Iran is witnessing a horrific state-sanctioned killing spree under the guise of judicial executions. Those executed include people convicted of drug-related offences, protesters, political dissidents, and members of oppressed ethnic minorities. Call for states to urgently intervene to pressure the Iranian authorities to halt all executions now.
Since the Woman Life Freedom uprising, Iranian authorities have doubled down on their brutal use of the death penalty as a tool of oppression to terrorize the public and tighten their grip on power. Prisons have become sites of mass state-sanctioned killings. In 2023, executions soared with over 853 people executed, a 48% increase from 2022 and the highest number for eight years. This arbitrary deprivation of people’s lives must stop.
The spike in executions is largely attributed to the return of a lethal anti-narcotics policy since 2021. Authorities carried out over 481 drug-related executions in 2023, marking a 89% increase from 2022 and 264% increase from 2021.
The death penalty is also used to target oppressed minority groups. Iran’s oppressed Baluchi ethnic minority, who constitute only about 5% of Iran's population, accounted for 20% of all executions. Individuals were also executed for their social media posts and for sexual relations between consenting adults.
Iranian authorities are using the death penalty as a tool of political oppression to sow fear among the public and deter further nationwide protests. In 2023, they executed 7 people in connection to protests after grossly unfair sham trials.
Iran’s killing spree is continuing into 2024, with at least 95 recorded executions by March 20. Execution numbers recorded by Amnesty International are minimum figures and the organization believes the real number is higher.
Sign the petition and urge states to immediately call on Iran to immediately halt all drug-related executions, quash convictions and death sentences issued following grossly unfair trials before Revolutionary Courts, and establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to fully abolishing the death penalty.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the individual, or the method used by the state to carry out the execution. The death penalty is a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.