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In 2024, Iran carried out at least 975 executions, the highest number since 2015, and executions were carried out at an “alarming rate”.
This is stated in a report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, presented by UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif, the Associated Press reports.
According to the report, the number of executions in 2024 increased from 834 in 2023. Four executions were carried out in public. In Iran, executions are carried out by hanging.
In the structure of crimes for which people were sentenced to death:
- 52% – drug-related offences
- 43% – murders
- 2% – sexual offences
- 3% – security-related crimes
The number of women executed also increased: in 2024, at least 31 women were executed – 22 more than in 2023. In particular, nine of them were convicted of killing their own husbands in cases related to domestic violence, forced or child marriage.
The report notes that among those executed were also protesters after the murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained by the morality police in September 2022 for “improperly wearing a headdress”.
The discriminatory nature of the executions is also underlined by the fact that at least 108 Baluchs and 84 Kurds – representatives of Iran’s national minorities – were among those executed.
At least 31 people (including political dissidents) were executed on charges of crimes against national security, including “spying for Israel”.
In addition, in 2024, pressure on freedom of speech continued in Iran: at least 125 journalists were prosecuted for their work, including at least 40 women journalists.
