Iran: Man Executed In Bandar Abbas Central Prison

Iran-HRM – A 41-year-old man by the name of Mohammad Jafar Shirzad was executed on April 28th in Bandar Abbas Central Prison in southern Iran. He was from the city of Khorramabad, west of Iran and had been held behind bars since 2014.

Reports indicate that another prisoner in Isfahan Central Prison was transferred to solitary confinement today in preparation for his execution on drug related charges. He is identified as Kiumars Nasouhi, from Kermanshah, western Iran.

According to the latest report of the Amnesty International, among all the recorded executions worldwide last year, more than 51 percent were carried out in Iran.
Although second, behind China in terms of executions, Iran “carried out 84 percent of the global total number of executions.”
The number of executions in Iran last year was 507, “accounting for 60 percent of all confirmed executions in the region.” Of the 507 people executed, “501 were men and six were women. At least five juvenile offenders were executed, and 31 executions were carried out publicly.”
Amnesty International believes that hundreds of other death sentences may have been imposed in Iran but were unable to confirm figures. Mahmoud Amiri Moghaddam, who heads the Iran Human Rights Organization based in Norway, said in an interview that some “70 to 80 percent of executions in Iran are not reported.”
Amnesty International reported that the executions last year were carried out for murder (240); drug trafficking (205); murder and rape 4; robbery 11; “spreading corruption on earth” 2; rape (male on female rape) 16; kidnapping and murder 3; moharebeh (politically motivated) (2); and 19 e for offenses that could not be confirmed.”
Among those executed were five who committed crimes when they were under 18 years old. Sentencing a person to death for a crime committed when they were juvenile is a violation of international law.