In the face of a terrifying rise in executions in Iran, a courageous campaign has emerged from behind prison walls and spread across the nation: “No to Execution Tuesdays.” Now entering its 70th week, this movement is uniting prisoners, families, and activists in weekly acts of defiance against the regime’s relentless use of the death penalty as a tool of repression and fear.
The campaign’s organizers have issued a powerful and urgent appeal: “Silence is not the answer. We must cry out and rise up against this injustice.”
An Execution Crisis Escalates
According to the latest figures cited by the campaign, more than 170 prisoners were executed in the month of Ordibehesht (April 21–May 21, 2025) alone. This, they stress, is not just a statistic—it represents a systematic and growing campaign of violence by the state:
“The killing of prisoners in the regime’s prisons has not only continued, but it is also accelerating. This ‘madness of state-sanctioned murder’ is intensifying.”
The statement reveals a chilling frequency: “Every 9 hours, two prisoners are executed in Iran.”
#IranProtests: "No to Execution Tuesdays" Hunger Strike Spreads to 41 Prisons Amid Death Sentence Surgehttps://t.co/LMjFEIRbkc
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) May 13, 2025
Among those disproportionately affected are ethnic minorities. Approximately 19% of those executed in the last month were from Iran’s oppressed Baluch community, highlighting the intersection of judicial violence with long-standing ethnic discrimination.
“The right to life of ethnic and religious minorities is trampled underfoot… Baluch, Kurdish, and Arab compatriots, as well as prisoners of conscience, are being recklessly sent to the gallows.”
A Campaign Rooted in Resistance
In response to this crisis, the No to Execution Tuesdays campaign began as a grassroots act of protest inside Iranian prisons. Political prisoners—many of them women—gather every Tuesday to raise the cry of resistance. Their actions coincide with peaceful protests outside the prisons, where families and supporters gather to demand an end to executions.
“It is commendable and necessary that caring Iranians—especially those with access to international platforms—carry the cry of the Iranian people’s ‘No to Execution’ to the world.”
On Tuesday, May 27, 2025, the campaign will mark its 70th week. In an unprecedented act of collective protest, political prisoners in 45 prisons across Iran will launch coordinated hunger strikes. These include some of Iran’s most notorious prisons: Evin, Ghezel Hesar, Greater Tehran, Karaj Central, Zahedan, Urmia, Tabriz, Shiraz (Adel Abad), Ahvaz (Sepidar & Sheiban), Sanandaj, Mahabad, and more.
Iran’s bloodthirsty regime goes on sick execution spree with 22 killed in 3 DAYS behind ‘smoke screen’ of US nuke talks – @ByKatieDavis via @IrishSunOnline https://t.co/X0IQaXgWOT
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) May 4, 2025
This extensive and coordinated action signals the depth of solidarity among political prisoners and the campaign’s growing reach.
“This unity, inside and outside prison, is admirable—and the slogan ‘No to Execution’ deserves to echo in the streets and in all protest gatherings.”
The Political Nature of Every Execution
The campaign rejects the regime’s justification for executions as ordinary criminal justice. Instead, it insists:
“Every death sentence in Iran today is political—not merely a punishment for a crime.”
The judiciary is not a neutral body.
“There is no fair trial process in the regime’s judicial and security systems. Every defendant is a victim of the regime’s corrupt and dysfunctional structure.”
The executions, the statement warns, serve a clear purpose:
“The real goal is to spread terror in society and prevent popular uprisings. As the crises deepen in the country, so too does the wave of repression and executions.”
Seventieth Week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign in Iran’s Prisons https://t.co/LrkcNdlsRH pic.twitter.com/a8pOKYO97B
— Iran Focus (@Iran_Focus) May 27, 2025
A Global Call to Conscience
The campaign urges the international community to recognize what is happening in Iran as what it is:
“This inhumane behavior by the dictatorship against Iran’s people and minorities is a clear example of crimes against humanity and gross violations of human rights.”
They ask human rights advocates everywhere to stand in solidarity—especially those with a voice in international media and institutions.
“We sincerely call on all those who care about human rights and long for a free and just Iran to stand with the victims of oppression in these difficult times.”
A Movement for Life
“No to Execution Tuesdays” is no longer just a campaign—it is a movement. It is a declaration of life in a system built on fear and death. It is an insistence on dignity, justice, and accountability. And it is a growing moral force that refuses to be silenced.
From the hunger strikes in Karaj to the protests outside Sanandaj, from the chants of women prisoners in Evin to the grief of Baluch families in Zahedan, the message is clear:
“No to Execution. Yes to life. Yes to justice.”