Iran sees highest monthly execution rate in over 20 years

The Iran Human Rights Organization has reported a significant increase in executions in Iran, with at least 166 people hanged in October alone—the highest monthly total in over 20 years.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the Norway-based organization, said: “While the world’s attention is focused on the tensions between Iran and Israel, the Islamic Republic is using this opportunity to conduct the largest wave of executions in Iran’s prisons in two decades," News.Az reports, citing Iranian media.

He called on the international community to respond with urgency, warning of potentially even higher execution rates in the coming months under the threat of a regional conflict.

Among those executed were Afghan, Baluch, and Kurdish citizens, and at least six women. Charges varied widely, encompassing intentional murder, drug-related offenses, and ambiguous charges like “enmity against God” and “corruption on earth” with two of the executions conducted publicly.

The group's report touched on the role capital punishment has played in Iran’s judicial system. Iran's use of the death penalty has consistently drawn criticism from global human rights organizations, with Amnesty International recently findings showing that nearly 75% of documented executions worldwide in 2023 took place in Iran.

In a report marking World Day Against the Death Penalty, the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) documented at least 811 executions in Iran over the past year, a figure that includes Jamshid Sharmahd, a German-Iranian national whose execution last week sparked international outrage.

Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, also addressed the increase in executions in her first report, saying that Iran’s intensified use of the death penalty extends beyond recognized legal standards.

Citing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Sato added that the death penalty should be reserved for only the “most serious crimes,” expressing concern over charges like “corruption on earth” being used as grounds for execution.

News.Az