Iran | 10 Men Executed in 2 Days in Isfahan Prison

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 1, 2024: Ten men including an Afghan national, were executed in Isfahan Central Prison over two days. Seven were on death row for drug-related offences and three were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Isfahan Central Prison (Dastgerd) on 28 April. They were sentenced to qisas for murder but their identity has not been established at the time of writing.

The next day (29 April), eight men including an Afghan national were executed at the prison. The identities of four of the men who were sentenced to death for drug-related charges, have been established as 32-year-old Behnam Khakpour, 40-year-old Payam Farazandeh, 40-year-old Majid Gorgipour and an Afghan national named Delagha Habib.

The identity of the fifth man has been established as Reza Shahsavandi who was on death row for murder.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “Reza Shahsavandi was arrested for murder five years ago. It happened over a financial dispute. Behnam Khakpour was arrested for drug charges three years ago. Payam Farazandeh was from Kashan and had been arrested three years ago.”

“Majid Gorjipour suffered from memory loss and a stutter. He was arrested around two years ago and sentenced to death. Delagha Habibi was from Afghanistan and had been arrested four years ago,” the source added.

Haalvsh also reported the execution of three Baluch minorities for drug-related charges on 29 April. One of the men has been named as Din Mohammad Mirkhani (Shahlibar). Two Baluch men have not been identified.

At the time of writing, none of the ten executions have been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges, an 84% increase compared to 2022 (256) and about 18 times the average of drug-related executions in 2018-2020. Baluch minorities who constitute 2-6% of Iran’s population, made up 30% of drug executions and 20% of all executions in 2023.

On 10 April 2024, 80+ Iranian and international organisations and groups called for joint action to stop drug-related executions, urging UNODC to make “any cooperation with the Islamic Republic contingent on a complete halt on drug-related executions.”

It is important to note that Afghan nationals constitute the largest group of non-Iranian executions and death row cases in Iranian prisons. The number of their executions have been steadily rising since the Taliban takeover in 2021. At least five Afghan nationals were executed in 2021 which more than tripled in 2022, with 16 Afghan nationals including a juvenile offender and a woman executed. In 2023, at least 25 Afghans were executed, a 56% rise compared to the previous year. The unidentified Afghan man is the 11th Afghan national executed in 2024.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, May 1, 2024

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