6 Baluch and a Kurd Executed for Drug Charges

According to Haalvsh, five men were executed for drug-related charges in Kerman Central Prison on 20 April. Four of the men have been named as 34-year-old Ahmadreza Miri from Zabol, 53-year-old Shamseddin Kashani, Shokat Shehbakhsh (Darkzehi) from the village of Chah Ahmad in Zahedan and Jamal Mardani, a 48-year-old Kurdish man from Miandoab.

The fifth man’s identity has not been reported.

Two other men were also executed for drug-related charges in Chabahar Prison that day. Their identities have been reported as 30-year-old Saeed Jadgal and 33-year-old Mohammad Anjamrooz.

At the time of writing, none of their executions have been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges, an 84% increase compared to 2022 (256) and about 18 times the average of drug-related executions in 2018-2020. Baluch minorities who constitute 2-6% of Iran’s population, made up 30% of drug executions in 2023.

On 10 April 2024, 80+ Iranian and international organisations and groups called for joint action to stop drug-related executions, urging UNODC to make “any cooperation with the Islamic Republic contingent on a complete halt on drug-related executions.