On Monday, February 5, 2024, the hunger strike by political prisoners protesting widespread executions entered its second week. Following the announcement by prisoners in Qezel-Hesar Prison to continue their hunger strike, inmates in Evin, Saqqez, Mashhad, and other facilities joined the protest, intensifying the campaign.
The prisoners declared that the campaign’s goal—to stop the execution machine—necessitates their continued participation in the hunger strike during “Black Tuesday,” February 6, 2024.
It is worth noting that thousands of prisoners remain on death row in Qezel-Hesar and other prisons. Among them, at least 10 political prisoners face imminent execution, including Khosrow Besharat, Kamran Sheikheh, Anwar Khezri, Mojahed Kourkouri, Reza Rasaei, Mansour Dehmardeh, Fazel Bahramian, Mehran Bahramian, Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, and Abbas Driss.
Since “Black Tuesday,” January 30, 2024, political prisoners in Karaj’s Qezel-Hesar Prison announced their decision to go on hunger strike every Tuesday to protest the ongoing wave of executions in their facility and others. Now, political prisoners across the country have joined them in solidarity, further amplifying the campaign.
In a statement published last week, the political prisoners of Qezel-Hesar Prison in Karaj announced the start of their hunger strike and announced:
“Since our exile, we have witnessed the expansion of the wave of executions targeting both political and non-political prisoners. We have reacted to these crimes and raised awareness whenever possible. However, on Sunday, January 28, 2024, in an attempt to silence our voices of protest and suppress the exposure of these executions, security forces stormed the political prisoners’ ward. They beat, threatened, and insulted us, destroying and confiscating our equipment in the process.
This brutality is designed to prevent the exposure of the government’s executions and murders, particularly on the eve of the execution of four Kurdish compatriots and other prisoners awaiting death.
At the same time, we witnessed a hunger strike initiated by a group of death row prisoners in Qezel-Hesar Prison. They announced that they would go on hunger strike every Tuesday to draw public attention to stopping the wave of executions.
We, the political prisoners of Qezel-Hesar Prison, stand in solidarity with their call for justice. In protest against the imminent execution of four Kurdish compatriots and others sentenced to death, we join the campaign to stop this execution machine. From now on, we will participate in a hunger strike every Tuesday, alongside other prisoners, to put an end to Black Tuesdays and halt this machinery of death.”
