Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,The United Nations human rights chief has expressed alarm over a sharp increase in executions and death sentences in Iran, warning that authorities are using capital punishment to intimidate the population and suppress dissent. Confessions were allegedly obtained through torture and other forms of ill-treatment, while several executions were reportedly carried out in public. Separately, an independent United Nations fact-finding mission in July urged Iran to halt the executions of 10 men who participated in protests in Isfahan. The clampdown by the Iranian regime left thousands dead and thousands more detained, according to the United Nations, while Iranian authorities imposed an internet blackout that lasted for months. Iran’s diplomatic mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.