30 Prisoners Executed in Eight Days in Iranian Prisons

At least 30 prisoners' death sentences have been carried out in various prisons across Iran over an eight-day period. Reports from various media indicate that between Saturday, July 30, and Saturday, August 6, the death sentences of 30 prisoners, convicted of charges related to "premeditated murder" and "drug offenses," were executed. This translates to approximately four prisoners being executed daily during this time frame, indicating a spike in execution rates following the presidential elections in Iran. The human rights news agency, Hrana, reported that three prisoners convicted of drug-related charges were executed at dawn on August 6 in "Parsilon Prison in Khorramabad." The Iran Human Rights Organization identified two of these prisoners as "Ardeshir Maleki, 40, from Kuhdasht, Lorestan, and Azim Amiri, 33, from Aligudarz." Two days prior, Kamran Sheikh, a prisoner from Mahabad and the last defendant in the case of Abdul Rahim Tina, the Imam of the Khalafaye Rashidin Mosque in Mahabad, was executed at dawn on Thursday, August 4, in Urmia Prison. Kamran Sheikh's death sentence was executed after 15 years of detention. Concurrently, the death sentence of Hassan Yousufi-Azar, a prisoner from Naqdeh convicted of premeditated murder, was also carried out in this prison. Human rights media reported that Ghadir Jamshidi, who was sentenced to death on drug-related charges, was executed on the same day in Torbat Jam Prison. These media also reported the execution of two prisoners named Hamed Nadri and Ali Moharramkhani on Thursday in Chubindar Prison in Qazvin, and an Afghan citizen named Matiullah Barkazi one day prior in Qaen Prison in South Khorasan province. Hrana stated that the reason for the death sentences for these prisoners was drug-related charges. "Eight individuals" were executed in prisons in Shiraz and Karaj. The Khorasan newspaper also reported that an individual named Ramadan was executed on August 3 in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad for premeditated murder. Seven prisoners, including three women, were executed on August 2 in Birjand Prison, and an Afghan national named Golab Shah Noorzehi was executed in Bandar Abbas Prison. One day prior, Daniel Kazemi-Nejad and Khalil Jamali were executed in Dizelabad Prison in Kermanshah, and Hassan Fallahi was executed in Qom Prison. Meanwhile, human rights activists reported that on July 30 and 31, "nine prisoners" sentenced to death were executed in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz, Qezelhasar in Karaj, and Central Prison in Khorramabad. The execution of these sentences comes amid warnings from prisoners involved in the "No to Execution" campaign, who, in mid-July during their twenty-fourth week of hunger strike, warned of a potential increase in executions following the elections. These prisoners, scattered across various prisons in the country, pointed to the historical rise in executions after each previous election in the Islamic Republic, citing the issuance of a death sentence for Sharifeh Mohammadi, a labor activist, and the arrest of Rana Kukor, the sister of a political prisoner sentenced to death, as signs of this "concerning" trend. The Iran Human Rights Watch also urged Masoud Pezeshkian, the winner of the presidential elections, last Thursday to initiate "real changes" by stopping death sentences. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights Organization reported on July 13 that at least 249 people were executed in Iran in the first six months of 2024, with 147 of them charged with drug-related offenses. This figure represents a 30% decrease compared to the same period last year; however, the Iran Human Rights Organization warns that there is a high likelihood of a significant increase in executions following the presidential elections.