The “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign, in protest against the rising wave of executions, has entered its 141st week, and political prisoners in 66 different prisons in Iran have gone on a hunger strike. These prisoners, by standing against the government’s “death machine,” protested the execution of at least 22 people in the past week, including 5 protesters, and demanded the immediate cancellation of all death sentences. Emphasizing social solidarity, the strikers called on the international community and human rights activists to join this campaign to stop the use of execution as a tool of suppression and intimidation.
Please find the full text of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign statement below:
Continuance of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign in the 141st Week in 66 Different Prisons
Execution is a tool of suppression; let us join the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign
On the eve of the World Day Against the Death Penalty, we emphasize once again that the death penalty is a fundamental violation of the right to life and an instance of state-sanctioned murder. This punishment not only does not restore any rights to victims but, in autocratic governments such as Iran, it has become a tool to create terror, silence protests, and suppress opponents.
Iran is the record-holder of executions in the world. According to a report by Amnesty International, the Iranian government executed at least 2159 people in 2025 and has accounted for the highest recorded execution statistics in the world. Today, the execution apparatus in Iran, alongside detention, torture, enforced disappearance, and forced confessions, is an inseparable pillar of the regime’s machine of suppression.
In recent days and during the sixty-third session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, a joint statement was issued by 46 countries condemning the Iranian government’s increasing use of the death penalty, especially against protesters. These countries expressed deep concern over the execution of protesters and the issuance of death sentences for a number of other detainees, including women and youth. Ms. Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, welcoming this joint statement, has highlighted various dimensions of the machine of suppression and execution in Iran several times in recent months; from expressing concern about the execution of those convicted as children to the use of torture and forced confessions, the lack of fair trial, and the use of security charges against protesters.
According to statistics and reports received by the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign, during the past week (from 29 September 2026 to 5 October 2026), at least 22 people have been executed. Among those executed were five of the protest detainees named Ali Hemmati and Majid Nikandish from Mashhad, Siavash Jamshidi Kheirabadi from Shahrekord, and Alireza Sepahi and Alireza Raisi from Isfahan. The execution of these individuals at a time when protests and public dissatisfaction have expanded in society shows once again that the Velayat-e Faqih’s apparatus of suppression is trying to create a barrier against the people’s uprising and protests by creating fear and terror and setting up gallows; but the experience of past years has proven that execution cannot extinguish the people’s anger and desire for freedom.
Simultaneously, the process of issuing death sentences for protest detainees continues. Among others, it has been reported that death sentences have been issued for Mohammad Amin Mandani, one of the protest detainees in Greater Tehran Prison, and also for Sirvan Shabani and his co-defendants, Mehdi Nami, Masoud Toshmalani, and Khosrow Mohammadinia in Qezel Hesar Prison. These sentences must be cancelled immediately, and the lives of all those sentenced to death, especially political prisoners and detained protesters, must be protected against the risk of execution.
We believe that the dictatorship ruling Iran is trying to make the atmosphere of society security-oriented and intimidate the people by intensifying executions; but against this policy, social resistance and solidarity are expanding day by day. The “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign is the voice of prisoners who stand against the death machine behind high prison walls; it is the voice of families who see their loved ones on the verge of destruction, and it is the voice of people who shout the right to life, freedom, equality, and human dignity.
We call on all the people of Iran, justice-seeking families, prisoners, civil and human rights activists, and all opponents of the death penalty inside and outside the country to support the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign so that we all unite against execution. Let us not allow the gallows to become a tool for silencing the voice of society.
The members of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign on 6 October 2026, in the 141st week of this campaign, are on a hunger strike in the following 66 prisons:
Evin Prison (women’s and men’s wards), Qezel Hesar Prison (units 2, 3, and 4), Karaj Central Prison, Fardis Prison in Karaj, Greater Tehran Prison, Qarchak Prison, Khorin Prison in Varamin, Choobindar Prison in Qazvin, Ahar Prison, Arak Prison, Langaroud Prison in Qom, Khorramabad Prison, Borujerd Prison, Yasuj Prison, Asadabad Prison in Isfahan, Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan, Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz, Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz (women’s and men’s wards), Nezam Prison in Shiraz, Adelabad Prison in Shiraz (women’s and men’s wards), Firuzabad Prison in Fars, Dehdasht Prison, Zahedan Prison (women’s and men’s wards), Borazjan Prison, Ramhormoz Prison, Behbahan Prison, Bam Prison, Yazd Prison (women’s and men’s wards), Kahnuj Prison, Tabas Prison, Birjand Central Prison, Mashhad Prison, Gorgan Prison, Sabzevar Prison, Gonbad-e Kavus Prison, Qaemshahr Prison, Rasht Prison (men’s and women’s wards), Rudsar Prison, Haviq Prison in Talesh, Azbaram Prison in Lahijan, Dieselabad Prison in Kermanshah, Ardabil Prison, Tabriz Prison, Urmia Prison, Salmas Prison, Khoy Prison, Naqadeh Prison, Miandoab Prison, Mahabad Prison, Bukan Prison, Saqqez Prison, Baneh Prison, Marivan Prison, Sanandaj Prison, Kamyaran Prison, Ilam Prison, Kerman Prison, Borujen Prison, Neishabur Prison, Gachsaran Prison, Nur Prison, Iranshahr Prison, Bandar Abbas Prison, Ziabar Prison in Sowme’eh Sara, Darreh Shahr Prison in Ilam, and Meshgin Shahr Prison.
Week One Hundred and Forty-One
6 October 2026
#No_to_Execution_Tuesdays_Campaign
