9th Week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign
The first hunger strike of 2024 took place on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as part of the ongoing “No to Execution Tuesdays” protests in several Iranian prisons.
This marks the ninth consecutive week of Tuesday hunger strikes by prisoners, who are protesting against mass executions in the country. Participants included prisoners from Qezel-Hesar, Evin (notably from Wards 4, 6, 8, and the Women’s Ward), Markazi Karaj, Mashhad, Khorramabad, Saqqez, Naqadeh, Khoy, and other facilities.
In a message coinciding with the Iranian New Year, the prisoners extended their New Year congratulations while expressing hope for the abolition of the death penalty and the downfall of oppressive systems in the coming year.
The hunger strike movement began on January 29, 2024, as a response to the alarming rate of executions, including those targeting political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. These executions, often scheduled on Tuesdays, have fueled the symbolic protests, with today’s hunger strike representing the movement’s ninth iteration.
- Prisoners’ hunger strike on the last Tuesday of the year
- Political Prisoners of Qezelhesar Prison Hunger Strike to Protest Mass Executions
- Hedayatullah Farzadi, Head of Evin Prison in the Shadow of the Revolutionary Guards’ Support: Torture in the Presidency
It should be noted that thousands of prisoners are currently on death row in Qezel-Hesar Prison and other prisons. Nearly 340 prisoners are on death row in two prisons in Lakan Prison, Rasht and Zanjan. On the other hand, nearly 50 political prisoners named Khosrow Besharat, Kamran Sheikheh, Anvar Khezri, Mojahed Kourkouri, Reza Rasaei, Mansour Dehmardeh, Fazel Bahramian, Mehran Bahramian, Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, Abbas Driss, Eidou Shahbakhsh, Abdolghani Shahbakhsh, Abdolrahim Ghanbarzehi Gargij and Soleiman Shahbakhsh, Shahab Nadali in Evin Prison, Mamusta Mohammad Khezrnejad in Bukan Prison, etc. are at risk of execution.
———
8th Week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” Campaign
Prisoners’ hunger strike continues in 8th week of ” No to Execution Tuesdays “
On Tuesday, March 19, 2024, the prisoners’ hunger strike continued on the last Tuesday of the [Iranian] year. The hunger strike began on January 29, 2024, in protest against widespread executions, including of political-conscience prisoners, which are often carried out on Tuesdays, and is currently in its eighth week.
Prisoners from Qezel-Hesar Prison, Wards 4, 6, and 8 of Evin Prison, Evin Prison’s Women’s Ward, Karaj Central Prison, Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, Khorramabad Prison, etc. are participating in this hunger strike.
As we welcome the new year, we extend our heartfelt congratulations and express our deepest hope that this year will mark the victory of the Iranian people and the realization of freedom and justice. We dream of a future where a society free from discrimination, violence, tyranny, and exploitation can establish a structure that guarantees respect for human rights for all citizens. In such a society, medieval practices like the death penalty will no longer exist.
The prisoners also thanked the campaign for its support.
The full text of the statement of the striking prisoners is as follows:
————-
“Statement of the striking prisoners “No to Execution Tuesdays”
The honorable and free people of Iran
We, a group of prisoners, have been on a hunger strike every Tuesday for the past seven weeks to protest the issuance and execution of death sentences and to stop this killing and execution machine. Today, on the last Tuesday of the year, for the eighth week, we remember all the victims of the repression of the religious tyranny, especially all those executed during the hunger strike.
Our goal with the No to Execution Tuesdays campaign and this weekly strike has been to draw public attention to the reality that “the death penalty is an irreversible punishment and a tool of repression and intimidation wielded by the tyrannical minority ruling our country.”
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all those who have supported the No to Execution Tuesdays campaign for “No to Execution” in any form, becoming our voices and amplifying our cause.
Now, on the eve of the New Year and the arrival of the spring of nature, while congratulating all our compatriots, we hope that the new year will be the year of the victory of the Iranian people and the realization of freedom and justice, and that soon, in a society free from discrimination, violence, tyranny and exploitation, a structure will be created that guarantees respect for human rights for all citizens, and that medieval sentences such as the death penalty will be abolished.
