3 Baluch Men Including a Possible Juvenile Offender Executed for Murder in Zahedan

According to the Baluch Activists Campaign, three Baluch men were executed in Zahedan Central Prison on the morning of May 14. Their identities have been established as Farshad Gamshadzehi, Esmail Jahantigh and Mansour Barahouyi, who were all sentenced to qisas for murder.

There is a possibility that Farshad Gamshadzehi may have been under 18 years of age at the time of the alleged offence. Iran Human Rights is continuing its investigation to establish whether he was a juvenile offender.

At the time of writing, none of their executions have been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

According to data gathered by Iran Human Rights, at least 183 people were executed on murder charges in 2021. Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.

Although there are no official figures for the population of Baluch minorities in Iran, different sources estimate the number to be between 1.5 and 4.8 million, accounting for 2 to 6% of Iran’s total population. Research and monitoring by Iran Human Rights show that in 2021, at least 70 Baluch prisoners were executed, accounting for 21% of all executions in Iran. 

Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran in 2021.