### Iran's Execution Rates Reach Alarming Highs in 2024

### The heartbreaking rise in Iran’s execution rates, as documented by the United Nations, raises urgent calls for reform and a moratorium on capital punishment.

 

Amid growing concerns over human rights violations, a recent report from the UN human rights chief indicates that at least 901 executions took place in Iran during 2024. This alarming figure represents a 6% increase from the previous year, marking the highest annual total in nearly a decade. Volker Türk, the UN human rights chief, expressed deep concern over the rising trend, emphasizing that action is overdue for the Iranian government to address this alarming increase in capital punishment.

The report details that the majority of the executions were disproportionately linked to drug-related offenses, yet many individuals executed were dissidents or those participating in the protests that broke out in 2022. Notably, there was a significant spike in the number of women facing execution, with reports indicating that at least 31 women were recorded as executed in 2024—the highest figure since monitoring began 17 years ago.

Among the executed women was Leila Ghaemi, who was convicted after a tragic incident involving the sexual assault of her daughter. Another case involved Parvin Mousavi, who, misled into transporting what she believed to be medicine, instead carried a substantial amount of morphine. Human rights advocates have criticized the application of the death penalty for drug offenses, arguing that they do not meet international law's definition of "most serious crimes."

The executions have also impacted ethnic minorities harshly, particularly Kurds, with more than half of the total executions in 2024 involving members of ethnic groups subjected to systemic discrimination. The UN's fact-finding mission on Iran has raised these issues, highlighting how the government has intensified its crackdown on dissent following widespread protests ignited by the death of a young Kurdish woman in police custody.

Furthermore, the report from Iran Human Rights indicated that juvenile offenders have not been spared, with five documented executions of individuals who were minors at the time of their crimes, a violation of international legal standards.

The UN's findings underscore Iran's significant role in global execution rates, with Amnesty International reporting that the country accounted for an astonishing 74% of documented executions in 2023, a figure that notably excludes the extensive figures likely found in China, where data on the death penalty remains closely guarded.

As the international community watches closely, the UN human rights chief has urged Iranian authorities to implement a moratorium on the death penalty, presenting a call to align national legal practices with fundamental human rights.