We are confident that the day is not far when with the realization of the Iranian people’s sovereignty over their own destiny, no citizen will be held captive by oppression and tyranny because of his beliefs and thoughts. But until that day, we consider it our moral mission from within the prisons of the regime to continue our protest against the death penalty from inside the prison in the coming year, and we call on all awakened consciences and free people to Help us in this way.
Finally, in light of the recent report of the United Nations Human Rights Council and the emphasis on the need for international condemnation of human rights violations and executions in Iran, we believe that the victory of the people and the realization of justice is only possible in the shadow of the unity and solidarity of the Iranian people themselves. We emphasize and extend a helping hand to all the awakened and free consciences of Iran and the world in this difficult path.
A group of striking prisoners on No to Execution Tuesdays in
Qezel-Hesar, Evin, Karaj, Mashhad, and Khorramabad prisons
March 19, 2024″
- Prisoners’ Seventh Hunger Strike to Protest Mass Executions
- Human Rights Violations in Iran in Javid Rahman’s Report to the Human Rights Council
- Names and Characteristics of Political Prisoners Sentenced to Death in Iranian Prisons
It should be noted that thousands of prisoners are currently on death row in Qezel-Hesar Prison and other prisons. Nearly 340 prisoners are on death row in two prisons in Lakan Prison, Rasht and Zanjan. On the other hand, nearly 50 political prisoners named Khosrow Besharat, Kamran Sheikheh, Anvar Khezri, Mojahed Kourkouri, Reza Rasaei, Mansour Dehmardeh, Fazel Bahramian, Mehran Bahramian, Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, Abbas Driss, Eidou Shahbakhsh, Abdolghani Shahbakhsh, Abdolrahim Ghanbarzehi Gargij and Soleiman Shahbakhsh, Shahab Nadali in Evin Prison, Mamusta Mohammad Khezrnejad in Bukan Prison, etc. are at risk of execution.
———————
7th Week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign
Weekly hunger strike of Qezel-Hesar prisoners to protest executions in this prison
On Tuesday, March 12, 2024, the prisoners’ weekly hunger strike was in its seventh week, and the prisoners of Qezel-Hesar announced that they would go on hunger strike this Tuesday, as in previous weeks, to protest the continuation of executions in Qezel-Hesar Prison.
Two Afghan prisoners, Noor Mohammad Tajik and Abdul Basit (surname unknown), who were transferred to solitary confinement, were executed in Qezel-Hesar prison on Monday. Afghan prisoners are among the most silent prisoners executed in an unfair trial by the government’s corrupt judicial system.
Following the government’s defeat in the recent elections, marked by a widespread boycott by the people, the regime has turned to mass executions to instill fear and prevent uprisings. In response, a group of prisoners initiated a hunger strike every Tuesday to protest these actions.
On Tuesday, March 12, 2024, striking prisoners in Qezel-Hesar Prison continued their hunger strike for the seventh consecutive week, protesting the regime’s resumption of executions, including the execution of two Afghan prisoners on the same day. They have called on opponents of the death penalty to adopt a humane approach in their advocacy, standing against executions regardless of the nationality, religion, or charges of those on death row.
Echoing the sentiments of striking prisoners in Evin Prison, the Qezel-Hesar strikers emphasized that the execution machine can only be stopped through unity and collective action.
Prisoners’ One-Day Hunger Strike to Protest the Executions
In protest against the widespread executions, political prisoners in Ghezel Hesar, Evin, Markazi Karaj, Mashhad, etc. In recent weeks, they have gone on hunger strike every Tuesday.
It should be noted that since the March 2 elections, at least 15 prisoners have been executed in Iranian prisons.
In addition, thousands of prisoners are awaiting execution in Qhezel-Hesar Prison and other prisons, and nearly 50 political prisoners named Khosrow Besharat, Kamran Sheikheh, Anvar Khezri, Mojahed Korkouri, Reza Rasai, Mansour Dehmardeh, Fazel Bahramian, Mehran Bahramian, Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, Abbas Driss, Eid Shahbakhsh, Abdolghani Shahbakhsh, Abdolghani Shahbakhsh, Abdolrahim Ghanbarzehi Gorgij, and Soleiman Shahbakhsh, Shahab Nadali in Evin Prison, Mamusta Mohammad Khezrnejad in Bukan Prison, etc. are at risk of execution.
