Group Execution of 8; Second Group Execution in November in Ghezel Hesar Prison

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, eight men were executed in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj on 8 November. Four of the men who were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder have been identified as: Mostafa Ziafar, Seyed Peyman Mousavi, Bahman Fathollahi and Mohammad Vaseghi.

Two other men identified as Rasoul Teimuri and Vali (surname unknown, were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

At the time of writing, the two other men’s identities have not been established. One man was also on death row for drug-related charges and the other had been sentenced to death for moharebeh (enmity against god) through armed robbery.

The men were transferred Units 2 and 3 to solitary confinement in a group of 10 but the other two men’s executions were postponed due to unknown reasons.

At the time of writing, the eight men’s executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

On 1 November, at least nine men were executed in another group execution in Ghezel Hesar Prison. Six others were transferred for execution that day but later returned to their cells. Kurdish political prisoner, Ghasem Abasteh was also executed at the prison on 5 November.

In the first 10 months of 2023, IHRNGO recorded more than 600 executions, an unprecedented number in the last eight years. The majority of the executions were for drug-related charges which are also at their highest since 2015. On World Day Against the Death Penalty (10 October 2023), IHRNGO called on UN Member States to withdraw funding of UNODC projects on drug-trafficking in Iran, and to make all collaborations and funding contingent upon an immediate halt to all drug-related executions.