3rd Group Execution in Ghezel Hesar Prison in November

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, six men were executed in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, on 15 November. Three of the men were sentenced to death for drug-related charges and three to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. One of the men’s identities has been established as Mehdi Mosavar (photo) who was on death row for murder. He was transferred for execution from Unit 3 of the prison.

IHRNGO previously reported the execution of three other men including Bagher Mohammadi Geravand and Nazir Mohammad, an Afghan national, who were all on death row for drug-related charges at the prison that day.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “13 people were transferred to solitary confinement on Tuesday (14 November). Four of the murder death row prisoners were returned to their cells after obtaining extensions in their cases and the nine others were executed.”

On 1st November, IHRNGO reported a group execution of nine men at Ghezel Hesar Prison. A week later, another group execution of eight men took place at the prison. This is the third group execution at the prison in November.

In the first 10 months of 2023, IHRNGO recorded more than 600 executions, an unprecedented number in the last eight years. The majority of the executions were for drug-related charges which are also at their highest since 2015. On World Day Against the Death Penalty (10 October 2023), IHRNGO called on UN Member States to withdraw funding of UNODC projects on drug-trafficking in Iran, and to make all collaborations and funding contingent upon an immediate halt to all drug-related executions.