Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); July 1, 2022: At least 251 people including six women and 67 Baluch minorities were executed in Iranian prisons in the first six months of 2022. This is double the number of executions in the same period in 2021 when 117 people were executed.
Notably, 137 of the 251 executions were carried out between 7 May-30 June, after the start of the recent nationwide protests.
Expressing grave concern about the rise in executions, Iran Human Rights calls for stronger action by the international community. Director, Mahmoud Amiry-Moghaddam said: “Undoubtedly, the widespread executions are used by the authorities to instil fear in society to prevent further anti-government protests. Raising the political cost of the executions through popular campaigns and added international pressure can stop this wave of executions.”
According to data collected by Iran Human Rights, at least 251 people were executed in Iranian prisons in the first six months of 2022. This is double the number of executions in the same period in 2021 when 117 people were executed.
Of the 251 executions, only 31 were announced by domestic media or officials in Iran and 220 were unannounced.
In the first six months of 2022, 141 people were executed for murder charges, 91 for drug-related offences and 13 for rape charges. Of the six people who were executed for charges of moharebeh (enmity against god), four were political prisoners and two were armed robberies.
Drug-related executions have seen an intense increase in 2021 and 2022. The 126 drug-related executions in 2021 were five times higher than the previous three years. However, the 91 executions in the first six months of 2022 are more than double the number for the same period in 2021 when 40 were executed.
The disproportionate execution of Baluch minorities has also intensified with at least 67 in the first six months of 2022. They were executed for murder, drug-related and moharebeh charges in prisons across Iran. 27% of all 251 executions were Baluch minorities while they only represent 2-6% of the population.
Since the start of the nationwide protests on May 7, at least 56 people were executed in May and 81 in June. June has the highest monthly execution recorded in the last five years.
It should be noted that Iran Human Rights only includes unannounced executions that it has been able to verify through two independent and reliable sources. As such, the number of executions is certainly higher than those presented.