Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 14 August 2026: Two weeks after prisoners in Unit 2 of Ghezelhesar Prison concluded a seventeen-day strike that led to the temporary halt in drug-related executions, prison authorities have launched a scheme to relocate prisoners from Hall 4 under the guise of renovations and voluntary transfers. The prisoners consider the forced transfer as an attempt to break up the network of anti-execution protesters and prevent collective action in the event that executions resume.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, authorities are using maintenance work as a pretext to disperse Hall 4 of Unit 2 in Ghezelhesar Prison. The news comes two weeks after the Unit staged a collective hunger strike that led to the temporary suspension of drug-related executions. Per informed IHRNGO sources, prisoners have been instructed to register by 15 August for voluntary transfers to their chosen units, allowing authorities to record the relocation as being conducted at the prisoner's own request.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “Prison officials intend to separate the organisers and relocate them to other units. By isolating the individuals responsible for initiating and maintaining collective action, they aim to render the remaining prisoners helpless and prevent further strikes or public appeals when drug-related executions resume after the temporary suspension period.”
Unit 2 comprises five halls, two of which are dedicated to men on death row for drug-related offences. Hall 4, which previously housed over 300 prisoners, has recently been reduced to under 300 inmates following initial transfers.
“They have already transferred more prisoners to other units, with around 200 currently remaining who now face forced transfers,” the source added.
The seventeen-day hunger strike began on 13 July 2026 after six drug death row prisoners were transferred to pre-execution solitary confinement cells. Publishing daily video reports of their protest, the collective action managed to gain global news coverage and successfully pressured officials to temporarily suspend drug-related executions.
This collective action was the continuation of the historic protest of October 2025, when more than 1,500 prisoners on death row for drug offences in Unit 2 of Ghezelhesar Prison staged a mass six-day strike, sewing their lips shut to demand an end to executions. Supported by families demonstrating outside the parliament building in Tehran, the prisoners successfully pressured authorities to halt drug-related executions pending legislative amendments. Since the October 2025 strike, IHRNGO had recorded the secret execution of only one individual, Alireza Ahmadi, for drug offences at the prison.