Iranian authorities have executed more than 350 people so far this year, according to an NGO

2023-07-03 17:37:02

MADRID, 3 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Iranian authorities have carried out more than 350 death sentences in the first six months of the year, mostly on drug-related charges, according to the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights.

“At least 354 people, including six women, have been executed in the first six months of 2023,” the group highlighted in a report that underlines that 206 of these executions have to do with drug crimes, an increase of 126 percent. compared to the same period last year. The NGO reports that the authorities have only reported 43 executions, 12 percent of the total.

Up to 71 people — 20 percent — of those executed belonged to the Baluch minority, a predominantly Sunni ethnic group that resides mainly in the province of Balochistan, near the border with Pakistan.

This province was the target of intense operations by the Revolutionary Guard during the harsh repression of the protests in September last year. Hundreds of Baluch died in actions of the Revolutionary Guard in Zaheda and Jash.

Last year, at least 576 people were already executed, well above the 314 inmates executed in 2021. For this year Amnesty International has already counted 282 executions, according to its own count. “The death penalty is used to generate social fear and prevent further protests,” said Iran Human Rights director Mahmud Amiri-Moghaddem.

“Most of the dead are low-cost victims for the killing machine: drug defendants from the most marginalized communities,” he added. Amnesty openly described these executions as a “war on the poor”.