Capital punishment in Iran

Capital punishment in Iran is legal. Crimes punishable by death include murder, rape, child molestation, sodomy, drug trafficking, armed robbery, kidnapping, terrorism and treason. According to Amnesty International, there were 360 executions in Iran in 2011, 734 (of which 14 women and 13 juveniles) in 2014 and 694 in the first half of 2015. According to Iranian public sources 252 executions (of which 5 women and 1 juvenile) were carried out in 2011, 289 in 2014 and 246 in the first half of 2015. Up to 74% were drug related, and almost all executions were carried out for murder, aggravated rape, deadly robbery/kidnapping, or large scale drug trafficking.

In March 2016, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Iran, said in a report to the organization's Human Rights Council that at least 966 people were put to death in the country in 2015, roughly double the number executed in 2010 and 10 times as many as were executed in 2005. The report noted that executions in Iran were at the highest level since 1989.

Iran has garnered Western media attention and criticism for allegedly carrying out executions of minors despite having signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which forbids executing child offenders for crimes committed under the age of 18. Iran justifies its actions by claiming dispensation in cases where the Convention is deemed "incompatible with Islamic jurisprudence". Iran has also been criticized for allegedly using stoning as capital punishment, though an Iranian judiciary spokesman fiercely denied the accusations of stoning and executing minors, describing these as propaganda against the Iranian state.

Iran is believed to execute the most people per capita. However, other countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Nigeria allegedly carry out secret executions. Iran insists that the execution numbers human rights groups allege are exaggerated, and that executions are only carried out after a lengthy judicial process. Iranian officials cite that they are fighting a large-scale drug war along its eastern borders, and the increase of drug lords and dealers causes a rise in executions.

Execution of women in Iran is less common, though 5 women were executed in Iran in 2011.

Death sentences in Iran are, in theory, legal for nine different crimes: armed robbery, treason, murder, drug trafficking, rape, pedophilia, sodomy,kidnapping, and terrorism.

...
Wikipedia