ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk on Wednesday said Iran continues using executions to “instill fear,” expressing his alarm that at least 56 death sentences have been carried out on those charged with national security breaches since March.

“I am alarmed by the rise in executions and death sentences issued in Iran since March, and that capital punishment continues to be used to instill fear among the population and suppress dissent,” Turk said in a statement, urging authorities to abolish the death penalty.

Since March 19, at least 56 people have been executed on national security charges, Turk added, with at least 27 being in relation to the nationwide protests that provoked a harsh government response.

Iran was engulfed in nationwide protests starting late last year, as business owners and shopkeepers at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar went on strike and staged demonstrations over the falling value of the Iranian rial against the US dollar. The unrest later spread to other provinces, with chants increasingly targeting the state.

Iranian authorities launched a violent crackdown during which tens of thousands of people were killed, injured, or arrested.

“Confessions have allegedly been obtained under torture and other ill-treatment. Several executions have reportedly been carried out in public. Some have reportedly been carried out only weeks after arrest. Twelve defendants were reportedly sentenced to death following a single three-hour closed-door hearing,” Turk said.

Last month, UN human rights experts censured Iran for issuing death sentences to 12 people in Isfahan during a single hearing over their alleged involvement in the protests, urging Tehran to halt the executions. The executions have continued since.

Iran also has a long history of broadcasting alleged confessions from detainees that are widely believed to have been obtained through threats, psychological pressure, and, in some cases, physical torture.

“The death penalty is incompatible with the right to life and irreconcilable with human dignity. Such punishment has no place in our world,” Turk stressed.

According to Amnesty International’s 2025 annual report on the use of the death penalty worldwide, global executions have surged to their highest level in over four decades, driven largely by Iran.

The report said Iranian authorities carried out at least 2,159 executions, more than double the previous year and the highest figure recorded in the country in decades. Iran alone accounted for around 80 percent of all recorded executions worldwide.