Amnesty International, in a statement, called for an end to arbitrary executions and for the immediate halt of death sentences for protesters in Iran.

The organization said that the public execution of two protesters today shows the Islamic Republic’s increased use of the death penalty to suppress opponents.

Reha Bahraini, a lawyer and researcher at Amnesty International, said that there is no doubt that these executions violate the right to life and, from a human rights perspective, constitute the arbitrary deprivation of the right to life.

She added that the Iranian government is using the death penalty as a tool to create fear and panic and to prevent the formation of new protests.