In the most recent Urgent Action Letter, the Thompson Rivers University Students’ Union has written to the Head of Iran’s Judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, urging an immediate halt to all executions and the quashing of existing death sentences. The letter calls on Iranian authorities to establish an official moratorium on executions and to reform national laws to bring them into line with international human rights standards.
“Writing this letter was important to me because it centres the lives of people who are being treated as expendable by the state,” said Sigourne Tran, Equity Member at Large. “Taking the time to write this letter forces us to confront the reality that these are not abstract policies, but decisions that determine whether people live or die.”
Iran is currently facing a deepening execution crisis, with thousands of people at risk of execution after being sentenced to death or charged with capital offences under laws that violate international human rights standards. Many individuals have been sentenced to death for drug-related offences or vaguely defined crimes such as “enmity against God” or “corruption on earth.” Trials often fall far short of international fair-trial standards, with defendants denied access to lawyers, subjected to torture or other ill-treatment, and coerced into making confessions that are later used to secure death sentences.
This crisis reflects a broader pattern of repression in Iran, where the death penalty is increasingly used to silence dissent and intimidate communities. Executions disproportionately target marginalized groups, including ethnic minorities and people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, reinforcing systemic discrimination and deepening existing inequalities. The widespread use of capital punishment in this context undermines the right to life and normalizes state violence against those already facing marginalization.
“When the death penalty is used to target marginalized communities, it compounds injustice rather than delivering accountability,” Tran added. “These practices further entrench systems that punish vulnerability instead of protecting human rights.”
TRUSU urges Iranian authorities to immediately halt executions, overturn unjust death sentences, and take meaningful steps toward abolishing the death penalty.
We await a response from the Head of Iran’s Judiciary on this urgent matter.
For More Information
The Amnesty Urgent Action Program allows the Union to take action regarding international human rights injustices that matter to students. Click this link to see injustices we have addressed previously, and for further information about this issue or to see a copy of the letter, contact the Equity Coordinator below.