Prisoners in Iran’s largest jail have sewn their lips shut to protest the regime and participate in a hunger strike, now in its 16th day, over a surge in executions. The dramatic act of defiance at Ghezel Hesar prison was initiated after six men received death sentences on drug charges and were moved to solitary confinement on July 13.
The strike is a response to an acceleration of executions, with approximately 1,500 individuals currently awaiting death row within the prison. The Islamic Republic has carried out 424 executions this year, with the majority of cases involving drug-related offenses, according to the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights NGO (IHRNGO).
Human rights organizations criticize the government for cracking down on marginalized prisoners through severe punishments and what they describe as sham trials. The IHRNGO argues that many on death row for drug offenses are low-level couriers who accepted the work to escape poverty.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of IHRNGO, stated that the hunger strike is the prisoners' sole method of highlighting the regime's actions, which he said also targets political prisoners and protesters. He noted the extraordinary risk prisoners are taking, hoping to draw international attention and increase the political cost for the Iranian authorities.
Iran has executed at least 26 people connected to January protests, with two more convicted of killing police officers and accused of "waging war against God" having been executed recently. Many executions occur on Tuesdays, prompting regular "No Execution Tuesday" protests within Tehran's prisons.
United Nations human rights experts have warned that eight young men face imminent execution for the deaths of security forces in Isfahan. The experts are calling for a moratorium on executions and for Iran to implement fair trial guarantees, limiting the death penalty to the most serious crimes.