The 49th week of Tuesdays Against Executions hunger strike was observed in 28 prisons across Iran
On Tuesday, December 31, 2024, the final day of the Gregorian calendar year, Iranian prisoners participating in the “Tuesdays Against Executions” hunger strike campaign marked the 49th week of their protest against the widespread and escalating use of the death penalty in Iran.
In their statement, the hunger-striking prisoners revealed the issuance of stoning sentences for several female inmates in the Qarchak Prison in Varamin. This shocking revelation adds another layer to the regime’s systematic use of brutal punishments.
Over the past week, the Iranian regime reinstated the death sentence for political prisoner Mojahed Kourkouri, a decision previously overturned. It decreed that amputations—part of their barbaric penal code—could now be performed with anesthesia. This chilling directive aims to normalize cruelty under the guise of judicial procedure.
The prisoners’ statement highlighted the gravity of these injustices. Excerpts of this statement follow:
Remaining silent in the face of such atrocities is tantamount to complicity.
In a period when calls for justice and opposition to executions echo louder than ever, the regime has not only refused to ease its oppressive measures but has intensified them. Recent judiciary rulings permitting anesthesia for amputations seek to desensitize society to inhumane acts while fostering fear and repression. Many theft defendants facing such punishments are victims of systemic corruption, deepening class divisions, and the astronomical embezzlements perpetrated by the regime and its affiliates.
As part of its ongoing misogynistic oppression, the regime has sentenced several female prisoners in Qarchak to stoning under the pretext of “illicit relationships.” At best, these medieval sentences might be reduced to death by hanging, highlighting the pervasive brutality of the clerical regime.
We believe silence in the face of such barbarity equates to complicity. It is imperative to resist this savagery and inhumanity.
In a country witnessing daily executions across its prisons, the regime’s brutality has surged. Between December 21 and 30, at least 41 individuals were executed, including 23 within just three days. Many death row inmates in various prisons have already been transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their sentences to be carried out.
Mojahed Kourkouri, a political prisoner detained for over two years, has once again had his death sentence confirmed by the Revolutionary Court in Ahvaz after an earlier ruling was overturned. His life is now in grave danger.
Participating in this 49th week of the “Tuesdays Against Execution” campaign were prisoners from: Evin Prison (Women’s Ward, Wards 4 and 8), Ghezel Hesar Prison (Units 2 and 4), Central Prison of Karaj, Greater Tehran Prison, Khorin Prison in Varamin, Arak Prison, Khorramabad Prison, Asadabad Prison in Isfahan, Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan, Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz, Nezam Prison in Shiraz, Bam Prison, Kahnuj Prison, Tabas Prison, Mashhad Prison, Qaemshahr Prison, Rasht Prison (Men’s and Women’s Wards), Roodsar Prison, Ardabil Prison, Tabriz Prison, Urmia Prison, Salmas Prison, Khoy Prison, Naqadeh Prison, Saqqez Prison, Baneh Prison, Marivan Prison, Kamyaran Prison.
