UN condemns record surge in executions in Iran, demands immediate moratorium

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed deep concern over the significant rise in executions in Iran, with at least 901 people reportedly executed in 2024, including nearly 40 in one week alone in December.

This marked an increase from the 853 executions recorded in 2023, Caliber.Az reports via Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

“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,” Türk said. “It is high time Iran stemmed this ever-swelling tide of executions.”

The majority of the executions last year were linked to drug-related offences, but the Iranian authorities also carried out executions of dissidents and individuals associated with the 2022 protests. There was also a noted rise in the number of women executed.

“We oppose the death penalty under all circumstances,” Türk stated. “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 rights chief called on the Iranian government to immediately halt all executions and institute a moratorium on the death penalty, with the goal of ultimately abolishing it.

Currently, around 170 nations have either abolished the death penalty or imposed a moratorium on its use.

By Aghakazim Guliyev