909 prisoners executed in Iran in 2024, 20% of them Kurds: Watchdog

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran has reportedly executed some 909 prisoners in 2024, with Kurds making up 20 percent of the total, a human rights watchdog reported late Tuesday.

The number of executions marks a nine percent increase compared to 2023, when 853 executions were recorded, according to Hengaw Human Rights Organization. The report also stated that out of the 909 executions carried out in 2024, four were public. 

Hengaw further reported that 183 of those executed were of Kurdish descent, reflecting a nine percent increase compared to 2023, when 103 Kurdish prisoners were sentenced to death.

The human rights group’s statistics indicated that the Kurdish community in Iran had the highest number of recorded executions in 2024. Hengaw elaborated that more than 50 percent of those executed were sentenced to death over drug-related charges, while 40 percent were related to premeditated murder. 

Additionally, “the death sentence of at least five juvenile offenders has been carried out in various cities across Iran,” according to Hengaw. Afghan nationals, classified as non-citizens in Iran, accounted for 73 executions, reflecting an increase of over 160 percent compared to the previous year. Moreover, a total of 30 women were executed in 2024.

Iran ranks second globally for known executions. Amnesty International has previously warned that the number of death penalties Tehran implements has dramatically risen in recent years. Amnesty in June criticized Iran’s handing down death sentences charged with drug-related offenses, calling it “deadly war on the poor” that targets disadvantaged and marginalized communities. 

Iran has also come under fire by human rights groups over its excessive use of the death penalties to suppress minority groups, like the Baluchis and the Kurds, who were active in the 2022 Jin Jiyan Azadi (Woman Life Freedom) protests.