Iran Human Rights Organization: 200 Women Executed Since 2010

On Thursday, September 7, the Iran Human Rights Organization announced the execution of a woman in Mashhad Central Prison, stating that 200 women have been executed in Iran since 2010. According to this human rights organization, the sentence of Mahboubeh Roshan Del, who was sentenced to qisas (execution) for the "premeditated murder" of her mother-in-law, was carried out in Mashhad Central Prison (Vakil Abad). She is the twelfth woman to be executed in 2023. In this context, the news agency HRANA reported that on the morning of Monday, September 4, the execution of 27-year-old Mahboubeh Roshan Del was carried out in Mashhad Central Prison. Mahboubeh Roshan Del was the mother of a 6-year-old child. HRANA quoted an "informed source" stating, "During her years of imprisonment, due to family opposition, she was deprived of visiting her child. This gradually led to Ms. Roshan Del developing depression in prison. However, prison officials took no action to treat this prisoner." The source added, "Recently, the family of the victim stated that they intended to express their consent regarding this prisoner's case, but this hope for Ms. Roshan Del lasted only a few days, and the family of the victim withdrew from this action, which ultimately led to the execution of Ms. Roshan Del." According to HRANA, the execution of this prisoner had not been announced by Iranian media or official sources at the time of this report. The Iran Human Rights Organization, in its report on the execution of 200 women since 2010, noted that "94 cases were related to drug charges, 90 cases were for premeditated murder, four cases were for involvement in immoral sexual acts and drug abuse, two cases were for espionage, and one case was for moharebeh (waging war against God)." The charges against nine other women remain unspecified. The Iran Human Rights Organization pointed out that "only 55 of the 200 executed women were reported by official sources," while the rest were reported by organizations and human rights activists and confirmed by the Iran Human Rights Organization. According to this organization, transparency regarding these executions has significantly decreased since 2020, with only two out of 45 executions between 2021 and September 2023 reported officially. Additionally, 39 of these women were accused of killing their husbands, temporary husbands (sigheh), or lovers. Eight of these women were child brides, three were child offenders, and one was a blood feud bride. These executions took place in 27 provinces of Iran, with the highest numbers in Tehran/Alborz with 44 executions, 23 in West Azerbaijan, and 16 in Sistan and Baluchestan. The year 2013 was the bloodiest year for the execution of women, with 30 executions recorded by the Iran Human Rights Organization.