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Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – In a video interview, Yahya Ebrahimi, the Delfan MP said: “Around 1000 to 2000 young people are on death row for selling drugs in this county” and “are about to be executed.” Delfan’s population is around 144,000 people.
Iran Human Rights considers such high number of death penalty cases in a city of that size to be a human rights catastrophe and expresses its deep concern about secret executions that are not officially reported. The organisation also calls on the international community, particularly the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to urgently address arbitrary death sentences for these crimes.
IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “The only purpose drug-related executions serve is to create societal fear, otherwise Islamic Republic authorities have repeatedly admitted that the death penalty doesn’t prevent drug crimes. The Delfan MP’s statement indicates that the authorities might be preparing to execute thousands for just drug charges around Iran. This is a largescale premeditate crime. The international community, especially the UN, have a duty to prevent this crime from taking place.”
Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year for the past three years. At least 393 people were executed for drug-related charges in the first 11 months of 2023, a 74% (226 drug executions) increase compared to the same period in 2022 and a 251% (112 drug executions) rise compared to the same period in 2021. These number include those announced by official sources and those IHRNGO has been to verify through two independent sources. The real number is believed to be much higher.
In an online interview, Yahya Ebrahimi, the Delfan and Selseleh representative said: “1000 to 2000 young people in Delfan county have unfortunately been sentenced to death for selling drugs and their cases are at the implementation stage.”
Having met with drug death row families recently, he said in the video: “I was very moved, for myself and for those in charge who have provided the ground for crimes and these executions over the course of 44 years. We’re witnessing that they’re about to be executed.”
He also stated that he had corresponded with the Head of Judiciary (Mohsen Ejei) to prevent the executions.
Delfan county is located in Lorestan province with a population of around 144,000 people according to a 2016 census.
This is while the Islamic Republic’s judiciary is itself an institution of repression with no transparency which along with the silence of families, creates one of the most important challenges in finding death row prisoners and clarifying real execution numbers in Iran. It is important to note that drug defendants are from the most disadvantaged communities who receive the death penalty from the Revolutionary Courts without legal representation and based on torture-tainted forced confessions.
UPDATE: Following the release of the video interview, Yayha Ebrahimi claimed the information he had received was false and denied his statement. Considering the history of officials being pressured to retract their statements, this denial could also have been made under pressure.
https://iranhr.net/media/files/Drug_Execution_Report_En.pdf
