomatic negotiations to end the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel.
The 975 people executed in 2024 surpassed the estimated 834 in 2023 and was the highest rate of executions since 2015, said the report by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Four of the executions were carried out publicly. Iran carries out executions by hanging.
Of those executed, 52% were for drug-related offenses, 43% for murder, 2% for sexual offenses and 3% for security-related offenses, the report said.
The number of women executed also increased. According to information received by the U.N. human rights office, at least 31 women were reported to have been executed in 2024, up from at least 22 in 2023. Among those 31 women were 19 reportedly executed for murder, including nine convicted of killing their husbands in cases involving domestic violence, forced marriage or child marriage.
Also among those executed were women and men connected to protests that began in September 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was arrested by Iran's morality police and accused of not wearing her head covering correctly.
The report also said a disproportionate number of those executed were from Iran's minorities, with at least 108 Baluch prisoners and 84 Kurdish prisoners among those executed last year.
Citing information received by the human rights office, the report said at least 31 people, including political dissidents, were executed for national security-related offenses such as spying for Israel.
The rights office said it also received reports of torture, arbitrary detention and trials that failed to comply with due process and fair trial standards.
As for the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, the report said information received by the rights office found that at least 125 journalists were prosecuted for their work in 2024. At least 40 female journalists were prosecuted or summoned for their reporting, the report said.
Al-Nashif said Iran has cooperated with the human rights office, but Guterres regrets that the government has denied access to the independent international fact-finding mission on Iran that the Human Rights Council established.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
42 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
A deadly race for food: Palestinians in Gaza risk harrowing journey day after day
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Each day, Palestinians in Gaza run a deadly gantlet in hopes of getting food. Israeli troops open barrages of gunfire toward crowds crossing military zones to get to the aid, they say, and knife-wielding thieves wait to ambush those who succeed. Palestinians say lawlessness is growing as they are forced into a competition to feed their families. A lucky few manage to secure some packets of lentils, a jar of Nutella or a bag of flour. Many return empty-handed and must attempt the ordeal again the next day. 'This isn't aid. It's humiliation. It's death,' said Jamil Atili, his face shining with sweat as he made his way back last week from a food center run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed private contractor. He had suffered a knife cut across his cheek amid the scramble for food and said a contractor guard pepper-sprayed him in the face. Still, he emerged with nothing for his 13 family members. 'I have nothing to feed my children,' he said, nearly crying. 'My heart is broken.' Israel began allowing food into Gaza this past month after cutting it off completely for 10 weeks, though United Nations officials say it is not enough to stave off starvation. Most of the supplies go to GHF, which operates four food distribution points inside Israeli military zones. A trickle of aid goes to the U.N. and humanitarian groups. Both systems are mired in chaos. Daily gunfire by Israeli troops toward crowds on the roads heading to the GHF centers has killed several hundred people and wounded hundreds more in past weeks, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. At the same time, in past weeks, hungry crowds overwhelm most of the U.N.'s truck convoys and strip away the supplies. Israeli troops have opened fire to disperse crowds waiting for trucks near military zones, witnesses say — and on Tuesday, more than 50 people were killed, according to the ministry. The Israeli military says it is investigating. 'I don't see how it can get any worse, because it is already apocalyptic. But somehow it does get worse,' said Olga Cherevko, spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian affairs office. Israel and GHF downplay the violence Israel says it has only fired warning shots at suspects who approached its forces along the roads to the GHF food centers. Palestinian witnesses say the troops fire to prevent crowds from moving past a certain point before the centers open or because people leave the road designated by the military. They describe heavy barrages from tanks, snipers, drones and even guns mounted on cranes. Asked how its soldiers control movement, the military told The Associated Press its 'operational conduct … is accompanied by systematic learning processes.' It said it was looking into safety measures like fences and road signs. GHF says no shootings have taken place in or near its hubs. A spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity under GHF rules, said incidents take place before sites open involving aid-seekers who move 'during prohibited times … or trying to take a short cut.' They said GHF is trying to improve safety, in part by changing opening times to daylight hours. Israel intends for GHF to replace the U.N.