Human Rights Sources Report Execution of '11 People' in One Day at Ghezal Hesar Prison in Karaj

Human rights media in Iran reported the execution of 'at least 10 men and one woman' in one day at Ghezal Hesar Prison in Karaj. The Iran Human Rights Organization stated that these individuals were hanged in the early hours of Wednesday, October 10. According to the report, in addition to one woman, two Afghan nationals, two Baluch citizens, and two Kurdish citizens were among those executed. The charges against these individuals included 'premeditated murder', 'rape', and drug-related offenses, for which they were sentenced to 'qisas nafs' (retribution in kind) or execution. The identities of five male prisoners sentenced to death for drug-related charges were announced as Ahmad Narouei and Mohammad Es'haghzahi, two Baluch citizens from Zahedan, Kamran Saqayi and Saeed Safaie, and Setar Khosravi, Kurdish citizens from Harsin, Kermanshah. Farhad Mithaami and Nasrin Sotoudeh are on hunger strike in protest against the death sentence of Sharifeh Mohammadi. The identities of three other prisoners sentenced to 'qisas nafs' for 'premeditated murder' were reported as Arman Hedayati, Mehdi Zarei, and Mohammad Sadeghnia. The news was also published by HRANA, the news agency of human rights activists in Iran, which stated that at least seven prisoners were executed in Ghezal Hesar Prison. The newspaper 'Etemad' previously reported without mentioning the identities of the Afghan prisoners that they were sentenced to death for gang-raping a woman in 2019 in western Tehran. According to this report, the incident occurred when the mentioned woman went to visit a villa in western Tehran and was raped by seven Afghan men. Of this group, six were sentenced to death, with two executed last week and two others executed on Wednesday. Two other defendants in this case are awaiting the execution of their sentences in prison. Human rights media reported on October 29 that the number of executions in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz had increased over two weeks, with at least 21 people executed in the eleven days leading up to October 4. The execution of prisoners sentenced for drug-related charges has steadily increased over the past four years. Two people were executed in Khomein for 'moharebeh' (waging war against God) in public. The number of executions for drug-related charges in 2023 reached at least 471, an 84% increase compared to 256 in 2022. According to annual statistics from the Statistical Center, at least 811 citizens, including four child offenders, were executed in Iranian prisons between October 10, 2023, and October 8, 2024. Additionally, Amnesty International warned in June this year about the risk of execution for 15 prisoners related to the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests.