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Iran News: Prisoners in 24 Facilities Hold 40th Week of ‘No to Executions’ Campaign

Photo courtesy: Wikipedia

In the 40th week of the “No to Executions Tuesday Campaign,” with Kahnuj prison joining, the number of participating prisons has reached 24. Every week prisoners across the country are holding hunger strikes in protest to the growing wave of executions in Iran. 

The participating prisons include Evin (Women’s Ward, Wards 4 and 8), Ghezel Hesar (Units 3 and 4), Karaj Central, Greater Tehran, Khorramabad, Arak, Asadabad Isfahan, Shiraz Military Prison, Bam, Mashhad, Lakan Rasht (Men’s and Women’s Wards), Qaemshahr, Ardabil, Tabriz, Urmia, Salmas, Khoy, Naqadeh, Saqqez, Baneh, Marivan, Kamyaran, Sheiban Ahvaz, and Kahnuj. 

In the statement of the 40th week of the campaign, participating prisoners stated, “In the medieval regime ruling Iran, we are witnessing an increasing daily rate of executions. In the first week of Aban (the Persian calendar month that starts on October 22), 27 people were hanged over three days, averaging seven executions per day. Since the beginning of this year, approximately 567 people have been executed, with 150 of these executions occurring just in the month of Mehr (September 22–October 21). 

“Unfortunately, yesterday, Jamshid Sharmahd was executed after four years of imprisonment. Jamshid Sharmahd had been held in a security detention facility the entire time. Over the past four years, security agencies did not allow his transfer to the general ward, aiming to conceal his torture and violations of his human rights.” 

The statement of the striking prisoners further added, “On October 25, the sentences of four Baluchi political and ideological prisoners were confirmed by the court and referred to the Tehran Security Prosecutor’s Office for execution. These four prisoners—Eido Shahbakhsh, Abdolghani Shahbakhsh, Abdolrahim Qanbarzehi, and Soleiman Shahbakhsh—are also members of the ‘No to Executions Tuesday Campaign’ and have been held under extremely dire conditions for almost 16 months in the ‘secure ward’ of Ghezel Hesar prison. Their lives are in danger.” 

The striking prisoners’ statement also noted, “Despite all these repressions and the creation of terror in society, resistance and perseverance continue. Last week, coinciding with the ‘No to Executions Tuesday Campaign,’ a group of families of prisoners sentenced to death held a protest rally against executions in front of the Majlis (Iranian regime parliament).”