Calay News
Iran carried out the execution of three individuals convicted of drug trafficking and four for rape at a time when the application of the death penalty in the country is being questioned by the UN and several non-governmental organizations. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, denounced on Tuesday the high number of executions in Iran this year, with an average of more than ten per week.
Iran’s judiciary authority, Mizan Online, reported that the three members of the Panjak gang, the country’s main cocaine distribution cartel, were executed in the morning. Additionally, four other men convicted of rape were also executed. The Norwegian organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) has warned that these executions raise the total to 64 in the past twelve days, while the Center for Human Rights in Iran has denounced that the Islamic Republic “continues its wave of killings.”
At least 209 people have been executed in Iran this year, most for drug-related offenses, according to a report by the UN. However, the total figure is believed to be higher, leading Türk to describe the balance as “abominable.” Iran is the second country that executes the most people annually, after China, according to Amnesty International and other human rights organizations. In 2022, at least 582 people were executed in the Islamic Republic, according to a report published in April by the IHR and the French organization Ensemble contre la Peine de Mort (ECPM).
These executions have raised concern from the UN and several human rights organizations, which are calling on Iran to abandon the practice of the death penalty and respect the fundamental human rights of its citizens.
