In a continued display of resilience against the Iranian regime’s escalating use of capital punishment, prisoners across Iran marked the 72nd consecutive week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign on June 9, 2025. The movement, which involves weekly hunger strikes, has now expanded to encompass inmates in 47 different prisons, with Ahar prison being the latest facility to join the protest.
This sustained act of defiance comes as the regime accelerates its rate of executions. According to the campaign’s latest statement, more than 95 individuals have been executed since the beginning of Khordad (the Iranian month starting on May 21, 2025). In a particularly grim surge, 16 people were executed on June 1, 2025, alone, with eight of those deaths occurring in Ghezel Hesar prison. The campaign, which began in January 2024, highlights the prisoners’ ongoing protest against what they describe as the regime’s systematic execution policy.
In their statement for the 72nd week, the campaign participants reiterated their firm stand: “In this week of the campaign, we once again emphasize our principled, legal, and moral opposition to the death penalty. This opposition is based on recognized principles of international law, the obligations of states regarding human rights, and the necessity of preserving inherent human dignity.”
The prisoners argue that the regime uses executions as a tool to mask its inability to address pressing national issues. “The autocratic rulers, unable to respond to major economic and livelihood crises, have tried in the past year to cover up public demands through suppression and the implementation of death sentences,” the statement declared. This suppression, they note, has also increasingly targeted Afghan nationals residing in Iran, “defenseless convicts who have no voice to defend themselves, and the execution machine in Iran also deprives them of the right to life.”
The “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign explicitly condemns this new wave of repression and executions and calls for a serious response from international human rights institutions. The participants highlight that the death penalty fundamentally violates the right to life, as enshrined in Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). They assert that “no emergency conditions or cultural, political, or security justifications can legitimize such a punishment.”
The statement further detailed the flaws in the judicial process under the current regime: “According to international human rights standards… the death penalty, even in countries that have not abolished it, must be limited to the most serious crimes and accompanied by full observance of fair trial principles. However, in the despotic rule of the mullahs, most defendants are tried without access to an independent lawyer, under pressure to confess, and in judicial processes lacking transparency; a situation that is a clear example of ‘extrajudicial execution.'”
The recent inclusion of Ahar prison inmates, who announced their decision to join the weekly hunger strikes in protest against the escalating wave of executions, signals the campaign’s growing reach and the prisoners’ determination.
The prisoners participating in the 72nd week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” hunger strike are from: Evin Prison (women’s ward, wards 4 and 8), Ghezel Hesar Prison (units 3 and 4), Karaj Central Prison, Fardis Prison in Karaj, Greater Tehran Prison, Khorin Prison in Varamin, Choubindar Prison in Qazvin, Arak Prison, Khorramabad Prison, Yasouj Prison, Asadabad Prison in Isfahan, Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan, Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz, Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz (men’s and women’s wards), Nezam Prison in Shiraz, Adelabad Prison in Shiraz (men’s and women’s wards), Firouzabad Prison in Fars, Zahedan Prison (women’s ward), Borazjan Prison, Ramhormoz Prison, Behbahan Prison, Bam Prison, Kahnuj Prison, Tabas Prison, Mashhad Prison, Gonbad-e Kavus Prison, Qaemshahr Prison, Rasht Prison (men’s and women’s wards), Roudsar Prison, Havigh Prison in Talesh, Azbaram Prison in Lahijan, Dizel Abad Prison in Kermanshah, Ardabil Prison, Tabriz Prison, Urmia Prison, Salmas Prison, Khoy Prison, Naqadeh Prison, Miandoab Prison, Mahabad Prison, Bukan Prison, Saqqez Prison, Baneh Prison, Marivan Prison, Sanandaj Prison, Kamyaran Prison, and Ahar Prison.
The “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign serves as a powerful testament to the ongoing resistance within Iran against the regime’s oppressive practices, demonstrating that even from behind prison walls, the call for human rights and an end to state-sanctioned killings continues to grow louder.