Iran's Government Executed 975 People in 2024

Two human rights organizations reported in their recent annual report that the Iranian government executed 975 people in the past year. Iran continues to have the highest execution rate after China. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights Organization and the French organization 'Together Against the Death Penalty' published this report on Thursday, February 21, highlighting a 'horrific increase' in the number of executions in the country. The report noted that since 2008, when the Iran Human Rights Organization in Oslo began recording execution statistics in Iran, this is the highest figure recorded. The two human rights organizations accused the Islamic Republic of using executions as a 'primary tool of political repression' throughout its years in power. The increase in the number of executions in 2024 represents a 17% rise compared to the 834 executions in 2023. Additionally, of the 975 people executed last year, four were executed in public, and 31 of the execution victims were women. According to the report from the two human rights organizations, this is the highest number of women executed in the past 17 years. The high number of women executed last year comes at a time when three female activists in Iranian prisons are facing the death penalty: Pakhshan Azizi, Varisheh Moradi, and Sharifeh Mohammadi. The new report on execution statistics was published two days after more than 200 lawyers in Iran issued an open letter to the head of the judiciary, calling for the immediate halt of the death sentences for Pakhshan Azizi, Varisheh Moradi, and Sharifeh Mohammadi, describing the handling of their cases as ambiguous and flawed. This letter, published on Monday, February 19, emphasized that executing these three individuals is not only contrary to Islamic and human principles and human rights standards but also violates Iran's international commitments regarding the right to life and fair trial. Last December, nearly 70 political prisoners held in Iranian prisons issued a statement demanding the abolition of the death penalty in response to the confirmation of the death sentence for Pakhshan Azizi and two other political prisoners. The two human rights organizations in their new report accused the Iranian government of using the death penalty to intimidate and scare the people and protesters, especially following the start of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement in 2022. Mohammad Mehdi Karami, Mohammad Qabadi, Mohsen Shekari, Majidreza Rahnavard, Mohammad Hosseini, Saleh Mirhashimi, Saeed Yaqoubi, Majid Kazemi, and Milad Zohrevand were nine individuals executed by the Islamic Republic in connection with the protests of 2022, known as the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement. According to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, the Islamic Republic seeks to 'take revenge' for the protests that erupted after the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini while in the custody of the morality police in 2022, which sparked the largest anti-government protests in recent years.