Iran Human Rights Organization Report on 'Four Cases' of Public Executions

The Iran Human Rights Organization criticized public executions as a tool for the government to 'instill fear among the people' and reported the execution of four individuals in public in Iran in 2024. According to this report, the executions took place between September and November 2024 in the cities of Shahrud, Hamadan, and Khomein, with the charges against the executed individuals being 'premeditated murder', 'waging war against God and corruption on earth through armed robbery', and 'rape'. The report states that Amir-Reza Ajami Akrami, 22, was executed for 'premeditated murder' through shooting with a hunting rifle in Shahrud, two unidentified men were executed for 'waging war against God and corruption on earth' due to 'armed conflict and the murder of a police officer' in Khomein, and Mohammad-Ali Salamat, 43, was executed for 'rape' in Hamadan. The issuance and execution of death sentences under the title of 'Qisas-e Nafs' (retribution in kind) in the Islamic Republic of Iran occurs under conditions where, according to governmental laws, premeditated murder is not graded, and 'any type of murder, regardless of the severity and motivation of the accused, leads to the issuance of a death sentence.' Based on statistics gathered by this organization, the highest number of public executions in the past 17 years in Iran occurred in 2011. While the number of such executions decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, the judiciary of the Islamic Republic has resumed public executions in recent years. Iran is one of the few countries where death sentences are carried out in public. Furthermore, according to documentation collected by independent human rights organizations, the number of executions in Iran indicates the country ranks first globally in violating the right to life by the government, and despite widespread domestic and international criticism, the Islamic Republic continues to execute defendants. Ahmad Bokharaei, a sociologist, reported on March 8 that there are 'about seven thousand' death row inmates in the prisons of the Islamic Republic, with '54 of them' being 'political and security prisoners.'