A Call for Action Against Death Sentences in Iran
The No to Executions Tuesdays Campaign has gained significant momentum over the past months, as Iranian prisoners continue to resist the oppressive regime through coordinated actions, including hunger strikes and protests against the death penalty. The campaign, which began as a grassroots initiative, has now spread to 25 prisons across Iran. On the 42nd week of the campaign, prisoners from various facilities, including the notorious Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan, have joined the protest, marking their participation with a collective hunger strike.
These courageous acts highlight the growing opposition to the regime’s brutal use of executions, particularly against women, religious and ethnic minorities, and those expressing dissent.
Following are excerpts from the statement of striking prisoners on the 42nd week of the No to Executions Tuesdays:
Dastgerd Prison joins the campaign of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” in the 42nd Week
The campaign has expanded to 25 prisons across the country.
Hostage-taking of Women, Religious and Ethnic Minorities through Death Sentences
As we approach the fifth anniversary of the bloody November 2019 uprising, we honor the memory of over 1,500 men, women, youth, and children who lost their lives in the protests. We send our solidarity to the families of the victims who continue to fight for justice despite the oppressive regime’s brutal crackdown.
The shadow of execution looms heavily over prisoners in the dark dungeons of the fascist Velayat-e Faqih regime. The machinery of executions continues to operate relentlessly. Over the last three weeks, more than 103 individuals, including two women, have been executed. This averages to about five executions per day. Since Pezeshkian took office, over 450 people have been executed, marking this as the sole grim achievement of the new government.
As we have witnessed in recent months, the corrupt judiciary has set new records for repression through its issuing and carrying out of death sentences.
Despite the regime’s reckless actions in issuing and executing death sentences, prisoners remain steadfast in their resistance and solidarity. In the 41st week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign, a group of prisoners from Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan began a hunger strike by returning their lunch as a protest, joining the broader campaign.
This campaign condemns the issuing of death sentences for our fellow women, such as Varisha Moradi and Pakhshan Azizi, as well as for the many Kurds, Baluchs, Arabs, and other protesters, which is nothing less than a form of hostage-taking. These executions are a response to the growing wave of protests from the oppressed segments of society, and we strongly denounce the “hostage-taking through death sentences” and call for collective resistance to this inhumane process.
The “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign, which has repeatedly warned of the imminent execution of condemned prisoners, once again urges all awake consciences and activists—political, civil, and human rights defenders—to act urgently to save the lives of those condemned to death and to stop and abolish executions in Iran. Only through active engagement, solidarity, and unified action can the killing machine of the Republic of Executions (i.e., the clerical regime in Iran) be brought to an end.
Members of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign are on hunger strike in 25 different prisons across Iran on Tuesday, November 14, 2024, in the 42nd week of the campaign.
The participating prisons include: Evin Prison (Women’s Ward, Wards 4 and 8), Qezel Hesar (Units 3 and 4), Central Karaj, Greater Tehran’s Penitentiary, Arak, Khorramabad, Asadabad Isfahan, Shaiban Ahvaz, Nezam Shiraz, Bam, Kahnouj, Mashhad, Qaemshahr, Lakan Rasht (Men’s and Women’s Wards), Ardabil, Tabriz, Urmia, Salmas, Khoy, Naqadeh, Saqqez, Baneh, Marivan, Kamyaran, and Dastgerd in Isfahan.
