According to human rights activists, the number of executions in Iran has risen sharply in the past year. The human rights organization Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) based in Oslo and the French organization ECPM reported that there were around 75 percent more executions under the arch-conservative and repressive government than in the previous year.
According to the report, the Islamic Republic executed at least 582 prisoners in 2022, compared to 333 in 2021. Almost half of the death penalty was for murder and drug-related offenses, respectively. According to Islamic legal opinion, three percent of those executed were convicted on the controversial charges of “waging war against God” and “corruption on earth”. Death penalty in Iran is usually carried out by hanging.
Death penalty as “means of pressure” and “repressive lever”
The increase suggests the report is using the death penalty as a “mechanism” and “repressive lever” to deal with the country’s social problems. The human rights activists also criticize the high proportion of ethnic minorities among those executed. Amnesty International again recently accused the authorities in Iran of using the death penalty as an “instrument of oppression” of ethnic minorities.
Human rights activists have criticized the use of the death penalty in Iran for years. There are no official figures on executions. Iran also executed four participants in the recent wave of protests. The trigger was the death of the Iranian Kurd Jina Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old was arrested by moral guardians in mid-September for violating Islamic dress codes and died in police custody a few days later.
