Baluch Hossein Ali Dil Baluch Secretly Executed in Birjand

According to Hal Vash, a Baluch man was executed in Birjand Central Prison on 19 October. His identity has been reported as 27-year-old Hossein Ali Dil Baluch who was sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

He was arrested for drug charges over two years ago and sentenced to death with a reduced degree. At 3:30 am on 19 October, he was transferred from the ward without prior notice. His execution was carried out without his family being notified and the chance to say goodbye to them. They were contacted later that day to collect the body.

Five other men including two Baluch minorities were executed at the prison on 26 October.

Ethnic minorities, the Baluch in particular, are grossly overrepresented in execution numbers in Iran. In 2022, at least 174 Baluch minorities including 3 women, were executed in 22 prisons across Iran, making up 30% of overall executions. This is while they represent just 2-6% of Iran’s population. Furthermore, at least 274 Baluch people have been executed for drug-related charges since 2021, 40% of all drug executions in that time period.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year for the past three years. At least 305 people were executed for drug-related charges between 1 January-10 October 2023, a 69% increase compared to the same period in 2022, and the number of drug-related executions in 2023 were close to 20 times higher than 2020.

The number of drug executions dramatically dropped in 2018 following a 2017 Amendment to the Anti-Narcotics Laws. Consequently, drug executions ranged between 24-30 per annum between 2018-2020. The Amendment was reversed in practice in 2021 when executions increased ten-fold to 126 in 2021 and doubled again in 2022 with 256 drug-related executions. On 13 September 2023, IHRNGO reported a 94% rise in the number of drug-related executions in the year following the start of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in September 2022.