Executions to Continue Despite Ramadan?

Following the wave of judicial confrontations with criminals, which have intensified since mid-June, three prisoners were executed in the city of Kermanshah on charges of murder and the possession of illegal drugs this week. News agencies also reported the arrest of 90 people on charges of trading in illegal drugs in the province of Ghazvin.

A report published by Iran’s ISNA student news agency on July 10^th quoted the country’s regular and revolutionary prosecutor’s office and published the list of the executed individuals and announced their crimes to have been the carrying of illegal drugs such as heroin and crack. While the report did not specify when the executions had taken place, Vahed Markazi Khabar (the Central News Unit of IRIB) wrote that the hangings took place on the 8^th of July, 2013.

July 10^th marks the first day of Ramadan, a month during which Iran’s judiciary has traditionally kept the number of executions to the lowest possible. But despite this, three other prisoners facing similar charges were executed that day. A day before that, the general and revolutionary judiciary of the city of Ghazvin had announced the execution of 5 individuals involved in the trade of illegal drugs and two others on charges of murder.

Executions had temporarily been stopped during the presidential campaign period leading up to the June 14 voting day, but they seem to have been resumed since then.

In addition to the announced executions, official news agencies in Iran have also reported the arrest of 90 individuals on charges of trading in illegal drugs in the city of Ghazvin. Vali Vandai, the chief of police responsible for fighting illegal drugs in the province of Ghazvin told ISNA news agency on July 10^th that four individuals had been arrested on July 9^th in Ghazvin-Zanjan by drug enforcement agents and 1.2 kilos of opium had been discovered in their vehicle. According to Vandai, 29 other individuals had been arrested in the town of Abik who were in possession of 65 grams of illegal drugs. He added that 22 individuals in the town of Alborz and 21 individuals in Ghazvin had also been arrested on charges of possessing illegal drugs in addition to 14 others arrested in the towns of Booin Zahra, Takistan and Auj.

All of these arrests are said to have been made as part of the “Cleaning Program” which in the words of Ghazvin’s drug police chief will continue in the coming days.

A large number of individuals are annually arrested and imprisoned in Iran on charges of trading in illegal drugs. Many of these arrests take place as part of the police “cleaning” operations and these arrests reach their heights in the summer months.

The Islamic republic of Iran has very severe laws punishing crimes related to illegal drugs. Carrying more than 30 grams of heroin and crack for example can result in the death penalty for the offenders.  Experts in the fields of social issues and human rights defenders have long argued that the punishments provided in the laws are not proportionate to drug related crimes.