Iran suspends death penalty for some drug crimes, sparing 5,000 on death row, in victory for reformists
Iran puts more convicts to death per capita than any country in the world, most for drug crimes
Iran has lifted the death penalty for certain non-violent drug offences, relaxing some of the world’s harshest laws on drug crimes and likely sparing the lives of thousands of death row inmates.
An amended narcotics law directs judges to suspend executions for 5,000 people convicted of drug-related offences and review their cases, Mizan news agency, the mouthpiece of Iran’s judiciary, reported Wednesday.
Most of the 5,000 convicts would have their punishments “converted to life sentences,” Mohammad Ali Esfanani, assistant judge of the Iranian Supreme Court, told state media.
But the moratorium on executions for those found guilty of non-violent crimes – such as drug smuggling – is a victory for reformists and human rights advocates who fought for years to change Iran’s draconian drug laws. Proponents of the changes say that 90 per cent of those imprisoned on drug convictions are first-time offenders younger than 30 years old.
The Iranian authorities must stop using the death penalty for drug-related offences with a view to eventually abolishing it for all crimes
The amended law had been in the works for more than two years, ever since a majority of Iran’s 290 lawmakers said they endorsed a moratorium. After parliament approved the bill, it won approval from Iran’s all-powerful Guardian Council, a conservative body made up of Islamic jurists and theologians.
Hardliners had long opposed the changes, but the influence of moderates and reformists in parliament, and a rising backlash against executions, has contributed to a softening stance.
Lawmakers have raised the limits on the amounts of drugs one can possess before it becomes a capital offence.
An earlier law provided for the death penalty if someone was caught with 28 grammes of cocaine; the new limit is 2kg.
Iran is in the grip of a terrible drug abuse problem, mainly driven by easy access to cheap and plentiful narcotics, especially opium, coming over the border from Afghanistan. Health officials say there are more than 2 million drug addicts in a country of 80 million, but doctors say the actual figure is higher.
Iran puts more convicts to death per capita than any country in the world, most for drug crimes. Amnesty International says that since 1988, Iran has executed, usually by hanging, around 10,000 people for drug-related offences.
“If implemented properly, this long-overdue reform will spare hundreds from the gallows, but that should be just the start,” Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnesty’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement.
“The Iranian authorities must stop using the death penalty for drug-related offences with a view to eventually abolishing it for all crimes.”
Saleh Nikbakht, an Iranian human rights lawyer, said that by making the new law retroactive, Iranian authorities could spare the lives of thousands.
“Now Iran won’t be the second country in the world, after China, for most executions,” Nikbakht said. “We will have a much lower ranking and that is good news.”
