A report on the number of executions in Iran in 2021
3-February-2022
Category: executions
Breathing in Confinement: In its latest report, the Statistics Center of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, publishes the statistics on death penalties carried out in Iran in 2021. According to this report, during 2021, at least 377 death sentences were carried out in prisons of 47 cities in Iran.
Introduction
This report provides statistics on executions over the past year, from January 2021 to December 31, 2021. The increasing number of executions in Iran and the disregard of the authorities of the Islamic Republic for the international conventions as well as UN resolutions on condemnation of the executions, especially the execution of children and political prisoners, motivates us, the reporters and human rights activists, to gather and to publish the news regarding the executions and about what is happening in the prisons Iran to the international community.
Revealing inhumane death sentences, which are often carried out in secret in prisons, requires a great deal of time and energy. The people and in particular the relatives of the executed prisoners are being constantly threatened by the government of Iran to avoid disclosing the news about the executions. So, they have no choices but to receive and bury the bodies of their executed loved ones in silence. In addition, execution of ordinary prisoners on charges of murder, drug, and sexual offenses, considering the relevant social disgrace, makes it difficult for the families to talk about the executed person. This provides the basis for the greatest abuse of the feelings of the prisoners’ families by the Government of the Islamic Republic to easily carry out these executions and ignorance.
Trying to communicate with relatives and acquaintances of the executed prisoners is a very difficult and risky task for human rights activists in Iran. Nevertheless, these efforts are on going.
The number of executions has been on the rise since the presidency of Ibrahin Raisi and the appointment of Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei as head of the judiciary. This increase is particularly significant in the case of prisoners sentenced to death on drug charges. The sharp rise on the execution of Baloch prisoners on “drug-related” charges has raised concerns among human rights activists.
On Monday, January 3, 2022, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of the Judiciary, at Supreme Judicial Council meeting ordered the Attorney General to finalize the old cases of those sentenced to qisas (retribution) by the end of year 1400 (March 20, 2022). Hisremarks have raised concerns about the increase in executions and especially secret executions. Following his order, some sentenced to death prisoners who had been held in prison for more than 20 years were executed.
The inhumane executions must be explicitly condemned by the international community and human rights defenders, and decisive steps must be taken to stop them.
UN human rights defenders and Iran’s Special Rapporteur on human rights, Javid Rahman, must not allow that deteriorating human rights situation in Iran to be ignored because of the nuclear negotiations and that Western governments to turn a blind eye to this humanitarian catastrophe in Iran.
What is happening on a daily basis in Iran under the rule of the Islamic Republic is disregard for human rights laws and international conventions. The authorities of the Islamic Republic will continue this they are held accountable for their actions. Otherwise, they will easily play the lives of innocent people with their inhuman policies.
The executions of children, political prisoners, women, and drug and murder suspects are justified by the authorities of Islamic republic in different ways and they send more and more people to their deaths each year.
The unjust process of detention, interrogation, trial and keeping the prisoners in non-standard places and the use of inhuman torture leading to issuance of sentences based on forced confessions is a proof of the unfair nature of the extrajudicial death sentences issued and executed in Iran.
Continued execution of child-accused is an example of the Islamic Republic authorities’ disregard for the international conventions on the rights of the child and the demands of the international community. The despicable act of detaining minors and keeping them in prison until they reach the legal age for execution is one of the most horrific and criminal acts of the authorities of the Islamic Republic. The Iranian government, under the name of Islamic law, has been trying to justify this brutal and extrajudicial act.
Arman Abdolali, a child-accused was repeatedly transferred to solitary confinement to serve his death sentence but whose execution was postponed each time he finally was executed last year. His execution provoked strong reactions and condemnation from the Iranian people as well as the international community. However, a spokesman for the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Islamic Human Rights Organization said that the execution of the accused child was carried out in accordance with Iranian law and at the request of the victim’s family.
The government of the Islamic Republic, abusing the feelings of the victim’s family and using a law called “retribution” according to which the victim’s family can request for the execution of the murder convicts, justify this inhumane act as “the will of the victim’s family”. And as such, they put all the legal and moral responsibilities of “the murder under the name of retribution” on the shoulders of victims’ families. The authorities of the Islamic Republic even take the victim’s family to the execution scene on the day of the execution and allow them to kick the stool themselves. A heinous and inhumane act that results in nothing but perpetuating the cycle of violence. However, a family that has lost a loved one in any way is not mentally ready to make a rational decision. Several families have expressed regret after the execution of those accused of killing their loved ones, saying: “We regretted what we did when it was too late.”
