According to the Human Rights Organization of Iran's July rights violations report, 55 prisoners were executed in one month. According to the organization's data, 373 people, including 15 women, were executed in Iran in the first 7 months of 2024. Lastly, the death sentences handed down to women's rights defenders Pexshan Ezîzî and Şerife Muhammedî caused reactions in many countries, especially in Iran. 

 

Writer and academic Dr. Mona Fayyad evaluated the executions  in Iran and the policies of aggression against women.  

REGIME'S APPROACH TO WOMEN 

 

Fayyad said that the Kurdish women's uprising “Jin, jiyan, azadi (Women, life, freedom)” has encouraged the people in Iran and added: “The regime wants to suppress this segment that mobilizes the streets. Kurdish society is organized, has conscious leadership and experience in struggle. It has more capacity for resistance than other minorities. But in any case, the Iranian regime is suppressing everyone, especially women.”

 

Fayyad said that women, who constitute half of the society, are targeted by the Iranian regime because they have the consciousness of raising resistant generations, “After all, the slogan defended by the regime is ‘Your headscarf is my blood’. When women rise up against this slogan and this oppression, they are fighting against the Iranian regime and its most important pillars” she said.

 

EXECUTION SENTENCES 

 

Reminding that Iran has the highest death penalty rate in the world in proportion to its population, Fayyad said: “China was also one of the countries that applied this punishment and was leading the way in this field due to its millions of inhabitants. However, a recent statistic revealed that Iran has the highest rate of capital punishment in the world. With 80 million inhabitants, Iran has a higher rate of executions than even non-democratic governments with a population of more than a billion. This means that the death penalty rate in Iran has reached levels that no other society or modern society has ever witnessed.”

 

Fayyad noted that although there have been some administrative changes in Iran, the attitude towards women has not changed. Fayyad said: “I observe that most of the punishments and repression, whether reformist or anti-reformist, took place during the reformist governments from Hassan Rouhani to Mohammad Khatami, so this system does not have a reformist administration. The current president-elect is trying to rehabilitate Iran's image abroad and pacify it at home. But it is already known that this person is not a true reformist and in any case he cannot go beyond the instructions of the leader, this is a well-known fact in Iran.”

 

'THE STRUGGLE MUST BE AGAINST THE SYSTEM' 

 

Fayyad also said that the resistance of “Jin, jiyan, azadî” which started after Jîna Emînî was murdered because she did not comply with the headscarf rules has risen in the world and the women of the world have shown great solidarity and she said: “This slogan has become a universal slogan. However, what should be noted here is that the western world and feminist women's movements are generally not gender-based, but rather focus on fragmented issues. It is usually anti-male, but not against systems. And these systems are not democratic systems. So they are not always involved in the struggle for fundamental rights. They don't pay much attention to the issues of third world countries.” 

 

Fayyad called on the women of the world and emphasized the importance of joint struggle against oppression. 

 

MA/Hivda Çelebi