Women Executed in Iran in 2023

iranhr – This is an extract from the 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran. To read the full report, please click here.

Iran is the world’s top executioner of women, with at least 22 executed in Iran in 2023, the highest number of women executions since 2014. As mentioned above, there was a sharp drop in the execution of women on drug-related charges after the 2017 Amendment to the Anti-Narcotics Laws, but in 2021, five women were executed on the charges, consistent with the rise in overall drug-related executions.

On the occasion of World Day Against the Death Penalty in 2021, Iran Human Rights published a 12-year analysis of “Women and the Death Penalty in Iran” which provides broader socio-economic and legal context and background.[1] It is important to note that women do not have the right to divorce, which is reflected in the number of domestic violence cases reported.                

ZARKHATOUN MAZARZEHI

Zarkhatoun Mazarzehi was a 46-year-old widow who was the breadwinner of her family. She was carrying raw materials for cosmetics when she was arrested at a Kerman checkpoint on 30 December 2017. Zarkhatoun vehemently denied being in possession of illegal drugs at every opportunity.[1] She was denied access to a lawyer and sentenced to death for drug-related charges by Branch One of the Kerman Revolutionary Court in March 2022. Zarkhatoun was executed in Kerman Central Prison on 15 November 2023.[2]

SAMIRA SABZIAN

Samira Sabzian was a child bride and mother to two young children who was arrested for the murder of her husband. She was sentenced to qisas and spent 10 years on death row. To obtain the forgiveness of her husband’s family who were the plaintiffs in her case, Samira had refrained from seeing her children for 10 years. Her final visit to say goodbye was the first time she had seen her children who were now aged 17 and 10 years old.[1] Despite all efforts, Samira was executed in Ghezelhesar Prison on 20 December 2023.[2]

[1] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6391/

[2] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6415/

[1] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5150/

[2] https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6314/

[1] https://iranhr.net/media/files/Women_and_the_Death_Penalty_2021.pdf