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A Report reveals that 2022 saw an increase in the number of people executed for drug offenses.


Harm Reduction International had 285 drug-related executions by December 2022.


by Alexander Lekhtman. Filter

The number of drug convictions has increased by more than two-fold in 2022 to 2021. This sharp increase follows two years of slow executions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and other factors. Executions are concentrated in a small number of countries. The practice is perpetuated by silence from international and other governments.

Harm Reduction International’s (HRI), has released a new report that details disturbing trends. In 2007, the nonprofit began tracking global drug executions. 2015 was the worst year, with 755 drug-related deaths. After dropping to less than 100 in 2018, the numbers began to rise again.

In 2020, during the height of pandemic, executions were at their lowest, at 30. The number of executions was reduced by political reform in Saudi Arabia, and civil legal resistance in Singapore.

However, progress was not sustained. The executions jumped to 131 in 2021. This trend continued into 2022. HRI had 285 drug-related executions in December 2022.

HRI estimates that six countries executed drug convicts in Asia in 2022. These were China, Singapore, Iran, North Korea, North Korea, North Korea, North Korea, and Vietnam. We don’t have an exact number, as some governments keep it secret.

Trending up is also the trend in confirmed death sentences for drug use. In 2022, there will be at least 303 such sentences in 18 countries.

The United States is among 35 countries that have the death penalty for certain drug offenses. HRI says this is “a violation international law.” In 2022, the U.S. didn’t execute anyone or sentence them to death. However, former President Donald Trump is running for a second term in the midst of multiple criminal and civil investigations. He has previously asked Congress to pass a law that would allow for the death penalty for anyone who sells fentanyl.

These are the facts based on the HRI report .

China

While China is careful to keep these executions secret, HRI has confirmed that several were for drugs, based upon online sources. According to the organization, there were many, if not hundreds of executions.

According to the country’s Supreme Court, drugs are “the real demon that destroys humanity.” Amnesty International estimates that China could execute thousands of drug-related executions each year. China’s most common source of death sentences is due to drug convictions. Half of all drug cases that go to court result in death sentences, because Chinese law criminalizes smuggling and selling as well as transporting and manufacturing.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, in 2020, announced a ban all executions for drug crimes. There were no executions recorded in 2021.

We knew the prince could alter the policy at any time. Even though no executions took place in 2021 however, death sentences were still passed and people were sent to death row.

These fears are now realized. The prince rescinded his policy in November 2022. In just a few months, 22 drug-related people were executed in the country. Half of those executed were not Saudi citizens, but residents of other countries. They were usually convicted of minor roles in drug trafficking.

Singapore

Singapore went two years without drug executions. But this was for a different reason. The historic moment that saw the death penalty for drug offenses being overturned by the highest Court of Appeal in 2020 was marked by the landmark decision of the Court of Appeal.

Despite the fact that the government stood firm behind the death penalty the pressure from civil advocates, attorneys and civil advocates successfully stopped further executions of drug-related crimes or at the very least suspended them.

Their efforts were thwarted in March 2022. In March 2022, 11 drug-related convictions were executed in the country.

Iran

Iran has also made little progress since 2017, when it changed its drug laws to reduce the death penalty. However, drug executions rose again in 2021, exceedingly high for a single year.

According to an Iranian independent monitor, drug executions rose again last year and reached at least 252. This occurred as Iran was rocked again by protests and a brutal government crackdown after the murder of Mahsa, who was arrested by religious authorities.

44% of executions in Iran were carried out by drug convictions in 2022. The punishment is being used against the country’s Baluchi ethnic minorities. Although the Baluchi population is only 2 percent of Iran’s total population, they were responsible for 40 percent of executions for drug convictions between 2022 and 2023.

International Silence

The report by HRI identifies the facilitation of the killings as the silence of political and other countries. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has conspicuously failed take a public position on drug executions.

The European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights explained how 2022’s global events helped to shield the Saudi government against criticism for human rights abuses. It stated that the “diplomatic embargo” on Saudi Arabia was lifted at the beginning of 2022 amid energy crises and global political upheavals and the Ukraine war. “…human right issues were put aside in 2022’s report.

The visits of President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and President Joe Biden have given Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman an airof legitimacy. ESOHR said that these visits “represent the tip of the iceberg” of countries normalizing Saudi violations.

There are some hopeful developments in the midst of the injustice and tragedy that is continuing global executions for drug-related crimes. A bill has been introduced in Pakistan to abolish the death penalty for drug offenses, but replace it with life imprisonment. The lower National Assembly has passed the bill. Before it can be signed into law, the Senate and President must approve the bill.

Pakistan could become the first country to abolish the death penalty in drug abuse within 15 years.

“While its effects on the practical side are not known (it is unclear if anyone has been convicted of a drug crime in Pakistan),” HRI’s report stated that “its symbolic significance and potential impact on Pakistan’s international standing and on the use death penalty for drug offenses in the region and elsewhere should not be underestimated.”

Filter, an online magazine that covers drug use, drug policy, and human rights with a harm reduction perspective, published this article. Follow Filter on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to its newsletter.


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Marijuana Moment first published the post Drug Offenses: The Rise in Execution Rates In 2022.

Marijuana Moment
Author: Marijuana Moment

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