UN calls for moratorium in Iran on executions for drug offenses
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 14 April 2016 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, UN calls for moratorium in Iran on executions for drug offenses, 14 April 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5769001515.html [accessed 23 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
April 14, 2016
By RFE/RL
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein has called on Iran to temporarily halt executions for drug offenses until parliament debates a new law to end the mandatory death penalty for such crimes.
"Given the broadening recognition in Iran that the death penalty does not deter drug crime and that antinarcotics laws need to be reformed, I call on Iran to take the important first step of instituting a moratorium on the use of the death penalty," he said in a press statement issued on April 14.
Last weekend, five men were hanged in Iran, three of them on charges of narcotics trafficking.
So far this year, 60 executions have reportedly been carried out in Iran. Zeid noted that this represents a drop compared to the same period last year.
According to the latest UN report on human rights in Iran, Tehran carried out nearly 1,000 executions in 2015, the highest rate in over two decades, and many of them juveniles.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
