Iran addicted to the death penalty. In 2023, the country second in number of convictions after China executed at least 853 people, an increase of 43% from the previous year. An increased use of capital punishment which is largely explained by the return to a strict anti-drug policy, indicates Amnesty International in a summary published Thursday April 4.
In detail, 481 people were sentenced to death for drug-related offenses, 292 for murder, 22 for rape, 38 for "enmity against God" and/or "corruption on Earth", two for apostasy and one for " armed rebellion against the state. Finally, 16 people were executed for unknown reasons.
The distribution of executions by offense in Iran. © Amnesty International / Graphic studio France Médias Monde
According to Amnesty International, the number of executions linked to drug trafficking has seen a “staggering increase” of 89% compared to 2022 (255) and 264% compared to 2021 (132).
“The figures for 2023 are beyond belief. We are all the more worried as there are currently discussions within Parliament to strengthen the use of the death penalty while international law prohibits the death penalty for offenses linked to drug trafficking", recalls Aymeric Elluin, advocacy officer at Amnesty International.
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Return to a hard line
The NGO explains this increase in capital punishment by the return to a strict anti-drug policy in Iran after a period of relative leniency observed between 2018 and 2020 with "only" 20 to 30 people executed for drug-related cases.
During this period, Iran, which has one of the highest rates of opioid users in the world, changed its strategy under international pressure. To protest against a recourse deemed excessive to the supreme punishment, several European countries decided in 2017 to cut their funding intended for operations to combat drug trafficking.
A few months later, in January 2018, Tehran introduced new legislation resulting in the suspension of death sentences against around 5,000 traffickers. The production or distribution of heroin, cocaine and amphetamines is now punishable by death only above two kilos compared to 30 grams previously. The threshold increases from five to 50 kilos for opium and marijuana.
But the Islamic Republic is backpedaling from 2021 under the presidency of the ultraconservative Ebrahim Raïssi as well as with the appointment to the key position of head of the Iranian judicial system of Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei. This former Minister of Intelligence, architect of the violent repression of the 2009 demonstrations, is one of the hardliners in the fight against drugs.
Since then, executions have resumed at a frenzied pace, continuing to particularly target the Baloch ethnic minority in the south of the country. Oppressed in Iran, this minority, which represents only 5% of the population, was responsible for 20% of executions in 2023 with at least 172 Baloch men and women executed, including 138 for drug-related offenses. Capital sentences handed down in the majority of cases by revolutionary courts renowned for their lack of independence and which pay no attention to the rights of the defense, denounces Amnesty International.
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“It is the most marginal and poorest communities that bear the cost of this judicial practice,” laments Aymeric Elluin. “However, we must be very clear on one point: all studies show that the death penalty has never deterred anything in terms of crime.”
“Lead screed”
This wave of executions comes in the context of the brutal repression of the 2022 uprising which followed the death of Mahsa Amini and weakened the mullahs' regime. According to a report published in early March by the NGO Iran Human Rights, at least eight demonstrators are among those executed in 2023.
“In all cases, when you use the death penalty, it is to scare, it is to terrorize. There is an ultraconservative moment and a leaden screed that has fallen on Iran,” believes Aymeric Elluin.
Also read: The increase in hangings in Iran, “ultimate tool of intimidation and oppression” according to NGOs
In an attempt to influence Iranian legislation, Amnesty International is calling for the EU and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to review their cooperation with Iran in the fight against drug trafficking.
“The abolition of the death penalty for drug-related offenses must be a precondition for any future cooperation between the UNODC and Iran in the fight against drug trafficking,” Raphaël Chenuil argued in early March. -Hazan, director of Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM).
Hit by multiple international sanctions, particularly due to the development of its nuclear program, Iran is paradoxically an ally of the West in the global war against drugs. Sharing nearly 1,000 kilometers of border with Afghanistan, which produces 90% of the world's opium, the Islamic Republic is one of the main routes for heroin to Europe and the Middle East.
“As on other subjects, there is undoubtedly a form of hypocrisy on the part of the international community,” recognizes Aymeric Elluin. “Nevertheless, there are resolutions being passed to send a signal that states that use the death penalty for drug trafficking should no longer do so.”
In the meantime, the “deadly wave” continues in 2024, says Amnesty International. Since the start of the year, 95 executions have already been recorded as of March 20. These figures are probably underestimated because the Iranian regime does not publish official statistics on the subject.
“The situation is such that we have prisoners sentenced to death who are on hunger strikes and trying to publish open letters to raise awareness about their situation,” explains Aymeric Elluin. “Iranian prisons are being transformed into large-scale deathhouses.”
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