Rights groups in Paris denounce executions in Iran through mock hangings

Rights groups in Paris marked World Day against the Death Penalty on Wednesday by staging a mock hanging to denounce executions in Iran, Agence-France Presse reported Thursday.

According to the article, “The Paris-based League of Human Rights (LDH) and the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) joined in a call Wednesday by 64 rights groups worldwide for a moratorium on the death penalty.”

The groups staged the mock hanging by hoisting an effigy masked in black on a crane above a crowd of a few dozen people, also wearing black. The hanging was set in front of a poster depicting the same technique used in real-life hangings in Iran.

“We decided to focus our protest on Iran, where the number of executions skyrocketed this year,” said organizer Emmanuel Maistre. He also argued that capital punishment had become “a weapon of political and social repression in Iran, where accusations such as adultery lead to hanging, or stoning for women.”

There have been 210 executions in Iran since the beginning of the year.

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