The specific day for execution is different in different prisons. This, however, does not mean that executions do not take place on the other days. According to the “religious obligations” no one should be killed or executed in the months of Muharram and Safar. The authorities of the Islamic Republic, however, despite pretending to believe in Islamic rules, do not stop carrying out the death sentences even during these months.
“Scenes of executions in prisons at dawn before sunrise are horrific,” described many prisoners who went to the gallows to serve their death sentence, but for whatever reason their execution were stopped and they were returned back to prison.
The Statistics Center of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran has managed to record the execution of at least 377 prisoners in various cities in Iran. The names of the executed prisoners as well as the place and dates of their executions will be provided in a separate report to the governmental and non-governmental organizations which are fighting against the death penalty, and in particular, to Mr. Rehman.
Given the appointment of Ebrahim Raisi as president and Gholamhossein Ejei as chief of the Judiciary, we call on the international community to take the death penalties in Iran seriously, and to take decisive decisions and specific actions to prevent the executions in Iran.
An overview of executions carried out in the past year (January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021)
At least 377 prisoners were executed
At least 195 prisoners were executed on murder charges
At least 157 prisoners were executed on drug charges
At least 13 prisoners were executed on political charges
At least 9 prisoners were executed on rape charges
At least 3 prisoners were executed on other charges
The number of executions carried out each month in the past year
The chart below shows the number of executions in the past year divided by month.
The lowest number of executions were carried out in June, concurrently with the presidential election, with 10 prisoners were executed in this month. It is obvious that the authorities of the Islamic Republic reduced the executions in month of June because of the presidential election.
According to the chart below, executions have increased significantly since the appointment of Ibrahim Raisi as president.
The number of executions carried out in 2021 compared to 2020
The chart below shows a 31% increase in the number of executions compared to 2020, divided by the month.
The numbers show a sharp increase of 83% in month of May. Compared to the previous year. in July, there has been a 40 percent increase in the executions, and in September, a 62 percent. Also, respectively in months of November and December, Islamic Republic authorities executed 56 and 50 percent more prisoners than the previous year.
On average, in 2021, the number of executions increased by 31% compared to 2020. It needs to be said that the real statistics are certainly much higher than the above-mentioned figures. And this indicates that a humanitarian catastrophe is happening in the prisons under the rule of the Islamic Republic. In the process of an unfair and non-transparent trial, prisoners face charges, stand before judges and receive death sentences without even having access to a lawyer.
Most of these prisoners are from poor and lower social classes who are unable to pay for a lawyer. Even in some cases, the prisoners who had a lawyer, were executed hastily without being granted the opportunity of a retrial.
Human rights activists believe that the authorities of the Islamic Republic use the death penalty as a tool to intimidate the society and to prevent the formation of any protest movement. Being afraid of the explosive state of society, the authorities increase the number of executions in prisons.
Comparison between officially announced executions with secret executions
In Islamic Republic, most executions are carried out in secret. Data on covert executions are exclusively collected and published by human rights activists. Obviously, the figures announced by human rights activists are limited to what have been reported to them.
Given the conditions in Iran’s prisons, we believe that the actual number of executions are much higher than the published figures.
According to the Statistics Center of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, a total of 377 death sentences were carried out in the past year. Only 42 cases, however, were officially reported in the state media. The other 335 cases were revealed by human rights activists. In another word, more than 89% of executions carried out in secret.
In below pie chart, the blue part shows the secret executions and the yellow part is the 11% that has been officially announced by the government.
The chart below shows the statistics of executions announced by the government and the executions disclosed by human rights activists divided by each month.
As the chart shows, the number of officially announced executions is much lower than the actual number.
In September, out of a total of 56 executions, only eight were reported in the state media.
Due to the secrecy of the execution, the actual number of executions in the Islamic Republic has never been known.
The charges against executed prisoners in the past year
In the past one year (January 1, 2012 – December 31, 2021), prisoners were hanged on various charges; Murder, drugs, and moharebeh were among the charges against which prisoners were sentenced to death.
In 2021, 52% (195) prisoners were hanged on charge of “murder.” Due to the lack of transparency in the interrogation and trial process, it is impossible for us to know whether or not the murder was committed by the accused. In the penal laws of the Islamic Republic, the death sentence is issued for those accused of murder under the name of “retribution”. By involving the victims’ families, the judicial authorities try to personalize the issue. However, the law article on retribution states: “Retribution is carried out at the request of the blood owners and with the authorization and permission of the Supreme Leader or his representative.” The need for permission of the highest government officials indicates that carrying out the retribution sentence is in fact the will of the government.
