MIL NGO Engine

Source: Oxfam –

The amount of untaxed wealth hidden offshore by the richest 0.1 percent exceeds the entire wealth of the poorest half of humanity (4.1 billion people), reveals new Oxfam analysis published today ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Panama Papers. The findings show that, a decade later, the super-rich continue to exploit offshore systems to evade taxes and conceal assets, highlighting the urgent need for coordinated international action to tax extreme wealth and end the use of tax havens.

Oxfam estimates that $3.55 trillion in untaxed wealth was stashed offshore in tax havens and unreported accounts in 2024. This sum exceeds the GDP of France and is more than twice the combined GDP of the world’s 44 least developed countries.

The richest 0.1 percent holds approximately 80 percent of all untaxed offshore wealth, or around $2.84 trillion. Within this tiny group, the ultra-wealthiest 0.01 percent holds roughly half ($1.77 trillion).

“The Panama Papers pulled back the veil on a shadow world where the richest quietly move immense fortunes beyond the reach of taxes and scrutiny. Ten years on, the super-rich are still sequestering oceans of wealth in offshore vaults,” said Christian Hallum, Oxfam International’s Tax Lead.

“This isn’t just about clever accounting —it’s about power and impunity. When millionaires and billionaires stash trillions of dollars in offshore tax havens, they place themselves above the obligations that bind the rest of society. The consequences are as predictable as they are devastating: we see our public hospitals and schools starved of funds, our social fabric shredded by rising inequality, and ordinary people forced to shoulder the costs of a system rigged to enrich a tiny few.”

While progress has been made in reducing untaxed offshore wealth, it remains stubbornly high at approximately 3.2 percent of global GDP. Progress also remains highly uneven: most countries in the Global South are excluded from the Automatic Exchange of Information system (AEOI) despite their urgent need for tax revenue. The AEOI is credited with reducing the share of untaxed offshore wealth in recent years.

Oxfam calls on governments to:
 

• Strengthen inclusive global cooperation to tax the super-rich and end tax havens under the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, while supporting complementary regional and international initiatives.
• Strengthen tax authorities and financial transparency, giving governments the tools to identify and track the wealth of the richest individuals, including through a global asset register.
• Ensure the richest 1 percent pay significantly higher effective tax rates on income from both labor and capital, with even higher rates for multimillionaires and billionaires.
• Introduce taxes on extreme wealth, particularly targeting the richest 1 percent, at levels sufficient to reduce inequality.
   

Source: Oxfam –

Only 3 percent of the more than 1,000 tax recommendations made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to governments in recent years focus on taxing wealth and income from wealth, new analysis by Oxfam reveals ahead of the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C.

Oxfam examined the IMF’s tax advice to 125 countries between 2022 and 2024. Despite the rapid growth of extreme wealth ―billionaire wealth has surged by 81 percent since 2020― just 30 of 1,049 tax recommendations focus on net wealth taxes and the taxation of income from wealth, namely capital gains.

“As billionaire fortunes grow at extraordinary speed, the IMF’s silence on taxing extreme wealth is increasingly untenable,” said Kate Donald, Head of Oxfam International’s Washington DC Office. “The Fund is reinforcing a system in which ordinary people —already strangled by rising prices— are forced to shoulder the brunt of taxes. Meanwhile, vast concentrations of obscene wealth remain largely untaxed. Serious fiscal reform should start with those most able to contribute.”

Oxfam’s analysis exposes two striking discrepancies in IMF guidance depending on a country’s income level.

First, 52 percent of tax advice to high-income countries was progressive, while 59 percent of tax advice to low- and lower-middle-income countries was regressive. A progressive tax system ensures those who have higher income and more wealth pay proportionally more taxes than those who have less. Progressive tax measures like net wealth and capital gains taxes were rarely recommended, and when they were, advice was concentrated in high-income contexts. 

• IMF tax advice to Canada and the United States was overwhelmingly progressive, while advice to South Asia was by far the most regressive, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa. India received the highest number of regressive recommendations.
• In the past 25 years, the gap between the richest 1 percent and the poorest 50 percent has grown in twice as many low- and middle-income countries that received mostly regressive IMF tax advice (25 percent) than in those that received mostly progressive advice (11 percent).

Second, while the IMF publicly acknowledges that tax policy is a critical tool for addressing inequality, it links its tax advice to inequality far more often for high-income countries (34 percent) than low- and lower-middle-income countries (8 percent). Nearly 90 percent of low- and lower-middle-income countries have medium or high inequality. 

