An overview of published reports on the death penalty in the last 10 years in Iran shows an increasing trend towards executions.^[1] These reports are mainly based on cases announced by the Iranian authorities and since the authorities do not announce all executions, there is uncertainty about the actual number of death sentences carried out each year in Iran. However, in the last three years, an increasing number of unannounced executions have been confirmed by human rights NGOs. This can only partly explain the increase in the number of executions in Iran. A look at the official number of executions confirms the increasing trend (see Figure 1 below).

Figure 1: Chart showing the execution trends between 2003 and 2012 based on annual reports published by Amnesty International (2003-2007) and Iran Human Rights (2008-2012). The unofficial numbers represent the confirmed executions not announced by the Iranian authorities.

As mentioned, Iran is the country with the highest number of public executions. Public executions are often carried out in the morning in the central parts of cities, using cranes.^[2] The prisoner is pulled up by the crane leading to death by suffocation. Sometimes it takes up to 15 minutes until death occurs. This type of execution is known as prolonged suffocation by human rights groups. It is a humiliating punishment and is recognised as torture. Pictures of children watching public executions have led to international outrage.^[3]

Big cities such as Shiraz, Tehran, Karaj and Isfahan have the highest number of public executions according to reports published in the last three years. Fars Province, where Shiraz is the capital, has been the province with the highest number of public executions in Iran. In 2012, 28 out of 60 public executions were carried out in this province. ^[4]

Following increased international attention, in January 2008 the Iranian Judiciary issued an order asking judges to limit the number of public executions.^[5] According to this order all public executions had to be specially approved by the head of the Judiciary. This led to a decrease in the number of public executions in 2008 and 2009. But since the post-election protests in 2009 the number of public executions has been increasing. The number of public executions in 2011 and 2012 was more than three times higher than in 2009 (see Figure 2 below). The trend continues in 2013 as the public execution figures by September 2013 are higher than the whole year of 2012.

Figure 2: Public executions in the period 2008-2012. The numbers in 2011 and 2012 are three times larger than the annual numbers in the previous three years.

Secret executions

As mentioned above, an increasing number of secret or unannounced executions have been reported in the past 4 years. The figures increased dramatically in 2010 when secret mass-executions were exposed in the Vakilabad Prison of Mashhad.^[6] Given the widespread censorship, lack of transparency in the Iranian Judicial system and crackdown on civil institutions, it is very difficult to verify many of the execution reports. Despite this fact, Iran Human Rights (IHR) has managed to verify secret executions in 15 different prisons in the past two years. Secret or unannounced executions accounted for 49% of all confirmed executions reported in the Iran Human Rights Annual Report on the Death Penalty 2012. It is assumed that the number of secret or unannounced executions is much higher than reported.^[7]

Most secret executions documented in the last 3 years have taken place in the Vakilabad Prison of Mashhad. These executions were first revealed by the late Ahmad Ghabel, the reformist scholar who was imprisoned after the post-election protests in 2009.^[8] Later, confirmed reports identified several mass executions in the summer of 2010, where 50-70 prisoners were executed at a time. In meetings with foreign diplomats the Iranian authorities confirmed one such mass execution which had taken place in August 2010, where 63 prisoners were executed in one day.^[9]

Most of the executed were convicted of drug related charges. The executions were kept secret from the prisoners’ lawyers and their families. The prisoners themselves were only informed of their pending executions a short time prior to them taking place. Moreover, a few hours prior to the executions, prison phone lines were cut and no visits were allowed.

It is believed that several hundred prisoners were executed from February to October 2010. At least 226 secret executions were confirmed by more than one source and names of more than 100 of those executed were published later that year.^[10] There were many Afghan citizens and some foreign citizens from Ghana and Nigeria among those executed. The embassies of Ghana and Nigeria later confirmed the execution of their citizens.^[11]

The secret mass executions at Vakilabad were halted for a time after they received international attention^[12]. In 2011 there were 133 reported executions in this prison.^[13] But the executions resumed again in October 2012 and continued until at least February 2013.^[14] During this period most of those executed had been sentenced to death for drug related charges. According to confirmed reports, during this period, executions have taken place twice a week normally on Wednesdays and Sundays, and each time at least 10 prisoners have been executed. Several reports indicate that there have been large numbers of Afghan prisoners among those executed in this period. It is estimated that at least 500 prisoners were executed across Iran in the period October 2012 to February 2013.^[15]

