Human Rights Organization: 600 Executions in Iran Over the Past Ten Months

The Iran Human Rights Organization announced that more than 600 people have been executed by the Islamic Republic of Iran this year, marking the highest number in the past eight years. The Norway-based organization reported that last week, nine executions were carried out in one day at a prison outside Tehran, and two individuals are facing execution for having extramarital relationships. The Iran Human Rights Organization and other human rights entities accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran of using the death penalty to instill fear, especially following the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests that erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. Mahmoud Amiri Moghaddam, the head of the Iran Human Rights Organization, stated, 'The international community must respond to over 600 executions in 10 months, which means two killings per day.' Amiri Moghaddam noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran assumed the presidency of the UN Human Rights Council's Social Forum early last week, adding, 'Silence is an indirect consent to these crimes.' The figure of 604 executions so far this year, with two months remaining, exceeds the 582 recorded in 2022 and is the highest since 2015, when 972 executions were documented. Human rights activists have expressed concern over the increase in executions related to drug offenses, which had previously decreased due to a series of reforms in Iran's penal code. Earlier, the UN Secretary-General also reported that the Islamic Republic of Iran executes at a 'concerning speed,' with a 30% increase in executions in the first seven months of this year compared to the same period last year. The Iran Human Rights Organization also reported that the nine executions carried out this week in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj were all men, one of whom was an Afghan national. The organization also stated that a woman and a man - Leila Khalkhi Skachayi and Abolfazl Barati Vaqili - were sentenced to death by a court for having extramarital relationships while married. According to the organization's report, secret footage taken without the woman's knowledge was used as evidence against both of them. Amiri Moghaddam stated, 'The international community should not tolerate executions for consensual sexual relationships in the 21st century.' According to the laws of the Islamic Republic, if a married man and woman engage in sexual relations without any barriers with their spouses, they have committed adultery. Article 225 of the Islamic Penal Code prescribes stoning as the punishment for this crime. Under the Islamic Republic's interpretation of Islamic Sharia, the punishment for 'adultery' is stoning; however, since 2012, judges have been allowed to use hanging instead of stoning for the condemned.