{"id":348503,"date":"2026-10-03T09:40:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T08:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=348503"},"modified":"2026-10-03T09:40:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T08:40:24","slug":"geneva-un-conference-warns-of-execution-surge-in-iran-highlights-resistance-behind-bars-and-across-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/human-rights\/geneva-un-conference-warns-of-execution-surge-in-iran-highlights-resistance-behind-bars-and-across-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Geneva UN Conference Warns of Execution Surge in Iran, Highlights Resistance Behind Bars and Across Society"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Participants
Participants listen to speeches at a conference on Iran\u2019s human rights situation, held in Geneva on 28 September 2026 alongside the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

GENEVA \u2014 Political figures, legal experts and human-rights advocates meeting at the United Nations in Geneva warned that Iran is undergoing a sharp escalation in executions and domestic repression, with political prisoners, lawyers, journalists, students and civil-society activists facing increasing pressure. The September 28 conference, held as a side event at the UN Human Rights Council, focused on the death penalty, shrinking civic space, impunity for past atrocities and the growing use of national-security charges against political opponents. Speakers also drew attention to what they described as an enduring and increasingly organized resistance inside Iran, pointing to prisoners who continued protesting under death sentences, women challenging repression and opposition networks persisting despite decades of executions and imprisonment.<\/p>\n

Swedish human-rights expert, Dr. Henrik Hermansson<\/strong>, who moderated the conference, said the space for independent civil society inside Iran was already severely restricted and was rapidly contracting further. He warned that contact with foreign journalists, NGOs or UN bodies and the sharing of information deemed sensitive could expose Iranian citizens to severe punishment. He also cited legislation that, he said, would require prior Intelligence Ministry authorization for contacts with international organizations and UN mandate holders. At the same time, Dr. Hermansson said executions were increasing rapidly while lawyers, trade unions, journalists, medical professionals and civil-rights defenders were being targeted. \u201cDomestic oppression is rising rapidly,\u201d he said, calling on the international community to intensify efforts to ensure that Iranians could still make their voices heard. UN special procedures have separately raised concerns in 2026 over executions, arbitrary detention, torture allegations and fair-trial violations in Iran.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, <\/strong>President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, sent a video message<\/a> to the conference, linking the growing use of executions to the authorities\u2019 fear of renewed uprisings and an organized opposition. She said that more than 50 people had been executed on political grounds in recent months and more than 100 others remained under death sentences, describing the situation as the most serious political execution campaign since the 1988 massacre.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rise in executions is closely linked to the rise of resistance and popular uprisings, revealing the regime\u2019s fear of the Iranian people and their Resistance,\u201d Mrs. Rajavi said. \u201cOn the one hand, Iran has witnessed repeated uprisings. On the other hand, a new generation of courageous and selfless young people has turned toward the PMOI.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mrs. Rajavi argued that the scale of repression itself had failed to extinguish either public rebellion or organized opposition. After citing successive waves of protests, arrests and killings, she declared: \u201cYet this killing machine has failed to stop the people\u2019s uprisings and the organized Resistance.\u201d She also referred to the experiences of PMOI members and supporters over several decades and quoted former French anti-terrorism investigating judge Marc Tr\u00e9vidic<\/a> on what he described as political pressure exerted by Tehran against its opponents in France during the early 2000s.<\/p>\n

The NCRI President-elect presented that endurance as extending beyond opposition to the current authorities to a defined political program for the future. \u201cOur Resistance of more than four decades against the ruling religious fascism seeks to establish a democratic republic where no one would enjoy any privilege because of his or her religion or heritage,\u201d Mrs. Rajavi said. \u201cWe are committed to respect international conventions, freedom of speech, assembly, and parties, gender equality, full independence of the Judiciary, and recognition of the principle of presumption of innocence, the right to defense and the abolition of the death penalty.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Message to \u200cthe UN Human Rights conference, Geneva
Proposing an international mechanism to hold the Iranian regime accountable#HumanRights<\/a> violations in Iran have intensified in recent months. These violations include the daily executions of prisoners, particularly members of\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Fe5kLxmhXA<\/a><\/p>\n

— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) September 28, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n