The 11th annual report on the death penalty by Iran Human Rights (IHR) and ECPM is the first report since implementation of the new amendments to the Anti-Narcotics law.
This report provides an assessment and analysis of death penalty trends in 2018 in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It sets out the number of executions in 2018, the trend compared to previous years, the legislative framework and procedures, charges, geographic distribution and a monthly breakdown of executions.
Lists of female and juvenile offenders executed in 2018 are also included in the tables. Drug-related executions one year after enforcement of new amendments to the Anti-Narcotics law are reviewed. The old Anti-Narcotics law and new amendment, along with its strengths and weaknesses, are discussed.
This report also looks into the abolitionist movement within Iran, including the forgiveness movement and its contribution to limiting use of the death penalty, and some information about the crackdown on human rights defenders.
In 2019, Iran will have its 3rd UPR. It will be an opportunity for Iran to engage in a constructive dialogue on human rights. The UPR recommendations on the death penalty, which were given in the previous round and only one of which were accepted by Iran, are included at the end of the report.
The 2018 report is the result of hard work from IHR members and supporters who took part in reporting, documenting, collecting, analysing and writing its content. We are especially grateful to IHR sources inside Iran who, by reporting on unannounced and secret executions in 26 different prisons, incur a significant risk.
Due to the very difficult context, the lack of transparency and the obvious risks and limitations that human rights defenders face in the Islamic Republic of Iran, this report does not give a complete picture of the use of the death penalty in Iran by any means. There are reported execution cases which are not included in this report due to a lack of sufficient details or an inability to confirm cases through two different sources. However, this report tries to give the most complete and realistic figures possible in the present circumstances.
ECPM supports the drafting, editing, publishing and distribution of this report. Problems surrounding transparency of the data and information on the death penalty in Iran should be overcome by a strong strategy of distribution and dissemination.
The purpose of this report for IHR and ECPM is to reveal the facts and make them known in order to change national and international views on the situation of the death penalty in Iran, the world’s leading executioner.
2018 ANNUAL REPORT AT A GLANCE
• At least 273 people were executed in 2018, a 48% decrease compared to 2017
• 93 executions (34%) were announced by official sources. In 2017, 21% had been announced by the authorities
• Approximately 66% of all executions included in the 2018 report, i.e. 180 executions, were not announced by the authorities
• At least 188 executions (69% of all executions) were for murder charges
• At least 24 people (8.8% of all executions) were executed for drug-related charges - 207 less than in 2017
• None of the drug-related executions were announced by official sources
• 13 executions were conducted in public spaces
• At least 6 juvenile offenders were among those executed
• At least 5 women were executed
• At least 62 executions in 2018 and more than 3,526 executions since 2010 have been based on death sentences issued by the Revolutionary Courts
• At least 272 death row prisoners were forgiven by the families of murder victims
INTRODUCTION
The 11th Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran by Iran Human Rights (IHR) and ECPM coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Islamic revolution of 1979. The Islamic revolution marks the start of an era where the death penalty became a “normal” part of people’s everyday lives.
The first death sentences were carried out only three days after the victory of the revolution, as four of the Shah’s generals were executed by firing squad on the roof of “Rafah School”, which was Ayatollah Khomeini’s headquarters at that time. The death sentences were issued and the executions carried out on the night of 15 February 1979 after a session, only a few hours long, of the newly established Revolutionary Court without the presence of a defence lawyer and lacking a process with even a minimum resemblance to a fair trial. Pictures of the dead generals covered the front pages of the main Iranian newspapers the next morning.
A lack of due process, unfair trials and arbitrary executions continue today, four decades after that February night. IHR has documented close to 6,000 executions in the fourth decade of the Islamic Republic’s life.
This report shows, however, that 2018 distinguishes itself from the previous years. The report shows that in 2018 at least 273 people were executed in Iran. This is the lowest number documented since 2007 and represents a 47% reduction from execution numbers in 2017. More importantly, the reduction is mainly due to a decline in the number of drug-related executions, following enforcement of new amendments to the Anti-Narcotics law which aims to restrict use of the death penalty for such offences.
The number of drug-related executions declined from 230 in 2017 to 24 in 2018. Commenting on the reduction in execution numbers in the 2018 report, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, IHR spokesperson, said, “This is probably the most significant step towards limitation in the use of the death penalty in the history of the Islamic Republic and probably 2018’s most significant change in death penalty trends worldwide. We hope it is the first step of many that the Iranian authorities must take in order to improve their dark human rights record”.
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
