An imprisoned woman was hanged at dawn on Wednesday, July 17, 2019, in the Prison of Nowshahr, in northern Iran. This is the 90th woman executed in Iran during Rouhani’s term in office since 2013.
The official news agency of the Iranian regime, IRNA, cited the General and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Kelardasht, Seyyed Farzad Hosseini, announcing the execution of this 43-year-old woman in the Prison of Nowshahr.
The semi-official news agency, ROKNA, identified this woman with initials “Z.S.M.” while other sources say her full name was Zahra Safari Moghaddam.
Less than a month ago, on June 19, a woman identified as Fatemeh Nassiri was hanged in Gohardasht (Rajaii-Shahr) Prison of Karaj. She had been imprisoned since 11 years ago in Qarchak prison. She was said to have undertaken the crime committed by her son.
There are unconfirmed reports of the hanging another woman by the name of Fariba, along with Fatemeh Nassiri on June 19.
This is at least, the 90th woman to be executed during six years of Rouhani’s presidency.
Iran is the world’s record holder in per capita executions. More than 3700 persons have so far been executed during six years of Rouhani’s terms in office.
The Iranian regime deploys execution and the death penalty as a tool for maintaining its grab on power and for silencing a disgruntled populace the majority of whom live under the poverty line, while unemployment is rampant in the country and there is no freedom of speech.
Rule 61 of the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) reads, “When sentencing women offenders, courts shall have the power to consider mitigating factors such as lack of criminal history and relative non-severity and nature of the criminal conduct, in the light of women’s caretaking responsibilities and typical backgrounds.”
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, has consistently emphasized on the need for abolition of the death penalty in Iran. While denouncing the hanging execution of this 90th woman, the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran calls on all international organizations and institutes defending human rights to intervene to have the death penalty revoked in Iran.