Iran executes 63 prisoners in two weeks

Sixty-three prisoners sentenced to death were executed in Iran’s prisons from April 28 through May 11, according to Amnesty International, Report informs via RadioFarda.

According to the outlet, 15 of the executed were protest participants.

“The Iranian authorities showed complete disregard for human life and ramped up executions for drug-related offenses, further highlighting the discriminatory impact of the death penalty on Iran’s most marginalized and impoverished communities,” Agnes Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary general, said in a statement.

“In Iran, the authorities intensified their use of the death penalty to instill fear in the population and tighten their grip on power, carrying out executions across the country. At least 853 people were executed, marking a 48% rise from 576 in 2022. The executions disproportionately impacted Iran’s Baluchi ethnic minority who accounted for 20% of recorded executions even though they make up around 5% of Iran’s population. At least 24 women and at least five people who were children at the time of the crime were executed,” reads Amnesty International’s report.

“Of the recorded executions in Iran, at least 545 were unlawfully carried out for acts that should not result in the death penalty under international law, including drug-related offenses, robbery and espionage. Execution for drug-related offenses surged and constituted 56% of recorded executions in 2023, an increase of 89% from 255 executions recorded in 2022,” Amnesty International said.

A total of 1,153 executions took place in 2023, which does not include the thousands believed to have been carried out in China, marking an increase of more than 30% from 2022. It was the highest figure recorded by Amnesty International since 2015 when 1,634 people were known to have been executed. Despite this increase, the number of countries that carried out executions reached the lowest figure on record with Amnesty International.