UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk has said that Iran executed at least 901 people last year. According to him, that is more than in 2023, when at least 853 death sentences were carried out.
According to human rights organizations, Iran is one of the countries with the most executions.
“It is alarming that we are again seeing an annual increase in the number of people sentenced to death in Iran,” Türk said in a statement. He states that it is “high time” that this stops.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights says he opposes the death penalty under all circumstances because it is “incompatible with the fundamental right to life” and also poses a risk that innocent people will be executed.
Most of the people executed in 2024 were convicted of drug offences. Some of those sentenced to death were involved in the protests against the Iranian regime in 2022. According to the United Nations, more women were also executed.
Türk’s statement said that 40 death sentences were carried out in a single week in December.