Drug Control Headquarters Opposes Abolishing Death Penalty for Drug Traffickers

On Tuesday, December 24, the Deputy Secretary-General of Iran's Drug Control Headquarters announced that this organization opposes the abolition of the death penalty for drug traffickers. According to ISNA news agency, Alireza Jazini, speaking at a press conference, stated that the death penalty is a "resolution of the Expediency Council, and any amendments must be made by this authority, not the Parliament." Mohammad Javad Larijani, Secretary of the Human Rights Council of the Judiciary, had said on December 14 that "we are trying to change the law regarding drug-related executions." He noted that "no one wants the number of executions to be high," adding, "If we succeed in passing this law in Parliament, then 80% of executions will be eliminated, and this could be significant news." Larijani expressed concern over the high number of drug-related executions under the current law. His comments came as Iran's Justice Minister, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, emphasized on November 27 the necessity of executing drug-related crimes, stating, "We do not accept the views of UN human rights organizations on this matter." Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli also announced last Esfand that Iran opposed the abolition of the death penalty for drug traffickers at a recent Vienna conference. Human rights organizations and UN Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed have consistently criticized the death penalty in Iran. In this context, according to the Basij News website, affiliated with the IRGC, Ismail Ahmadi Moghadam, Commander of the Iranian Police, stated on November 28 that 99% of executions in Iran are related to drug traffickers. The United Nations and human rights organizations have repeatedly stated that, according to international law, drug trafficking does not qualify as a major crime deserving the death penalty. In terms of drug enforcement, Jazini reported that 438 tons of various drugs were seized this year, with opium-related seizures reaching 495 tons. He mentioned that 234,000 individuals have been arrested in this context. Additionally, 33 million and 300 thousand pills and injections were discovered from traffickers. Jazini also reported the destruction of over 190 methamphetamine production labs this year. Regarding addiction statistics, he stated that there are 1,325,000 addicts in Iran, with 10% being women. Furthermore, Jazini revealed that over 1,760 individuals have died due to drug use in the first eight months of this year, indicating that addiction is the second leading cause of death after accidents, showing an 8.6% increase compared to the same period last year. He attributed the main cause of death to overdose and the impurities of the substances being sold. Jazini announced that 50,000 addicts have been collected in the first eight months of this year. He also mentioned that 680,000 family members received education under the Drug Control Headquarters' first prevention strategy, reflecting a 49% increase compared to the previous year. He reported that 8% of schools provided preventive addiction education last year, with nearly 60,000 elementary students receiving training. Additionally, 17,000 individuals in student dormitories underwent general training in addiction prevention. Over 28,000 inmates received preventive addiction skills training, and 465,000 individuals in workplaces received necessary training.