Judiciary Commission's Request to Halt Executions of Drug Traffickers

The Vice President of the Judiciary Commission of the Parliament has stated to Shargh newspaper that members of the Judiciary Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly have requested the Judiciary to suspend the execution of some drug trafficking defendants until the approval of a bill to change the penalties for these crimes. Mohammad Kazemi, in an interview with the Wednesday, July 4th edition of Shargh newspaper, said: "The majority of parliament members support the proposal to add a clause to the Anti-Narcotics Law, and this proposal will receive a high vote. However, the point is that until then, the lives of some individuals are in a state of ambiguity, individuals who, if this proposal is approved, will not face the death penalty." If approved, this proposal could save thousands of death row inmates from execution. The proposal has been under review in the parliament for over a year and still faces opposition among Iranian officials. The proposed change in penalties for drug offenders from execution to imprisonment does not include repeat offenders, leaders of drug trafficking gangs, and armed traffickers. Last December, Iranian parliament members agreed to the urgency of a proposal to replace the death penalty for drug offenders. According to Hassan Norouzi, spokesperson for the Judiciary Commission, there are currently about five thousand individuals awaiting execution for drug trafficking, with about 90% being first-time offenders aged between 20 and 30 years. He states that the main criminals are the leaders of these individuals who should be executed. The number of executions in Iran has consistently been at the forefront of criticism from the UN and human rights advocates against the Islamic Republic officials in recent years. The Iran Human Rights Organization based in Norway announced last week that 239 individuals were executed in Iran over the past six months, with at least half of these individuals being drug offenders. This crime, according to human rights advocates, is not considered a serious and major crime under international law and should not warrant the death penalty. According to Amnesty International, at least 567 individuals were executed in Iran last year, and Iran continues to have the highest number of executions in the world after China.