Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 6, 2024: At least five men on death row for drug-related offences, have been transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions in Shiraz Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least five men were transferred to the pre-execution solitary confinement cells of Shiraz (Adel Abad) Central Prison on 6 October. The unidentified men were all sentenced to death for drug-related offences by the Criminal Court.
Their executions are scheduled to be carried out in the coming hours.
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.”