Human Rights Sources: A Woman Executed on Drug-Related Charges in Qazvin

Human rights sources reported the execution of Hajar Atabaki, 41, on drug-related charges at the central prison in Qazvin. According to the Iran Human Rights Organization, this woman from Tabriz, who was the sole guardian of her only child, was executed on January 19. She had been detained and sentenced to death about two and a half years ago. Meanwhile, the news of this execution has not been reflected in Iran's domestic media. According to the Iran Human Rights Organization, Hajar Atabaki is the second woman to be executed in 2024. Mahmoud Amiri Moghaddam, the director of the Iran Human Rights Organization, criticized the lack of response from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to 'the execution of hundreds on drug-related charges by the Islamic Republic.' Based on a report by the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, at least 22 women prisoners were executed in Iran in 2023. The monthly report from Hengaw on women's rights violations in Iran includes executions, arrests, imprisonment, and flogging. The execution of Samira Sabzian; the Iran Human Rights Organization called for a global response. Three prisoners were executed in Sabzevar and Shirvan on charges related to drug crimes and murder. The Islamic Republic began the new Gregorian year with executions, while human rights organizations had reported high execution rates in the previous year.