Iran hits record number of women executed in 2024
Iran Human Rights NGO emphasizes that many women convicted of murder were themselves victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse
At least 31 women have been executed in Iran since the start of 2024, an unprecedented number since 2008, according to the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), Agence France-Presse reported on Monday. The Norway-based organization condemned the "brutal and inhuman nature" of the Iranian judicial system.
Between 2010 and 2024, the NGO documented 241 executions of women, including 114 for murder and 107 for drug-related cases. According to Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the IHR, these figures reveal "how deeply discrimination and gender inequality are rooted in the Iranian judicial system."
The NGO emphasized that many women convicted of murder were themselves victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse, acting in desperation. However, the law of retaliation (qisas), applied in Iran, requires that a murder be "paid" with another life, except in cases of forgiveness by the victim's family or financial compensation (diyya). This legal system rarely takes into account family violence as mitigating circumstances.