• Chile, with one of the highest levels of income inequality, was advised to raise tax rates on low- and middle-income brackets while leaving rates on top income brackets untouched.
• Nigeria, where nearly one-third of the population lives in poverty —the highest rate in Africa—was advised to increase value-added taxes, which disproportionately affect the poor.
• Hungary was advised against implementing a windfall profit tax on energy companies, even though the IMF had publicly supported such taxes and the EU had agreed to implement them across member states.

“The IMF is operating with a troubling double standard that calls into question the evenhandedness it holds as a core principle. It offers mostly progressive tax advice to rich countries, yet its guidance for the rest of the world remains largely regressive. The Fund must provide equally progressive tax advice to all members —or admit its commitment to tackling inequality is merely rhetorical,” said Donald.

Oxfam’s analysis also found that 10 percent of the IMF’s recommended tax reforms address gender inequality, and most of these references amount to just a few sentences. Overall, more than 90 percent of all IMF tax guidance focuses on tweaking existing measures.

In the context of the unlawful attacks on Iran by Israel and the United States, and Iran’s response, tax policy remains a critical tool for mitigating the impact of surging energy prices, which drive up costs for transport, food, and basic commodities, disproportionately affecting lower-income households. A windfall profits tax on energy corporations, which are poised to earn substantially higher profits, should be systematically included in IMF tax guidance. Oxfam estimates that 45 energy corporations made on average $237 billion a year in windfall profits in 2021 and 2022.  

Oxfam urges the IMF to seize the opportunity presented by its ongoing comprehensive review to fundamentally reform how tax policy is integrated into its economic surveillance. Specifically, the IMF must:
 

• Systematically place inequality at the heart of all fiscal advice, defaulting to revenue-raising policies that enhance the progressivity of national tax systems. Discourage over-reliance on consumption taxes and other regressive measures that disproportionately burden low-income households.
• Conduct and publish rigorous distributional impact assessments of all tax and fiscal advice included in Article IV reports to ensure recommendations do not exacerbate inequality.
• Significantly broaden recommendations for taxing high-net-worth individuals and wealth, while actively supporting measures to curb corporate tax avoidance and harmful competition.
• Develop a centralized, user-friendly database to track and publicize the tax advice provided in Article IV reports.
   

Source: Chatham House –

Syrian President al-Sharaa on Iran war: ‘Syria will remain outside this conflict’
News release
jon.wallace
1 April 2026

In his first UK public event, President al-Sharaa urged negotiations to resolve the US-Israeli war on Iran – and discussed elections, reconstruction and foreign policy.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited Chatham House on 31 March for a conversation with Director and Chief Executive Bronwen Maddox – his first public event in the United Kingdom. The two discussed Syria’s reconstruction, its foreign policy, and its position on the Iran war, before the president took questions from the audience.

Asked by Maddox about his government’s position on Iran and the war with the US and Israel, President al-Sharaa said that:

‘There is no doubt that Iran… was at the forefront of the conflict led by the [former] regime against the Syrian people. However, after we reached Damascus, we did not have an issue with Iran in Tehran; rather, our problem was with Iran in Damascus, because it was occupying Syrian villages and towns, displacing people, and so on.’   

‘We have held back from opening relations with Iran up to this point. Certainly, the war currently under way is negatively affecting the region by disrupting energy and fuel supplies, which in turn affects the global economy… What we had been advising was that they should look for a negotiated solution, rather than resorting to military force, because that carries major risks.’ 

Asked by Maddox if Syria would remain neutral in the war, he replied:

‘Certainly, unless Syria is subjected to direct attacks by any party, it will remain outside this conflict. 14 years of war are enough for Syria, during which we have paid a very heavy price, and we are not prepared to go through a new experience. Those who have gone through the hardship of war know the value of peace…’ 

Asked if his government was helping to prevent weapons being transported to Hezbollah in Lebanon, President al-Sharaa said: 

‘We, too, have paid the price for Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria over the past 14 years. Hezbollah was also an active partner with the [former] regime in the killing of the Syrian people.

‘Nevertheless, after we reached Damascus, we tried to adopt policies that would not harm the situation in Lebanon. We were keen that the conflict should not extend into Lebanon, while at a minimum protecting our borders. Protecting the borders requires that those responsible for securing them prevent the entry of weapons and cases of smuggling.’ 

