Iran Human Rights (IHR); February 15, 2021: At least two Baluch prisoners including Jamaladdin Barahouyi and Mohammad Barahouyi, have been executed in Birjand Central Prison on drug-related charges.
According to Iran Human Rights, at least two male prisoners were executed in Birjand Central Prison (the capital of South Khorasan Province) on Saturday, February 13. Two of the prisoners’ identities have been established as 40-year-old Jamaladdin Barahouyi and 27-year-old Mohammad Barahouyi, who had both been sentenced to death on drug-related charges.
Resanak which first reported the news, quoted an informed source as saying: “On Thursday (February 11), his family were called for their last visit but they only allowed his mother to see him.”
At the time of writing, neither of the Baluch men’s executions have been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
According to data gathered by Iran Human Rights, at least 23 Baluch prisoners were executed in Mashhad, Zahedan, Isfahan and Birjand Central Prisons over the past two months (since 19 December 2020), with five executed on political and security charges.
There has been a dramatic drop in drug-related executions since a new article was added to the Anti-Drugs Law around three years ago. The amendment, which was passed into law in 2017, specifically restricts the death penalty and provides a degree of reduction in some drug-related cases.
According to Iran Human Rights’ annual report on the death penalty in Iran, at least 30 people were executed on drug-related charges in 2019.