October 2, 2026 — Ahead of World Day Against the Death Penalty on October 10, Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, warned that ethnic and religious discrimination in Iran is not confined to the social and economic spheres, but directly influences the arrest, interrogation, trial, and sentencing of minority members, including capital punishment. She emphasized that Kurds, Baluchis, Ahwazi Arabs, Azerbaijani Turks, and Turkmen face systemic barriers and compounded violations within judicial proceedings alongside linguistic, economic, social, and environmental marginalization.

According to Sato, in capital cases, ethnic minorities face severe violations of their right to a fair trial, including inadequate access to translation services, torture and ill-treatment to extract confessions, forced confessions, and security-related charges levied without credible evidence—violations that directly taint judicial outcomes and lead to death sentences. Citing the cases of Farhad Baranzehi, Hatem Ozdemir, Yousef Ahmadi, Raouf Sheikh-Maroufi, Mohammad Faraji, and Mohsen Eslamkhah, she expressed grave concern regarding the issuance and potential execution of death sentences in proceedings marked by such abuses.

Sato also addressed the discrimination and systemic exclusion faced by religious minorities: the Baha'i community is effectively deprived of higher education and public sector employment, Christian converts are frequently criminalized as national security threats, and Sunnis as well as followers of the Yarsan faith face restrictions on holding public office. She stressed that these religious biases, alongside ethnic discrimination, must be rigorously accounted for when examining judicial cases, particularly those carrying the death penalty.

Her message ahead of October 10 is clear: when ethnic and religious discrimination intersects with torture, forced confessions, and due process violations, it seals the fate of minority individuals on death row. Consequently, capital cases involving members of minority communities require the highest level of human rights scrutiny, and sentences rendered through such flawed proceedings must not be executed.

As part of her 14-day countdown leading up to October 10—focusing on individuals at imminent risk of execution and broader patterns of unfair trials—Sato published official communications sent to the Islamic Republic concerning capital punishment and defendant rights violations. The published records demonstrate that Iran's responses to raised concerns and specific inquiries have remained insufficient, opaque, and evasive regarding key questions on judicial integrity and due process standards.