As we approach the second anniversary of the nationwide revolutionary uprising sparked by the state-sanctioned killing of Jina (Mahsa) Amini, we witness the resistance of female political prisoners in over 18 prisons across Iran. These women are waging a significant campaign for the right to life. The “No to Execution” campaign has now entered its 28th week of protest. The women prisoners have paid and continue to pay a heavy price for their resistance. For example, last Tuesday’s brutal attack by Evin prison guards on female political prisoners protesting the execution of Reza Rasai, who were on hunger strike, resulted in several women being severely injured and sent to the Evin prison infirmary. Additionally, 37 female prisoners protesting against execution sentences have been denied visits. Reports indicate that some political prisoners in Evin’s women’s ward are under pressure from security forces to make forced confessions against their fellow inmates. The regime’s aim is to deny the beating of female prisoners protesting Reza Rasai’s execution by the Evin prison guards
The “No to Execution” campaign began with protests in response to Wednesday executions and intensified after the death sentences of two Kurdish labor activists and political figures, Sharifeh Mohammadi and Pakhshan Azizi. On July 24, 2024, female prisoners staged a sit-in during their outdoor time and refused to return to their ward at night. Notably, these political prisoners have also spoken out against the suffering and discrimination faced by Baha’i women prisoners and so-called ordinary women prisoners. The women’s and men’s wards of Lakan Prison in Rasht have joined the widespread protests by prisoners in various wards of Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj Central Prison, and prisons in the cities of Khorramabad, Khoy, Naghadeh, Saghez, Tabriz, Mashhad, Qaemshahr, Ardebil, Kamyaran, Marivan, Salmas, Urmieh Baneh, and Shiraz Nezam Prison. Additionally, protests by female prisoners in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad against unbearable prison conditions and the physical and mental torture of female prisoners continue. Unfortunately, there is limited information available about protests by female prisoners in other Iranian cities.
We express our deep concern for the lives of numerous female activists imprisoned in Iran following the widespread suppression of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement, in solidarity with the struggle of female political prisoners against the death penalty. According to human rights organizations, at least 15 women face the risk of execution. Additionally, two more female political prisoners, Varishe Moradi and Nasim Gholami Simyari, are on death row charged with “rebellion.” Human rights sources report the collective execution of 29 prisoners in Ghezel Hesar and Karaj Central prisons. Amnesty International reports that Iran executed 853 people last year, including at least 22 women and 2 child offenders, making it the world’s leading country in executing women. Since the Jina uprising, at least 9 protesters have been executed, and many have died under torture, with at least 48 others at risk of execution for participating in these protests. This year alone, at least 345 people have been executed in Iranian prisons, including at least 15 women. The threat of execution and denial of implementing death sentences is more prevalent in Kurdistan, Baluchistan, and among Ahwazi Arabs than in other regions of Iran.
We, the 22 independent Iranian women’s organizations in the diaspora, condemn the reactionary regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We call on the international community, unions, and global coalitions against the death penalty to halt the execution machine of the Islamic Republic, which is perpetrating more crimes than ever amidst international tensions. We declare that merely ‘expressing concern’ about the high number of recent executions in Iran is insufficient. The lives of numerous political prisoners, who are fighting for peace and equality, are in grave danger of execution.
August 2024.
Association of Iranian Women in Montreal
Collective of Woman Life Freedom – Rome
Dallas Iranian Women Association (DIWA).
Everyday Feminism
Frauen Tribunal – Hannover, Germany
Free Iranian Women’s Association
Gender Equality Committee of Solidarity of Republicans of Iran
IKWRO-Women Rights Organizations.
Iranian Circle of Women for International Networking (ICWIN)
Iranian Women Activist in Exile – Berlin, Germany
Iranian Women Association of Parto, Germany.
Iranian-German women’s association, Cologne, Germany
IWIN Iranian Women In Network
Left Unity of Women
Maanaav – LGBTQ Community – Sweden
Me Too Movement Iran
Orange County Women Study Group.
Stop honor Killings
The Organization for Emancipation of Women
Together for Women’s Health Foundation.
Women for Sustainable Freedom & Equality
Zanan Group in Northern California