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Iranian Rights Group Raises Alarm Over “Sharp Rise” In Drug-Related Executions

March 16, 2023
1 min read
A total of at least 138 people have been executed in the first two and a half months of 2023, compared to 67 in 2020
A total of at least 138 people have been executed in the first two and a half months of 2023, compared to 67 in 2020

Iran has seen a “sharp rise” in the number of drug-related executions, with 88 such executions being carried out since the beginning of the year alone, a Norway-based human rights group says.

Over the past three years, the number of drug-related executions has increased from four to 88 between January 1 and March 15, the Iran Human Rights group said in a statement on March 16.

A total of at least 138 people have been executed in the first two and a half months of 2023, compared to 67 in 2020.

A 2017 amendment to the Anti-Narcotics Laws introduced a mechanism to limit the use of the death penalty and commute the sentences of those on death row to life imprisonment.

But Iran Human Rights’ director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said that the reform “hasn’t had an enduring impact” on preventing arbitrary executions on drug-related charges.

“It’s not legal amendments alone that bring change in Iran, but international pressure and increasing political cost that can prevent arbitrary executions in the name of drug-related offences,” Amiry-Moghaddam said.

Despite a 10-fold increase in drug executions in the last two years, he added, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (UNODC) and member states that provide funding to UNODC projects in Iran “have not shown any reaction,” which he said “is considered a green light by the Islamic Republic to continue the executions.”

The Islamic Republic uses death penalty widely, including as a weapon of repression. Executions are often carried out after unfair trials.

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