March 11, 2025 – The “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign has entered its 59th consecutive week, with prisoners in 38 prisons across Iran launching a hunger strike in protest of the regime’s escalating executions. This week’s campaign coincided with International Women’s Day, bringing further attention to the widespread oppression and discrimination faced by women in Iran.
In a latest development this week, female prisoners from the women’s ward of Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz, southwest Iran, issued a statement condemning the surge in executions, calling for the abolition of the death penalty.
In their statement, participants of the No to Executions Tuesdays campaign expressed underlined that they “congratulates all women around the world, especially the resilient and brave women of this land, who have faced severe discrimination for centuries. Over the past 46 years, despite the rule of a misogynistic religious fascist regime, they have risen up for their most basic human rights. The campaign also honors the memory of the thousands of women who have lost their lives in the struggle for freedom.”
The prisoners also denounced the regime’s mass executions, revealing:
“Since the beginning of Esfand alone—since February 19—nearly 100 people have been executed, including 28 individuals in a single day on March 1.”
In their statement on joining this week’s campaign, female prisoners from Sepidar prison in Ahvaz went on to declare:
“This week, coinciding with International Women’s Day, we, a group of female prisoners from the women’s ward of Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz, issue this statement to protest the widespread executions in Iran. We declare our participation in the ‘No to Execution Tuesdays’ campaign and demand an end to the death penalty.”
The Execution Machine Shows No Signs of Slowing Down
The Iranian regime continues to rely on executions as a tool of repression, carrying out mass hangings to instill fear and suppress dissent. The latest figures indicate that nearly 100 people have been executed in just three weeks, a sharp escalation in the regime’s use of the death penalty.
A Growing Movement Against Executions
The “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign has gained widespread support among prisoners across Iran, expanding from a small protest into a nationwide movement spanning 38 prisons. The campaign’s statement this week emphasized the urgency of keeping the plight of death row prisoners in the public spotlight, warning:
“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. Every moment in prison is overshadowed by the thought of the gallows for them and their fellow inmates. Their right to life is constantly threatened by the suppressive apparatus of the religious dictatorship. Therefore, it is crucial that amid the noise of various news, the issue of death row prisoners is kept at the forefront, and we take a firm stance against it.”
The campaign urged all political activists, human rights defenders, and civil society members to amplify the voices of those facing execution and demand an end to capital punishment in Iran.