(Video) 35th Week of “No to Executions Tuesdays” Campaign Begins in 21 Iranian Prisons

Tuesday was also chosen because those sentenced to death in Ghezel Hesar Prison are usually transferred to solitary confinement for execution on this day.

PARIS, FRANCE, September 26, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In an article, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Foreign Affairs Committee reported that. On Tuesday, September 24, the 35th consecutive week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign began across 21 prisons in Iran, marking another wave of protests against the Iranian regime’s continued use of the death penalty. This movement, driven by political prisoners, aims to bring attention to the growing number of executions, particularly those connected to the 2022 nationwide protests.

Participating prisons include Evin, Ghezel Hesar, Tehran Central, and others across cities like Karaj, Shiraz, Mashhad, and Tabriz. The prisoners have launched a coordinated hunger strike to raise awareness about the human rights abuses perpetrated by the regime.

In their latest statement, they expressed solidarity with the victims of a recent mining disaster in Tabas, pointing to the incident as another example of the government’s systemic corruption and mismanagement.

The prisoners condemned the recent death sentences handed down to two political prisoners, Mehdi Hasani and Behrouz Ehsani, who were arrested during the 2022 protests. They also highlighted the cases of two other detainees, Mohammad Javad Vafaee Sani and Kurdish political prisoner Hatem Ozdemir, both of whom have been sentenced to death for their activism since 2019.

In a show of defiance, the striking prisoners have called upon international human rights organizations, political leaders, and the global public to hold the Iranian government accountable for its ongoing execution spree.

They urged global leaders, especially those attending the United Nations, to confront the Iranian president regarding the regime’s record of executions.

Outside the prison walls, support for the campaign continues to grow. On September 21, 2024, a grieving mother stood at the grave of Mohsen Shekari, a protestor executed by the regime, holding a placard in support of “No to Executions Tuesdays.” She declared her solidarity with the campaign, stating that her son had also been a victim of the regime’s oppressive measures. Her words echoed the pain of many Iranian families who have lost loved ones to state-sponsored executions, further underscoring the deep-rooted desire for justice.

The “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign continues to amplify the voices of political prisoners and their families, shedding light on Iran’s disturbing use of the death penalty as a means of silencing dissent.

As the campaign enters its 35th week, it has become a powerful symbol of resistance against a regime accused of gross human rights violations. The international community is increasingly called upon to address the urgent situation inside Iran’s prisons, where many political detainees still face the threat of execution.

Inmates in multiple prisons across Iran held the thirty-fifth week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign on Tuesday, September 24, protesting the wave of executions in Iran by holding hunger strikes. The prisons that took part in the campaign include Evin (Women’s Ward, Ward 4, and Ward 8), Ghezel Hesar (Unit 3 and Unit 4), Karaj Central Prison, Greater Tehran Prison, Khorramabad Prison, Nezam Prison in Shiraz, Asadabad Prison in Isfahan, Bam Prison, Mashhad Prison, Qaemshahr Prison, Lakan Prison in Rasht, Ardabil Prison, Tabriz Prison, Urmia Prison, Khoy Prison, Naqadeh Prison, Salmas Prison, Saqqez Prison, Baneh Prison, Marivan Prison, and Kamyaran Prison.

In their statement, the striking prisoners expressed sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the Tabas mine explosion and wished a speedy recovery to the injured. They emphasized that such tragedies, which have repeatedly occurred in the country, are the result of systemic corruption and inefficiency in the authoritarian government.

The prisoners’ statement reads: “In the past week, the ruling religious dictatorship in Iran sentenced two political prisoners, Mehdi Hassani and Behrooz Ehsani, who were arrested during the 2022 protests, to death behind closed doors, violating their right to a fair trial, based on fabricated charges.

Additionally, two other political prisoners, Mohammad Javad Vafa’i Thani and a Kurdish prisoner named Hatam Ozdemir, who have been imprisoned since 2019, were also re-sentenced to death.”

