Worldwide fears over the fate of Iranian protesters

Rights groups warned that several young people, including teenagers who’ve been jailed by Iran for their involvement in anti-government protests, are at risk of being executed, and have been tortured.

In a statement, London-based Amnesty International urged Iran to immediately quash death sentences for three protesters — ages 18, 19 and 31 — charged with at least two capital offenses each after court hearings that lasted less than an hour.

Widespread demonstrations against the leadership of the Islamic Republic erupted in mid-September over the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman. She collapsed at a police station after being arrested for allegedly flouting Iran’s strict dress code for women.

Iran has been condemned by many countries for its use of violence and executions to suppress the protests, which have been largely led by women and young people and have presented a major challenge to the hardline clerical leadership.

At least 522 people have been killed in four months of anti-government protests in Iran, said a report issued on January 15 by the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). Among the dead are 70 minors and 68 security forces, the agency reported.

Nearly 20,000 people had been arrested, 110 on charges that could lead to a death sentence, it said. Four have been executed. Protests were triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, an Iranian Kurdish woman who was arrested by morality police for allegedly not complying with Islamic dress codes.