Protests by workers, retirees, nurses, teachers, women, students, and more continue daily, with chants opposing the death penalty in solidarity with those on death row. These groups stand with the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign, showing resilience and unity.
On Tuesday, September 10, 2024, the 33rd week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign saw prisoners in 21 prisons across Iran continuing their weekly hunger strike. In recent weeks, inmates in Bam and Asadabad prisons have joined the campaign, increasing its reach. However, last week, officials at Urmia Central Prison threatened prisoners participating in the campaign with harm to themselves and their families, an attempt to intimidate and suppress their protest.
- Mohammad Hassani, a political prisoner, has been transferred to solitary confinement in Karaj Central Prison.
- Families of prisoners at Iranshahr Prison have gathered to protest against prison officials who reportedly demand bribes for visitation rights.
Statement from the Prisoners Participating in the “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign:
As the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign reaches its 33rd week, prisoners in 21 facilities across the country continue their mass hunger strike, calling for an end to executions.
This escalation occurs on the eve of the second anniversary of the 2022 protests and the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, a period marked by intensified repression from the regime. According to various media reports, in September alone, multiple detainees reportedly died under torture in prison, and at least 29 individuals were executed.
The ongoing crackdown is further underscored by the wave of arrests involving hundreds of political activists throughout September, particularly in the regions of Kurdistan and Baluchistan. This month also marks the sixth anniversary of the executions of three Kurdish activists—Ramin Hossein Panahi, Loghman Moradi, and Zanyar Moradi—who were hanged by the regime in 2018. Their bodies, like those of countless others, were never returned to their families, part of a longstanding practice of enforced disappearances intended to inflict further suffering on the families of the executed.
This inhumane tactic, highlighted in a recent report by former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Mr. Javaid Rahman, titled Atrocities Crime, addresses the regime’s history of executions and enforced disappearances, particularly in the 1980s and 1988. Rahman’s report aims to pave the way for accountability and the prosecution of those responsible for these systematic human rights violations.
These repressive measures by the government reflect its inability to address society’s problems and its reliance on a corrupt and unchangeable structure to suppress popular protests and uprisings. Despite this, demonstrations by workers, retirees, nurses, teachers, women, students, and others persist daily. With slogans opposing the death penalty, these groups stand in solidarity with death row prisoners and actively support the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign.
In contrast, the government continues to respond to these peaceful protests with force. Last week, reliable sources reported that Urmia Prison officials—acting on orders from prison head Peyman Khanzadeh and head of security Nader Azarnia—threatened striking prisoners involved in the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign, pressuring them to halt their protest and hunger strike.
Members of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign across 21 prisons—including groups from Evin Prison (Women’s Ward, Wards 4 and 6), Ghezel Hesar Prison (Units 3 and 4), Karaj Central Prison, Greater Tehran Prison, Khorramabad Prison, Nizam Shiraz Prison, Bam Prison, Asadabad Prison in Isfahan, Mashhad Prison, Lakan Prison in Rasht (Men’s and Women’s Wards), Qaemshahr Prison, Ardabil Prison, Tabriz Prison, Urmia Prison, Khoy Prison, Naqadeh Prison, Salmas Prison, Saqqez Prison, Baneh Prison, Marivan Prison, and Kamyaran Prison—will continue their hunger strike on Tuesday, September 11, 2024.
The striking prisoners, condemning recent death sentences, unjust arrests, and threats made against inmates in Urmia Prison, are committed to continuing the campaign in full opposition to executions under any charges. They urge all prisoners nationwide to join this movement and call on UN Special Rapporteur Ms. Mai Sato to visit Iran’s prisons, including those housing political prisoners and anonymous detainees sentenced to death.
