Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 10, 2021: As the world celebrates World Human Rights Days today, the Islamic Republic has intensified drug executions, which are at record high since 2017. At least 116 people have so far been executed on drug-related charges in 2021, compared to 23 in the same period in 2020.
Iran Human Rights calls on the international community, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in particular, to respond to the sharp rise in drug executions. “The United Nations and European countries who cooperate with the Islamic Republic to fight drug-smuggling, have a duty to take a strong stance on the rising execution of drug offenders. Drug offenders are amongst the most vulnerable in Iranian society and were the low-cost victims for the Islamic Republic’s death penalty policy prior to the 2017 amendment to drug laws. A delayed response by the international community could lead to even higher number of drug-related executions”,” said Iran Human Rights Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.
As the world celebrates World Human Rights Days today, the Islamic Republic has intensified drug executions, which are at record high since 2017. According to statistics gathered by Iran Human Rights, at least 116 people have been executed on drug-related charges in 2021, compared to 23 in the period in 2020 and 30 in 2019.
In the last 15 days alone, at least 14 people were executed for drug offences, the majority of whom were Baluch and three were women.
The 2017 Amendment to the Anti-Narcotics law which led to a decline in the number of drug executions created hope that it would eventually lead to a complete halt altogether. However, drug-related executions have been at a record-high since the Amendment came into effect as law.