Iran: Rise In Executions Deeply Troubling - UN Human Rights Chief

Geneva, 7 January 2025

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Tuesday said he was deeply troubled by the marked increase in executions in Iran last year. At least 901 people were reportedly executed in 2024, including some 40 in one week alone in December. At least 853 people were executed in 2023.

“It is deeply disturbing that yet again we see an increase in the number of people subjected to the death penalty in Iran year-on-year,” said Türk. “It is high time Iran stemmed this ever-swelling tide of executions.”

Most of the executions last year were for drug-related offences, but dissidents and people connected to the 2022 protests were also executed. There was also a rise in the number of women executed.

“We oppose the death penalty under all circumstances,” said the High Commissioner. “It is incompatible with the fundamental right to life and raises the unacceptable risk of executing innocent people. And, to be clear, it can never be imposed for conduct that is protected under international human rights law.”

The UN Human Rights Chief urged the Iranian authorities to halt all further executions, and to place a moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to ultimately abolishing it.

Some 170 States have either abolished the death penalty or imposed a moratorium on its use.

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