The Iranian government executed at least 975 people in 2024 in a “horrifying escalation in the use of the death penalty,” human rights activists said on Thursday.
According to an annual report by the human rights organizations Iran Human Rights, based in Oslo, and Together Against the Death Penalty, based in France, the number represents a 17% increase from the 834 reported in 2023.
Additionally, it is a far greater number of executions than the average throughout that time period and the greatest number since the IHRNGO’s first annual report in 2008.
“The death penalty is weaponized and instrumentalized against vulnerable and weak people, typically from marginalized communities, stated Javaid Rehman, a former UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran.
According to the organizations, drug-related offenses accounted for 503, or 52%, of the executions in 2024. Forty-three percent of capital punishment cases nationwide had murder charges.
According to Islamic legal opinion, 3% of executions were for the contentious charges of “waging war against God,” “corruption on Earth,” and “armed rebellion,” while 2% were for rape and sexual assault.
The study claims that following the presidential election and Masoud Pezeshkian’s election as Iranian president in the second half of 2024, there was a “sharp rise” in the number of executions that were officially documented.
“While the world’s attention was focused on escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, the Islamic Republic exploited the lack of international scrutiny to terrorize its own people.
IHRNGO director Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam stated, “They are carrying out 5 to 6 executions every single day.”
