Written question asked by Win Griffiths (Labour) on Wednesday, 23 March 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 6 April 2005. It was answered by Bill Rammell (Labour) on Wednesday, 6 April 2005 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his latest estimate is of the number of (a) people sentenced to death in Iran and (b) executions carried out in the last 12 months.

Answer: Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his latest estimate is of the number of (a) people sentenced to death in Iran and (b) executions carried out in the last 12 months. [224298] Mr. Rammell: We are unable to assess reliably the numbers of people sentenced to death and executed in Iran during the past 12 months. Amnesty International has reported that 108 people were executed in Iran in 2003. The number sentenced to death is likely to be substantially higher. We have serious concerns about the use of the death penalty in Iran, which we have made clear to the Iranian authorities on many occasions.

Secondary information