The hunger strike and sit-in by about 1,500 prisoners sentenced to death in Unit 2 of Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj entered its eighth day on Monday, July 20. The prisoners, protesting the continued implementation of death sentences, have called for an end to what they describe as the Iranian regime’s “execution machine.”
According to published reports, over the past week the striking prisoners have staged a sit-in while holding placards bearing slogans including “Prison and execution are not the rights of Iran’s youth.” They declared their support for the “No to Execution Tuesdays Campaign” and stressed that they will continue their protest until their demands are met.
Collective Hunger Strike at Ghezel Hesar Prison Calls for Halt to Executions
The strike continues as reports indicate that prisoners have been deprived of some basic facilities and that the physical condition of a number of the hunger strikers has deteriorated. It is also reported that prison authorities have attempted to prevent news of the protest from spreading by restricting prisoners’ communication with the outside world.
As the sit-in entered its eighth day, hundreds of family members of prisoners sentenced to death gathered outside Ghezel Hesar Prison the previous day, calling for a halt to executions and the saving of the prisoners’ lives. Chanting slogans against executions, the demonstrators urged international bodies and human rights organizations to take action to prevent the implementation of these death sentences.
According to reports, security forces and prison guards were deployed to disperse the protesters and attempted to prevent the gathering from continuing, but the families persisted with their protest despite the security pressure.
At the same time, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), in a statement, called on the United Nations, the UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights, and other international bodies to support the striking prisoners and take action to stop the implementation of death sentences and dispatch an international fact-finding mission to prisons in Iran.