Addressing relations with Israel, he said:

‘We tried through dialogue and discussion. Indirect negotiations began and then moved to direct negotiations. We reached good points, but at the last moments we always find a shift in the Israeli position.’

Maddox also pressed al-Sharaa on his 2025 promise to hold elections within five years: ‘Are you still on track for that?’ she asked.

‘Certainly, Syria has taken initial steps. We held a national dialogue conference that produced recommendations. After that, we issued a constitutional declaration which stipulated that the first term would be five years as a temporary measure.

‘During this period, we also conducted elections for the People’s Assembly, whose first session will begin next month.

‘Of course, after five years, there will be further steps, as we have reviewed the laws and laid the groundwork for holding free elections in Syria.’  

Watch the event in full.

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

Kenya imports approximately 70% of its electronic equipment, much of which arrives near the end of its useful life.

NAIROBI, Kenya — Waste-pickers in Kenya are paying a heavy price for an escalating e-waste crisis in Kenya.  Exposure to toxic chemicals released during unsafe handling of electronic waste, including open burning, acid leaching, and manual disassembly, has left 61% of waste pickers in Nairobi’s Korogocho settlement reporting health problems,  with nearly half suffering respiratory illness, and more than a third reporting skin infections. 

Kenya imports approximately 70% of its electronic equipment, much of which arrives near the end of its useful life. 

Speaking during the launch of a landmark policy brief and factsheet on the escalating e-waste crisis devastating communities in Kenya and Ghana, the environmental organisation warned that toxic electronic waste, often disguised as donations or recycling, is putting lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems at risk.

Hellen Kahaso Dena, Pan-African Plastics Project Lead at Greenpeace Africa, said:

“What we are witnessing is waste colonialism in action: wealthy countries offloading toxic burdens onto African communities under the guise of development and charity.  When only about 1% of e-waste is formally recycled,  the remainder is handled in informal settings where waste pickers, many of whom are from vulnerable groups, are exposed to dangerous substances such as lead, cadmium, and carcinogenic fumes of burning electronics.

Kenya generates approximately 51,000 metric tonnes of electronic waste annually, making e-waste the country’s fastest-growing waste stream,  yet only 1% is formally recycled. 

Surveys conducted in Nairobi’s Korogocho informal settlement paint a harrowing picture of the health toll on waste workers: 61% of respondents reported health issues from handling e-waste, with 47.2% reporting respiratory complications and 35.3% reporting skin damage or infections. Children as young as six years old are involved in sorting and burning e-waste to extract metals such as copper, silver, and aluminium, exposing them to carcinogenic fumes from toxins including lead, cadmium, beryllium, and furans.

“These are not abstract numbers. Behind every statistic is a mother, a child, a young man trying to earn a living by picking through the world’s discarded electronics with his bare hands. That is the human cost of our collective failure to manage this crisis.” Kahaso added, commenting on the scale of the health emergency facing informal workers.

On the need for bold government action, Kahaso said:

“Kenya and Ghana cannot continue to absorb the world’s discarded electronics while receiving none of the benefits. We are calling on both governments to enforce Extended Producer Responsibility regulations, formalise and protect informal waste workers, and work with customs to stop illegal e-waste shipments at the border. The solutions exist. What is missing is the political will.”

The launch, held at Alliance Française in Nairobi on the United Nations International Day of Zero Waste, brought together policymakers, civil society actors, researchers, and community representatives to confront what the organisation describes as a deepening crisis of waste colonialism – the systematic dumping of toxic electronic waste from wealthy nations onto African soil under the guise of donations or technological transfers.

The event also featured an immersive photojournalism exhibition by Kenyan photojournalist Edwin Nyamasyo, whose powerful images capture the human and environmental scale of the waste crisis as experienced by communities on the frontlines in Kenya and Ghana.

These images are not easy to look at, but they are far harder to live with. My work is to make sure no one can say they did not know,” said Edwin.

Meanwhile, Ghana’s Agbogbloshie site, the world’s largest electronic waste dump, continues to receive hundreds of thousands of tonnes of e-waste, predominantly from Western Europe and the United States.

The crisis was significantly worsened following China’s 2017 ban on foreign waste imports, which redirected enormous quantities of plastic, textile, and electronic waste toward Africa. Much of this waste is mislabelled and shipped in violation of the Basel and Bamako Conventions, international agreements designed to prevent the transboundary movement of hazardous waste into Africa.