In Islamic Republic, a retribution sentence is issued on the condition that the judge proves that the murder has been committed by the accused. However, in the absence of sufficient evidence, judicial authorities issue the sentence based on Qassameh (oath swearing).
In 2021, in the cases of four executed prisoners, given the lack of sufficient evidence and because the defendants did not confess to the attributed crimes despite enduring severe torture, the judges issued the death sentences based on Qassameh.
In the past year, the second highest number of executions were carried out on drug related charges. Despite the passage of an amendment to the Penal Code for Drug Crimes in 2017, executions on this charge are ongoing in Iranian prisons. While even some of the MPs have acknowledged that the execution of the convicts of drug crimes leads to serious social impairments.
In 2021, 13 political and ideological prisoners were executed in Iranian prisons. Among them was Haidar Ghorbani, a political prisoner who was executed despite widespread international protests. In addition, two prisoners in Khorramabad were secretly executed for setting fire to a gas station.
The cities where executions were carried out
In the past year, death sentences were carried out in the prisons of at least 47 cities in Iran. The city of Karaj had the highest number of executions with 50 death sentences took place in this city. Rajai Shahr Prison and Karaj Central Prison are 2 places where sentenced to death convicts from all of the prisons in Alborz and Tehran provinces are being executed. The sentenced to death prisoners are transferred from the Greater Tehran, Qarchak, and Kachuei prisons to one of these two prisons for execution.
Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj is one of the most notorious prisons in Iran, where, according to witnesses, executions are carried out on each and every Wednesday.
After Karaj, the highest numbers of executions were respectively carried out in the cities of Isfahan, Zahedan, and Shiraz.
The cities where executions were carried out
In the past year, death sentences were carried out in the prisons of at least 47 cities in Iran. The city of Karaj had the highest number of executions with 50 death sentences took place in this city. Rajai Shahr Prison and Karaj Central Prison are 2 places where sentenced to death convicts from all of the prisons in Alborz and Tehran provinces are being executed. The sentenced to death prisoners are transferred from the Greater Tehran, Qarchak, and Kachuei prisons to one of these two prisons for execution.
Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj is one of the most notorious prisons in Iran, where, according to witnesses, executions are carried out on each and every Wednesday.
After Karaj, the highest numbers of executions were respectively carried out in the cities of Isfahan, Zahedan, and Shiraz.
Execution of women
In 2021, at least 17 women were executed in Iran.
Susan Rezaeipour – Qazvin Prison:
Susan Rezaeipour was executed in Qazvin prison at dawn on Wednesday, October 27, 2021. She was arrested six years ago and sentenced to death on charge of murdering her husband.
According to the reports, “Susan was forced to marry her cousin whom she didn’t love. Susan had said in her confession before the execution that her husband was drunk every day and beat her from 3 pm until the midnight. Eventually, she could not stand the situation and committed the murder of her husband.”
Maryam Khakpour – 41 years old – Execution in Isfahan prison:
Maryam was executed in Isfahan prison on the morning of Thursday, November 25, 2021, on drug charges.
Maryam Khakpour, 41, from Kashan, was arrested five years ago on drug related charges and sentenced to death.
According to the reports, Maryam Khakpour had been in the women’s ward of Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan for the past 5 years. Maryam had repeatedly stated that the drugs did not belong to her but to her husband.
She divorced her husband three years ago. Maryam’s husband was sentenced to 18 years in prison. But Maryam was executed without having had committed a crime.
Masoumeh Zarei – 40 years old – Execution in Amol prison:
Masoumeh Zarei was arrested seven years ago on charges of complicity in her husband’s murder. Masoumeh was executed on December 14, 2021, in Amol Prison. She was reportedly handcuffed and taken out of the prison’s staff room at 6 am on Tuesday under the pretext of traveling to the City of Talesh to obtain the consent of the victim’s family. She was last seen by her inmates at 7:30 am. She, however, was executed at around 8 o’clock inside the administration building of Amol prison where people come and go. She was hanged for about 20 minutes. Before her execution, prison authorities waited for about half an hour for a female police officer to come for carrying out the sentence. Because of severe stress, she was given a solution of water and sugar three times.
