UN warns of rising Iranian executions alongside report on Afghan femicides

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has condemned a surge in Iran's use of the death penalty, reporting at least 56 executions since mid-March. Türk stated that capital punishment is used to "instill fear in the population and suppress dissent."

Among those executed was 24-year-old Marzieh Neyri, who faced capital punishment after resisting sexual harassment. Iranian legal standards present severe obstacles for female victims, requiring four male eyewitness testimonies to legally validate sexual assault allegations.

Simultaneously, a new investigation into 231 femicides in Afghanistan highlights growing impunity for violence against women under the Taliban regime. Following the 2023 dissolution of the attorney general's office, state institutions no longer track domestic homicides, allowing these crimes to remain unrecorded and unpunished.

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