Iran Moves to Execute 67-Year-Old Woman for Women’s Rights Slogan
United Nations human rights experts are sounding the alarm over what they describe as a deeply troubling case in Iran: the potential execution of a 67-year-old woman accused of national security crimes for possessing a slogan associated with women’s rights and recording an unpublished message.
The woman, Zahra Shahbaz Tabari, now faces execution after Iranian authorities reportedly treated peaceful expression as evidence of “armed rebellion” against the Islamic Republic—a charge that carries the death penalty under Iranian law.
Arrest Without Warrant, Trial in Minutes
According to a joint statement from multiple UN mandate holders, Iranian security forces raided Tabari’s home without a judicial warrant. She was subsequently held in solitary confinement for approximately one month, during which time she was interrogated and pressured to confess to crimes she denies—including alleged membership in an opposition group and “taking up arms against the state.”
The UN experts report that her trial was conducted via videoconference and lasted less than ten minutes. Tabari was assigned a court-appointed attorney and denied the right to legal counsel of her choosing. She was also reportedly given insufficient time to prepare a defense.
The conviction rests on charges of baghi—a term in Iranian law referring to armed rebellion against the foundations of the Islamic Republic. However, UN officials state that the evidence presented appears wholly inadequate to justify such a charge, rendering the verdict legally unsafe.
UN Experts Cite Systematic Abuse of Death Penalty
The case has drawn intervention from UN special rapporteurs covering Iran, violence against women and girls, and extrajudicial or arbitrary executions, as well as the UN working group on discrimination against women and girls.
They argue that Tabari’s prosecution fits into a broader pattern: the Iranian government’s systematic use of the death penalty for vaguely defined national security offenses. These include baghi, moharebeh (waging war against God), “corruption on earth,” and espionage—charges that critics say are routinely weaponized to suppress dissent.
At least 52 individuals are currently facing execution in Iran under such national security accusations, according to UN data. While some death sentences have been overturned following international pressure, at least one other woman remains at risk of execution on similar grounds.
International Law Obligations Ignored
Iran is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which restricts the use of capital punishment to the “most serious crimes”—a category understood under international law to mean intentional killing.
UN experts emphasize that peaceful expression, women’s rights advocacy, or symbolic acts such as possessing a slogan do not meet this threshold. Criminalizing such activity, they warn, represents not only a violation of due process but also a grave form of gender discrimination.
“Treating women’s activism for gender equality as evidence of armed rebellion is an extreme distortion of justice,” the experts stated.
Spotlight on Reem Alsalem
Among the officials highlighting the case is Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls. Alsalem is notable in Western policy circles for her outspoken opposition to gender-identity-based legal frameworks that, in her view, undermine sex-based protections for women.
She has previously criticized U.S. regulatory proposals that would determine athletic eligibility based on gender identity rather than biological sex, arguing such policies violate international human rights law. Alsalem also publicly supported Idaho’s ban on male participation in female sports during litigation that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
Her involvement underscores the gravity of the Iranian case, particularly as it relates to women’s rights and state violence.
A Test for International Pressure
The Tabari case arrives amid heightened scrutiny of Iran’s human rights record, especially following the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests that erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini. While Iranian authorities insist executions are carried out under domestic law, critics argue that the legal system is being used as an instrument of political and ideological enforcement.
Whether international pressure can once again halt an execution remains uncertain. But UN officials warn that silence now could set a dangerous precedent—one in which elderly women are put to death not for violence, but for expression.