UN raises alarm over surge in Iranian executions as Afghan femicide report emerges

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has expressed severe alarm over a dramatic increase in capital punishment in Iran, citing at least 56 executions since mid-March. Türk stated that Iranian authorities use the death penalty to "instill fear in the population and suppress dissent," particularly targeting political opponents and drug-related offenders.

Concurrently, an investigation into 231 femicide cases in Afghanistan highlighted a sharp rise in unpunished gender-based violence under Taliban rule. The report revealed that the dissolution of the Afghan attorney general's office in 2023 eliminated official tracking mechanisms, allowing perpetrators of violence against women to act with impunity while state institutions conceal the scale of these crimes.

Sources: Diário de Notícias (DN), RTP (Rádio e Televisão de Portugal)