Capital Punishment for Drug Offenses (Death Penalty and Extrajudicial Killings)

"In the USA, the now-President Donald Trump repeatedly called for the death penalty against drug traffickers,⁹⁵ falsely claiming it would 'eradicate drugs'⁹⁶ in the country and pointing to China as a model to follow.⁹⁷ In stark contrast, the then-President Biden ended his term by commuting the death sentences of 37 out of 40 people on federal death row.⁹⁸"

"After cautious optimism between 2018 and 2020, HRI has been reporting a steady increase in known drug-related executions since 2021. This trend reached crisis levels in 2024. With 615 people confirmed to have been executed for drug offences, 2024 is the deadliest year on record since 2015. Known executions have risen by 32% from 2023, and by a staggering 1950% from 2020, the year with the lowest figure on record. Notably, the figure of 615 known executions does not include the hundreds – if not thousands – of drug-related executions carried out in China, North Korea and Vietnam, where state censorship prevents us from realistically documenting how many people have been killed for drug offences.

"Executions were confirmed or assumed to have taken place in six countries: China, Iran, North Korea, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam. Iran is responsible for 79% of all known drug-related executions (485) and thus remains the world’s biggest executioner for drug offences, together with China. The highest increase in executions was recorded in Saudi Arabia, where 122 people were executed for drug offences. This is a 6000% surge from 2023 (when two people were executed for drug offences), and the highest figure ever recorded in the Kingdom, signalling a renewed commitment to this barbaric practice as a tool of drug control. A jump in executions also occurred in Singapore, where eight people were hanged for drug trafficking between August and November 2024 alone.

"This is an extremely small group of countries, responsible for an incommensurate number of executions. This signals an alarming determination to retain this inhumane punishment, despite its ineffectiveness and incompatibility with international law and standards.

"These figures also confirm that drug control has become a key driver of the imposition of capital punishment worldwide and an obstacle to global abolition of the death penalty. Around 40% of all known executions carried out in 2024 – almost one in two – were for drug offences. The same trend is mirrored at the domestic level: drug offences were responsible for the majority of known executions in Iran (52%) and Singapore (89%), and for the majority of death sentences confirmed in Indonesia, Iraq, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. Available figures on death row populations paint a similar picture."

Table: Federal offenses eligible for death penalty

"The Global Overview 2021 revealed that 2021 had ended as a year of mixed progress. On one side, the number of countries executing people for drug crimes had reached a decade-low, owing mostly to a halt in drug-related executions in Saudi Arabia and, to some extent, the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other side, a significant increase in confirmed executions had been recorded, largely attributable to a surge in Iran.6 In the course of 2022, the situation sharply deteriorated. 

"As of December 2022, Harm Reduction International (HRI) recorded at least 285 executions for drug offences globally during the year, a 118% increase from 2021, and an 850% increase from 2020. Executions for drug offences are confirmed or assumed to have taken place in six countries: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, plus in China, North Korea and Vietnam - on which exact figures cannot be provided because of extreme opacity. Therefore, this figure is likely to reflect only a percentage of all drug-related executions worldwide. Confirmed death sentences for drug offences were also on the rise; with at least 303 people sentenced to death in 18 countries. This marks a 28% increase from 2021. 

"These setbacks were not completely unexpected, nor unpredictable. After defending its barbaric policy on the death penalty throughout 2021, Singapore issued execution warrants again# individuals convicted of drug trafficking in February 2022. These were eventually delayed after legal appeals and pleas from families and civil society, but more execution warrants quickly followed. In Saudi Arabia, civil society had warned of the risk of resumption in drug-related executions since the partial moratorium was announced in 2021. When the Kingdom carried out the worst mass execution in its history in March 2022, the risk became even more apparent. Similarly, Iranian civil society warned of the risk of a spike in executions, absent persistent international pressure."

"In 2021, 35 countries retain the death penalty for a range of drug offences. Civil society had grounds for optimism at the beginning of the year, thanks to some promising developments in 2020: in Singapore, no executions took place for the first time since 2013; and in Saudi Arabia, Prince Salman declared a moratorium on drug-related executions at the beginning of 2020. Meanwhile, in the United States, the Biden-Harris victory in the 2020 elections raised hopes for new legislation abolishing the federal death penalty in the US.⁵

"At the end of 2021, the situation appears more uncertain. While no executions were reported in Saudi Arabia and Singapore in 2021, a sudden increase in executions was noted in Iran. This sharp reversal of the 2018-2020 trend, together with unexpected news of death sentences in low application countries, resulted in a rise of both drug-related sentences and executions in 2021.

"As of December 2021, Harm Reduction International (HRI) recorded at least 131 executions for drug offences globally, a 336% increase from 2020. It is imperative to note that this number is likely to represent only a fraction of all drug-related executions carried out globally."

