Tehran, Raisi arms the executioner: in 2021 +25% of executions, double the number of women
Activist NGOs denounce the increasing and "alarming" use of capital punishment (at least 333 compared to 267 cases in the previous year), an "inhuman practice". 17 women hanged (there were nine in 2020). Two were minors at the time of the crime. Ethnic minorities, especially Baluchis, targeted.
Tehran (AsiaNews) - Following the election of ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi, last June when he succeeded the moderate Hassan Rouhani at the helm of Iran, the use of the death penalty has registered an "alarming" acceleration, with an increase of 25% recorded in 2021.
Two pro-human rights activist associations, French and Norwegian, report that there is a five-fold increase (compared to 2020) for crimes related to drug trafficking (126). And, even more striking, with a peak in executions of women (almost doubled) for a country that last year was already first in the world for executed in relation to the population.
According to data released by Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECMPM), in the Islamic Republic has increased the use of the executioner, in some cases "means of repression" to counter "the many opponents. In a joint note released yesterday, the two NGOs say that the main cause of the death sentence is the crime of murder, but also increases the use of capital punishment for crimes related to drug trafficking.
In 2021 at least 333 prisoners will be executed, an increase of 25% over the previous year (267). The greatest acceleration, activists point out, "occurred following the election" of Raisi "and have doubled in the second half" of last year "when compared with the first half" of 2021. In particular, there is a figure that makes you think: last year ended up in the hands of the executioner at least 17 women, compared to nine in 2020, in addition to two people who were still minors at the time of the crime.
Of the 17 women killed by hanging, 12 were executed for murder. Of particular concern are the executions of women convicted of murdering their spouses, from whom they suffered domestic violence, including severe violence. In addition, Iranian law encourages those who denounce - be they the family of the victim or of the convicted person if the crime concerns a relative - to participate in person in the executions. NGOs cite the case of Maryam Karimi, sentenced for killing her violent husband who refused to grant her a divorce. In March 2021, it was Karimi's own daughter who carried out the capital punishment.
As for executions for drug offenses, there are a hundred more than the 25 in 2020. There has also been an escalation in the area of ethnic minorities, with 21% of people hanged being ethnic Baluchi, although the percentage of the total population is between 2 and 6%. The report also denounces the "systematic" use of physical and psychological torture in prisons as a method of "extorting confessions" that will then be used as the basis for death sentences. In addition to this, there are cases of suspicious deaths in prison as a result of torture or refusal of adequate treatment, the vast majority of which go unpunished.
In the face of systematic use, public opinion seems to be increasingly opposed to the death penalty, while "diva" [payment of a sum of money to family members in exchange for life] and forgiveness are gaining more admirers than ever before. The "inhuman" practice of punishing with death another death, emphasizes the director Ihr Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, "is no longer so popular among Iranians," but it remains used by the authorities to "spread fear and make citizens accomplices of their brutality and violence. Hence the final appeal [also in vain] of the two NGOs to include the issue of human rights in the negotiations on the nuclear issue (JCPOA).
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