Iran executed 11 individuals from the Baluch minority on drug charges within 48 hours, according to a non-governmental organization on Wednesday, raising concerns about the targeted execution of this group in an disproportionate wave of capital punishment. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights organization reported that nine Iranian Baluch and two Baluch from neighboring Afghanistan were executed between Sunday morning and Tuesday morning.
The organization noted that it documented a total of 61 executions across Iran in July, as the country intensified the issuance of this punishment, executing 423 people this year. It added: "While the Baluch minority, with its Sunni Muslim members, makes up only 2 to 6 percent of the population, they accounted for a third of executions in 2022." Eight Baluch men were executed on drug-related charges in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province, between July 30 and August 1. Another Baluch man was executed on similar charges on July 31 in a prison in Birjand, Khorasan province (East). Mohammad Arbab (30) and Assadollah Amini (32), both Afghan Baluch, were executed in secret in Sistan-Baluchestan on July 30 and 31, according to the organization.
The number of drug-related executions in Iran significantly decreased in 2018 following an amendment to the anti-narcotics law, but it has risen again since 2021. The Iran Human Rights organization stated that half of those executed on drug charges in 2022, totaling 256 individuals, were from the Baluch minority.