"Throughout 2021, executions for drug offences were confirmed to have taken place in Iran (at least 131) and China (at least one, a Chinese woman). In China, state secrecy prevents reporting of accurate figures, however, the country is believed to carry out numerous executions (potentially in the thousands, according to Amnesty International).¹⁷ Figures from Iran, collected by the Abdorrahman Boroumand Centre for Human Rights in Iran, show a weighty increase in confirmed drug-related executions, from 25 in 2020 to 131 in 2021 - a 424% rise, against a 28% increase in total executions in the country. Concurrently, executions for drug crimes in Iran represented a higher percentage of total executions than in the previous year: from 10% to 42%, back to pre-amendment levels.¹⁸ While the root causes of such a sharp surge are yet to be conclusively identified, this trend confirms experts’ fears that the impact of the 2017 Amendments to the Law for Combating Illicit Drugs may be temporary, and linked, at least to some degree, to political circumstances.

"In addition to China and Iran, it is highly likely that executions were carried out in two more countries characterised by extreme opacity of information: North Korea and Vietnam. Indeed, both countries regularly sentence people to death for drug offences, and both countries are believed to regularly execute individuals. In Vietnam, where dozens of drug-related death sentences are imposed every year, eleven execution centres are currently operational.¹⁹ In North Korea, civil society consistently identifies drug offences amongst the main crimes for which individuals are executed, although there are no published records or figures.

"Equally notable are findings on the absence of executions: in 2021, no executions for drug offences were carried out in Saudi Arabia for the first time in at least a decade (although one individual was executed for multiple political crimes, as well as “promotion and use” of illicit substances). This development, due to an ongoing moratorium on drug-related executions in the Kingdom, is significant, especially considering that in 2019, 84 drug-related executions were reported, with more likely to have taken place. At the same time, the moratorium has not yet been formalised, or finalised via law reform, meaning executions may restart at any time. According to civil society organisations such as the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights,²⁰ death sentences continue to be imposed and people on death row for drug crimes have not undergone retrials or seen their sentences commuted. Absent more substantial reforms, these individuals are still at imminent risk of execution.

"There were no executions for drugs or any other crimes in Indonesia for the fifth consecutive year. There were also no executions in Singapore for the second year in a row; one execution was announced in late 2021, but was later suspended pending judicial review and national as well as international outcry (for more details, see case study, pag. 29). Though the COVID-19 pandemic certainly played a role, the fact that one of the most committed retentionist countries refrained from carrying out executions is significant.

"On 29 December 2021, the Malaysian government announced that the special committee created in 2019 to reflect upon death penalty abolition will soon present its findings to the executive. The same statement also indicated that “the Bill to amend laws on the death penalty, as well as other relevant laws, is expected to be tabled in Parliament by the third quarter of 2022.”²¹

"With Saudi Arabia and Singapore currently refraining from carrying out drug-related executions, the group of states that actively executes individuals for these non-violent crimes is shrinking, and is more isolated than ever. At the same time, this group is increasingly characterised by secrecy, if not outright censorship, on the use of capital punishment, in clear violation of its human rights obligations. This poses huge challenges to both institutional and civil society actors monitoring and advocating against capital punishment. For the same reason, and absent more details, the total number of drug-related executions in 2021 should be treated as the minimum confirmed figure. The total number is higher, possibly significantly so."

"• Two countries resumed drug-related executions after a short hiatus: Singapore, after a two-year pause, and Saudi Arabia, which reneged on its 2021 declaration of a moratorium on executions for non-violent offences. 

"• At least 285 drug-related executions were carried out in 2022 (excluding figures from China, Vietnam, and North Korea). Despite being a gross underestimation, this still represents a 118% increase from 2021, and a staggering 850% increase from 2020. 

"• Drug offences were responsible for roughly 32% (or one in three) of all executions confirmed globally. This is the highest recorded figure in six years.

 "• Almost nine out of ten confirmed executions for drug offences took place in Iran.

 "• 303 death sentences for drug offences were confirmed in 18 countries (dozens more are likely). This represents a 28% increase in reported sentences from 2021. 

"• At least 3700 people are currently on death row for drug offences in 19 countries. 

"• People who are marginalised, including because of their socioeconomic status, ethnicity, drug use, mental and/or intellectual disability, and nationality, continue to be disproportionately impacted by the death penalty for drug offences. For example, In Iran, 40% of those executed for drug offences identified as Baluchi. This ethnic group represents around 2% of the total population. 

"• Two countries (Cuba and Sri Lanka) expanded the applicability of the death penalty for drug offences in law in 2022. 

"• Transparency remains a critical issue that hinders monitoring of the death penalty for drug offences, and as a consequence advocacy towards death penalty abolition. Throughout 2022, states not only failed to publish complete figures on the death penalty for drug offences, but also actively repressed civil society groups, activists and lawyers monitoring and challenging the use of capital punishment."