Iranian authorities have executed 55 people in 2023, Norway-based Iran Human Rights said Friday, adding that the surging use of the death penalty aims to create fear as protests shake the country.

Meanwhile, rights group Amnesty International said three young people sentenced to death over protests — the youngest aged just 18 -- had been subjected to ‘gruesome torture’ in detention.

IHR said it has confirmed at least 55 executions in the first 26 days of this year.

Four people have been executed on charges related to the protests, while the majority of those hanged -- 37 convicts—were executed for drug-related offences, IHR said.

Iran hangs 50 people this year

Last year, after a two-year COVID-19 hiatus, Singapore’s authorities quietly restarted the execution of prisoners on death row. This prompted renewed scrutiny of the city-state’s mandatory use of the death penalty, even in relatively minor drug cases, with the United Nations 

 over a pending “surge in execution notices.” The resumption of executions was also stridently opposed by a network of activists inside Singapore, who have been working for years to end the country’s use of capital punishment.

Among the most active Singaporean abolitionists is Kirsten Han, a journalist who currently edits The Mekong Review, a quarterly literary magazine covering Asian culture and politics. Han has been active in the anti-death penalty movement since 2010, and is a member of the 

, a collective that seeks the reform of Singapore’s criminal justice system. She also frequently opines on abolition fight, and other issues involving Singaporean politics and society, via her weekly newsletter 

Han spoke with The Diplomat about the current state of the abolition fight in Singapore and regionally, the class factors that determine who falls victim to the country’s severe anti-drug laws, and what the Singaporean government’s response says about its views of political dissent.

Kirsten Han on the fight to abolish the death penalty in Singapore

L’exécution de personnes, principalement des hommes racisés appartenant aux classes laborieuses, ayant une longue histoire de marginalisation et de vulnérabilité, ne produit rien qui serait en mesure d’aboutir à des communautés plus sûres et plus solidaires. Pour en savoir plus, en anglais, veuillez lire les informations ci-dessous.

Kirsten Han se penche sur la lutte pour l'abolition de la peine de mort à Singapour

The Committee welcomes the submission of the fifth periodic report of the Philippines and the information presented therein. It expresses appreciation for the opportunity to renew its constructive dialogue with the State party's high-level delegation on the measures taken during the reporting period to implement the provisions of the Covenant. The Committee is grateful to the State party for its written replies to the list of issues, which were supplemented by the oral responses provided by the delegation, and for the additional information provided to it in writing.

Below we reproduce the sections of the report that concern the death penalty and extrajudicial killings in relation to the punitive drug policies of the Philippines. Access the full text for further analysis and recommendations related to drug policy. 

25. The Committee is concerned that several legislative attempts have been made to reinstate the death penalty in the State party. It is also concerned about the proposed application of the death penalty to offences, including drug-related offences, that do not meet the threshold of the “most serious crimes” within the meaning of article 6 (2) of the Covenant(art. 6).

26. The Committee recalls its general comment No. 36 (2018) on the right to life, in which it affirmed that States parties that have abolished the death penalty are barred from reintroducing it. The State party should therefore discontinue any attempts to reintroduce the death penalty, in full compliance with its obligations under article 6 of the Covenant and as a State party to the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.

27. Despite the State party’s denials, the Committee is concerned about reports of the extremely high number of extrajudicial killings, in particular in the context of the Government’s anti-illegal drug campaigns, and of the grave human rights violations involved in those killings, with the majority of victims being young men from poor and marginalized communities who provide for their families. It is particularly concerned by the following: (a) reports of high-level officials, including the former president, inciting violence against and the extrajudicial killing of suspected drug offenders; (b) the use of “drug watch lists” of suspected drug offenders, which are based on unsubstantiated information, and non-judicial house visits (“Oplan Tokhang”) made by the authorities on the basis of those lists to persuade suspected offenders to surrender, which often involve threats and intimidation and lead to their seemingly involuntary enrolment into treatment programmes; (c) the killing of children as “collateral damage” during raids targeting their family members and the severe impact on the children of victims and child witnesses of extrajudicial killings; (d) the continued failure of the authorities to promptly, effectively and independently investigate extrajudicial killings and bring the perpetrators to justice; and (e) intimidation, harassment and surveillance of relatives of victims seeking justice. The Committee notes the State party’s refusal to cooperate with international human rights mechanisms and the ongoing investigations by the International Criminal Court into the extrajudicial killings (art. 6).

