A/HRC/34/40 news agency, on 23 November 2016, a member of parliament, Hassan Nourozi, indicated that about 5,000 prisoners aged between 20 and 30 years old, mostly first-time drug offenders, were on death row. 3 8. Most of the cases involving capital punishment with which special procedure mandate holders have dealt over the past years reveal that due process guarantees were often violated in proceedings that fell short of international fair trial standards. United Nations human rights mechanisms have repeatedly and consistently expressed their great concern at this persistent trend and have urged the Government to end executions and institute a moratorium on the death penalty. 9. In his most recent report, the Secretary-General’s predecessor indicated that he was encouraged by the increased recognition of the ineffectiveness of the death penalty to deter drug-related offences and the initiative of some parliamentarians to amend the mandatory death penalty for some of these offences (see A/71/374, para. 10). However, in the absence of progress towards adoption of such a bill and of a decision to institute a moratorium, executions of drug offenders continued at a high rate in 2016. 10. While taking note of the decision adopted in November 2016 by the parliament to speed up deliberations on the proposed amendments to the Penal Code, the SecretaryGeneral remains concerned about the support reiterated by certain parts of the judiciary for the continuous enforcement of the death penalty for drug-related offences and about the numerous arrests of activists against the death penalty in 2016. In November, Atena Daemi, a campaigner against the death penalty, was reportedly brutally taken away from her parents’ home to begin serving a seven-year prison sentence she had received in relation to her activities against the death penalty. In its comments on the present report, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that in January 2017, her conviction had been reduced to five years in prison and that she was serving her sentence in Evin prison. 11. Two mass executions were conducted in 2016. On 5 August alone, 20 people belonging to the Kurdish minority were executed for alleged terrorism-related offences, although concerns had been expressed by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran and by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding the fairness of their trials. On 27 August, 12 individuals were hanged on drug-related charges. In their cases as well, basic international human rights, fair trial standards and due process guarantees were reportedly disregarded. 4 12. Capital punishment for drug-related offences does not comply with the “most serious crimes” requirement under article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the Human Rights Committee has defined as murder or intentional killing. 5 The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, special procedure mandate holders of the Human Rights Council and the Secretary-General have repeatedly reminded the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran that executions for drug-related offences constitute a violation of international law. 13. Several individuals were executed in 2016 after being held on death row for long periods of time, in some cases for over 15 years. In October, Nemat Rahmani was reportedly extradited to the Islamic Republic of Iran and executed after serving 15 years in prison in Azerbaijan. In November, Shabaan Ranjbar and Gholamhossein Beigi were reportedly hanged after having spent 18 and 20 years in Khomain prison (Markazi Province) and in Lakan prison (Gilan Province), respectively. A juvenile offender, Amanj Vaisi, who was sentenced to death when he was 15 years old, has reportedly been held on death row for 10 years. The Secretary-General recalls that a prolonged period of time spent on death row causes anxiety and psychological suffering and has therefore been considered to amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. 14. The Secretary-General remains alarmed at the dehumanizing, cruel, inhuman and degrading practice of public executions. Despite a 2008 circular banning the practice, the 3 4 5 See www.icana.ir/Fa/News/314689. See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20425&LangID=E. See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16581&LangID=E. 3