Iran Human Rights Organization: At Least 249 Executions in the Past Six Months

The Iran Human Rights Organization reported that at least 249 executions have taken place in Iran in the first six months of the current calendar year, including 10 women, and warned of an increase in the implementation of death sentences following the government elections to replace Raisi. According to the statistics from this human rights organization, in the past six months, 14 individuals were executed on security charges such as 'spying for Israel,' and 147 were executed for drug-related offenses. The report states that 35 of those executed were Baluch citizens. While Baluch citizens make up between 2 to 6 percent of Iran's population, they account for 14 percent of executions in the country. Recently, four Iranian lawyers sent an open letter to the 'United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime' requesting that any cooperation with the Islamic Republic be conditioned on an immediate halt to the execution of drug crime suspects. The Iran Human Rights Organization, in its report, noted a 30 percent decrease in the number of executions in the first six months of the current year compared to the same period last year, but warned of a new wave of executions resuming after the elections. Mahmoud Amiri-Moghaddam, the director of this organization, stated that previous experiences show that Islamic Republic officials reduce the implementation of sentences 'to encourage people to participate in elections,' and immediately after elections, the number of executions sharply increases. Mahmoud Amiri-Moghaddam urged the people of Iran and the international community to 'prepare now for an appropriate response to a possible wave of executions.' In the first six months of 2023, at least 354 people were executed, and in the same period in 2022, at least 261 people were hanged. The Iran Human Rights Organization attributed the relative decrease in executions compared to the same period in the past two years to the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections. According to this organization, statistical studies over the past 15 years show that the number of executions decreases in the two weeks leading up to elections in Iran. The report also indicates that only 10 percent of executions in the first six months of the current year were reported in Iran's official media. According to Amnesty International, 74 percent of all executions worldwide last year were carried out in Iran. Sharifeh Mohammadi, a labor activist, was sentenced to death in the Revolutionary Court of Rasht. Rana, the sister of Mojahid Korkor, a political prisoner sentenced to death, was arrested. The wife of Ahmadreza Jalali, a dual-national prisoner sentenced to death, described her meeting with the Swedish Foreign Minister as 'very disappointing.' Mahmoud Mehrabi, a protester sentenced to death, stated that the change of the President of the Islamic Republic does not affect the government's repressive policies. Political prisoners in Tabriz prison also joined the campaign 'No to Executions on Tuesdays.'