28. The Committee urges the State party to put an end to the extrajudicial killings of suspected drug offenders and users. In doing so, it should: 

(a) Take steps to replace an exclusively punitive approach to drug control with an approach that is fully in line with the Covenant; 

(b) Ensure that high-level officials refrain from inciting violence and extrajudicial killings, especially of suspects of drug use or trade; 

(c) Abolish the use of “drug watch lists” of individuals suspected of drug use or trade and the practice of “Oplan Tokhang”, including by repealing Command Memorandum Circular No. 16 and Board Regulations No. 3 and 4 of 2016; 

(d) Redouble its efforts to promptly, independently and thoroughly investigate all allegations of extrajudicial killings and to bring perpetrators, including law enforcement officials, to justice; 

(e) Strengthen its accountability efforts, including through establishing an adequately resourced independent accountability mechanism for all allegations of extrajudicial killings and collecting and publishing consistent, disaggregated data on such allegations;

(f) Provide victims and their relatives with full redress, including compensation and appropriate support services, such as psychological and rehabilitation services and other services tailored to meet the specific needs of children affected by the anti-illegal drug campaign; 

(g) Refrain from any acts of harassment and intimidation against those who seek justice for victims of extrajudicial killings and ensure their access to justice and redress; 

(h) Provide law enforcement officials with regular and appropriate training on the use of force, on the basis of the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials and the United Nations Human Rights Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement; 

(i) Strengthen its cooperation with the international human rights mechanisms and with the ongoing investigations by the International Criminal Court.

Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of the Philippines - Human Rights Committee

Harm Reduction International and the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights, together with 34 co-signing organisations, urge the United Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) to take all possible steps to halt the spate of drug-related executions witnessed in Saudi Arabia since 10 November 2022; against official commitments and international standards.

Since January 2020, Saudi Arabia had halted executions for drug-related offences, and in January 2021 the head of the official Human Rights Commission, Awwad Al-Awwad, had announced their suspension, deeming it intended to “give a second chance” to individuals not facing charges for violent crimes.

On November 10, 2022, Saudi Arabia suddenly and without warning resumed executions for drug-related crimes, and as of November 24, 2022, it announced 20 executions for drug crimes. According to data published by the Saudi Ministry of Interior, the victims are all men, and of the following nationalities: 8 of Saudi, 5 of Syrian, 3 of Pakistani, 2 of Nigerian, and 2 of Jordanian nationality.

The Saudi government’s handling of the death penalty is shrouded in secrecy, as the Kingdom does not publish the number of individuals facing punishment, their names, or their legal status. Despite this, tracking by ESOHR confirms that dozens of detainees are currently on death row for drug offenses, with foreign nationals (including migrant workers) and individuals from vulnerable socioeconomic backgrounds overrepresented. All of them are now to be considered at imminent risk of execution. Among them is Jordanian citizen, Hussein Abu Al-Kheir, who was arbitrarily detained, sentenced to death, and is now facing imminent execution after being told he was being moved to a ‘death cell’, where his execution can be carried out without any prior warning. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) found that there is no legal basis for Mr Al-Kheir’s detention, and concluded that his death sentence should be overturned and he should be released immediately.

Monitoring by ESOHR confirms the lack of basic standards for a fair trial in capital drug cases. In addition to being subjected to torture and ill-treatment, defendants are deprived of their most basic rights, including the right to adequate legal defense, and the right to an interpreter when needed.

While at the international level 146 states including 20 members of the Organisation of the Islamic cooperation (on 57 member states) have abolished the death penalty or observe a moratorium, Saudi Arabia remains one of the top executioners in the world.

Saudi Arabia’s sudden decision to resume executions for drug crimes is a very disturbing indicator, and risks leading to an unprecedented surge in executions in the country. This is particularly troubling, considering that 147 sentences have been implemented since the beginning of 2022.

Such resumption is in official disregard of the promises previously made by high level officials, as well as international standards. Regarding the former, in addition to the Human Rights Commission’s announcement, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman repeatedly declared that there is an official effort to limit the use of this form of punishment; most recently in March 2022, when he claimed that the death penalty “has become limited to cases in which one person kills another. ” On the latter, we reiterate that drug offences do not meet the threshold of ‘most serious’ crimes to which the death penalty must be restricted pursuant to international standards; and that the death penalty for drug offences also contradicts international drug control law, as indicated by UNODC and the INCB.

