Iran-HRM Every six hours, one prisoner is executed in Iran
During the first ten days of May 2024, the Iranian judiciary has carried out the execution sentences of 40 prisoners in Iranian prisons. On average, four prisoners are executed daily in Iran, which means that every six hours, one prisoner is executed in Iran. This comes at a time when compared to the ten days of April, the number of executions has grown close to 160 percent. The increase in the number of executions in Iran is highly concerning.
Among the executed individuals, there is also a political prisoner and a female prisoner. Over 90 percent of the executions during the first ten days of May have not been reported by any state media or institutions affiliated with the Iranian judiciary, and they have been carried out in silence. These executions have taken place in the prisons of Urmia, Semnan, Kerman, Isfahan, Qom, Kermanshah, Zanjan, Tabriz, Qazvin, Shiraz, and Ardabil.
More than 60 percent of the executed individuals during the first ten days of May had previously been sentenced to death on charges related to drug offenses. It is notable that the prisoners involved in drug crimes are often from marginalized areas and considered as impoverished members of society who are disproportionately sentenced to execution through unfair judicial processes. According to international laws, individuals convicted of drug-related offenses should never be subject to the death penalty.
Execution of a political prisoner: On Wednesday, May 1st, 2024, the death sentence of Anwar Khodari, a Sunni Kurdish political prisoner, was carried out after 15 years of imprisonment in Karaj’s Qezelhesar Prison.
Execution of a female prisoner: According to a report received by the Iran Human Rights Monitor (Iran HRM), on the early morning of Wednesday, May 8th, 2024, the death sentence of Fariba MohammadZehi from Zahedan was carried out in Kerman Central Prison. Fariba MohammadZehi had been sentenced to death on charges related to drug offenses.
Secret execution of a foreign national: According to a report received by the Iran Human Rights Monitor (Iran HRM), on the early morning of Wednesday, May 8th, 2024, the death sentence of a prisoner from Afghanistan, identified as Khan Mohammad IshaqZehi, 40 years old, was carried out in Semnan Central Prison. The execution of this 40-year-old prisoner was conducted without informing his family and in a clandestine manner.