The international community joins the Iranian campaign ‘No to executions’
Following Maryam Rajavi's call to end executions in Iran and her firm commitment to the abolition of the death penalty, more than 3,000 parliamentarians, mayors and political, religious and cultural figures from 78 countries have signed a joint declaration urging the international community to take decisive action to end executions in Iran. The declaration reads: ‘The Iranian authorities use these executions for political purposes, trying to instil fear and terror to prevent the Iranian people from rising up. Therefore, any execution carried out under the ruling theocracy should be recognised as political in nature.’
‘Tuesdays, not executions’
The hunger strike by prisoners from ‘Tuesdays, not executions’, which covers 34 prisons, is now in its 53rd week. This campaign, started by political prisoners in Qezel-Hessar prison on 29 January 2024 to protest against the executions carried out by the mullahs' judiciary, is now in its 53rd week and its first anniversary. Over the past year, the campaign has grown into a national and international protest movement. Ali Khamenei, the dictator of Iran, uses the death penalty as a tool to instil fear and prevent protests and popular uprisings.
Two Iranians convicted of belonging to the People's Mujahidin, an opposition group banned in Iran, are threatened with ‘imminent’ execution, the movement and human rights groups warned on Monday.
On 8 February 2025, Iranians living in France will organise a large demonstration in Denfert-Rochereau Square in Paris. This date has been chosen symbolically, as it coincides with the anniversary of the 1979 Iranian anti-monarchist revolution, which brought with it the hope of democracy for the Iranian people. This hope is still alive thanks to the struggles of the Iranian people and international solidarity.
5,370 prisoners sentenced to death
In May and June 2022, the Iranian opposition NCRI revealed confidential documents from within the judiciary, indicating that: 5,370 prisoners are on death row or sentenced to Qisas (retaliation) in Iranian prisons (NCRI Anti-Terrorism Committee press release, 16 May 2022).
579 prisons and detention centres
In July 2020, the regime's prison organisation housed detainees in 267 prisons, detention centres, camps and juvenile detention centres. In addition, the State Security Forces (SSF) manage 159 detention centres, and the Ministry of Intelligence manages 147 different facilities, making a total of 579 prisons and detention centres. These figures do not include the prisons managed by the Pasdaran Corps.
A confidential report prepared for the government in September 2015 revealed that around 600,000 people are admitted to Iranian prisons every year, which means significant challenges and problems for some 2.4 million family members.