For the twelfth consecutive week, prisoners in Iran have gone on hunger strike every Tuesday to protest mass executions.
The hunger strike continued on April 16, 2024, as part of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign. This week’s strike protested the surge in executions and the intensifying repression in the streets, exacerbated by the government’s exploitation of the region’s inflamed conditions.
A significant number of political and non-political prisoners in facilities such as Evin, Qezel-Hesar, Markazi Karaj, Khorramabad, Naqadeh, Saqqez, and Mashhad participated in the hunger strike. Their protest is fueled by the growing likelihood of widespread implementation of inhumane death sentences by Iran’s dictatorial judiciary.
In recent days, the regime has silently executed several non-political prisoners in various prisons. Others have been transferred to solitary confinement in Qezel-Hesar and other facilities, awaiting the imminent execution of their death sentences.
Reports suggest a new wave of repression and intimidation through the expanded use of death sentences by the judiciary and security apparatus. Over the past few days, several new death sentences have been issued, while security measures targeting women, under the pretext of “not wearing the hijab,” have intensified significantly since April 13.
Since Tuesday, January 28, 2019, the prisoners of Qezel-Hesar Prison have sought to fulfill their minimum moral responsibility by drawing greater domestic and international attention to the widespread executions in Iran and the gross violations of the fundamental right to life.
- Political Prisoners of Qezelhesar Prison in Karaj Hunger Strike to Protest Mass Executions
- Execution of a young couple, including a female child offender
- Execution of 5 prisoners in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad
In April 2024, at least 12 prisoners were executed in Iranian prisons. Due to the ongoing repression, these executions are conducted in secrecy, with no acknowledgment in state media. Among those executed was a juvenile offender, Marjan Hajizadeh, who was executed alongside her husband in Zanjan Central Prison on charges of drug possession. Additionally, five prisoners were executed in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad. According to reports from the judiciary, at least one prisoner, Alireza Marzban, was executed in Shiraz Central Prison on April 7, 2024 (Ramadan 17, 1445).
Nearly 50 political prisoners also face imminent execution, including Khosrow Besharat, Kamran Sheikheh, Anvar Khezri, Mojahed Kourkouri, Reza Rasaei, Mansour Dahmardeh, Fazel Bahramian, Mehran Bahramian, Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, and Abbas Driss. Four Baluch prisoners—Edo Shahbakhsh, Abdolghani Shahbakhsh, Abdolrahim Ghanbarzehi Gargij, and Suleiman Shahbakhsh—have been sentenced to death in Ghezel Hesar Prison.
Additional death sentences were issued against Shahab Nadali in Evin Prison and Mamusta Mohammad Khezrnejad in Bukan Prison.
Across Iran’s prisons, thousands of inmates remain on death row. In Lakan Prison in Rasht and Zanjan Prison alone, nearly 340 prisoners await execution.
