Capital punishment in Iran
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Iran.[2] The list of crimes punishable by death includes murder; rape; child molestation; homosexuality; drug trafficking; armed robbery; kidnapping; terrorism; burglary; incest; fornication; adultery; sodomy; sexual misconduct; prostitution;[3][4] plotting to overthrow the Islamic government; political dissidence; sabotage; arson; rebellion; apostasy; blasphemy; extortion; counterfeiting; smuggling; recidivist consumption of alcohol; producing or preparing food, drink, cosmetics, or sanitary items that lead to death when consumed or used; producing and publishing pornography; using pornographic materials to solicit sex; capital perjury; recidivist theft; certain military offences (e. g., cowardice, assisting the enemy); "waging war against God"; "spreading corruption on Earth"; espionage; and treason.[5][6] Iran carried out at least 977 executions in 2015, at least 567 executions in 2016,[7] and at least 507 executions in 2017.[8] In 2018 there were at least 249 executions, at least 273 in 2019, at least 246 in 2020, at least 290 in 2021, at least 553 in 2022, at least 834 in 2023,[9] and at least 226 so far in 2024.[10] In 2023, Iran was responsible for 74% of all recorded executions in the world.[11]
Despite international requests for his release, the Iranian government executed a British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari in January 2023, who once served as Iran's deputy defense minister. The execution was condemned by the UK and Prime minister Rishi Sunak, who referred to it as politically motivated and a "callous and cowardly act" carried out by a "barbaric regime."[12]
State-sanctioned executions have witnessed a rapid spike in numbers during 2023. In May 2023 alone, Iran executed at least 142 individuals, its highest monthly rate since 2015. At least 30 of those killed were from the predominantly Sunni Baluch ethnic minority.[13][14]
Iran is believed to execute the most people per capita.[15] Iran insists that the execution numbers human rights groups allege are "exaggerated," and that executions are only carried out "after a lengthy judicial process." Iranian officials cite that they are "fighting a large-scale drug war along its eastern borders, and the increase of drug lords and dealers causes a rise in executions." According to the BBC, Iran "carries out more executions than any other country, except China".[16]
Criticism[edit]
Iran has garnered media attention and criticism for carrying out executions of minors, despite having signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which forbids executing child offenders for crimes committed under the age of 18.[49][50][51][52] Iran justifies its actions by claiming dispensation in cases where the convention is deemed "incompatible with Islamic jurisprudence".[53] Iran has also been criticized for using stoning as capital punishment,[54] though in 2005, an Iranian judiciary spokesman strongly denied the accusations of stoning and executing minors, describing them as "propaganda against the Iranian state".[55]
At Berlin International Film Festival, on 29 February 2020 Iranian film about executions (There Is No Evil) won top prize.[56]
Methods[edit]
Hanging[edit]
Hanging is the only common method of execution in 21st-century Iran, usually carried out in prison.
Compared to other countries that use hanging (such as Japan or Malaysia) with a complex gallows designed to drop the condemned and break the neck, Iran's gallows are very simple and inexpensive. They consist only of a frame and a stool, with some stools able to hold up to seven people at a time and having wheels. Public executions are usually carried out by a mobile crane. Sometimes, the victim is suspended from the crane, but more often, the crane is used as a gallows, and the person is pulled off a stool (see Upright jerker).[57] The victim is usually blindfolded. Iranian nooses are thick, with 7–10 knotted coils, and are often made of blue plastic rope with little to no drop. Death is caused by strangulation and carotid reflex (where blood vessels to the head are cut off), taking 10–20 minutes, causing visible pain and distress to the condemned.
Famous hangings in Iran include Sheikh Fazlollah Nouri in 1908, and serial killer Mohammed Bijeh, the "Desert Vampire", who raped and murdered 17 boys, in 2005. At dawn, on 27 July 2007, 29 men were hanged in Evin Prison on various charges of murder and drug trafficking. In 2010, Shahla Jahed was hanged in Tehran for the 2002 murder of the wife of Iran footballer Nasser Mohammadkhani. In 2006, a teenage girl of the age of 16, Atefah Sahaaleh, was sentenced to death, and executed two weeks later by hanging in a public square for the charges of adultery and "crimes against chastity".[40] In 2009, a public execution of two men in Sirjan for armed robbery was broken up when relatives stormed the gallows and cut the men down while still alive; they were later re-captured and hanged until dead. A video of the incident was posted on the Internet.[58]
Firing squad[edit]
Execution by firing squad is legal, but seldom used in Iran today. Historically, it was used for military and political crimes. In 1974, under the Shah's regime, Marxist activists Khosrow Golesorkhi and Keramat Daneshian were executed by firing squad on charges of conspiring to kidnap Reza Pahlavi, the Crown Prince of Iran. They were shot after a televised trial in Tehran. This case was one of the big events that turned public opinion against the Shah. During the 38 years in which the Shah reigned, 1,000 or more people were sentenced to death for crimes against the government, mostly by firing squad after conviction by a special SAVAK military tribunal.
Typical execution[edit]
In prison[edit]
Although, by law, all executions must take place in "public", the location is not usually specified. In most cases, executions take place in the main prison of the county or province where the crime took place, in front of witnesses (family, prosecutors, other prisoners).