At Least 2 Men Executed in Ghezelhesar Prison

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least two men were executed in Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj on 22 November. Their identities have been established as Moslem Jamshidi (pictured left) from Harsin and Mohammad Andishkouh from Ilam. Both men were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

Moslem and Mohammad were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions in a group of five on 21 November. There is no information about the fate of the other three men at the time of writing.

On 1st November, IHRNGO reported a group execution of nine men at Ghezelhesar Prison. A week later, another group execution of eight men took place at the prison on 8 November. The next week, another group execution of nine men took place at the prison on 15 November.

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

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.