On April 14, 2026, inmates across Iran marked the 116th consecutive week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign, holding hunger strikes in at least 56 prisons nationwide. The protests continue under the shadow of a severe, seven-week internet blackout, escalating security pressures, and the turbulent aftermath of a war that has been paused in an April 7 ceasefire.
Organized defiance in the dark
Despite the complete severing of internet access—which has drastically reduced the ability to publish statements and inform the public—the weekly hunger strikes have not stopped. Political prisoners and other inmates have managed to convey that their resistance remains highly organized and functional even without the ability to communicate with the outside world.
Participants in this campaign have announced that despite the existing pressures and restrictions, they remain committed to their pledge and will continue the weekly hunger strike, demonstrating the persistence of protests inside the penitentiaries.
Violence and solitary confinement in Ghezel Hesar
Coinciding with the 116th week of the campaign, reports indicate that pressure continues on political prisoners inside Ghezel Hesar Prison. Prison guards raided Unit 4 of the facility on March 29, subjecting inmates to physical beatings before forcibly removing several individuals from the ward.
Four political prisoners—Saeed Masouri, Sepehr Imam-Jomeh, Loghman Aminpour, and Meysam Dehbanzadeh—have been held in solitary confinement in unknown locations for 25 days following the raid. These violent transfers to solitary confinement occurred right before the implementation of death sentences of PMOI members. Transferring political prisoners to solitary confinement just prior to executions is recognized as a recurring pattern at Ghezel Hesar.
Withholding bodies of executed dissidents
In addition to executions and solitary confinement, the regime is refusing to hand over the bodies of recently executed political prisoners to their families. More than 15 days after their executions were carried out, the bodies of Vahid Bani-Amerian, Mohammad Taghavi, Babak Alipour, Pouya Ghobadi, Abolhassan Montazer, and Akbar Daneshvarkar remain unaccounted for.
Authorities have kept the victims’ families in complete uncertainty regarding the location or burial sites of their loved ones. This deliberate refusal to provide transparent information inflicts significant psychological pressure on the families, leaving them in a state of indefinite limbo.
As Iran’s regime navigates the fallout of a devastating war and attempts to mask its vulnerability through internet blackouts and executions, the unabated continuity of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign highlights a deeply rooted opposition movement. The steadfastness of prisoners across 56 facilities underscores a nationwide resistance that refuses to be suppressed by isolation, violence, or digital darkness.