The policy brief sets out concrete recommendations to both the Kenyan and Ghanaian governments, including:

• Strengthen policy and enforcement – Full implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations, ensuring compliance by all electronics producers and importers, with incentives for eco-design and sustainable product life extension.
• End waste colonialism  – Enforce the Basel and Bamako Conventions; require that all shipped used electronics be functional and destined for reuse, with any requiring hazardous processing handled in the exporting country.
• Formalise and protect waste workers –  Recognise informal collectors as legitimate economic actors; provide safety training, personal protective equipment (PPE), and certification; establish fair buy-back and franchising models linking informal collectors with licensed recyclers.
• Embed circular economy principles – Launch incentives for domestic repair and recycling businesses; promote “design-for-repair” standards; invest in vocational training for electronics refurbishment.
• Expand collection infrastructure –  Establish accessible e-waste drop-off points in urban and rural areas; use digital platforms to coordinate pickups and track disposal flows.
• Drive consumer awareness and behaviour change –  Run nationwide campaigns on safe e-waste disposal, data security in recycling, and environmental risks, with incentives for consumers to return old devices.

ENDS.

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About the Exhibition

The photo exhibition by Edwin Nyamasyo offers an unflinching visual account of the waste crisis across Kenya, documenting the communities, landscapes, and livelihoods affected by decades of unchecked waste. The exhibition runs alongside the launch event at Alliance Française, Nairobi.

About Greenpeace Africa

Greenpeace Africa is an independent environmental organisation that campaigns for a green and peaceful future across the African continent. The organisation exposes environmental injustice, challenges destructive practices, and advances solutions that protect people and the planet.

For media enquiries, interviews, or accreditation, please contact:

Ferdinand Omondi Communications Lead, Greenpeace Africa 📧  [email protected]  📞 +254 722 505 233 

Greenpeace Africa Pressdesk: [email protected] 

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

Regional Fisheries Management Organisations or RFMOs, bodies in charge of fisheries management in the high seas, are trying to water down the High Seas Treaty’s capacity to deliver on protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030, and give themselves additional powers that would significantly restrict ocean protection measures. Campaigners are sounding the alarm on this proposed text which RFMOs have lobbied for. These amendments would shore up RFMOs own supremacy, after decades of destruction, and stall and derail ocean protection measures like ocean sanctuary proposals.

With only two days left of PrepCom, the key ocean treaty talks happening at the UN HQ this week, Greenpeace UK is calling on the UK government to ask its delegates in New York to completely reject the new text proposed.

Megan Randles, Greenpeace’s head of delegation to the UN talks, said:

“The organisations that have presided over decades of destruction on the high seas have made a completely unacceptable power-grab which would dramatically weaken the Treaty’s ability to protect the ocean.

“They are attempting to re-write the Treaty in favour of fishing industry vested interests. These organisations want to be able to block and derail conservation progress, like the creation of marine protected areas, and these amendments would give them power to do just that.

“We urgently need governments to reject these proposals before key ocean treaty talks end. If they don’t, they risk failing in their commitment to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030 with catastrophic consequences.”

Ends

Notes to Editors:

1. Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) are attempting to weaken the High Seas Treaty text to give themselves additional powers that would significantly restrict ocean protection measures. Campaigners are sounding the alarm on this proposed text where RFMOs have made significant amendments, the relevant sections are: Para 1(b), (c), (g bis), (g ter), (i), Para 4, Para 5. These amendments would shore up RFMOs own supremacy, and stall and derail ocean protection measures like sanctuary proposals.
2. The current language of the text goes far beyond the existing article 5 of the Treaty.

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

BENGALURU, 1 April 2026 — Today, as the city marked April Fool’s Day, a collective “Scream” echoed across Bengaluru. Led by Greenpeace India and a coalition of civil society groups under the Bengaluru Rising campaign, several citizen groups and individuals took to the streets in a series of public actions to protest the “absurdity” of current urban development.

“‘Stupid’ Projects quite simply put are those where there are massive delays causing disruption to people’s lives; where costs have escalated outrageously and the projects remain incomplete or they fail to solve the very problem that they were designed for. In the lead up to the GBA elections we are calling on all candidates to engage with these concerns raised by citizens and not allow Bangalore to be turned into a global stupidity!” said Amruta S.N., Climate and Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace India.  

