UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said at least 56 people had been executed on national-security charges since 19 March, at least 27 of them prosecuted in connection with the protests earlier in the year, and that more than 100 others faced execution on similar charges; he cited public executions, reports of confessions under torture, and 12 defendants sentenced to death in a single three-hour closed hearing, Haalvsh reported.