Iran will execute 31 women in 2024, highest number since 2008, NGO says

“Many women executed for murder were victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse acting out of desperation,” underlines the NGO Iran Human Rights.

A situation that is only getting worse. Iranian authorities have executed at least 31 women in 2024, the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) announced on Monday January 6. A record figure since 2008, when the NGO began to record the application of capital punishment in the Islamic Republic.

IHR recorded 241 women executed between 2010 and 2024, including 114 for murder and 107 for drug charges. “Many women executed for murder were victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse acting out of desperation”declared the NGO. However, the Islamic law of retaliation, applied in Iran and known under the name of revengeprovides that a murder must be “paid” by the loss of another life, unless the victim's family forgives or accepts a compensatory payment. This rule implies that “the Iranian judicial system rarely considers [l’existence de violences familiales] as extenuating circumstances. selon Iran Human Rights.

The organization cites the case of Zahra Esmaili, forced to marry her neighbor, an official at the Ministry of Intelligence, after becoming pregnant because he had raped her. This woman was accused of killing her husband, who was violent against her and her children, in 2007. Human rights defenders are generally concerned about the growing number of executions in Iran, suspecting Islamic authorities of using capital punishment to instill fear in society, particularly following the 2022-2023 protests. For the director of IHR, Mahmoud Amiry-Moghaddam, “the execution of women in Iran reveals the brutal and inhumane nature of the death penalty, and demonstrates how discrimination and gender inequality are entrenched in the justice system” Iranian.