Evin Women Prisoners Assaulted During Protest in Face of Alarming Rise of Mass Executions in Iran
In an ominous development, at least 29 prisoners were executed by Iran’s theocratic regime ON A SINGLE DAY (August 7). Human right groups report that 22-26 were hanged in a group in Ghezel Hesar prison, with three in nearby Karaj Penitentiary (near Tehran), and 4 in two other prisons.1 Most of these prisoners were convicted on alleged “drug-related” charges and with minimal or no semblance of due process such as access to defense lawyers. This is what a Handmaid’s Tale society looks like (for those who saw the U.S. film series that showed rows of bodies hanging from the walls).
In an ominous development, at least 29 prisoners were executed by Iran’s theocratic regime ON A SINGLE DAY (August 7). Human right groups report that 22-26 were hanged in a group in Ghezel Hesar prison, with three in nearby Karaj Penitentiary (near Tehran), and 4 in two other prisons.1 Most of these prisoners were convicted on alleged “drug-related” charges and with minimal or no semblance of due process such as access to defense lawyers. This is what a Handmaid’s Tale society looks like (for those who saw the U.S. film series that showed rows of bodies hanging from the walls).
Thus, in a month after the election of a supposed “moderate” president (Masoud Pezeshkian) on July 16, at least 87 people have been officially murdered by the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). There are documentations of at least 346 executed so far in 2024.2 As horrible as that execution rate is, there are people being given death sentences simply because they have somehow resisted or offended Iran’s supposed “anti-imperialist” but truly FASCIST theocracy based in ancient Sharia law. This is an outrage that must not be overlooked even as we are in the throes of opposing the most horrific U.S.-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza.
One day before the mass group hanging, the regime suddenly and secretly hanged Reza Rasaei, a 34-year-young Kurdish man as the tenth protester arrested during the 2022-2023 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising executed (with many more in the pipeline). Accused of killing an Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps chief, he had insisted that he was innocent but was brutally tortured into a forced confession.3
Women in Evin Prison Respond in Protest, Viciously Assaulted by Guards
On August 6, as soon as women political prisoners in Evin Prison in Tehran learned of Reza Rasaei’s execution, they gathered in the prison yard to protest and chant, as they had done overnight twice in the previous week. In revenge for their protests—and the spreading of the audio around the world—prison authorities cut off all outside contact of phone calls, visitation with family or lawyers for 37 women. While details of the brutal assault on the women prisoners are still emerging, the family of Narges Mohammadi, 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate imprisoned in Evin, reported on August 84 (excerpted):
The protest by prisoners against the execution of Reza Rasaei led to a violent crackdown by prison guards and security agents at Evin Prison. The women’s ward was flooded with military forces, and an order was issued to assault the protesters. Several women who stood in front of the security forces were severely beaten. The confrontation escalated, resulting in physical injuries for some prisoners and nervous breakdowns for others.
Narges and several other prisoners protested against the locked doors that were preventing critically ill inmates from being taken to the prison clinic. They attempted to get those in need of urgent medical attention out of the ward and to the infirmary.
According to our sources, after being repeatedly punched in the chest by male military and security guards, Narges suffered a respiratory attack and intense chest pain. This caused her to collapse and faint on the ground in the prison yard… Narges Mohammadi has not been transferred to a hospital and has only visited the prison infirmary once…
In 2021, a stent was placed in Narges’ main heart artery due to a 75% blockage. Following urgent medical advice, she was scheduled for an angiography in June 2024 [which did not take place]…
We are concerned that security officers and prison officials, fully aware of Narges’ artery blockage and stent, might have intentionally targeted her chest with the intent to provoke a severe medical incident. We are deeply worried about her health and well-being under these circumstances.
There needs to be a global outcry against these executions and that attack on the courageous women prisoners of Evin. Narges must be given the urgent care required for her life and her dignity as an undaunted political prisoner akin to Mumia Abu Jamal or Leonard Peltier of U.S. political prisoners. All the women prisoner-protesters must be allowed to contact families, lawyers, and doctors as needed! Iran’s theocrats must be held accountable for their precious lives and dignity!
Worldwide Mobilizations August 10-11
In response to the global call from scores of student organizations in Iran to step up worldwide protests on August 10 and 11 against the executions—especially against the death sentences of two activist women (two more are threatened with same), as of this writing, programs have been planned for these dates, principally by Iranian diaspora forces, in Malmo, Gothenburg, and Stockholm, Sweden; Geneva, Switzerland; Turco, Finland; Berlin, Cologne, Kassel, Frankfurt and Hamburg, Germany; Toronto, Vancouver, Quebec City and Ottawa, Canada.
No to IRI Executions, No to U.S./Israel Threats
As the world’s people watch anxiously for Iran’s response to the extremely provocative assassination of Hamas leader Haniyeh inside Tehran by Israel (U.S. imperialism’s attack/guard dog in the Middle East ), the “Execution Republic,” as its people label the Iran regime, puts broad society-wide repression into overdrive to threaten even the potential for another uprising.
On August 9, Iran’s Supreme Court confirmed the death sentences of six Kurdish prisoners of conscience, convicted of membership in a minority Sufi religious sect. Their sentences were originally overturned by the Supreme Court but their retrials and convictions, on the same lack of evidence, have now been validated after years in prison.
While Iran’s Persian majority rulers, from the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran to the current “anti-U.S.” mullahs, have been killing and repressing Kurds for generations, it seems that they are particularly vicious in the current moment, with heightened external threats from Israel and its main imperialist backer the U.S. The U.S. has put a large number of warships and war planes in the Middle East to protect Zionist Israel. All the reactionary forces especially fear the numerous minority populations in Iran.5
22-year-young Mahsa Jina Amini was from the city of Saqqez in Northern Kurdistan province when she died in the custody of Iran’s “morality police” while visiting Iran’s capital Tehran. The rebellion against her murder was particularly fierce in that province—which had been a hotbed of anti-IRI resistance (and anti-Shah) even before this horror.
Yet in this fraught and dangerous current situation in the Middle East, the conclusion of the Emergency Appeal of the IEC shines a light of clarity as to standing with its political prisoners and resisters against the reactionary Islamic Republic as well as against ITS rivals U.S. imperialism and Zionist Israel.
The governments of the U.S. and Iran act from their national interests. And, in this instance, we the people of the U.S. and Iran, along with the people of the world, have OUR shared interests, as part of getting to a better world: to unite to defend the political prisoners of Iran. In the U.S., we have a special responsibility to unite very broadly against this vile repression by the IRI, and to actively oppose any war moves by the U.S. government that would bring even more unbearable suffering to the people of Iran.
We demand of the Islamic Republic of Iran: FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS NOW!
We say to the U.S. government: NO THREATS OR WAR MOVES AGAINST IRAN, LIFT U.S. SANCTIONS!
See "Mural in Cali, Colombia Demands Stop Execution of Women Fighters in Iran".
[1] “Group Hanging of 29 Men in Karaj; At Least 87 Executed Since Elections Last Month,” Iran Human Rights, August 7, 2024.
[2] Ibid.
[3] “Executed Protester Reza Rasaei Buried Under Tight Security,” IranWire.com, August 6, 2024.\
[4] “Statement from the Family of Narges Mohammadi on Recent Attack in Evin Prison’s Women’s Ward,” narges.foundation, August 8, 2024
[5] Kurds make up one of the largest stateless nations in the world, having 30 million people with a distinct language and history divided among Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, all of which have a brutal history of murdering Kurdish people. Kurds, Wikipedia