IRAN - IHR Annual Report on the Death Penalty - 2021

IRAN - IHR Death Penalty Report 2021

28 April 2022 :

Annual Report on the Death Penalty - 2021
The 14th Annual Report on the Death Penalty Iran by Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort (ECPM) provides an assessment and analysis of the death penalty trends in 2021 in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
It sets out the number of executions verified by Iran Human Rights, the trend compared to previous years, the legislative framework and procedures, charges, geographic distribution and a monthly breakdown of executions. Lists of the female and juvenile offenders executed in 2021 are also included in the tables.
The report also looks into the abolitionist movement within Iran, including the forgiveness movement and its contribution to reduce the use of the death penalty, and provides analysis on how the international community can contribute to limit the scope of the death penalty in Iran.
The 2021 report is the result of hard work from IHR members and supporters who took part in reporting, documenting, collecting, analysing and writing of its contents. We are especially grateful to IHR sources inside Iran who, by reporting on unannounced and secret executions in prisons of 26 different provinces, incur a significant risk. Due to the very difficult context, the lack of transparency and the obvious risks and limitations that human rights defenders face in the Islamic Republic of Iran, this report does not give a complete picture of the use of the death penalty in Iran by any means. There are reported executions which are not included in this report due to a lack of sufficient details or an inability to confirm cases through two different sources. However, it aims to provide the most complete and realistic figures possible in the present circumstances. The current report does not include suspicious deaths of prisoners or those killed under torture.
ECPM supports the elaboration, editing process, publishing and distribution of this report in the framework of its international advocacy work against the death penalty. The problems of transparency on the data and information on the death penalty in Iran should be overcome by a strong strategy of distribution and dissemination. The overall objectives of this report for IHR and ECPM are to bring out and publicise the facts, in order to change national and international views on the situation of the death penalty in Iran, first executioner country in the world.
2021 Annual Report at a glance
At least 333 people were executed in 2021, a 25% increase compared to 267 in 2020
55 executions (16.5%) were announced by official sources compared to an average of 33% in 2018-2020
83.5% of all executions included in the 2021 report, i.e. 278 executions, were not announced by the authorities
At least 183 executions (55% of all executions) were for murder charges
At least 126 (38 %) were executed for drug-related charges compared to 25 (10%) in 2020
None of the drug-related executions were reported by official sources
For the first time in more than 15 years, no public executions were reported
At least 2 juvenile offenders were among those executed
At least 17 women were executed compared to 9 in 2020
At least 139 executions in 2021 and more than 3,758 executions since 2010 have been based on death sentences issued by the Revolutionary Courts
At least 705 prisoners sentenced to death for murder charges were forgiven by the families of the murder victims per qisas laws