Iranian authorities hanged three inmates during the early morning hours of Thursday, September 26. The horrific executions of the prisoners identified as Rauf Azadikhah, Shahaboddin Mohammad Pour, and Ebrahim Ahmadi Pour were carried out in Urmia Prison, northwest Iran.
All of the victims were sentenced to death on drug related charges.
A woman identified as Leila Zarafshan was also hanged Thursday in the Central Prison of Sanandaj. She had been imprisoned for five years for murdering her husband in the Central Prison of Sanandaj. As in previous cases, the execution of this woman has not been published in the clerical regime’s state-run press and media. Research done on women who murder their husbands indicate that they were victims of domestic violence.
With the execution of Leila Zarafshan, the number of women executed during Rouhani’s presidency reaches 95. Seven of these women have been executed only in a three-month period since the beginning of summer.
On September 25, Iranian regime authorities also executed six men in Raja’i Shahr prison of Karaj, 30 km west of the capital Tehran.
Two of the victims were identified as Mojtaba Soleimani and Mostafa Bakhti. They had been found guilty of murder.
Four other prisoners who were not identified by name, were executed on drug charges.
On the same day another man was also executed on drug charges in the Central Prison of Borujerd in Lorestan Province, west of Iran. He was identified as Soltan Fathi Rad.
Iran’s deliberate use of capital punishment has been a constant source of international outrage and condemnation. According to several independent international bodies, including the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran and Amnesty International, Iran is the leading state in executions per capita, second only to China in terms of figures. Iran also tops the charts in the number of executions of women and juvenile offenders.
The Iranian regime has also carried out a large number executions based on drug-related charges, including crimes not considered major offences according to international norms.
Iran is estimated to have executed 285 people in 2018, the second highest figure in the world, according to statistics compiled by Iran Human Rights Monitor.
The actual number of executions are much higher because the majority of executions in Iran are carried out secretly, away from the public eye where only the masterminds and perpetrators are witness to them.
