During a conference held on April 11, 2025, at Paris’s 5th District City Hall, organized to mark the support of over 1,000 French mayors for the international “No to Executions” campaign. Ms. Sarvnaz Chitsaz, Chair of the NCRI Women’s Committee, delivered remarks addressing the escalating wave of executions in Iran and the responsibility of the international community in this regard.
Ms. Chitsaz emphasized, “Every execution in Iran is a political act aimed at preserving the ruling religious dictatorship, and opposing it is tantamount to standing up to the entirety of this repressive regime.”
She also highlighted the prominent role of women in this struggle, describing the “No to Executions” campaign as an integral part of the Iranian people’s broader fight for freedom and democracy.
Following is the text of remarks by Ms. Sarvnaz Chitsaz at Paris’s 5th District City Hall.
Sarvnaz Chitsaz: The Support of 1,000 Mayors for the ‘No to Executions’ Campaign is a Valuable Act of Solidarity
Dear friends, I sincerely thank Mayor Florence Berthout and Mayor Jean-François Legaret for organizing this important conference against the death penalty.
This initiative is a valuable show of solidarity with thousands of individuals on death row in Iran, and with the many families who live each day in fear of executions. It also reflects solidarity with the people of Iran as a whole, who are confronted daily with the grim reality of the executions.
I also extend my gratitude to the 1,000 French mayors for their support of the Iranian people and the “No to Executions” campaign.
In recent days, the regime’s killing machine has resumed with unprecedented speed. Between April 7 and 10, thirty-three people, including three women, were executed.
In the eight months since the start of Pezeshkian’s presidency, we have recorded more than 1,010 executions, at least 384 of whom were from ethnic minorities. Among them were several individuals under the age of 18 at the time of the alleged crime. These are only the verified cases; the actual number is far higher.
The “No to Executions” campaign is part of a broader struggle for freedom and democracy in Iran. As the statement by the mayors also noted, each execution in Iran is a political act, meant to solidify the power of a religious dictatorship.
Therefore, opposing the death penalty in Iran means standing against the very core of this theocratic dictatorship.
Thank you for your attention.
