Public Hangings in Iran in 2024
This is an extract from the 2024 Annual Report on the Death Penalty.
For 46 years, Iran has been one of the few countries in the world to carry out executions in public spaces. Public executions have been repeatedly criticised by the international community and domestic civil society in Iran. Both the UN Secretary General and the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran have expressed concern about the continued practice of public executions. During Iran’s second UPR,[1] the government rejected recommendations aimed at ending public executions.[2] Criticism of the Islamic Republic’s practice of public executions has also been emphasised in the reports of the Special Rapporteur.[3]
Following massive media attention and international pressure in 2007-2008, then Head of Judiciary, Mahmoud Shahroudi issued an order calling for limitation in the use of public executions. Consequently, the number of public executions in 2008-2010 were relatively lower than in previous years. However, following the post-election protests of 2009, the number of public executions increased dramatically after 2010, reaching an annual average of 50 to 60 between 2011-2015. With increased international focus again, the number of public executions decreased to 33 in 2016, 31 in 2017 and then 13 in 2018 and 2019. Public executions dropped significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, with one execution reported in 2020 and none in 2021. In 2022, two people were publicly hanged and the number more than tripled in 2023, with seven public executions. In 2024, there was a slight decrease, with four public executions.
Public executions are also a way to instil fear among the population and have consequences on the mental health of people who attend. Public executions are always officially reported, though defendants are often not named or are only identified by their initials. In cases that are reported by official sources, in addition to their names, photos and videos are also published.
The diagram above shows public executions since 2008. The number of public executions in 2020 was significantly lower due to COVID-19 pandemics restrictions, and no public executions were recorded in 2021. Since 2022, public executions have started rising, with numbers more than tripling in 2023 compared to 2022. In 2024, 4 people were hanged in public spaces.
Executed in Public in 2024
In 2024, four men were hanged in public spaces across the country.
A 21-year-old man named Amirreza Ajam Akrami was publicly hanged in Shahroud, Semnan province on 26 August 2024, for the murder of a lawyer after spending a year on death row.[4] Mohammad Sadegh Akbari, the Semnan province head of judiciary said: “According to the definitive ruling by Branch 49 of the Supreme Court, the late Mahmoudreza Jafar Aghayi’s murderer was sentenced to public execution for the crime of intentional murder with a hunting weapon.” The official report of his public hanging by ISNA news agency did not name Amirreza, his identity was established by IHRNGO.
Two unnamed men were hanged publicly in Khomein on 20 September 2024 for the security-related charges of moharebeh and efsad-fil-arz for clashing with and killing a policeman during an armed robbery.[5]
Mohammad Ali Salamat, a 43-year-old man on death row for rape, was hanged in a Hamedan city park (Hamedan province) on 12 November 2024. He had been on death row for a year. According to Tasnim news agency, “Mohammad Ali Salamat lured his victims under the pretext of marriage, friendship, providing medicine and in some cases, by force. The legal case against him was filed on 21 May 2023 and many plaintiffs presentenced evidence of his widespread rape.” Informed sources told IHRNGO that Mohammad Ali was forced to confess to many of the rapes under torture.[6]
[1] UN Human Rights Council, Outcome of the universal periodic review: Islamic Republic of Iran, 28 May 2015, A/HRC/DEC/28/108, https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A%2FHRC%2FDEC%2F28%2F108
[2]OHCHR, UPR of the Islamic Republic of Iran - Second Cycle Thematic list of recommendations, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/lib-docs/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session20/IR/IranMatriceRecommendations.doc
[3] UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Javaid Rehman, Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 7 February 2023, op. cit.
[4] IHRNGO, First Public Hanging in Iran in 2024, 26 August 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6884/
[5] IHRNGO, 2 Unnamed Men Publicly Hanged in Khomein, 30 September 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6953/
[6] IHRNGO, Mohammad Ali Salamat Publicly Hanged in Hamedan, 12 November 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/7104/