Nafiseh Pakmehr – Execution in Taybad Prison
At dawn on Sunday, March 14, 2021, after serving eight years in prison, a woman named Nafiseh Pakmehr, who had been sentenced to death for the murder of her husband, was executed in Taybad Prison.
Nafiseh Pakmehr was from Qaleh Nawabgheh village in the central part of Taybad city in Khorasan Razavi province and lived in Mashhad before being arrested.
Nafiseh Pakmehr was arrested about eight years ago for the murder of her husband and was finally sentenced to death.
Zahra Esmaili – 43 years old – mother of 2 – Execution in Rajai Shahr prison
Zahra was hanged at dawn on February 17, 2021, for the murder of her husband.
Alireza Zamani, the husband of Zahra Ismaili, was one of the directors general of the Ministry of Intelligence who committed many acts of violence against Zahra. According to the relatives of Zahra Ismaili, the cause of death was cardiac arrest in her death certificate. The reason was on February 17, 2021, 16 other prisoners were hanged in front of Zahra Ismaili, and she developed a stroke and died after seeing these execution scenes. Nevertheless, the executioners hanged Zahra’s lifeless body.
Kobra Fatemi, 41, was executed in Yazd Prison.
At dawn on Sunday, May 23, 2021, after serving six years in prison, a 41-year-old woman named Kobra Fatemi was executed in Yazd Prison.
According to the report, Kobra Fatemi, 41, was sentenced to death for the murder of her husband.
Maryam (Masoumeh) Karimi – was executed in Rasht prison.
On March 15, 2021, Maryam (Masoumeh) Karimi, who had been sentenced to death for “premeditated murder” of her husband, was executed in Rasht Central Prison after the “blood owners” refused to pardon her. “Maryam was executed by her daughter,” said an informed source.
Shamsi Pirostavan – Execution in Qazvin Central Prison
About 7-8 years ago, Shamsi and her husband were arrested on drug-related charges on Qazvin-Karaj highway and were sentenced to death in the court of first instance. In 2018, while in prison, at the insistence of her family, Shamsi divorced her husband Yousef. She was executed on May 31, 2021, in Qazvin Central Prison.
Execution of children
Iran is the only country in the world that still executes under 18 children. In their recent reports, Mr. Javaid Rehman, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, and Mr. Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, condemned the Islamic Republic for these executions. However, abolishing or suspending the death sentences for children by the Iranian government, requires international community, to take strong and decisive actions.
In a shameful act, during 2021, at least 4 child-accused were hanged on the orders of the Iranian judiciary.
Iran is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child based of which “neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age.”
Majid Tafreshi, Deputy Head of the Iranian Judiciary’s Human Rights Headquarters for International Affairs, said: “The execution of a child criminals is not a violation of human rights.”
Arman Abdolali, a child – accused imprisoned in Rajai Shahr Prison, who was only 17 years old at the time of the attributed crime. Arman was executed at dawn on Wednesday, November 24, 2021. Arman Abdolali was born on March 9, 1996, and was only 17 years old at the time of the alleged murder in 2013. Arman was charged with committing murder, while the body of the victim was never found.
Sajjad Sanjari
Sajjad Sanjari was another child – accused who was secretly executed in Dizelabad Prison in Kermanshah on August 1, 2020. He was arrested in 2011 at the age of 15, on charge of murder and was later sentenced to death.
After spending ten years in prison, he was executed secretly without the knowledge of his family. On December 31, 2016, the spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the authorities of the Islamic Republic to stop the execution of Sajjad Sanjari, the juvenile accused of murder.
Bahaoddin Ghasemzadeh
Bahauddin Ghasemzadeh was another child criminal who after spending ten years in prison, was executed along with his sick brother, in Urmia Prison in July 2020.
Bahauddin and his brother Davood were arrested in 2009 on charges of killing two people in a tribal conflict. He was 15 at the time of his arrest, and a year later in 2010, pleaded guilty to both murders in court. On the same day, after leaving the court, Bahauddin escaped from the agents and went to Iraqi Kurdistan. After his escape, security agents arrested his sister, mother and his other brother and transferred them to Urmia Prison, demanding Bahaoddin’s return in exchange for the release of his family. A month later, Bahaoddin returned to the country. Meanwhile, having been severely beaten, his brother Davood Ghasemzadeh, had his vertebrae and spinal cord injured.
