A/HRC/28/26 the death penalty. At least 500 people are believed to have been executed from January to November of 2014, with some sources suggesting a considerably higher number. 1 7. In their comments on the present report, the Iranian authorities stressed that the death penalty was only considered for the most serious crimes, including drug trafficking, which is often accompanied by acts of terrorism, and that no political prisoner had been executed. They also pointed out that defendants were granted all due process guarantees during their trial, including access to a lawyer and the right to appeal. International human rights bodies, including the Human Rights Committee (see A/50/40, para. 449), have determined that drug-related offences do not meet the threshold of the most serious crimes for which the death penalty may be applied under international law. At least seven individuals were also reportedly executed in political cases and non-violent economic crimes following proceedings that reportedly did not comply with international norms regarding fair trial and due process provided for in article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Islamic Republic of Iran is a State party. 8. In the majority of cases that involve capital punishment, due process guarantees were often violated in proceedings that fell short of international fair trial standards. This raises concern about the potential for wrongful conviction, which is unavoidable even for the most advanced and established judicial system. 2 In the light of these concerns, the Secretary-General reiterates his call upon the Iranian authorities to restrict the use of and/or abolish the death penalty in law and practice, in particular when the judicial system is failing to guarantee international fair trial standards (see A/69/ 306, para. 9). 9. The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has argued that the “special circumstances” and the “existing threats from the sharp rise in the production of narcotics in the regions” near the State’s borders necessitate its resort to the death penalty. According to the Government, drug-related offences amount to more than 80 per cent of overall executions (see A/C.3/69/9, annex). On 7 November 2014, however, Mohammad Javad Larijani, Head of the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran, acknowledged the need for amendments to the law on narcotics, stating that this could be the first step in bringing down the high number of executions. 3 In December 2014, the Head of the Judiciary, Sadeq Amoli Larijani, also acknowledged the need for amendments to anti-narcotic laws, recognizing that they had not proved effective in the fight against drugtrafficking.4 The Secretary-General welcomes this acknowledgment within the judiciary that the death penalty is not effective in the deterrence of drug-related crimes. He notes the efforts made by the State to combat drug trafficking, and urges the Government to work with the United Nations to find effective alternative strategies to address this problem. 10. The Secretary-General is also concerned about a number of death penalty cases with a political dimension. On 20 July 2014, Arzhang Davoodi, an author and poet, was allegedly sentenced to death on the charge of moharebeh (enmity against God) in connection with his alleged membership in and support for an Iranian dissident group.5 He was reportedly arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment on charges of spreading propaganda against the system and establishing and directing an organization opposed to the Government. In August 2012, the Revolutionary Court reportedly introduced the charge of moharebeh, for which he was sentenced to death. He was 1 2 3 4 5 4 At least 318 people were reportedly executed for drug-related execution in the first 11 month of 2014. OHCHR, Moving Away from the Death Penalty: Arguments, Trends and Perspectives, New York, 2014. Euronews, “Iran’s Larijani slams West’s ‘bias’ on human rights”, 7 November 2014. PressTV, “80% of Iran capital punishments for drug offences to go away”, 8 December 2014. Amnesty International, Iranian writer sentenced to death: Arzhang Davoodi, 24 July 2014.