-led aid network in Gaza, contending that Hamas diverts large amounts of aid from it. The U.N. denies the claim. Ducking under fire Thousands of people must walk miles to reach the GHF centers, three of which are in the far south outside the city of Rafah. Palestinians said the danger begins when the crowds enter the Israeli military zone encompassing Rafah. Mohammed Saqer, a father of three who risked the trip multiple times, said that when he went last week, tanks were firing over the heads of the crowds as drone announcements told everyone to move back. It's 'like it was 'Squid Game,'' Saqer said, referring to the dystopian thriller TV series in which contestants risk their lives to win a prize. Just raising your head might mean death, he said. He and others crawled forward, then left the main road. A shot rang out nearby and they ducked, he said. They found a young man on the ground, shot in the back. The others assumed he was dead, but Saqer felt his chest — it was still warm, and he found a pulse. They carried him to a point where a car could pick him up. Saqer said he stood for a moment, traumatized by the scene. Then people shouted that the site had opened. The mad dash Everyone broke into a crazed run, he said. He saw several people wounded on the ground. One man, bleeding from his abdomen, reached out his hand, pleading for help. No one stopped. 'Everyone is just running to get to the aid, to get there first,' Saqer said. Omar al-Hobi described the same scene the four times he went last week. Twice, he returned empty-handed; once, he managed to grab a pack of lentils. On the fourth day, he was determined to secure flour for his three children and pregnant wife. He said he and others inched their way forward under tank fire. He saw several people shot in the legs. One man fell bleeding to the ground, apparently dead, he said. Horrified, al-Hobi froze, unable to move, 'but I remembered I have to feed my children.' He took cover in a greenhouse, then heard the announcement that the center was open and began to run. Avoiding thieves At the center, food boxes are stacked on the ground in an area surrounded by fences and earthen berms. Thousands rush in to grab what they can in a frantic melee. You have to move fast, Saqer said. Once supplies run out, some of those who came too late rob those leaving. He swiftly tore open a box and loaded the contents into a sack — juice, chickpeas, lentils, cheese, beans, flour and cooking oil. Then he took off running. There's only one route in and out of the center. But, knowing thieves waited outside, Saqer clambered over a berm, running the risk of being fired on by Israeli troops. 'It all depends on the soldiers' mood. If they are in a bad mood … they will shoot at me. If not, they will let me be,' he said. Heba Jouda said she saw a group of men beat up a boy of 12 or 13 years old and take his food as she left one of the Rafah centers. Another time, she said, thieves attacked an older man, who hugged his sack, weeping that his children had no food. They sliced his arm with a knife and ran off with the sack. The finish line Al-Hobi said he was trampled in the scramble for boxes. He managed to grab a bag of rice, a packet of macaroni. He snagged flour — but much of it was ruined in the chaos. At his family tent outside Khan Younis, his wife, Anwaar Saleh, said she will ration it all to make it last a week or so. 'We hope he doesn't have to go back. His life is the most important thing,' she said. Al-Hobi remains shaken — both by his brushes with death and the callousness that the race for food has instilled in everyone. 'No one will show you mercy these days. Everybody fends for themselves.' ___ El Deeb reported from Beirut, Keath from Cairo. AP correspondent Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Wildfires: climate change cause and effect