The prisoners involved in the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign called on state representatives at the United Nations and all human rights organizations to question and hold accountable the head of the government of executions, who has gone to the United Nations, for the widespread wave of killings and executions of prisoners.

The strike comes as the regime continues to ramp up executions. On Thursday, September 19, 2024, the regime executed three people in Yazd and Karaj.
On September 17, 2024, regime authorities carried out two other executions in Bandar Abbas and Gorgan. On September 16, 2024, four prisoners were executed in Shiraz and Isfahan. And on September 15, 2024, the regime executed four prisoners in Shiraz and Tabriz.

At least 178 have been executed in the Iranian months of Mordad and Shahrivar (July 22 till September 21).

Moreover, on September 16, 2024, regime authorities announced that two prisoners convicted of theft had been sentenced to finger amputation. The inhumane sentencing of finger amputation comes at a time when billion-dollar thefts and embezzlement by the regime’s leaders and various factions have become routine, without anyone being arrested or punished.

On September 26, 2024, the regime-affiliated Asr Iran website reported: “At the end of the Iranian year of 1402 (March 2024), the total loans given to employees of 11 banks exceeded 124 trillion tomans, mostly with low interest rates and long-term repayment plans.” Regime-affiliated media also reported in December 2023 about a €3.7 billion embezzlement scandal in Debsh Tea Company, linked to the IRGC and Khamenei’s office. Yet, the judiciary has neither named nor punished the masterminds behind these astronomical thefts.

Despite these challenges, the prisoners reaffirmed their commitment to resist and stand firm against the regime’s tactics. “With all the pressures and repressions imposed by the religious dictatorship on this campaign and Iranian society, the prisoners continue to stand up against oppression and executions,” they declared.

The statement noted that A group of political prisoners in Greater Tehran Prison announced their participation in the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign from this week onward.

The campaign, which has gained international attention, has drawn support from various human rights advocates worldwide. Notably, Elisabetta Zamparutti, a former member of the Italian Parliament and an official of the human rights organization ‘Hands Off Cain,’ recently announced her decision to join the hunger strike every Tuesday in support of the campaign, highlighting the dire human rights situation in Iran and the increasing number of executions under the current regime.

As the hunger strike continues, political prisoners in 19 prisons, including Evin Prison, Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj Central Prison, Khorramabad Prison, Shiraz Military Prison, Mashhad Prison, Qaem Shahr Prison, Lakan Rasht Prison, Tabriz Prison, Ardabil Prison, Khoy Prison, Naqadeh Prison, Urmia Prison, Salmas Prison, Saqqez Prison, Baneh Prison, Mariwan Prison, Kamyaran Prison, and Greater Tehran Prison, have called on all people, both inside and outside Iran, to join their cause. They seek support for the campaign’s goal of abolishing the death penalty and stopping the torture of prisoners in Iran.

Alongside the 31st week of the hunger strike, many human rights defenders have voiced their support for the campaign, urging international action to halt the Iranian regime’s criminal executions.

On August 27, in a statement made public, 68 human rights groups and organizations, both Iranian and international, expressed solidarity with the “No to Executions Tuesdays” movement in Iran. These organizations have called for global support to end the use of the death penalty in Iran and to protect human rights in the country.

The statement from the prisoners concluded with a plea to all conscious individuals worldwide to support the movement against executions in Iran. “We appeal to all awakened consciences around the world to support this campaign to abolish the death penalty and oppose its use,” they urged, emphasizing the critical need for global solidarity in the fight against this brutal practice.

The “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign continues to gain momentum, driven by the resilience and determination of political prisoners who refuse to be silenced by the regime’s oppressive tactics.

Their ongoing hunger strike and steadfast opposition to the death penalty highlight the enduring struggle for human rights and justice in Iran, reminding the world of the urgent need to stand against such inhumane practices.

