The 'No to Execution Tuesdays' Campaign Reports Record Executions in the Week Following the Start of the 'Appointed Government'

The 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign announced on Tuesday, August 23, that the 'rulers of religious tyranny and the agents of repression and intimidation' have broken the record for state killings and executions in recent years by executing over 45 imprisoned compatriots since last Tuesday, August 16, with 29 executed in a single day and 26 of them collectively in Ghezelsar prison. The statement noted that in recent weeks, a large number of political prisoners have been sentenced to death under vague judicial processes for fabricated charges of 'rebellion' and 'corruption on earth.' It further warned that the latest death sentences that are in serious danger involve 'six Sunni political-prisoners sentenced by the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad.' The statement indicated that the rise in executions occurred 'after the inauguration of the new president of the Islamic Republic,' who claimed that 'Iran is the safest country in the Middle East'; in a regime of executions, 'security' is understood in this way. This campaign, which began in February 2023 in protest against the wave of executions of prisoners for common crimes and the 'executions of Kurdish and Sunni compatriots,' continued with the political executions of the late Mohammad Qabadi and Farhad Salimi. The 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign stated that in the 29 weeks of its activities, there has not been a week without witnessing the government's use of this medieval punishment in prisons. Activists of this campaign, many of whom are recognized hunger-striking prisoners, reminded that after the death of Ebrahim Raisi, a member of the death committee of the 1988 massacre, and on the eve of the presidential election show, the repressive apparatus of the Islamic Republic reduced executions to the extent possible. 'We, the prisoners of the No to Execution Tuesdays campaign, warned at that time that the reduction of executions was a tactical matter and would likely lead to a widespread wave of executions of prisoners.' In another part of the statement, cross-factional activists condemned the violation of the fundamental rights of prisoners and the 'taking of the right to life of these dear ones, especially the late Reza Rasayi,' expressing sympathy with their families and asserting that resistance against this 'barbarism' is 'their right.' The statement emphasized that recent protests in various prisons, including Lakan prison in Rasht and the attack and suppression of the women's ward in Evin prison, would 'certainly not prevent the continuation of these protests and will not intimidate us.' Members of this campaign called on 'all awakened consciences inside and outside the country' to rise against executions with all their might and support the 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign in any possible way before the repressive apparatus of the ruling religious tyranny in Iran kills hundreds and thousands of prisoners of common and political crimes in Ghezelsar, Karaj, Urmia, Zahedan, Mashhad, and dozens of other prisons across the country.' Hunger-striking prisoners of the 'No to Execution Tuesdays' campaign announced that today, August 23, 2023, they would be on hunger strike for the twenty-ninth consecutive week in 18 prisons, including Evin (women's wards, 4, 6, and 8), Ghezelsar (units 3 and 4), central Karaj, Khorramabad, Shiraz, Khoy, Naqdeh, Tabriz, Urmia, Ardabil, Salmas, Saqqez, Baneh, Marivan, Kamyaran, Lakan Rasht, Qaemshahr, and Vakilabad in Mashhad.