Death Sentence Against Woman Kurdish Activist Continues Iran’s Campaign of Terror to Silence Dissent

Varisheh Moradi Tortured, Sentenced to Death Without Due Process or Fair Trial

Women, Protesters, Children—No One Spared, Minorities Targeted

November 12, 2024 – The death sentence just handed down for Kurdish activist Varisheh Moradi, 39, after a prosecution marred by torture, forced confessions, and severe due process violations, is the latest in an unprecedented surge in unlawful executions in Iran that reflect the intensifying use of the death penalty as a tool of terror to instill fear and suppress dissent, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said today.

Women activists and protesters are being sentenced to death, public executions are taking place, child offenders have been executed, and mass executions are being carried out in a surge that has especially targeted minorities and seen hundreds hanged this year alone for crimes that do not meet the threshold for capital punishment— one person executed every four hours—all in proceedings marred by severe due process violations. 

“The Iranian government’s rampant and unlawful use of the death penalty is a campaign of terror aimed at crushing dissent,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the CHRI.

“The Iranian authorities think if they kill enough people, they can silence the dissent roiling the country.  But the Iranian people bravely continue to protest these killings, and the international community must forcefully and publicly stand with them and speak out against this state-sanctioned mass murder,” Ghaemi said.

CHRI calls on the UN, governments, human rights organizations, and legal associations worldwide to demand that the Iranian authorities immediately halt all executions and institute a moratorium on the death penalty, given the Islamic Republic’s unwillingness to adhere to the most basic international standards on capital punishment and fair trial rights. 

So far in 2024, over 650 executions were reported in Iran, with trends that include:

• Women Activists Sentenced to Death: Kurdish activist Varisheh Moradi became the third woman this year to receive a death sentence, following Kurdish activist Pekhshan Azizi and labor activist Sharifeh Mohammadi. While Mohammadi’s sentence was overturned for retrial in October, she remains at risk.
• Public Executions: At least four public executions were carried out in August, September, and November, which are forbidden under international law.
• Execution of Protesters: Reza Rasaei, a street protester arrested during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, was secretly executed on August 6, 2024.
• Execution of a Foreign National: Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian-German citizen and U.S. resident, was executed on October 28 without due process or fair trial rights.
• Mass Executions: On August 7, 29 prisoners were executed across two prisons. In October alone, a record-breaking 178 individuals were executed, marking the highest monthly total in recent years.

“The Islamic Republic is ruling through terror, and now that protests have quieted and they are not shooting people dead in the streets, executions are its principal tool, Ghaemi said.

Third Woman Activist Sentenced to Death: “I am accused of ‘rebellion’ simply for being a woman, a Kurd, and seeking a free life.”

Varisheh Moradi, 39, a Kurdish political activist and member of the Free Women’s Society of Eastern Kurdistan (KJAR), was sentenced to death for “rebellion” by Branch 15 of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court on November 10. Moradi was violently detained by Ministry of Intelligence agents on August 1, 2023, and held for 13 days in a security detention center in Sanandaj, where interrogators extracted forced “confessions.” She was then transferred to Tehran’s Evin Prison, where she spent nearly five months in solitary confinement before being moved to its women’s ward.

Moradi’s trial began on June 16, 2024, in Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court on charges of “rebellion,” an offense frequently used against activists. She refused to attend her second court session on August 4, protesting the death sentences of two women activists, Sharifeh Mohammadi and Pakhshan Azizi. In a letter from Evin Prison that August, Moradi wrote: “I do not recognize a court that issues no fair verdicts … I am accused of ‘rebellion’ simply for being a woman, a Kurd, and seeking a free life.”

A source familiar with the case told CHRI in June, Judge Abolqasem Salavati—known as the  “Hanging Judge” for issuing death sentences in political cases—barred Moradi and her lawyers from presenting a defense. Her lawyers were denied access to the case file and could only briefly review it after the final session on October 6, 2024.

Moradi went on a hunger strike on October 10 to protest her conditions and the death sentences of other prisoners, ending it on November 1 after her health deteriorated and activists urged her to stop.

Moradi’s death sentence exemplifies the arbitrary nature of Iran’s judicial rulings, which disregard the country’s own legal standards. The prosecutor had recommended a maximum sentence of 15 years under Article 288 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, which applies specifically to cases of non-violent “rebellion.” This indicates that the Iranian government itself recognized Moradi’s alleged activities as non-violent.

However, Judge Salavati invoked Article 287, reserved for “armed rebellion,” claiming that Moradi’s political activism equated to “armed rebellion” to justify the death penalty.

“The Iranian government targets activists from the marginalized Kurdish community with politically motivated charges based on fabricated accusations, and they especially go after women activists for harsh persecution,” Ghaemi said. “This young woman Moradi is yet another case in a long line of unlawful and brutal prosecutions meant at silencing these minority communities and punishing women activists.”