carrying 5kg or more of narcotics, a provision believed to have caused a surge in executions in
the Islamic Republic of Iran.6
In November 2017, an amendment to the law on drug trafficking entered into force, replacing the
mandatory death penalty with a prison term of up to 30 years for non-violent drug-related
offences and increasing the quantity of drugs required for a death sentence to be imposed. As a
result, the number of drug-related executions has significantly decreased. However, mandatory
death sentences for numerous drug-related offences remain and the amendment transformed
several crimes into capital crimes for first-time offenders in specific circumstances. 7 Reportedly,
24 individuals were executed on drug-related charges in 2018, 30 in 2019, and 25 in 2020.8 9
In its latest General Comment on Article 6, the Human Rights Committee explicitly stipulated
that the term “the most serious crimes” must “be read restrictively and appertain only to crimes
of extreme gravity, involving intentional killing. Crimes not resulting directly and intentionally
in death […], although serious in nature, can never serve as the basis, within the framework of
Article 6, for the imposition of the death penalty.”10 The Human Rights Committee has
consistently underscored that drug-related offences do not meet the threshold of “most serious
crimes” and that the death penalty should not be applied to them.11
There is no official and readily available information that might suggest that the Islamic
Republic of Iran has commuted the death sentence against Mr. Aref Hamediyan (Aref
Hamidian). Since his sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2012, and as of early
February 2021, there has been no official and readily available information on the progress of the
judicial proceedings for this case.
Recommendation Status:
This recommendation has NOT been implemented.
6
ECPM, Iran Human Rights, https://www.ecpm.org/wp-content/uploads/Rapport-iran-2020-gb-070420-WEB.pdf
Drug trafficking law, arts. 8 and 45
8
ECPM, Iran Human Rights, https://www.ecpm.org/wp-content/uploads/Rapport-iran-2020-gb-070420-WEB.pdf
9
https://iranhr.net/media/files/Rapport_iran_2021-gb-290321-BD.pdf
10
UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), General comment no. 36, Article 6 (Right to Life), 3 September 2019, CCPR/C/GC/35,
available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5e5e75e04.html
11
CCPR/C/PAK/CO/1, para. 17; CCPR/C/THA/CO/2, para. 17; CCPR/C/KWT/CO/3, para. 22; A/71/372, para. 48; and Human
Rights Committee, general comment No. 36.
7
2