1400+ Executed in 2 Years Post “Woman, Life, Freedom” Nationwide Protests

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); September 16, 2024: Research by IHRNGO shows that in the two years after the state-killing of Jina (Mahsa) Amini that became the catalyst for the “Woman, Life, Freedom nationwide protests, at least 1425 people were executed in Iran. This is almost two times the number of executions compared to the two years prior to the protests. Drug-related executions saw the highest increase (163%) from 302 in the two years prior to 796 in the two post-protest years.

Iran Human Rights calls for the immediate attention of the international community and human rights institutions to the Islamic Republic's use of the death penalty as a tool of political repression.

IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “The death penalty is the Islamic Republic’s most important tool to create societal fear with the aim of suppressing protests and preventing further protests. Drug-related defendants who are executed without fair trial rights based on Revolutionary Court rulings, are the low-cost victims of the Islamic Republic’s killing machine. We call on the international community and the UN Fact-Finding Mission in particular, to investigate their use of the death penalty as part of the investigation into the crimes committed during the suppression of the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ nationwide protests.”

According to data collected by Iran Human Rights, the number of executions rose by 75% in the two years after the “Woman, Life, Freedom” nationwide protests (1425 recorded executions) compared to the two years prior when 815 executions were recorded.

Executions for drug-related offences and the security-related charges of moharebeh (enmity against god), efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) and baghy (armed rebellion) saw the highest increase in this period. In the two years prior to the start of the nationwide protests, at least 302 were hanged for drug-related offences and 31 for security-related charges. Those numbers rose to 796 (163% increase) for drug offences and 57 (84% increase) for the security-related charges of moharebeh. Drug-related and security-related charges are under the jurisdiction of Revolutionary Courts.

Executions for murder charges which fall under the jurisdiction of the Criminal Courts had a lower increase from 453 executions in the two pre-protest years to 518 in the subsequent two years.

Today marks two years since the state-killing of Jina (Mahsa) Amini at the hands of the morality police which became the catalyst for the “Woman, Life, Freedom” nationwide protests across Iran. At least 551 protesters including 68 children and 49 women were killed by security forces, the majority of whom were killed by firearms and batons. Islamic Republic authorities have done everything in their power to deny these deaths, through disinformation, to distort information about their deaths.