Iran executions see 'unprecedented spike' - Amnesty

[oberliner]

Source: BBC News

There has been an "unprecedented spike" in the number of executions in Iran, Amnesty International has warned.

The rights group said it believed 694 people were killed between 1 January and 15 July, almost three times the figure acknowledged by the authorities.

It said credible reports suggested Iran executed at least 743 people in 2014.

Amnesty said the surge was disturbing as the death sentences were invariably imposed by courts "completely lacking in independence and impartiality".

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33635260

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The majority of the executions were for drug offenses.

[McKim]

1. Why is This Story Coming out Now?

Good old BBC. I am wondering why this story comes out at this time. Is it an effort to demonize Iran and scuttle the nuclear agreement?
The UK Guardian is keeping track of how many Black peoople are being killed here by police too. Interesting.

[Eugene]

2. This is coming from an Amnesty International report released today.

Iran’s ‘staggering’ execution spree: nearly 700 put to death in just over six months (Amnesty)

Executions in Iran could top 1,000 this year, says Amnesty International (The Guardian)

Let's not kid ourselves that Iran is a liberal democracy.

[Sunlei]

7. imo, meth is the growing drug problem in many countries. Its so easy and cheap to make.

[oberliner]

3. Amnesty press release

Iran’s ‘staggering’ execution spree: nearly 700 put to death in just over six months

The Iranian authorities are believed to have executed an astonishing 694 people between January 1 and July 15, 2015, said Amnesty International today, in an unprecedented spike in executions in the country.

This is equivalent to executing more than three people per day. At this shocking pace, Iran is set to surpass the total number of executions in the country recorded by Amnesty International for the whole of last year.

“Iran’s staggering execution toll for the first half of this year paints a sinister picture of the machinery of the state carrying out premeditated, judicially-sanctioned killings on a mass scale,” said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Program.

“If Iran’s authorities maintain this horrifying execution rate we are likely to see more than 1,000 state-sanctioned deaths by the year’s end.”

The surge in executions reveals just how out of step Iran is with the rest of the world when it comes to the use of the death penalty - 140 countries worldwide have now rejected its use in law or practice. Already this year three more countries have repealed the death penalty completely.

Executions in Iran did not even stop during the holy month of Ramadan. In a departure from established practice, at least four people were executed over the past month.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/press-releases/iran-s-‘staggering-execution-spree-nearly-700-put-to-death-in-just-over-six-months

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. The majority of those executed were convicted of drug offenses.

From AI:

The reasons behind this year’s shocking surge in executions are unclear but the majority of those put to death in 2015 were convicted on drug charges.

Iran’s Anti-Narcotics Law provides mandatory death sentences for a range of drug-related offences, including trafficking more than 5kg of narcotics derived from opium or more than 30g of heroin, morphine, cocaine or their chemical derivatives.

This is in direct breach of international law, which restricts the use of the death penalty to only the “most serious crimes” – those involving intentional killing. Drug-related offences do not meet this threshold.

There is also no evidence to prove that the death penalty is a deterrent to crime and drug trafficking or use. Earlier this year, the deputy of Iran’s Center for Strategic Research admitted that the death penalty has not been able to reduce drug trafficking levels.

[Sunlei]

5. drug offenses= death in many countries. Thats not new.

[oberliner]

6. A country executing this many people is new

Other than China, no other country comes close.

[Exultant Democracy]

8. Traditionally in Iran the lower the amount of international conflict

the country is involved in the higher the level of relative disparity.