The major Scream interventions brought this critique into public space at sites that symbolise the failures of such “stupid projects.” At the Rajarajeshwari Nagar Arch Flyover—delayed for over four years—and the Dommasandra flyover, which has seen delays of nearly six years, the actions highlighted how prolonged, infrastructure-heavy projects continue to disrupt everyday life without delivering timely relief. At Mysuru Lamps, the intervention responded to the proposed loss of a vital urban forest space for a convention centre, raising concerns about the trade-offs between ecological preservation and large-scale development.

Find more information on above three projects here: 

The “Scream” interventions served as a defiant response to a decade of development that has prioritized flyovers and road expansions over walkability, breathable air, and the city’s vanishing “green-blue” (lakes and parks) networks.

Find all the ‘Scream’ activity location and details of citizen groups here: 

Kausatubh Rau, member of Malleswaram Social said, “Bengaluru must prioritise public spaces that align with its climate and biodiversity goals—and protecting existing green cover is the first step. The defunct Mysore Lamps factory, with its dense, forest-like canopy, offers a unique opportunity to create an inclusive, mixed-use public space. Turning it into a convention centre would serve only a narrow section of society while replacing vital green cover with concrete, worsening traffic, pollution, and urban heat, without addressing the urgent need for accessible public green spaces.” 

The campaign follows months of Imaginariums—innovative, active-listening workshops held across the city with students, working professionals, old residents and new . Using art and theatre, these sessions captured a stark divide between The Government Vision: Massive, resource-intensive concrete structures that fail to reduce traffic vs The Citizen Vision: A “slower,” shaded, and interconnected city where the “last mile” is walked, not suffered.

Please see all photos and video here:  

By choosing April 1st, the campaign highlighted the irony of a city known as the “Silicon Valley of the East” relying on outdated, mid-20th-century urban planning. 

The “Scream” is not just a moment of venting; it is a call for the BBMP and the State Government to adopt the “Imaginarium” model—bringing citizens into decision
-making processes such as urban planning, budgeting and policy design –so that people are engaged in shaping the city, rather than left to live with the consequences of poor planning.

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About Bengaluru Rising: Bengaluru Rising is a citizen-led movement supported by Greenpeace India and diverse civil society groups. It aims to reclaim the city’s urban narrative by centering the voices of its most vulnerable and everyday users in the planning process.

Media Contact:
Nibedita Saha, Media Officer,
Greenpeace India
[email protected]

Amruta S.N., Climate and Energy Campaigner,
Greenpeace India
[email protected]

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 31, 2026 ) — In response to The Metals Company’s latest announcementof its corporate update and financial results for the period ending December 31, 2025, Jackie Dragon, Greenpeace USA Senior Oceans Campaigner, said: “If deep sea mining is truly the next big thing its backers claim, why can’t The Metals Company attract investors — and why do they expect taxpayers to foot the bill? Before Congress authorizes a single dollar of Department of Defense support for this industry, it should demand the answers it already paid for: two mandated reports on whether these minerals are even needed. Until then, Congress is being asked to fund a solution to a problem the Department of Defense has never formally assessed. This isn’t about security; it’s about propping up a speculative industry that risks irreversible harm to the deep ocean for corporate profit.”

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Contact: Tanya Brooks, Senior Communications Specialist at Greenpeace USA, [email protected]  

Greenpeace USA Press Desk: [email protected] 

Greenpeace USA (inc.) is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa.

Source: Amnesty International –

Responding to the arbitrary and secret executions of four dissidents in Iran since yesterday as at least seven other protesters and dissidents face the imminent risk of execution, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Diana Eltahawy said:

“Iranian authorities must immediately halt any plans to execute dissidents Vahid Bani Amerian and Abolhassan Montazer and protesters Mohammad Amin Biglari, Ali Fahim, Abolfazl Salehi Siavashani, Amirhossein Hatami, and Shahin Vahedparast Kolo, held in Ghezel Hesar prison, Alborz province.

“It is unconscionable that even as the population is reeling from conflict and mass bereavement amid the ongoing aerial bombardment by Israel and the USA, the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran continue to weaponize the death penalty to eradicate dissenting voices and further terrify people. 

