UN Investigator: Iran’s Executions Are An “Unprecedented Assault On The Right To Life”

Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations investigator of human rights in Iran, called the high rate of executions he monitors an “unprecedented assault on the right to life in Iran,” The New York Times reported Wednesday.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon criticized Iran last week for its high rate of executions and use of the death penalty on minors and for small drug offenses. Iran has barred Shaheed from entering the country to personally conduct investigations.

A report earlier this week by Benjamin Weinthal, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, highlighted other severe physical punishments used by the regime such as flogging, amputation and even blinding, in addition to the death penalty.

In addition to raising concerns about the rapid rate of executions in Iran, Shaheed also drew attention to the systematic discrimination against women:

Overshadowing advances in women’s education and health, Mr. Shaheed said, is the prevalence of gender-based discrimination in civil, political, social and economic rights. Citing data compiled by the World Economic Forum, for example, Mr. Shaheed said Iran ranked 137 out of 142 countries assessed on women’s political empowerment in 2014.