On the day before his execution, Amnesty International issued a statement, calling for his death sentence to be overturned. In its statement, Amnesty International also referred to the torture inflicted on Bahaoddin. Amnesty International wrote: “Part of the evidence for the conviction of Bahaoddin Ghasemzadeh includes” confessions “which, according to him, were obtained from him under torture at Police Detention Center in Urmia. In addition, while under interrogation, Bahaoddin had been denied the right to counsel.
Ebrahim Shahbakhsh
Ebrahim Shahbakhsh was arrested at the age of 17 on drug-related charges and was later sentenced to death. He was executed in Isfahan prison at the age of 23 after spending six years in prison.
On July 23, 2020, the officials of Isfahan Prison called Ibrahim’s family and asked them to go to the prison to pay their last visit.
Execution of political and ideological prisoners
Over the past year, 13 prisoners have been executed in various prisons on political charges.
Haidar Ghorbani
The death sentence of Haidar Ghorbani, a Kurdish political prisoner, was carried out at dawn on Sunday, December 19, 2021, in Sanandaj Prison. Mr. Ghorbani had been detained since October 2016, and charged with “Baghy (insurgency against the Islamic ruler), complicity in the premeditated murder of three members of the Revolutionary Guards,” and “membership in opposition groups.” According to his lawyer, there were no pieces of supporting evidence in his file and H aidar was never armed.
Amnesty International and Javaid Rehman, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, confirmed the allegations of Mr. Ghorbani’s lawyer.
Amnesty International has repeatedly sought to overturn Mr. Ghorbani’s death sentence, but the authorities of the Islamic Republic executed him after a very unfair and non-transparent trial.
Javid Dehghan Khold
The political prisoner, Javid Dehghan Khold, was hanged on January 30, 2021.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had called on Iranian authorities to stop the execution of Javid Dehghan.
Amnesty International also, released a statement saying: “The Iranian authorities must immediately halt the execution of Javid Dehghan.” In its statement, the organization highlighted “a shocking catalogue of fair trial violations throughout the investigation, trial and appeal stages.”
Amnesty International said the court used confessions “in convicting and sentencing Javid Dehghan to death.” (Amnesty International – January 28, 2021).
Hassan Dehvari and Elias Ghalandarzehi
The political prisoners, Hassan Dehvari and Elias Ghalandarzehi, were sentenced to death by the Islamic Republic on the baseless accusation of ” wickedness as well as committing terrorism.” They both were executed on January 3, 2021 in Zahedan Prison. They had denied the charges, saying that they were sentenced to death simply for their political activities and their ethnic demands. They also added that they had been taken hostage, to force their family members to either return to the country or stop their activities.
The death sentences of Hassan Dehvari and Elias Ghalandarzehi were carried out while considering the legal problems with the trial, their lawyer, Mohammad Reza Faghihi, had demanded the “hasty execution” of his clients to be stopped.
A day before his clients’ execution, in an interview with “Emtedad News”, Mr. Faghihi said that given the legal and procedural problems with the trial, he had submitted a request for retrial. “Hold on, I have requested for retrial,” he said in the interview, addressing the judiciary officials. (Emtedad News – January 2, 2021).
Ali Motiri, a political prisoner and athlete from Ahvaz, was executed at dawn on January 28, 2021, in Ahvaz.
Ali had been arrested in 2018 and sentenced to death by the 1st Criminal Court in Ahvaz on charges of “moharebeh” and “corruption on earth” through the murder of two members of the Basij.
He was reportedly severely tortured during his detention for forced confessions.
His assigned counsel did not allow any news of his condition to be released during his detention.
Jasem Heidari, Ali Khasraji, Hossein Silawi and Naser Khafajian
The Ahwazi- Arab citizens, Jassem Heydari, Ali Khasraji, Hossein Silawi and Naser Khafajian, were executed at dawn on Saturday, February 28, 2021. The four prisoners were tortured during their detention and did not have access to a lawyer during the trial. Amnesty International issued a statement calling on Iranian authorities to halt the execution of these political prisoners. Amnesty International wrote: ” Three Ahwazi Arab death row prisoners – Ali Khasraji, Hossein Silawi and Jassem Heidari – have sewn their lips together and have been on hunger strike since 23 January 2021 in Sheiban prison in Ahwaz, Khuzestan province, in protest at their prison conditions, denial of family visits, and the ongoing threat of execution. The fourth Ahwazi Arab prisoner, Naser Khafajian, has been forcibly disappeared since April 2020, putting him at risk of torture and secret execution.”
These four political prisoners were on a hunger strike at the time of their execution.