Opinion Do we believe what we see or see what we believe? This question is at the heart of humanity's willingness to act on climate change. In the wake of record wildfire damage in Canada in 2023, the hottest year on record for the Earth in 2024, and scientists warning we will breach any chance of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2027, it is fair to wonder. Do our world leaders believe in more climate change action? The G7 summit just concluded in Kananaskis suggests not. The term 'climate change' did not appear once in any of their communiques, a sharp departure from past summits but perhaps a sign of the times. Times preoccupied with urgent global economic and military conflicts and a U.S. Trump administration that has banned the term. Wildland fires like this one near Pimicikamak Cree Nation earlier this year, aren't only increasing as a result of climate change. They add to it as well. But if 'seeing is believing', then the G7 did see something alarming about our changing climate: wildfires. They issued the Kananaskis Wildfire Charter, stating: 'These increasingly extreme wildfires are endangering lives, affecting human health, destroying homes and ecosystems, and costing governments and taxpayers billions of dollars each year.' Wildfires are Canada's most public of dirty climate secrets. When we think of our biggest greenhouse gas (GHG) polluters, we tend to focus on the oil and gas sector. Think again. Canada's record wildfires in 2023 burned more than 16 million hectares of land, an area as large as 30 Winnipegs put together. It generated an estimated 647 megatonnes of carbon according to the authoritative scientific journal Nature. That is almost as much as all of Canada emitted the year before (709 megatonnes), and three times as much as the oil and gas sector itself. Trees and forests are natural carbon sinks. They absorb carbon dioxide when they are alive and healthy. But they release CO2 when they burn. Hot and dry weather caused by a changing climate is causing earlier starts to the fire season. It is making our forests more combustible when fires start. Forest fires become larger in area and of longer duration with more carbon emissions released. But Canada, like most countries, does not count most carbon emissions from wildfires in its GHG inventory. This is for two reasons. First, because the United Nations' climate rules focus on what's called 'anthropogenic' or human-caused emissions and second, it is hard to distinguish between carbon released from planned or managed land use changes such as timber practices and urban sprawl, versus unplanned wildfires. The atmosphere begs to differ. It doesn't care about carbon rules or even sources. It cares about carbon accumulation. Climate impacts today are caused from yesterday's carbon emissions, not tomorrow's. And it's caused by everyone's emissions, not just ours. Canada is more exposed to this vicious circle than any other country, due to our northern latitude and higher rates of warming being experienced. There's a reason we are on track for our second-worst wildfire season ever with 3.9 million hectares already burning and over 120 fires officially 'out of control', according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. What's the solution? Sadly, nothing easy, fast, or cheap. The federal government is spending $3.2 billion to plant two billion new trees over the next ten years. So far, 160 million trees have been planted. When finished, though, it would absorb only about 12 megatonnes of carbon per year in 2050. Not nearly enough or soon enough. Could those or other 'climate dollars' be more usefully invested elsewhere? Just as the G7 signalled combatting wildfires is now a global concern, Canada's governments need to make it a truly national priority. If you want to reduce our carbon footprint then focus on the emissions doing the most damage. That means investing more, now, in expanding our firefighting capacity. Canada has an aging water bomber fleet with insufficient planes. Trained wildfire fighters are lacking, particularly Type 1 firefighters, the first responders. Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. Improvements are in the works. PEI is doubling its complement of trained wildfire fighters which, when deployed elsewhere as they were last month, helps in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. More water bombers are on order for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario. But these will not be ready for several more fire seasons at least. If we are in the midst of a growing wildfire trend, as the past three years attest, then expect more damage and more carbon pollution in the meantime. Canada has been embroiled in a debate about the cost of reducing carbon emissions from industry, vehicles, and consumers. There's another cost. The cost of climate change impacts on people and communities (185,000 displaced last year) ravaged by more wildfires. Insurance costs from last year's fires were more than $1.2 billion, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada. That's the choice. Pay now or pay later. Tackling wildfires is a 'two-fer'. It protects lives and livelihoods. And it helps keep carbon in the ground, not emit it into the atmosphere. It's a way for Canadas to reduce its global carbon footprint in a more meaningful way than one more taxpayer-funded boutique programs spooled out to garner positive headlines about 'acting on climate'. Raging wildfires across Canada are the clearest case yet of 'see it, believe it' that climate change is real and expensive. David McLaughlin is a former clerk of the executive council and cabinet secretary in the Manitoba government.
