Iran executes 92 prisoners in 17 days, rights groups say
At least 92 prisoners have been executed in Iran since the start of October, averaging more than five executions per day over the past 17 days, according to rights groups.
At least 92 prisoners have been executed in Iran since the start of October, averaging more than five executions per day over the past 17 days, according to rights groups.
The executions, which occurred in various prisons across the country, took place between 1 October and 17 October 2024.
Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said on Thursday that two men on death row for murder, identified as Abbas Karimi and Mohammad Ali Najafi, were executed in Isfahan Central Prison. Karimi had been granted an extension to raise the blood money for his case, but his family was unable to meet the deadline.
Blood money is an Islamic practice by which an alleged offender or their family can compensate an aggrieved party or relatives.
“The Islamic Republic promotes violence, cruelty and discrimination in society through inhuman retribution laws. Abbas Karimi was executed due to his inability to pay blood money,” IHR Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in a statement condemning the executions.
IHR said it had recorded 92 executions in the first 17 days of October.
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRNA) reported that two prisoners who had been previously sentenced to death on drug-related charges were executed in Qazvin Prison on Thursday.
Two prisoners, including a woman in Hamedan Prison, were executed on drug-related charges on Wednesday, HRNA further reported. The man was identified as Rasoul Feili, while the woman’s identity was not disclosed.
IHR also reported that another prisoner named Mohsen Mokhtari was executed in Adelabad prison in Shiraz on murder charges.
Six prisoners on death row for murder charges were executed in the same prison last Sunday, the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran reported.
Amnesty International on Friday warned that Iran plans to execute Mohammad Reza Azizi on Monday, 21 October. Azizi was just 17 when he was arrested and sentenced to death. Amnesty called on Iranian authorities to halt the execution, stating that Iran is violating international law by sentencing a minor to death.
Iran conducted the most executions of any country in the world after China last year, Amnesty said in a report in May, adding that nearly 75% of all executions worldwide in 2023 outside China were in Iran.
The recent wave of executions brings the total number of hangings in Iran this year to more than 567, including 20 women, according to rights groups.
Earlier this month, HRNA reported that at least 811 people had been executed in Iran between 10 October 2023 and 8 October 2024, coinciding with the annual World Day Against the Death Penalty.