“Earlier this morning, the authorities executed in secret Babak Alipour and Pouya Ghobadi. This followed yesterday’s execution in secret of Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar and Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi. According to information available to Amnesty International, authorities carried out the arbitrary executions of the four without providing them or their families and lawyers advance notice or allowing them to say their final goodbyes. An informed source said the authorities have not returned the bodies of at least three – Babak

Alipour and Pouya Ghobadi and Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar – to their families, deepening families’ anguish and suffering. 

“Fears have now intensified over the fate of Vahid Bani Amerian and Abolhassan Montazer, convicted in the same case following a grossly unfair torture-tainted trial. The authorities have refused to provide any information regarding their fate and whereabouts to their families or lawyers since their transfer to an unidentified location on 30 March.

“In another distressing development, authorities transferred five young protesters – Mohammad Amin Biglari, Ali Fahim, Abolfazl Salehi Siavashani, Amirhossein Hatami, Shahin Vahedparast Kolo – from Ghezel Hesar to an unidentified location this morning, also sparking fears of their imminent execution. They were sentenced to death in a separate case related to alleged offences committed in the context of the January 2026 protests.

“All 11 men have said they were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in detention, including beatings, floggings, prolonged solitary confinement, and death threats at gunpoint before being convicted in grossly unfair trials that relied on forced ‘confessions’ extracted under torture and lasted only a few hours.

“The death penalty violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Carrying out death sentences imposed after serious fair trial violations render the execution arbitrary. All states must urgently call on Iranian authorities to immediately halt all executions and establish a moratorium on all executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.”

 Background:

Vahid Bani Amerian, Abolhassan Montazer, Babak Alipour, Pouya Ghobadi, Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar and Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi – were sentenced to death following grossly unfair proceedings before a Revolutionary Court in Tehran in October 2024,

which convicted them of “armed rebellion against the state” (baghi) on allegations of affiliation with banned opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI). They repeatedly denied all accusations of taking up arms against the state.

According to information obtained from informed sources, in the evening of 29 March 2026, Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar and Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi were suddenly transferred from Section 4 of Ghezel Hesar prison to an unidentified location. The next morning, 30 March, authorities announced their executions. They then took four other men, Babak Alipour, Pouya Ghobadi, Vahid Bani Amerian and Abolhassan Montazer, along with 14 other dissidents, also held in Section 4, to an unidentified location.

In the morning of 30 March, the authorities cut off all phone lines for political dissidents imprisoned Section 4 of Ghezel Hesar prison, who have since been held incommunicado. 

On 31 March, the authorities announced the executions of Babak Alipour and Pouya Ghobadi.

The executions of 30 and 31 March follow the executions of four other men; Saleh Mohammadi, Mehdi Ghasemi and Saeed Davoudi- on 19 March 2026, who had been arrested in connection with the January 2026 protests, and the reported execution of Kouroush Keyvani on espionage-related charges on 18 March 2026.

Saleh Mohammadi was sentenced to death by Criminal Court One in Qom on 4 February, less than three weeks after his arrest on 15 January 2026 in connection with the death of a security agent during protests in Qom on 8 January 2026, an accusation he denies. The verdict, reviewed by Amnesty International, shows that he retracted his “confessions” in court saying they were extracted under torture, but the court dismissed this without any investigation. An informed source said he sustained hand fractures as a result of beatings.

Seven men, namely Mohammad Amin Biglari, Ali Fahim, Abolfazl Salehi Siavashani, Amirhossein Hatami, Shahin Vahedparast Kolor, Shahab Zohdi and Yaser Rajaifar were sentenced to death for “enmity against God” (moharebeh) by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran for allegedly setting a Basij base on fire in Tehran. Their sentences were issued on 9 February 2026, less than a month after their arrests in January 2026.

An informed source said Mohammad Amin Biglari was forcibly disappeared for several weeks before being moved to Ghezel Hesar prison.  Authorities denied him access to a lawyer during investigations and then assigned him a state-appointed lawyer, who failed to represent his interests during a fast-tracked trial in which the court relied on forced “confessions” to convict him. They subsequently denied an independent lawyer, appointed by his family, access to his casefile, hindering his ability to file an appeal before the Supreme Court.

Since the 2022 Woman Life Freedom uprising, Iranian authorities have embarked on an execution spree putting to death thousands following grossly unfair trials, with the pace of accelerating following the 12-day war in 2025 and reaching a scale not seen in over four decades.

Source: Oxfam –