Why are Iran and China Executing Thousands?

Chloe Atkinson

Recorded executions in 2022 reached the highest figure in five years, as the Middle East and North Africa’s most notorious executioners carried out killing sprees, Amnesty International said Tuesday as it released its annual review of the death penalty.

“Countries in the Middle East and North Africa region violated international law as they ramped up executions in 2022, revealing a callous disregard for human life. The number of individuals deprived of their lives rose dramatically across the region; Saudi Arabia executed a staggering 81 people in a single day. Most recently, in a desperate attempt to end the popular uprising, Iran executed people simply for exercising their right to protest,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

Iran and China are at the top of the list. Just this month alone, Iran executed ten people. Iran Human Rights (IHR) said in a report that four people convicted of rape were hanged at the Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj, 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of Tehran, according to Al-Monitor. In a separate case, three other men were hanged at the Ghezal Hesar prison, also in Karaj, on drug charges.

At least 582 people were executed in 2022, up from 333 in 2021, a joint report by IRH and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty showed last month. The United Nations says more than 200 people have been executed this year so far.

The Amnesty numbers differ slightly from those by IRH and Together Against the Death Penalty. According to Amnesty, 90% of the world’s known executions outside China were carried out by just three countries in the region. Recorded executions in Iran soared from 314 in 2021 to 576 in 2022; figures tripled in Saudi Arabia, from 65 in 2021 to 196 in 2022 — the highest recorded by Amnesty in 30 years — while Egypt executed 24 individuals.

“On average so far this year, over ten people are put to death each week in Iran, making it one the world’s highest executors,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said recently.

While the precise number of those killed in China is unknown, it is clear that the country remained the world’s most prolific executioner, ahead of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and, apparently according to Amnesty, the USA.

This is not the first time Iran and China made it to the top of the list of global executioners. In 2016, they were also recognized as being the top executioners, with China executing more people than all the countries in the world put together. According to the Al-Jazeera report, “it is difficult to get a clear number as Beijing classifies most information related to the death penalty as ‘state secrets.’ It is estimated to be in the thousands each year.”

Iran is the world’s second-largest executioner after China, according to Amnesty International. Most of those executed — many belonging to minority groups — are charged with murder or drug-related offenses. Others are convicted of vaguely worded charges, including “spreading corruption on earth” and “enmity against God,” Amnesty said in a March report.

“The world must act now to pressure the Iranian authorities to establish an official moratorium on executions, quash unfair convictions and death sentences, and drop all charges related to the peaceful participation in protests,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

As noted by the Al-Monitor article, the surge in death sentences and executions occurred concurrently with a countrywide uprising against the Iranian government, which began in September following the tragic death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody. The protest movement faced brutal suppression, as security forces resorted to violence, resulting in the deaths of numerous demonstrators and the arrest of thousands. According to a report by IHR in December, approximately 100 individuals received death sentences in connection with their involvement in the protests.

Rights groups accuse Iran of using the death sentence as a tool of repression and intimidation against the public.

“Iran’s authorities demonstrated how crucial the death penalty is to instill societal fear in order to hold on to power,” the joint IHR and ECPM report said.

Thousands of Iranian citizens have been jailed over the last year alone, and hundreds have been executed, usually by hanging – a notably tortuous death. The victims often do not have access to a lawyer or legal representation.

The fact that Amnesty places the United States in the category of top executioners around the globe is questionable since the US executed 18 people in 2021 by lethal injection –  a number quite distant from the thousands being executed in China. Still, each state in the US should review its policies with regard to executions as even 18 is a high number, is not morally justified, and does not deter crime.

While it is clear that some states in the US implement the death penalty as a punishment to the individual for his or her crimes, Iran and China utilize executions as a warning to the public; step out of line, and we will kill you. Amnesty’s reports have no effect on Iran and China. They continue to sit in United Nations bodies and their diplomats and leaders are welcomed in international fora. Iran and China use executions to control the population and ensure total authority. As long as they remain dictatorships, nothing will change and innocent people will continue to die.