Ghaem Hosseini Executed in Prison, Crimes Against Humanity Continue in Iran

On the morning of Thursday, August 20, 2026, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran hanged Ghaem Hosseini—the fifth detained protester in the “Alikhani Square” case—in Isfahan’s Dastgerd Prison. This execution took place in blatant defiance of international condemnations and repeated calls to halt political executions and the killing of protesters in Iran.

This execution was carried out despite a direct appeal on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, by Ms. Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran following the public execution of two other defendants in the same case—Amirhossein Safari and Abolfazl Sepahi, who were hanged that morning in Isfahan’s Alikhani Square. Ms. Sato urged the Islamic Republic to halt all death sentences, explicitly describing public executions as an instance of “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.” Furthermore, on August 12, 2026, 32 countries—including France, the United Kingdom, and Canada—alongside the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, issued the strongest possible condemnation of the ongoing executions of protesters and the use of the death penalty in Iran.

Prior to this, four other detained protesters in this case—Erfan Esfandiari, Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi, Amirhossein Safari, and Abolfazl Sepahi—had been hanged.