/ Amnesty International stressed, on Thursday, the need to take “strong” international measures against Iran to stop the executions taking place in its prisons.
The organization said in a report published on its website and viewed by Agency, that there is an urgent need to take strong international measures to stop the horrific escalation in executions that has witnessed the transformation of Iranian prisons into arenas for mass killings in the year 2023.
The organization highlighted that at least 481 executions – more than half of the total 853 executions recorded in 2023 – were carried out for drug-related crimes.
The brief report, titled: “Don’t Let Them Kill Us,” the relentless execution crisis in Iran since the 2022 uprising, reveals how the Iranian authorities have intensified their use of the death penalty to spread fear among the people and tighten their grip on power in the wake of the “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising. It broke out between September and December 2022.
The briefing also raises the alarm about the disproportionate impact of the authorities’ deadly drug control policies on poor and marginalized communities.
The organization indicated that the number of executions in 2023 is the highest recorded since 2015 and represents an increase of 48% over 2022 and an increase of 172% over 2021, and the killing wave in Iran will continue in 2024, with at least 95 executions recorded by March 20. the past. The numbers of executions recorded by Amnesty International are the minimum numbers, and the organization believes that the real number is higher than that.
“The death penalty is abhorrent in all circumstances, but its widespread application against the backdrop of drug-related crimes after grossly unfair trials before revolutionary courts is a hideous abuse of power,” said Diana Eltahawy, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Office. “.
“The Islamic Republic’s deadly anti-drug policies contribute to a cycle of poverty and systemic injustice, and further entrench discrimination against marginalized communities, especially the persecuted Baloch minority in Iran,” she added.
Last year also saw a wave of executions targeting protesters, social media users and other actual or perceived opponents for actions protected under international human rights law involving charges such as “insulting the Prophet” and “apostasy,” as well as vague charges of “waging war against God.” Or “spreading corruption on earth.”
“Among those executed are protesters, dissidents, and members of oppressed ethnic minorities,” Al-Tahawy added. “The authorities have used the death penalty as a weapon in an organized attempt to sow fear among the public and suppress dissent. Without a strong global response, the Iranian authorities will feel emboldened to execute thousands of additional people in the coming years with impunity.” “completely free from punishment.”
She continued, “Our shocking findings regarding the Iranian authorities’ continued assault on the right to life confirm the urgent need for the international community to put pressure on the Iranian authorities to impose an immediate moratorium on all executions.”
Al-Tahawi noted, “While the United Nations Human Rights Council votes this week on whether to renew the mandates of the Fact-Finding Mission on Iran and the Special Rapporteur on Iran, it is necessary to point out to the Iranian authorities that their miserable human rights record will remain under international scrutiny.” “Ensuring the continued existence of an independent international investigative and accountability mechanism to collect and analyze evidence of committed crimes covered by international law.”
Revolutionary courts issued 520 (61%) of the death sentences carried out in 2023. These courts have jurisdiction over a wide range of acts, including drug-related crimes, which the authorities consider “national security” crimes.
These courts lack independence, operate under the influence of security and intelligence services, and routinely use forced “confessions” extracted with torture in grossly unfair summary trials to issue convictions.
Very shocking high
The sharp rise in the number of executions in 2023 is largely due to a deadly and disturbing shift in Iran’s anti-drug policy following the ascension of Ebrahim Raisi to the presidency and the appointment of Gholamhossein Ejei as head of the judiciary, both of which occurred in 2021.
Amnesty International has analyzed official statements by senior executive and judicial authorities publicly criticizing the 2017 reforms to the anti-drug law, which led to a significant reduction in the number of drug-related executions between 2018 and 2020, and calling for increased use of the death penalty to combat drug trafficking.
These official positions have translated into a terrifying upward trajectory since 2021, with 481 drug-related executions carried out in 2023, constituting 56% of the total number of executions. This represents an 89% increase from 2022 when 255 people were executed for drug-related crimes and a 264% increase from 2021 when 132 people were executed for drug-related crimes.
Members of the Baluchi minority in Iran constituted 29% (138) of those subject to drug-related executions in 2023, while they constitute only about 5% of Iran’s population, which reveals the discriminatory impact of the authorities’ anti-drug strategy on the most marginalized and poorest communities.
Individuals executed for drug-related crimes were often brutally executed in secret without prior notification to their families and lawyers.
Without urgent action by the international community, the number of drug-related executions will continue to rise, amid continuing efforts by the judicial, legislative and executive authorities to enact a deadly new anti-drug law that, if adopted, would expand the scope of drug charges resulting in The death penalty.
Executions as a tool of political repression
Throughout 2023, following the “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising between September and December 2022, Iranian authorities also intensified their use of the death penalty as a tool to suppress dissent.
In 2023, authorities executed six men in connection with the 2022 uprising and one man in connection with the November 2019 protests that broke out across the country. At least seven other people have been sentenced to death, and are at imminent risk of execution, in connection with the 2022 uprising and the November 2019 protests.
The increase in the number of executions has led some prisoners sentenced to death to go on a hunger strike and publicly appeal for intervention to stop their execution.
In May 2023, several days before their execution after grossly unfair trials, protesters Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi, and Saeed Yaqoubi smuggled a letter out of prison pleading for help, saying: “Please don’t let them kill us.”
On January 28, 2024, another group of death row prisoners wrote an open letter announcing their hunger strike and requesting support to save their lives. It read: “Maybe with your help, these executions can be stopped. In any way you can, please be our voice.”
Execution of juveniles
Last year also saw a shocking escalation in the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders, with a 17-year-old boy and four young men convicted of crimes that occurred when they were under 18 were executed.
Hamidreza Azari was arrested when he was just 16 years old, and executed less than seven months later after a grossly unfair trial expedited by prosecutors. Iranian authorities shamelessly misrepresented his age in local media, saying he was 18 to evade accountability for violating international law that prohibits the imposition of death sentences on persons under 18 years of age at the time of the crime.
In recent months, authorities have misleadingly promoted a new directive from the head of the judiciary as a step towards a “further reduction” in death sentences for juvenile offenders. But Amnesty International’s analysis reveals that the guidance does not address long-standing, inherent flaws in juvenile laws, and reaffirms the discretion given to judges to sentence juvenile offenders to death after flawed “maturity assessments”.
Amnesty International has repeatedly urged the Iranian authorities to amend Article 91 of the Islamic Penal Code to abolish the death penalty for crimes committed by children in all circumstances.
background
The Iranian authorities refuse to provide public statistics on death sentences and executions. To record the number of executions carried out in 2023, Amnesty International worked closely with the Abdel Rahman Boroumand Centre, drawing on open sources, including reports by state media, independent media and human rights organisations.
The organization also reviewed execution records from the Iranian Human Rights Organization and the Kurdistan Human Rights Network.
The death penalty is the ultimate form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime. Whether the individual is guilty or innocent, or other characteristics of the individual; Or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.