Winnipeg Free Press
4 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Diplomatic breakthrough elusive as Israel-Iran war stretches into second week
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Hours of talks aimed at de-escalating fighting between Israel and Iran failed to produce a diplomatic breakthrough as the war entered its second week with a fresh round of strikes between the two adversaries. European ministers and Iran's top diplomat met for four hours Friday in Geneva, as President Donald Trump continued to weigh U.S. military involvement and worries rose over potential strikes on nuclear reactors. European officials expressed hope for future negotiations, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was open to further dialogue while emphasizing that Tehran had no interest in negotiating with the U.S. while Israel continued attacking. 'Iran is ready to consider diplomacy if aggression ceases and the aggressor is held accountable for its committed crimes,' he told reporters. No date was set for the next round of talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's military operation in Iran would continue 'for as long as it takes' to eliminate what he called the existential threat of Iran's nuclear program and arsenal of ballistic missiles. Israel's top general echoed the warning, saying the Israeli military was ready 'for a prolonged campaign.' But Netanyahu's goal could be out of reach without U.S. help. Iran's underground Fordo uranium enrichment facility is considered to be out of reach to all but America's 'bunker-buster' bombs. Trump said he would put off deciding whether to join Israel's air campaign against Iran for up to two weeks. The war between Israel and Iran erupted June 13, with Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 657 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2,000 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group. Iran has retaliated by firing 450 missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli army estimates. Most have been shot down by Israel's multitiered air defenses, but at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded. Worries rise over the perils of attacking Iran's nuclear reactors Addressing an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned against attacks on Iran's nuclear reactors, particularly its only commercial nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr. 'I want to make it absolutely and completely clear: In case of an attack on the Bushehr nuclear power plant, a direct hit would result in a very high release of radioactivity to the environment,' said Rafael Grossi, chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog. 'This is the nuclear site in Iran where the consequences could be most serious.' Israel has not targeted Iran's nuclear reactors, instead focusing its strikes on the main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, centrifuge workshops near Tehran, laboratories in Isfahan and the country's Arak heavy water reactor southwest of the capital. Grossi has warned repeatedly that such sites should not be military targets. After initially reporting no visible damage from Israel's Thursday strikes on the Arak heavy water reactor, the IAEA on Friday said it had assessed 'key buildings at the facility were damaged,' including the distillation unit. The reactor was not operational and contained no nuclear material, so the damage posed no risk of contamination, the watchdog said. Iran previously agreed to limit its uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors access to its nuclear sites under a 2015 deal with the U.S., France, China, Russia, Britain and Germany in exchange for sanctions relief. But after Trump pulled the U.S. unilaterally out of the deal during his first term, Iran began enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90% — and restricting access to its nuclear facilities. Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but it is the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich uranium up to 60%. Israel is widely believed to be the only Middle Eastern country with a nuclear weapons program but has never acknowledged it. Israel says 'difficult days' ahead Israel said its warplanes hit dozens of military targets across Iran on Friday, including missile-manufacturing facilities, while an Iranian missile hit Israel's northern city of Haifa, sending plumes of smoke billowing over the Mediterranean port and wounding at least 31 people. Iranian state media reported explosions from Israeli strikes in an industrial area of Rasht, along the coast of the Caspian Sea. Israel's military had warned Iranians to evacuate the area around Rasht's Industrial City, southwest of the city's downtown. But with Iran's internet shut off — now for more than 48 hours — it's unclear how many people could see the message. The Israeli military believes it has destroyed most of Iran's ballistic missile launchers, contributing to the steady decline in Iranian attacks. But several of the roughly three dozen missiles that Israel said Iran fired on Friday slipped through the country's aerial defense system, setting off air-raid sirens across the country and sending shrapnel flying into a residential area in the southern city of Beersheba, a frequent target of Iranian missiles where a hospital was hit Thursday.
