Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 2, 2024: At least 72 people were executed in Iran in September and 478 executions were recorded in 2024. Five Afghan nationals were amongst those executed. Of the 72 executions, 35 were for drug-related offences, 35 for murder and 2 for charges of moharebeh (enmity against god) and efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth). Since Pezeshkian took office on 30 July, at least 179 people have been executed, an average of almost three executions per day.
Iran Human Rights warns about the widespread use of the death penalty in the shadow of the Islamic Republic’s war with Israel.
IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “The experience of the past years shows that repression and executions rise during the Islamic Republic’s foreign crises. These executions are aimed at creating fear to prevent protests because the authorities know very well that the biggest threat to the Islamic Republic’s existence are the people of Iran demanding their fundamental rights. There’s a very serious risk of mass executions behind bars in the current situation. All death row prisoners are at risk of execution in the coming months. Closer attention must be paid to executions by Iranians, human rights organisations and the international community who can prevent such atrocities through civil campaigns and raising the political cost of the executions for the Islamic Republic.”
September 2024 executions at a glance:
- At least 72 men executed
- 35 were on death row for drug-related offences
- 35 were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind)
- 2 were executed for charges of moharebeh and efsad-fil-arz
- Only 5 (7%) of the executions were announced by official sources
- 12 Baluch and five Kurdish minorities were amongst those executed
- 5 Afghan nationals were executed
According to data collected by Iran Human Rights, at least 478 people including 15 women and a child offender were executed in the first nine months of 2024. As IHRNGO
warned against a new wave of post-election executions on 2 July, at least 179 people have been executed since Pezeshkian took office on 30 July, an average of almost three executions (2.8) per day.
Of the 72 executions recorded in September, 35 were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, 35 were on death row for drug-related offences and two men were publicly hanged in Khomein for charges of moharebeh and efsad-fil-arz.
The execution of Afghan nationals has been steadily rising every year since the Taliban takeover in 2021 when five men were executed in the space of 35 days. On 10 October 2021, Iran Human Rights
expressed its concern that the Taliban takeover in August had facilitated the execution of Afghan nationals. That number more than tripled in 2022 and rose to in 2023. At least 36 Afghans were executed in the first nine months 2024, with five executions taking place in September.
Source:
Iran Human Rights, Staff, October 2, 2024
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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
