Group Execution of 6 Men Including 4 Baluch in Brijand

According to Haal Vsh, six men were executed in Birjand Central Prison on 31 December. The identities of the four Baluch men have been reported as 50-year-old Amanollah Barahouyi (Safarzehi) from Zahedan, 41-year-old Bidollah Barahouyi (Arbabzehi) from Zahak, 34-year-old Shirahmad Sanjarani (photo) and 33-year-old Ghoutodin Nehtani. The other two men were 35-year-old Javad Choupani and Hamid Jahani, both Birjand natives.

All six men were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

Amanollah was arrested at a checkpoint in Sahl Abad around four years ago. Bidollah was arrested around three years ago and received the death penalty 18 months ago. Shirahmad and Ghoutodin were on death row for around four years. Javad was arrested two years ago.

At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Nine other men were executed at Birjand Central Prison on 27 December.

Ethnic minorities, the Baluch in particular, are grossly overrepresented in execution numbers in Iran. In 2022, at least 174 Baluch minorities including 3 women, were executed in 22 prisons across Iran, making up 30% of overall executions. This is while they represent just 2-5% of Iran’s population. Furthermore, at least 274 Baluch people have been executed for drug-related charges since 2021, 40% of all drug executions in that time period.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year for the past three years. At least 305 people were executed for drug-related charges between 1 January-10 October 2023, a 69% increase compared to the same period in 2022, and the number of drug-related executions in 2023 were close to 20 times higher than 2020.

The number of drug executions dramatically dropped in 2018 following a 2017 Amendment to the Anti-Narcotics Laws. Consequently, drug executions ranged between 24-30 per annum between 2018-2020. The Amendment was reversed in practice in 2021 when executions increased ten-fold to 126 in 2021 and doubled again in 2022 with 256 drug-related executions. On 13 September 2023, IHRNGO reported a 94% rise in the number of drug-related executions in the year following the start of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in September 2022.