Transfer of Eight Death Row Prisoners to Solitary Confinement in Qazalhesar

At least eight death row prisoners in Qazalhesar prison in Karaj have been transferred to solitary confinement since Tuesday, November 7. According to the Iran Human Rights Organization, their death sentences are set to be carried out on Wednesday, and their families have been summoned for a final visit. These prisoners have been sentenced to death on drug-related charges. The Iran Human Rights Organization emphasized that executions of prisoners with drug-related charges in Iran have significantly increased over the past four years, with the number of executions in 2023 showing an 84% increase compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, coinciding with the fortieth week of the "No to Executions Tuesdays" campaign, a group of families of death row inmates gathered in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly on Tuesday, November 8. In the released videos, the demonstrators, mostly women, chanted "Do not execute" and called for a halt to the implementation of death sentences. At the same time, the "No to Executions Tuesdays" campaign issued a statement announcing that on November 4, the court confirmed the death sentences of four political prisoners from the Baloch ethnic group: Aido Shahbakhsh, Abdul Ghani Shahbakhsh, Abdul Rahim Qanbarzahi, and Suleiman Shahbakhsh, referring the execution orders to the Tehran Security Prosecutor's Office. Campaign members warned that these four individuals, who are part of the "No to Executions Tuesdays" campaign, have been held under harsh conditions in the "secure ward" of Qazalhesar prison for over 16 months and are at imminent risk of execution. According to the statement, approximately 567 executions have taken place since the beginning of this year, with 150 executed in October alone and 27 in the first week of November. Activists of the "No to Executions Tuesdays" campaign condemned the widespread executions in Iran and the sentencing of the four Baloch prisoners in an unfair trial, urging human rights activists to amplify the voices of prisoners and the families of those sentenced to death. According to Amnesty International, the Islamic Republic is responsible for 74% of recorded executions worldwide last year. Josep Borrell stated: "We condemn the 'murder' of Jamshid Sharmard to the strongest extent." Support for the "Black Tuesdays" campaign was expressed in a virtual meeting against the death penalty. The daughter of Jamshid Sharmard called for "immediate punishment" of the Islamic Republic for her father's execution. The UN Special Rapporteur stated that the death penalty in Iran must end.