On 22 November, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged the Saudi Government to halt Al-Kheir’s reported imminent execution, and called on “the Saudi authorities to adopt a formal moratorium on executions for drug-related offenses, to commute death sentences for drug-related offenses, and to ensure the right to a fair trial for all defendants, including those charged with such offenses, in line with its international obligations.”

Urgently and publicly denounce the 20 executions for drug offences reported since November 10, 2022;

Call on Saudi Arabia to abide by its own commitment to halt executions for drug crimes;

Engage with Saudi authorities with an eye to receiving a commitment to reinstate a moratorium on all pending executions for drug crimes and review the sentences of all individuals on death row for drug offences; and

Seek assurances that Mr Al-Kheir will not be executed and will be released immediately, in line with WGAD recommendations.

Abdorrahman Boroumand Centre on Human Rights in Iran

Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network

European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR)

International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC)

World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)

Organisation for the Prevention of Intense Suffering (OPIS)

Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN)

World Coalition Against the Death Penalty

Halt executions for drug offences in Saudi Arabia - Open letter by civil society organisations

 executed one person, bringing the total number of people executed in the city-state between March–October 2022 to 11. While the details of the reported 11th execution have not been made public, the 10 people who were executed earlier in the year were all sentenced to death after being convicted of drug trafficking. They were mostly of an 

ethnic minority background or Malaysian citizens

All but one of the death sentences was related to heroin trafficking, with one person executed for trafficking cannabis. At a time when an increasing number of jurisdictions around the world are revising their drug laws, such as Thailand 

 the sale and use of cannabis, executing a person for carrying cannabis highlights the extreme nature of death penalty sentences.

Singapore’s concurrent Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam justifies his insistence on retaining the death penalty by arguing that if he ‘removed the death penalty, the flow of drugs into Singapore would be 

The available data on the supply of illicit drugs in Singapore only shows the quantities of drugs seized by law enforcement agencies. Data on the quantities of seized drugs cannot accurately portray the size of drug markets given the clandestine nature of production and distribution.

The best available data on drugs in the region is published by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. In its most recent 

 on synthetic drugs in East and Southeast Asia, the Office recorded a 10 per cent increase in the amount of methamphetamine seized in Singapore from 2020–2021. Every single Southeast Asian country identified methamphetamine as their primary drug of concern.

Singapore executes its war on drugs

A recent press release from Amnesty in July 2022 highlighted a spike in Iranian executions, where at least 251 people had been executed in the first half of 2022. This report was confirmed by local Iranian watchdog organisations, noting that more than a third of these executions (36%, or 91 people) had been for drug-related offences. This rise represents a rapid escalation in state-sponsored violence, occurring within a context of raising political unrest in the nation.

Iran Human Rights (IHR) has been monitoring executions in the Islamic Republic of Iran for the past 17 years. According to several reports gathered by them, demonstrate that there had been at least 126 people that were executed for drug-related offences in 2021, a five-fold increase in comparison with the previous three years.

IHR’s work is particularly vital to reporting drug-related deaths, as the Iranian government often hides their executions: IHR said that none of the drug-related executions in 2021 were reported by the state, having instead to verify the deaths through independent sources. Of the 251 conducted in the first half of 2022, only 31 were confirmed by domestic media or government officials.

Drug executions in Iran are back on the rise

The objective of the event is to show-case Member States' most recent good practices and supporting processes at different levels towards moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to abolishing it.

Showing cases on concrete recent experiences of Countries that have abolished the death penalty in practice or by law, signed or ratified international instruments on the death penalty and applied moratorium.

Sharing the experience of States in their efforts to move away from death penalty and promote respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Identifying good practices to support and assist Member States in their efforts to apply moratorium with a view to abolishing death penalty.

Pathways to moratorium on the use of the death penalty: effective and good practices from member states

PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian government has decided to replace the death penalty with other types of punishment for a number of offences, said the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar on Wednesday (Sep 14).

Dr Wan Junaidi said in a statement that the decision was made after two series of meetings on Sep 6 and Tuesday.

