Doubts Among Some Iranian Officials About the Effectiveness of the Death Penalty in the Fight Against Drugs

According to the head of Iran's Prisons Organization, some punishments, especially those related to drug offenses, are not deterrent and need to be reconsidered. Asghar Jahangir, the head of Iran's Prisons Organization, stated on Wednesday, January 21, at a meeting, "Various aspects of the crime must be evaluated, and all institutions must participate in preventing such crimes." In recent days, some judicial officials and individuals related to crime and punishment issues have expressed doubts about the deterrent effect of the death penalty for drug offenses in preventing trafficking or use of these substances. In this regard, the legal deputy of the Strategic Research Center of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran recently stated that he believes "executions related to drug trafficking are not religiously justified." Hossein Mir-Mohammad-Sadeghi, in an interview with Khabar Online, said, "Assuming that the death penalty for drug trafficking has a religious basis, is abolishing it against religious principles? I certainly think the answer is negative; one cannot say that abolishing the death penalty for drugs is the same as abolishing retribution for murder." He further stated that since the revolution, all measures, from sending individuals to islands to executions, have been tried to combat drugs, raising the question, "Is the death penalty in drug cases firstly religiously justified and secondly deterrent or not?" This lawyer continued, "Regarding deterrence, we have seen that it has not been effective; many individuals have been executed or on death row, yet the number of drugs, trafficking, and drug use has not decreased. Therefore, it has not been successful in that regard." He also pointed out that "it is said that every punishment must be less than the limit" and "the death penalty is the highest limit," stating, "How do we know if it is appropriate to execute someone for 5 grams of heroin or anything else? If it is a limit, under what title is it a limit, and if it is not a limit and is a discretionary punishment, then it cannot be execution; discretionary punishment must be less than execution." Previously, the deputy secretary-general of Iran's Anti-Narcotics Headquarters stated that this body opposes the abolition of the death penalty for drug traffickers. Alireza Jazini, speaking at a press conference on December 15, said regarding the reduction of penalties for drug traffickers that the death penalty is "a resolution of the Expediency Discernment Council, and any reform must be made by this authority, not the parliament." Mohammad Javad Larijani, the secretary of the Human Rights Council of the Judiciary, also stated on December 5 that "we are trying to change the law on drug-related executions." He noted that "no one wants the number of executions to be high" and added, "If we succeed in passing this law in parliament, then 80% of executions will be eliminated, which could be significant news." In this context, Mohammad Razm, a member of the Judicial and Legal Commission of the parliament, also mentioned discussions about removing the death penalty for drug offenses, stating that Iranian society is not ready for this removal and such decisions might have counterproductive results. Iran has consistently ranked among the highest in the world for per capita executions, which has led to significant protests from human rights organizations.