Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); October 19, 2024: At least 6 men including four Afghan nationals were executed for drug-related and murder charges in Ghezelhesar Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least six men were executed in Ghezelhesar Prison in Karaj on 16 October. Four of the men were sentenced to death for drug-related charges. Three of their identities have been established as Javid Ahmadi and Afghan nationals Abdolbari Tajik and Pasha Pashto. The fourth man has not been identified at the time of writing.
The two other men were Afghan national who were sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. IHRNGO is working to establish their identities.
Four others who were transferred to Ghezelhesar Prison for execution are also reported to have been executed which IHRNGO has not been able to verify at the time of writing.
At the time of writing, their executions have not 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.”