ALBAWABA - Two human rights groups in Iran have raised the alarms about the number of executions the authorities carried out throughout 2022.
Last year, Iran carried a "staggering" total of at least 834 individuals, the highest number since 2015 as capital punishment increased in the Islamic Republic, the human rights groups stated. The number of hanging executions in Iran has increased by almost 43% since 2022.
It was only the second time in two decades that more than 800 people were executed in a single year, following the 972 executions that were carried out in 2015, according to a joint report by Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty.
IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in the report that "Instilling societal fear is the regime’s only way to hold on to power, and the death penalty is its most important instrument,".
Iran has executed nine men in cases linked to attacks on security forces during the 2022 protests — two in 2022, six in 2023 and one so far in 2024 — according to the rights groups.
The report added: "Of particular concern is the dramatic escalation in the number of drug-related executions in 2023, which rose to 471 people, more than 18 times higher than the figures recorded in 2020,".
The human rights groups accused Iran of utilizing the death sentence to "instill terror" in society in the aftermath of the protests that took over Iran following Mahsa Amini's death in police custody in September 2022.
According to ECPM head Raphael Chenuil-Hazan, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's (UNODC) "lack of reaction" sent "the wrong signal to the Iranian authorities".
The majority of executions in Iran take place in prisons, but according to the estimate, the number of hangings in public in Iran will increase from 2022 to 2023, with seven individuals hanging in public locations.
In 2023, only 15% of documented executions were announced by official Iranian media, with IHR confirming the remaining killings through its own sources. "The inconsistency in the international community's reaction to the executions in Iran is unfortunate and sends the wrong signal to the authorities," Amiry-Moghaddam added.
