10 April 2024 – The death penalty or state murder is the Islamic Republic’s most important tool for instilling societal fear to maintain power. Executions in Iran increased dramatically following the “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising, with at least 834 people executed in 2023.
In 2023, more than half of all recorded executions in Iran were for drug-related charges. At least 471 people were executed without any backlash or political cost for the Islamic Republic. The majority of those executed are from deprived and marginalised communities. The number of executions carried out in the ethnic regions, particularly the Kurd and Baluch, is disproportionally high compared to their population. In 2023, a third of those executed for drug-related charges were Baluch people.
Drug defendants are sentenced to death by Revolutionary Courts based on torture-tainted confessions, without due process and fair trial rights and often without access to a lawyer.
Drug-related executions have not received appropriate international reaction and their daily implementation is met with media silence. This has led to the authorities carrying out 18 times more drug executions in 2023 compared to 2020 with the lowest political cost.
On the other hand, the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) which cooperates with Iran in combating drug trafficking, has not only remained silent about the sharp hike in drug executions, but signed a new agreement with the Islamic Republic in May 2023. In addition to legitimising the state’s use of the death penalty, this cooperation also leads to more executions through financial aid and equipment.
We are concerned that hundreds more will be executed in the coming months if we do not increase the political cost of these executions for the Islamic Republic. We call on all human rights organisations and activists to take part in a special global campaign to stop drug-related executions in Iran.
The aim of the campaign is to echo the voice of the most voiceless victims of the Islamic Republic’s execution and intimidation machine. We also urge the UNODC to make any cooperation with the Islamic Republic contingent on a complete halt on drug-related executions.
- Abolition Death Penalty of Iraq Organization
- ACAT Belgique
- ACAT France
- ACAT Germany (Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture)
- Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation (AHRO)
- Alborz, Paris – collectif en soutien au soulèvement “Femme, Vie, Liberté”
- Alliance Path for Iran (API)
- All Human Rights for All in Iran
- Alliance Path for Iran (API)
- Association des Chercheurs Iraniens (ACI)
- Association for the Human Rights of the Azerbaijani People in Iran (AHRAZ)
- Balochistan Human Rights Group
- Bramsh – Balochistan Women’s Voices
- Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
- Capital Punishment Justice Project, Australia
- Center for Human Rights in Iran
- Centre Zagros pour les Droits de l’Homme
- Death Penalty Focus (USA)
- Defenders of Human Rights Center (Shirin Ebadi)
- Eleos Justice, Monash University, Australia
- Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM)
- Ensemble pour l’Iran
- Federal Association of Vietnamese Refugees in the Federal Republic of Germany
- Feminista Bonn
- Frau Leben Freiheit Darmstadt
- Frauen für Freiheit e.v
- Free Human Association
- Free Them Now
- Global Campaign to Stop Executions In Iran
- Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo, Guatemala
- Haalvsh
- HANA Human Rights Organization
- Hands Off Cain
- Hengaw Organization for Human Rights
- HÁWAR.help Organization
- Humanity Diaspo, France
- International Committee Against Execution (ICAE)
- International Iranian Physicians and Healthcare Providers Association (IIPHA)
- International Women in Power
- Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO)
- Iran Human Rights Documentation Center
- Iranian Healthcare Association for Democracy and Human Rights
- Iransk Solidaritetsforum
- Justice for Iran
- Justice Supporters Association
- Kanoon-e Khavaran
- Key and Vulnerable Population Tanzania (KVP Forum)
- Kurdistan Human Rights Association – Geneva
- Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN)
- Kurdistan Human Rights Reporters Center
- Kurdpa Human Rights Organization
- Kurdish Community of Quebec (Simorgh; Centre socio-culturel des Iraniens de Québec)
- Kurds for a Better Future (Kurdistan Human Rights Association – Geneva)
- Minnesota 4Iran
- Nemiran Center
- NIKA, Network of Iranians for Liberty and Democracy
- Norsk Iransk Råd
- Rasanak
- Rescue Alternatives Liberia
- Rev Group Iran
- Rojhalat Women Organisation
- SALAM DHR, Bahrain
- Simorgh; Centre socio-culturel des Iraniens de Québec
- SolidIran Association
- Solidarität mit der Iranischen Revolution – Frankfurt/Mainz
- Stop Child Executions (SCE)
- The Baloch Activists Campaign
- The Christian Union for Progress and Human Rights, DRC
- The Sunny Center Foundation (USA)
- Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), South Korea
- Transnational Community Federation e.V
- United for Iran (U4I)
- United to End Executions in Iran
- Voices of Iranians- Frankfurt
- Voix de la diaspora iranienne (Voices of Iranians- Frankfurt)
- Voluntary Health Association of Kurdistan (Hanai Rojhelat)
- Volunteer Doctors of Kurdistan
- World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
- Woman-Life-Freedom, Melbourne
- Women’s Independence and Sustainable Equality (WISE)
