Recent Report on Executions of Women in Iran; 31 Women Executed in 2024

A human rights organization reports that in the past year, two years after the onset of nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the 'Guidance Patrol' of the police, which sparked the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement, the Islamic Republic recorded the highest annual number of executions of women in over 17 years. According to a new report by the 'Iran Human Rights Organization' published on Monday, January 7, in 2024, which ended last Tuesday, 31 women were executed in Iranian prisons. Since 2008, when the Iran Human Rights Organization began recording execution statistics, this number of executions of women has been unprecedented. This detailed report titled 'Women and the Death Penalty in Iran: A Window into the Gender Pathology of Capital Punishment' states that many cases of women's executions in Iran are not reported by the authorities of the Islamic Republic. According to the report, between 2010 and 2024, at least 241 women were executed in Iran, most of whom were convicted of murder or drug-related offenses. Among these women, 9 were child brides, three of whom were under 18 years old at the time of the alleged crimes. The Iran Human Rights Organization emphasizes in the report, which is published in both Persian and English, that 'these statistics only reflect part of the reality. The Islamic Republic keeps its executions shrouded in secrecy; therefore, only 26% of women's executions are officially announced.' According to this organization based in Norway, from 2010 to 2024, women's executions were carried out in 27 out of 31 provinces of Iran. The highest number of women's executions between 2010 and 2024 occurred in Tehran and Alborz with 49 cases, while the lowest was in Ardabil province with 1 case. Three of the executions are unspecified in terms of location. At least 4 women between 2010 and 2024 were executed on security charges known as 'corruption on earth' and 'waging war against God,' with three cases reported in Tehran and Alborz and one in West Azerbaijan province. Another section of the report states that life on death row is accompanied by 'social stigma' and deliberate neglect. Many women sentenced to death are rejected by their families and left to fend for themselves. They are deprived of legal and emotional support and forced to endure inhumane prison conditions. Drug-related crimes have claimed the lives of at least 107 women from 2010 to 2024. Despite reforms in Iran's drug laws in 2017, which initially led to a decrease in executions, this trend has increased again, reaching its highest level in 9 years in 2024. The report states: 'Many of these women have been coerced into drug crimes or were unaware of their involvement. However, the judicial system of the Islamic Republic often ignores such cases when issuing death sentences.' Another part of the Iran Human Rights Organization's report mentions that women's testimony in court is valued at half that of men's, and laws do not recognize forms of domestic violence such as marital rape, making women more defenseless in court than men. According to the findings of this report, the judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran suffers from a lack of transparency, and only a portion of executions have been reported through official sources. This secrecy limits the international community's ability to address injustices. The report recommends that the global community take effective actions for: equal legal age and criminal responsibility, abolishing discriminatory laws, criminalizing marital rape and addressing domestic violence, prohibiting child marriage, ensuring fair trials, increasing transparency, creating support networks for women on death row, raising awareness about women's rights, documenting and publishing cases of women on death row, engaging with global support networks, supporting local women's rights defenders, and providing gender sensitivity training.