Six Human Rights Organizations: UN Should Suspend Aid to Iran for Drug Control

Six human rights groups have requested the United Nations to suspend financial aid to Iran for combating drugs until Iran halts the execution of drug traffickers. According to a report from Human Rights Watch published on Wednesday, December 26, these six human rights organizations submitted their request to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. In their letter, they stated that while Iran executed 18 people in one day on December 3 this year for drug-related offenses, bringing the total number of drug-related executions this year to at least 318, the UN should suspend financial assistance to the Islamic Republic until it receives a commitment from Iranian officials to stop these executions. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime confirmed receipt of this letter in a conversation with Reuters. As reported by Human Rights Watch, the letter was signed by the Iranian Human Rights Organization, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation, Reprieve, and the International Harm Reduction Organization. The report mentions the UN's $15 million financial aid to Iran since 1998 for drug control, which is also noted on the UN's website, and states that countries like Ireland, the UK, and Denmark have refused to provide this aid to Iran because it has led to the execution of individuals accused of drug offenses. In this context, the Danish newspaper Copenhagen Post reported last April that Christian Friis Bach, Denmark's Minister for Development, announced that his country's financial assistance to Iran for drug control had been cut off due to the execution of hundreds of prisoners related to drug offenses. Iran shares long borders with Afghanistan, which produces ninety percent of the world's drugs, and claims to have lost hundreds of military personnel in its fight against drugs. Concurrently with the release of the letter from these six human rights organizations, Iran announced that it had seized 450 tons of drugs in the first eight months of the year. According to ISNA news agency, Ismail Ahmadi Moghadam, the commander of Iran's police force, stated on Wednesday in Mazandaran that 'what distinguishes the police of Iran from the police of other countries is the enforcement of laws that guide people to the straight path.' In this context, the Drug Control Headquarters opposed the abolition of the execution of traffickers, and Larijani promised efforts to change the law on drug-related executions. The number of drug addicts in Iran is 1,325,000. 'The prevalence of drug and alcohol use among teenagers in the capital.' 'Increase in meth addiction in Iran.'