Iran mulls reducing capital punishment

Capital punishment has been decreasing in Iran in recent years. The Iranian parliament is working on an amendment to the death sentence on drug traffickers, which will decrease 70 percent of executions for drug offenses, the Iranian High Council for Human Rights Deputy Chairman Kazem Gharib Abadi said.

There has been a 50 percent drop in the number of executions in Iran in 2016, according to figures from Amnesty International, Abadi told a group of journalists.

Drug smuggling is one of Iran's major problems. Ninety percent of capital punishments are for drug offenses, he said, adding that nearly 4,000 people die every year from drug use.

Iran neighbors Afghanistan where a total of 90 percent of the world's opium is produced. Having a 600-mile-long border, Iran often serves as a transit point for its export to the rest of the world.

Tehran is recently under pressure to end the death penalty for drug traffickers after some European countries have decided to cut off international funding for Iran's counter-narcotics campaign.

A group of female judges working for the Iranian High Council for Human Rights told the Hürriyet Daily News about efforts to convince families of victims to use their right to pardon. The execution of almost 300 convicts, primarily women and children, has been avoided as a result of this legal option.

The Iranian authorities have not carried out the stoning to death of convicted women for almost 20 years, Abadi said. The sentence is usually given to women found guilty of having an illicit relationship outside marriage, but Abadi said it is difficult to prove the crime because at least four witnesses are required according to shariah rules.

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