For nearly nine months, a “No to Executions Tuesdays” movement has been going on in Iran's prisons. The movement began on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, in Karaj's Ghezel Hesar Prison.

The reason was that prisoners who were sentenced to death were executed in this prison on Tuesdays. On the same day, January 30, the prisoners of this prison went on a hunger strike to protest against the execution. This was then repeated on the following Tuesdays. " No to Execution Tuesdays," the theme of the protest movement, later spread to Tehran's Evin prisons and gradually to many other prisons.

All the Persian-language media outlets that have written about this issue consider the origin, beginning, and initiative of this movement to be from Qezelhesar Prison.

On August 29, 2024, Deutsche Welle wrote in this regard :

Sixty-eight Iranian and international human rights organizations and institutions issued a statement expressing solidarity with the "No Executions Tuesdays" campaign in Iran's prisons, calling for the international community's support for the protest campaign.

“No to Execution Tuesdays " is a collective movement that began in February 2024 by Jafar Ebrahimi, Zartosht Ahmadi Ragheb, Sepehr Imam Jumeh, Logman Aminpour, Ahmadreza Haeri, Meysam Dehbanzadeh, Reza Salmanzadeh, Hamzeh Savari, Saeed Masouri, and Reza Mohammad Hosseini with a hunger strike in Karaj's Ghezel Hesar Prison.

The Persian Independent website wrote on August 29 :

"The campaign for No Tuesdays to Death began on January 30, 2024. On this day, Jafar Ebrahimi, Zoroaster Ahmadi Ragheb, Sepehr Imam Jumeh, Loghman Aminpour, Ahmadreza Haeri, Meysam Dehbanzadeh, Reza Salmanzadeh, Hamzeh Savari, Saeed Masouri, and Reza Mohammad Hosseini, 10 prisoners imprisoned in Ghezel Hesar Prison, went on a hunger strike to protest the wave of weekly executions in this prison.

Tuesday was also chosen because those sentenced to death in Ghezel Hesar Prison are usually transferred to solitary confinement for execution on this day.

The Radio Farda website also wrote on the same day :

"Jafar Ebrahimi, Zortosht Ahmadi Ragheb, Sepehr Imam Jumeh, Logman Aminpour, Ahmadreza Haeri, Meysam Dehbanzadeh, Reza Salmanzadeh, Hamzeh Savari, Saeed Masouri, and Reza Mohammad Hosseini, 10 prisoners of Ghezel Hesar Prison, launched a campaign against the death penalty in February last year to protest the wave of weekly executions in that prison, titled "Black Tuesdays No to the Death Penalty."

On April 17 .2024: the English website Radio Farda wrote the same fact4.

Prisoners in Ghezel Hesar have been actively protesting through the "No to Execution Tuesdays Strike" campaign since February 29, aiming to draw attention to the widespread executions.

The campaign has gained momentum, with inmates from prisons such as Evin, Khorramabad, Karaj Central, Khoy, Naghadeh, Mashhad, and Saqqez joining in support.

On August 31, 2024, the BBC Radio website wrote a detailed article about this movement, including the following.

"Ghezel Hesar Prison and No to Executions on Tuesdays, with the morning call to prayer, death sentences are carried out in Qezelhesar Prison.

In the past months, with the increase in the number of executions in Qezelhesar Prison, prisoners who were on death row decided to use their bodies as a means to protest the death sentence and went on a hunger strike.

This protest movement was repeated every week until gradually other prisoners in Qezelhesar joined the protest movement and with its continuation, prisoners in different prisons also joined it.

Since the beginning of the campaign, more than 19 prisons have joined the hunger strike against the death penalty, and the protest movement is spreading from inside the prison every day.

For more than thirty-one weeks, prisoners in Qezelhesar have been on hunger strike every Tuesday and at the same time issuing a statement opposing the execution.

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Shahin Gobadi
NCRI
+33 6 61 65 32 31
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A group of political prisoners in Greater Tehran Prison announced their participation in the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign from this week onward.