On Tuesday, March 11, members of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign went on a hunger strike for the 59th consecutive week.
The imprisoned members of this campaign, while congratulating International Women’s Day on March 8 to “all women of the world, especially the courageous women of Iran,” announced that the women’s ward of Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz has joined the campaign.
With this development, the number of prisons where inmates go on hunger strike every Tuesday in protest against the issuance and execution of death sentences in Iran has reached 38.
In this week’s statement, the campaign members referred to “46 years of blatant discrimination against Iranian women by the religious fascist and misogynistic regime” and emphasized that Iranian women have been fighting for “their most basic human rights” throughout these years.
Full Statement:
The “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign congratulates all the women of the world, especially the resilient and fighting women of this land, who have endured centuries of severe discrimination and, for the past 46 years, have risen up for their most basic human rights despite the rule of a religious fascist and misogynistic regime. The campaign honors the memory of thousands of women who lost their lives in the struggle for freedom.
The authoritarian regime in Iran continues its killing machine without pause. Since the beginning of February, nearly 100 people have been executed, including 28 people in a single day on March 1.
This week, coinciding with International Women’s Day, a group of female prisoners from the women’s ward of Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz issued a statement announcing their participation in the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign, calling for the abolition of the death penalty.
The campaign expresses its gratitude to all prisoners who have so far joined this movement against executions and continues to call on all inmates, as well as all conscientious individuals, political activists, human rights defenders, civil society activists, and trade unionists, to stand against the death penalty in Iran and be the voice of every person sentenced to execution.
We must all remember that thousands of prisoners convicted of general crimes, as well as dozens of political and ideological prisoners, are on death row. For these prisoners and their fellow inmates, every moment in prison is spent with the looming thought of the noose and the gallows. At any moment, their right to life may be taken away by the repressive machinery of the religious dictatorship. Therefore, it is crucial that in the midst of various news distractions, we continually remind the world of the issue of executions and take a firm stand against it.