Drug related charges followed by rape, Moharebeh (see below) and murder are the major charges for which death sentences are imposed by the Iranian judiciary. However, drug related charges account for the majority of executions. Between 70-80% of all executions in the past 3 years have been related to drug charges.^[16] Being the transit route between Afghanistan and Europe, drug trafficking and drug abuse is a major problem in Iran. Iranian penal law has strict rules for drug convicts. Possession of 30 grams of drugs such as heroin, morphine, cocaine, LSD, methamphetamine or similar drugs, carries the death penalty. And the death sentence issued for drug related charges cannot be appealed. Besides, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (‘UNODC’) cooperates with Iran in fighting drug trafficking.^[17] Iranian authorities have several times blamed the international war on drugs as the reason for high numbers of executions in the country. However, despite executing hundreds of people every year for drug related charges, there is no evidence to indicate that it has helped against drug trafficking. On the contrary, both drug trafficking and drug abuse have been on the increase in recent years.

Those sentenced to death in Iran for drug related charges are tried by the Revolutionary Courts behind closed doors. There are several reports of unfair trials, coerced confessions and torture. Besides, since the majority (about 70%) of those executed are not identified by name, one cannot rule out the possibility that some of those executed might have been held on other charges than claimed by the authorities. The Iranian-Dutch citizen Zahra Bahrami was arrested in connection with a protest in December 2009 and sentenced to death for Moharebeh (waging war against God) in 2010. Ten months later, while in prison, she was sentenced to death for possession of narcotics and executed in January 2011 for the same charge.^[18] Execution of prisoners for their political activities leads to much stronger international reactions than executions for drug related charges. Moreover, it is believed that UNODC cooperate with the Iranian authorities in their war against drug trafficking which gives legitimacy to these executions.^[19]

In recent years, many human rights organisations have urged UNODC to halt its cooperation with Iran or condition further cooperation upon a halt in executions.^[20] Denmark, one of the countries contributing to program one of UNODC-Iran^[21] cooperation ceased all its funding to the UNODC project, in order to prevent involvement in the ’executions of several hundred people every year.’^[22]

One of the charges used by the Iranian Judiciary to issue death sentences against political opponents is Moharebeh. The term Moharebeh is taken from Islamic scripts and means ‘waging war against God’. The term was introduced in the Iranian penal law after the Islamic revolution in 1979 and the charge was used against those who were involved in armed struggle against the authorities. However the charge has also been used against the relatives of those involved in such activities or for political opposition members not involved in violent activities.^[23] In recent years, there has been an over-representation of ethnic minority groups amongst those executed on charges of Moharebeh^[24]. There have been several Kurdish, Arab and Baluchi prisoners sentenced to death on the charge of Moharebeh.^[25] There are also several reports of torture and forced confessions in cases where the prisoner is sentenced to death for Moharebeh.^[26]

The relationship between the death penalty and political events in Iran

Iranian authorities claim that the large number of executions is meant to combat crime as more than 80% of those executed are charged with drug trafficking, rape or murder. However, human rights groups believe that the main purpose of the death penalty in Iran is to spread fear in society in order to avoid socio-political unrest and protests. Recently, Iran Human Rights published a short report studying the relationship between the number of executions and political events in Iran from 2007 to 2013.^[27] Only executions that have been announced by authorities were included in this analysis. The analysis showed a meaningful correlation between the number of executions and political events in the country. For instance, the number of executions in Iran dropped significantly in the weeks leading up to Presidential or Parliamentary elections (when the international media is present in the country and the authorities encourage participation in the elections). But execution numbers peaked in the months before and after the elections, and prior to when protests were expected, or right after an uprising. Although most of the executions are for common criminal charges, it seems that the Iranian authorities choose the timing of executions in a coordinated and non-arbitrary manner. In general, execution numbers are high when authorities fear protests and low when the world’s focus is on Iran.

Reports on the death penalty in Iran do not include cases of people being shot to death by the Iranian security forces. Every year scores of people are killed on the western and eastern borders of Iran^[28]. Many of those shot in the border areas are the so called ‘Kolbar’ or porters, who make their livelihood by transporting (smuggling) different items over the border.^[29] There are reports of porters being shot to death with their hands tied. Little attention has been given to this issue in the media. The issue of extrajudicial killings on the Iranian sides of the borders must be made known to the countries which contribute to the UNODC programme on border cooperation between Iran and its neighbouring countries.