At Least 5 Men Including 2 Afghan Executed in Karaj

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least five men including two Afghan nationals were executed in Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj on 23rd October. Two of the men who were sentenced to death for drug-related charges have been identified as Mohammad Koushaki (right photo) and Babakhani Jafari (left photo) from Nourabad in Lorestan.

The third man who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, has been identified as Arman Naserzadeh.

The two Afghan men who were on death row for murder and rape charges in separate cases, have not been identified at the time of writing.

At the time of writing, none of their executions have been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year since 2021. According to IHRNGO’s 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 471 people were executed for drug-related charges, an 84% increase compared to 2022 (256) and about 18 times the average of drug-related executions in 2018-2020. In the first six months of 2024, at least 147 people were executed for the charges.

On 10 April 2024, 80+ Iranian and international organisations and groups called for joint action to stop drug-related executions, urging UNODC to make “any cooperation with the Islamic Republic contingent on a complete halt on drug-related executions.”