Joint Statement of 24 Iranian Women's Organizations: The Islamic Republic Executes to 'Stabilize the Repressive Regime'

A number of women's rights organizations issued a joint statement in response to the executions by the Islamic Republic in Iran, announcing plans for protest activities to garner support from international human rights and women's organizations regarding 'government killings.' In the statement from 24 Iranian women's rights organizations, a copy of which was received by Voice of America on Wednesday, June 3, the execution of Majid Kazemi, Saeed Yaghoubi, and Saleh Mirhashimi, three protesters linked to the Isfahan House case, is described as 'another page' in the 'criminal record of the execution regime.' The statement warns of the danger of execution for Ali Majdam, Mohammad Reza Moghadam, Adnan Mousavi Ghabishavi, Salem Mousavi Albooshokeh, Moein Khonfari, and Habib Daris, six Arab prisoners. The signatory organizations recall the executions of Mohsen Shekari, Majidreza Rahnavard, Mohammad Mehdi Karami, and Mohammad Hosseini, as well as Mohiuddin Ebrahimi and Habib Asiyoud, emphasizing that 'the Islamic Republic has used the death penalty as a tool to stabilize its repressive and misogynistic regime since the beginning of its rise to power.' The statement recalls 'sham trials lasting only a few minutes' from 'the beginning of the revolution to the mass executions of political prisoners and the suppression in Kurdistan, Turkmen Sahra, Khuzestan, and Baluchestan,' emphasizing that executions in the Islamic Republic are 'used as state killings for political crimes and for the most private human relationships, especially against the queer community, which is criminalized in Sharia law.' The statement also emphasizes the increase in executions to 'create terror and fear' in a context where the 'Women, Life, Freedom' revolution brings 'hope for liberation,' mentioning the execution of 209 individuals this year in Iran, 20 of whom were Baluch prisoners charged with drug-related offenses and 'retaliatory actions against the resistance of the people of Baluchestan.' Among the signatory organizations are the Iranian Women's Association of Dallas, the Iranian Women's Association of Cologne, the Parvaz Women's Association, the International Coalition Against Violence in Iran, the Stop Honor Killings Campaign, the Paris Committee of Women Against Stoning, and the Left Women's Union. Saeed Peyvandi, a sociologist, recently told Voice of America that the executions continue the policies of the Islamic Republic on the streets of Iran, and the main goal of the government is to eliminate the newfound courage and desensitization that has emerged in Iranian society after the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement. A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, in response to the Persian section of Voice of America regarding the Biden administration's reaction to the execution of three defendants in the 'Isfahan House' case, stated: 'We condemn the execution of Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashimi, and Saeed Yaghoubi by the Iranian regime in the strongest possible terms and stand with the people of Iran, sharing in the grief of the families of these three individuals.'