8 Drug Death Row Prisoners at Imminent Risk of Execution in Ghezelhesar Prison

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least eight men were transferred to solitary confinement on 28 October, in preparation for their executions in Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj.

Their families have been summoned for last visits and they are scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, 30 October.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges, an 84% increase compared to 2022 (256) and about 18 times the average of drug-related executions in 2018-2020. In the first six months of 2024, at least 147 people were executed for the charges.

On 10 April 2024, 80+ Iranian and international organisations and groups called for joint action to stop drug-related executions, urging UNODC to make “any cooperation with the Islamic Republic contingent on a complete halt on drug-related executions.”