The meetings were held by a task force that he had chaired, referred to as the Substitute Sentences for the Mandatory Death Penalty Task Force Technical Committee.

According to the Bernama news agency, the government has agreed in principle to a proposal to substitute the sentences for 11 offences that carry the mandatory death penalty.

This includes one under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act, as well as 22 other offences that carry a potential death sentence at the court's discretion, said Dr Wan Junaidi.

Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act pertains to drug trafficking.

Dr Wan Junaidi also announced a moratorium for 1,337 inmates who had previously been sentenced to death.

The decision will be submitted to the Cabinet to be tabled at a meeting for approval. The first reading of the Bill is expected on Oct 4 and the second reading is expected on Nov 22.

In June, Dr Wan Junaidi said that the Malaysian government had agreed to abolish the mandatory death penalty, and that it would be replaced by other types of punishment at the court's discretion.

This decision was reached following the presentation of a report on the study of alternative sentences to the mandatory death penalty during a Cabinet meeting on Jun 8.

According to Amnesty International, the death penalty is currently mandatory or a sentencing option for 33 offences in Malaysia.

Crimes punishable by death in the country include murder, drug trafficking, terrorism, kidnapping and the possession of firearms.

Malaysia government to introduce alternatives to death penalty

Indonesia’s war on drugs has been a feature of the country’s heavy-handed criminal justice system. Over half of Indonesia’s 404 death row inmates are facing execution for drug-related charges, making it — alongside countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia — one of the most dangerous countries in the world to possess or sell drugs. And the crackdown has recently gained strength: of Indonesia’s 94 death sentences recorded since the start of the pandemic, 80 were for drug-related offences (seven of whom were foreign nationals).

Support for the ‘zero tolerance’ approach is partly based on the idea that Indonesia’s laws promote deterrence. However the data tell a different story. Since the most recent execution of a convicted drug offender in April 2016, prosecution for drug trafficking in Indonesia has kept rising. This suggests that the movement of drugs into Indonesia hasn’t slowed, despite a long and concentrated effort from authorities.

This failure has many culprits: corrupt bureaucracy within law enforcement, cultural issues within the legal field (such as tolerance of bribery), and socio-economic factors that see the poor, marginalised and victims of other crimes over-represented in the drug trade.



This article was published in thejakartapost.com with the title "Indonesia’s zero tolerance drug laws leave hundreds on death row - Academia - The Jakarta Post". Click to read: https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2022/08/31/indonesias-zero-tolerance-drug-laws-leave-hundreds-on-death-row.html.


Download The Jakarta Post app for easier and faster news access:
Android: http://bit.ly/tjp-android
iOS: http://bit.ly/tjp-ios

Indonesia's zero tolerance drug laws leave hundreds on death row

GENEVA (29 July 2022) – UN experts* today condemned the execution of Nazeri Bin Lajim, a 64-year-old Malay Singaporean national convicted of drug offenses and urged the Government of Singapore to halt plans to execute individuals on death row for drugrelated charges.

There has been a sharp rise in execution notices issued in Singapore this year.

Nazeri Bin Lajim was arrested in April 2012 and convicted for trafficking 33.39 grams of diamorphine under the 1973 Misuse of Drugs Act in September 2019. The mandatory death penalty wassubsequently imposed in his case and enforced on 22 July 2022.

“Under international law, States that have not yet abolished the death penalty may only impose it for the ‘most serious crimes’, involving intentional killing,” the experts said. “Drug offences clearly do not meet this threshold.”

The experts reiterated that, as per the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s report on arbitrary detention relating to drug policies andits subsequent jurisprudence, imposing the death penalty for drug-related offences is incompatible with international standards on the useof the death penalty.

Bin Lajim is the fifth person executed in Singapore in 2022.

“We are concerned that a disproportionate number of those being sentenced to death for drug-related offences are minority persons andtend to be from economically disadvantaged backgrounds like Mr Nazeri Bin Lajim,” the experts said. “The practice amounts to discriminatory treatment of minorities such as Malays and vulnerablepersons,” they said.

The enforcement of Nazeri Bin Lajim’s execution proceeded despite claims that he had been suffering from long-term drug addiction andthat most of the diamorphine would have been for personal use. The rest of the narcotics in his possession for trafficking would not have met the 15 gram threshold for the imposition of the mandatory death penalty in Singapore.

