Iran Executed 75% More People in 2022 Than in Previous Years, Report Says

Iran executed 75% more people in 2022 than in previous years, according to two human rights groups. The estimated figure of at least 582 executions in Iran was the highest since 2015 and much higher than the 333 executions in 2021, according to a report by Norway-based Iran Human Rights and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM). Most of the executions have not been related to the current anti-government protests due to the international attention focused on them; instead, Iranian authorities have pushed ahead with executions on nonpolitical charges in an attempt to sow fear among the people. Many of the executions have been related to drug possession and drug dealing charges. Some 44% of the 582 executions recorded in 2022 were on drug-related charges, more than double the number in 2021, and 10 times higher than the number of drug-related executions in 2020, according to the report. Four men have been executed on charges related to the protest, but 100 more protesters have either been sentenced to death or are facing charges that carry the death penalty, the report said. The protesters, which began in September were sparked by the death of Kurdish Iranian woman Masha Amini, 22, while in the custody of the morality police for wearing her hijab incorrectly. The numbers of ethnic minority Kurds and Arabs executed were also disproportionate, especially for drug crimes, according to the report.