Thirty-one women were executed in 2024, an unprecedented figure, according to Iran Human Rights

Iranian authorities executed at least 31 women in 2024, according to a report from Iran Human Rights (IHR), published Monday January 6. An unprecedented assessment since this non-governmental organization began in 2008 to record the application of capital punishment in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“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, said IHR director Mahmoud Amiry-Moghaddam.

IHR, headquartered in Norway, has 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”said IHR.

The Islamic law of retaliation, applied in Iran and known as revengeestablishes that a murder must be “paid for” 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.

Concerns of human rights defenders

IHR cites the case of Zahra Esmaili, forced to marry her neighbor, an official in the intelligence ministry, 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. “Her husband's family insisted on qisas, with her mother-in-law personally taking charge of the execution in 2021. Her lawyer later revealed that M^me Esmaili had suffered a heart attack after seeing a group of men executed before her. Yet they hanged his lifeless body”according to the NGO.

One of the most high-profile cases was the October 2014 hanging of Reyhaneh Jabbari, 26, convicted of murdering a former intelligence agent who she said had tried to sexually assault her. The young woman said she was tortured to extract a confession. The victim's family insisted on his execution because they maintained they acted in self-defense. His case was the subject of a documentary, Seven winters in Tehranpresented at the Berlin Film Festival in 2023.

Human rights activists 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 protests in 2022-2023.