“We are also extremely concerned by reports about increasing pressure and acts of intimidation by the authorities against activists,journalists, legal professionals and human rights defenders who peacefully advocate against the death penalty and/or represent persons on death row, and the chilling effect such acts have on civicspace,” the experts said. “The act of expressing one’s opinion and protesting against the death penalty should be tolerated in a democratic country.”

The experts urged the Singaporean authorities to suspend the further execution of individuals on death row for drug offenses and commutetheir death sentences to imprisonment consistent with international human rights law and standards.

“We urge the Government of Singapore to immediately establish an official moratorium on all executions with a view to fully abolishing the death penalty,” the UN experts said.

They said the Government of Singapore should review, without delay, the scope of the death penalty, particularly with regard to drug-related offences, in order to ensure that its imposition and implementation arestrictly limited to cases involving intentional killing.

“We reiterate that the mandatory use of the death penalty constitutesan arbitrary deprivation of life, since it is imposed without taking into account the defendant’s personal circumstances or the circumstancesof the particular offence,” the experts said.

“Mandatory death sentences are arbitrary in nature and not compatible with the limitation of capital punishment to the “most serious crimes.”

, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; 

Ms. Miriam Estrada-Castillo (Chair-Rapporteur), Mr. Mumba Malila (Vice-Chair), Ms. Elina Steinerte, Ms.Priya Gopalan, and Mr. Matthew Gillett - 

, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; 

, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by olderpersons; 

Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights; 

Special Rapporteur onMinority Issues; and 

Special Rapporteur on thepromotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion andexpression.

The Experts are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematicissues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for theirwork. They are independent of any government or organisation and servein their individual capacity.

Singapore: UN experts call for immediate moratorium on executions for drug offences

Two people on death row for drugs are scheduled to be executed tomorrow, in violation of international law

LONDON [6 July 2022] – The government of Singapore is scheduled to execute Kalwant Singh and Norasharee bin Gous tomorrow, 7 July. Both Singh and bin Gous were arrested for drug offences and have already spent several years on death row. After a two-year pause in executions, Singapore has resumed executions for drug offences at an alarming rate this year. If carried out, these would be the third and fourth executions in Singapore this year, all of which have been for drug offences.

An open letter published this week calls on the United Nations’ major human rights and drug control bodies to intervene and help stop these impending executions. Harm Reduction International, together with the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD), the Network of Asian People who Use Drugs (NAPUD), the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) and 99 other organisations and human rights experts from over 50 countries are calling on the United Nations to urge Singapore to immediately halt the executions.

“The government of Singapore is acting in violation of international human rights law,” said Naomi Burke-Shyne, Executive Director of Harm Reduction International. “The international community must urge Singapore to stop using this inhumane punishment that disproportionately impacts marginalised people,” she added.

Kalwant Singh is a Malaysian national arrested for a drug offence when he was 23 years’ old. His trial has revealed the economic circumstances that pushed Singh into committing the drug offence, including having to repay a debt to an illegal money lender. Norasharee bin Gous was arrested in relation to the same case, based purely on the testimony of another co-accused, who was spared the death penalty based on this testimony. Both Singh and bin Gous were notified of the scheduled execution last Thursday, 30 June. They were tried in connection to the same drug transaction, and despite being found to be mere drug couriers, they were sentenced to the mandatory death penalty. Their cases mirror the vast majority of death penalty cases in Singapore and around the world; the death penalty for drugs disproportionately impacts poor people as well as racial and ethnic minorities. These cases are also often ridden with concerns about fair trials.

The letters sent to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reiterate that the death penalty for drug offences violates international human rights and drug control standards.

At least 30 people are currently on death row for drugs in Singapore and are thus at imminent risk of execution. According to research by Harm Reduction International, although 35 retain the death penalty for drug offences, Singapore is one of only six countries to have carried out executions for drug offences in the past five years (China, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Vietnam).

Suchitra Rajagopalan – Tel: (+44) 7518 457 693

Harm Reduction International is a leading NGO working to reduce the negative health, social and legal impacts of drug use and drug policy.

Harm Reduction International has monitored use of the death penalty for drug offences worldwide since our first ground-breaking publication on this issue in 2007. We provide regular updates on legislative and practical developments related to the use of capital punishment for drug offences, a practice which is a clear violation of international human rights law.

Death penalty