Reacting to an announcement by Iran’s judiciary that the Iranian authorities this morning executed Mojahed (Abbas) Kourkouri in connection with the 2022 Woman Life Freedom protests in Iran, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Hussein Baoumi, said:
“The news of Mojahed Kourkouri’s arbitrary execution is utterly appalling. It exposes yet again the Iranian authorities’ disdain for the right to life and their determination to use the death penalty as a tool to crush dissent and instil fear in Iran’s population.
“Mojahed Kourkouri was sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court following a grossly unfair sham trial. He was subjected to enforced disappearance for months and tortured to extract forced ‘confessions’ which were then broadcast in propaganda videos on Iran’s state media. In one video he is seen in a hospital bed with his arm visibly bandaged.
“The ongoing arbitrary execution of protesters amid a horrific rise in executions in Iran demonstrates yet again that Iranian authorities will persist in committing crimes under international law and other grave human rights violations unless the international community takes concrete and robust accountability measures.
“It underscores the need for states to initiate criminal investigations under the principle of universal jurisdiction against all those suspected of criminal responsibility for crimes under international law during the protests, including senior Iranian officials.”
Background to the case of Mojahed Kourkouri
Iranian authorities had accused Mojahed Kourkouri of involvement in the killing of nine-year-old Kian Pirfalak during the Woman Life Freedom protests that took place in Iran between September-December 2022. However, Kian Pirfalak’s family have repeatedly publicly refuted the accusation and attributed responsibility to Iran’s security forces.
The authorities denied Mojahed Kourkouri access to a lawyer at the investigation phase of his case and never investigated his torture allegations.
Amnesty International has documented a pattern of the Iranian authorities systematically covering up and concealing their crimes and denying responsibility for the unlawful killings of children by security forces during nationwide protests.
Iranian authorities have so far executed 11 individuals in connection with the Woman Life Freedom protests, all following grossly unfair sham trials. Several other individuals remain at risk of execution in connection with the Woman Life Freedom protests. See here for more details.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of who is accused, the nature or circumstances of the crime, guilt or innocence, or the method of execution. The organization has long called on the Iranian authorities to immediately establish a moratorium on executions with a view of fully abolishing the death penalty.
Header image of Mojahed (Abbas) Kourkouri (private photo).
