Amnesty International's annual report: 54 percent of all recorded executions in the world were carried out in Iran

"Unjust, inhumane, and ineffective" are the words Amnesty International has used to describe the death penalty, once again calling on all countries to abolish it.

"Unjust, inhumane, and ineffective" are the words Amnesty International has used to describe the death penalty, once again calling on all countries to abolish it.

Amnesty International announced in its annual report on executions around the world, published on Tuesday, June 20, that at least 579 executions were recorded worldwide in 2021.

Iran, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia were responsible for 80 percent of all recorded executions in the world last year.

The report also states that the number of death sentences issued last year was more than 2,050, a 39 percent increase compared to the previous year.

These statistics do not include executions in China, as the country classifies the number of its executions as a state secret and does not provide statistics on this, but Amnesty International wrote in its report that available information shows that thousands of people are sentenced to death and executed in China every year.

Amnesty International says that apart from China, it does not know the exact number of executions in Vietnam, Belarus, and North Korea.

Iran is responsible for 60 percent of all recorded executions in the Middle East.

Last year, the Islamic Republic of Iran once again ranked second in the world after China, carrying out at least 314 executions, accounting for 54 percent of all recorded executions in the world.

This figure is the highest recorded in Iran since 2017 and accounts for 60 percent of all executions in the Middle East.

Egypt, with 83 executions, and Saudi Arabia, with 65, rank behind Iran.

Syria (24 cases), Iraq (17 cases), Yemen (14 cases) and the United Arab Emirates, with one execution, are the other Middle Eastern countries where executions have been recorded.

Amnesty International says the actual number of executions in Iran is likely higher than 314, as the Islamic Republic's authorities do not announce actual execution statistics and access to these statistics is more difficult, especially in minority-populated areas.

Of the total number of executions recorded in Iran, 159 were related to the execution of "retribution" sentences in murder cases.

Executions related to intentional murder in Iran are carried out under the title of "retribution," and the judiciary, citing the Islamic Penal Code, makes them available to the victim's family (the relatives of the deceased).

While lawyers and human rights defenders say that, according to international law, the decision to punish the criminal should be the responsibility of the judicial system.

Last year, 132 people were executed for drug-related crimes, a five-fold increase compared to the previous year.

Amnesty International says that under international law, drug crimes are not considered "serious and major crimes" and should not carry the death penalty.

Iran and Yemen are the only countries that execute "child criminals"

Amnesty International's report shows that in 2021, four "child criminals" were executed around the world, one of whom was in Yemen and three others were hanged in Iran.

The three juvenile offenders executed in Iran were Sajjad Sanjari, Ali Akbar Mohammadi, and Arman Abdol Aali, all of whom were under 18 years old at the time of the crime.

Iran has been a party to the Universal Convention on the Rights of the Child since 1993 and is obligated to implement it. However, it is one of the few countries that continues to execute criminals under the age of 18, violating the provisions of this convention.

In this regard, the Iranian judiciary cites Islamic rulings and takes into account the religious age of individuals, which in Islam is set at 9 years for girls and 15 years for boys.

This issue has been heavily criticized by the international community in recent years.

"Unfair" Trial Process and Increased Executions of Ethnic Minorities in Iran

Amnesty International says the Iranian government uses the death penalty as a tool for political repression, and that people belonging to ethnic minorities are more likely than others to be sentenced to death on vague charges such as "moharebeh."

According to this report, at least 61 Baloch citizens were executed in 2021, equivalent to 19% of all recorded executions in Iran.

In this regard, Amnesty International has referred to the executions of Mehran Naroui, a Baluch citizen, and Heydar Ghorbani, a Kurdish citizen, and has written that "their confessions were obtained under pressure and torture, and these individuals were deprived of a fair trial."

Human rights organizations and lawyers have repeatedly said that charges such as "rebel", "moharebeh", "espionage", and "corruption on earth" are "vague" charges, and the Iranian government usually uses such charges as a weapon to deal with its protesters and critics or to suppress ethnic minorities.

Amnesty International says the executions of people belonging to ethnic minorities in Khuzestan, Kurdistan, and Sistan and Baluchestan are “part of a long-standing and deep-rooted pattern of discrimination and repression against minorities” by the Islamic Republic’s authorities.

Amnesty International says that the Islamic Republic has carried out secret executions in many cases and has refused to hand over the bodies to the families of the executed.

The report states that some executed people in Iran are buried in an unknown location without the families' knowledge, which is an example of the crime of "enforced disappearance."

In part of its report, Amnesty International also criticized the trial process in Iran, writing that many death sentences are issued following unfair trials and based on confessions extracted from individuals under torture.

Striving to achieve a world without executions

According to Amnesty International's report, in 2021, only 18 countries in the world carried out the death penalty.

The list includes China, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, South Sudan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Botswana, Oman, North Korea, Vietnam, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.

According to this report, 144 countries around the world have abolished the death penalty in their laws or have stopped implementing it in practice.

Amnesty International says it is working to abolish the death penalty worldwide and believes that with everyone's efforts, a world without executions can be achieved.

Source: Voice of America