Twenty-seven members of the European Union have called on the Islamic Republic to suspend the death penalty in Iran.

Ria Novosti reports that at the EU meeting on Monday, member countries indicated that Iran should aim for the “complete abolition” of the death penalty.

Iran, however, is not keen to abolish the death and “ghesas” sentences. Most recently, Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of Iran’s human rights commission, said that “ghesas” is “an important and beautiful” part of Islamic jurisprudence.

Ghesas is a provision in Islamic law that allows for punishments equal to the impact of the crime that’s been committed.

Murder convicts are sentenced to be hanged in Iran according to provisions of ghesas, and other crimes such as drug dealing, rape, kidnapping and armed robbery also carry the death penalty.

The number of executions in Iran has been on the rise, with the latest example happening today. Four people convicted of breaking into a private party, locking up the men and raping the women were hanged in hanged in a public park in Khomeinishahr, where the crimes were committed.

The Committee Against Execution and the Death Penalty announced two days ago that since the beginning of the Iranian year in March, 173 people have been hanged in Iran.

Source : Radio Zamaneh