“No Execution Tuesdays” Campaign Gains Momentum as Political Prisoners Join in Protest

In its 39th consecutive week, the “No Execution Tuesdays” campaign, involving striking prisoners from more than 20 prisons across Iran, marked a significant development on October 22. In its statement, the campaign announced that a group of political prisoners from Shiban Prison in Ahvaz announced their participation in this growing movement to express their solidarity in the fight of the country’s prisoners to abolish the death penalty.

The statement, released to coincide with the anniversary of the 2022 protests and in memory of those who lost their lives in that movement, emphasized the mounting internal and external crises faced by the Iranian regime. It highlighted the alarming increase in executions, noting that more than 140 people have been hanged in October alone.

The campaign also drew attention to the execution of five women, while underscoring that 35 people were executed in just the past week. Seventeen of these executions took place on October 16, further intensifying concern over the regime’s increasing use of the death penalty.

A particularly alarming aspect of the campaign’s latest update was the transfer of four political prisoners, all Arab, to solitary confinement in Shiban Prison, where they face imminent execution. The campaign expressed grave concern for their lives, labeling this act as another example of the regime’s harsh repression of political dissent.

In response to these escalating threats, the political prisoners of Shiban Prison announced their formal participation in the “No Execution Tuesdays” campaign, adding their voices to the call for an end to state executions.

The campaign condemned what it described as “systematic executions” carried out by the Iranian regime, urging activists, political and civil institutions, trade unions, human rights organizations, and concerned individuals worldwide to take action against these repressive measures. According to the statement, opposing the issuance and execution of death sentences must now become a core social demand.

The statement’s authors stressed that real change can only come through “resistance, solidarity, and collective will.” They expressed hope that, through unified efforts, the machinery of execution could be stopped, and the foundations of such “inhuman laws” abolished.

As part of their protest, a hunger strike was held on October 22, involving prisoners in several facilities across Iran, including Evin Prison (Women’s Ward, Wards 4 and 8), Ghezel Hesar Prison (Units 3 and 4), Central Karaj Prison, Great Tehran Prison, and others, including prisons in Khorramabad, Arak, Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad, Rasht, Tabriz, and Urmia, among others.

The growing involvement of political prisoners across the country has added significant momentum to the “No Execution Tuesdays” campaign, amplifying its calls for an end to Iran’s execution practices and underscoring the urgent need for domestic and international pressure to address the ongoing crisis.