5 Men at Risk of Imminent Execution in Urmia

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least five men were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions in Urmia Central Prison on 15 November. Three of the men were sentenced to death for drug-related charges and two were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

The five unidentified men are scheduled to be executed by dawn on 16 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.