Movements Promoting Abolition and Mobilising Civil Society Inside Iran in 2024

Over the last four years, there has been a growing trend of Iranians expressing their opposition to the death penalty. This trend reached its 44-year peak to save “Woman, Life, Freedom” protesters with protests held inside and outside prisons, hunger strikes, acts of protest, including wall writing, and online activism. The 2020 #اعدام_نکنید (don’t execute) online campaign, which successfully saved the lives of seven protesters from death row, expanded to #نه_به_اعدام (no death penalty) and in 2024, the #NoDeathPenaltyTuesdays abolitionist movement was born in Iranian prisons.

As in 2023, families and activists gathered outside prisons in an attempt to save death row prisoners’ lives. On 8 and 22 January 2024, ordinary citizens and activists joined protester Mohammad Ghobadlu’s family outside Ghezelhesar Prison to save his life.

When Hamid Nouryi, one of the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners visited the Humanities College of Tehran University on 6 November 2024, students wrote signs that read: “Against Forgetting, the Khavaran Massacre.” Khavaran is the most famous site of a 1988 massacre mass grave.

No Death Penalty Tuesdays

After bearing witness to months of weekly group executions in Karaj, the execution of several political prisoners in January 2024, and the crackdown of the protest by ordinary crimes prisoners, a group of brave political prisoners[1] in Ghezelhesar Prison staged a protest which was also violently suppressed. The diverse group of political prisoners from different backgrounds and beliefs thus began a weekly hunger strike on 30 January 2024 that became known as “Black Tuesdays”[2] and later as “No Death Penalty Tuesdays.”[3] They chose Tuesdays for that is the day death row inmates are typically transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for the gallows in Ghezelhesar Prison. Despite crackdowns and punitive measures, the “No Death Penalty Tuesdays” movement persevered and soon began spreading to other prisons across the country. At the time of writing, 35 prisons are taking part in the weekly mass hunger strikes. To mark the first anniversary of the movement, IHRNGO issued a statement calling for support. Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “The ‘No Death Penalty Tuesdays’ campaign marks a turning point in the movement to abolish the death penalty in Iran.” He further said, “This initiative could be the beginning of a broader social movement against the death penalty in Iran.[4]

Global solidarity with Iran’s abolitionist movement

On 28 August 2024, IHRNGO, ECPM and 66 other rights organisations from four continents signed a joint statement in support and solidarity with the “No Death Penalty Tuesdays” weekly hunger strikes in Iranian prisons.[5]

By October 2024, when IHRNGO co-hosted a 24-hour livestream in support of the abolitionist campaign for World Day Against the Death Penalty, the number of prisons had risen to 21.[6] The event was welcomed by many Iranian and international human rights organisations and personalities. More than 120 people from the four corners of the globe declared their support of the movement by joining the livestream. Simultaneously, seven different cities staged protests in their centres to show solidarity with the abolitionist movement.[7] In addition, human rights defenders Narges Mohammadi (in prison at that time), and Nasrin Sotoudeh sent messages of support and solidarity from inside Iran. In its 39th week, families of death row prisoners joined the movement by protesting outside the Iranian Parliament for two weeks.

Forgiveness Movement

As mentioned in the section on qisas executions, according to the IPC, murder is punished by qisas, where the family of the victim can demand a retribution death sentence. But they can also demand blood money (diya) instead of a death sentence or can simply grant forgiveness. This opens an opportunity for citizens to counter the death penalty by promoting forgiveness without being subjected to persecution by the authorities. In the past six years, the movement for forgiveness has grown significantly. Ordinary citizens, celebrities, civil society and other local and national campaigns have been active in promoting forgiveness instead of the death penalty.

There are many inspiring stories like that of Hossein, a young man who was on death row for murder. After the victim’s family forgave him, Hossein decided to help save others by acting as a mediator with victim families and saved at least one person from the death penalty.[8]

One of the emblematic cases in 2024 was that of Abbas Karimi, a 36-year-old man on death row for an unintentional killing during a street fight. The victim’s family set a deadline to receive 70 billion tomans (€1,060,000) as diya. After his two young children, Ali and Aileen appealed for help to save their dad, civil society and locals began a campaign that saw fundraisers on Instagram live at their home on a nightly basis, meetings with the victim’s family to obtain their forgiveness. People from all backgrounds from across the country chipped in and a local singer penned and sang a song for him. While the fundraisers raised a substantial amount, notably the first diya instalment, there was ultimately not enough time to raise the full amount within the deadline. After failing to raise the money, Abbas was transferred for execution on 3 October 2024 but was granted a last-minute extension as he was about to be executed. Though the victim’s family agreed to accept house deeds plus 40 billion tomans, Abbas Karimi was executed in Isfahan Central Prison on 17 October. His children wrote: “We gave them 50 billion tomans in cheques and the deeds to four properties but they still executed my dad.”[9] At his funeral, hundreds turned up to pay their respects and support Ali and Aileen.

[1] The “No Death Penalty Tuesdays” hunger strikes were started by Ghezelhesar political prisoners Zartosht Ahmadi Ragheb, Loghman Aminpour, Meisam Dahbanzadeh, Jafar Ebrahimi, Sepehr Emam Jomeh, Ahmadreza Haeri, Reza Mohammad Hosseini, Saeed Masouri, Reza Salmanzadeh and Hamzeh Savari (listed in alphabetical order).

[2] IHRNGO, “Black Tuesdays” Prison Hunger Strikes Against the Death Penalty, 20 March 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6625/

[3] IHRNGO, 85+ Executions in 20 Days; IHRNGO Urges International Solidarity With “No Death Penalty Tuesdays” Movement, 20 August 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6870/

[4] IHRNGO, Call for Support of “No Death Penalty Tuesdays” Abolitionist Campaign in Iran on First Year Anniversary, 21 January 2025, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/7291/

[5] IHRNGO, 68 Organisations Declare Support for “No Death Penalty Tuesdays” Abolitionist Movement in Iran, 27 August 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/statement/68/

[6] IHRNGO, 24-Hour Livestream in Support of “No Death Penalty Tuesdays” in Iran, 8 October 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/6986/

[7] IHRNGO, Global Solidarity with “No Death Penalty Tuesdays” Abolitionist Movement Ahead of World Day Against the Death Penalty, 15 October 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/7006/

[8] https://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news/867469/قاتل-بخشیده-شده-فرشته-نجات-قاتلی-دیگر-شد

[9] IHRNGO, Abbas Karimi and Mohammad Ali Najafi Executed in Isfahan; 92 Executions Recorded in 17 Days, 17 October 2024, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/7015/