Tehran Bus Workers’ Union: “Immediately Halt Executions and Abolish the Death Penalty”

Breathing in Confinement, Friday, 14 August 2026: The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company has issued a statement calling for an end to executions.

According to reporters from Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, amid an escalating wave of executions and growing concerns over the use of the death penalty as a means of suppressing protests and silencing dissent, the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company issued a strongly worded statement calling for the immediate halt of all executions and the complete abolition of the death penalty.

The independent workers’ organisation described execution not as a means of delivering justice, but as an instrument for instilling fear and terror, suppressing social movements, and undermining independent organising and civil and labour protests. It also emphasised the need to uphold the right to life, freedom of association, the right to strike, and the fundamental rights of prisoners.

The Syndicate also expressed its opposition to war and warmongering policies, called for the unconditional release of imprisoned labour and political activists and an immediate end to the war, and urged workers’ organisations in Iran and around the world to raise their voices against executions and widespread repression.

The full text of the statement issued by the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company follows:

Stop the Executions!

Today, as our country is suffocating under the weight of devastating economic crises, rampant inflation, the collapse of the rial, military attacks by the United States and Israel, the continuation of a destructive war, economic sanctions, widespread and severe repression, and warmongering policies, the authorities are once again responding to the people’s demands for bread, work, justice, freedom, and human dignity with the most brutal instrument of fear and terror: the gallows.

The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, like all independent workers’ organisations in Iran and around the world, is unequivocally opposed to execution and the death penalty under any name, on any charge, and without exception.

The death penalty is not an instrument of justice; rather, it is a structural and organised weapon used to instil fear and terror, paralyse social movements, and suppress independent grassroots organisations. Whether justified under the pretext of national security, charges such as “moharebeh” (enmity against God), or wartime conditions, the growing wave of executions in prisons is directly aimed at silencing the voices of oppressed people who can no longer endure poverty and the denial of their rights.

As workers, we have learned that when the gallows are erected, it is workers, political opponents, marginalised communities, young people frustrated with the existing conditions, human rights defenders, and victims of poverty, deprivation, addiction, and economic and social insecurity who are sent to the gallows. The ruling classes have always used executions to silence the protests of oppressed people.

Workers’ organisations around the world are unequivocally opposed to the death penalty and regard its use against political opponents and ordinary people as a means of repressing and intimidating society. The International Labour Organization, based on its fundamental conventions, also recognises the right to life and personal security as essential and inseparable prerequisites for the exercise of freedom of association and trade union activities.

We, as workers, oppose the death penalty—not only because capital punishment is inhumane and must be abolished worldwide, but also because no worker can be free while living under the threat of execution. When governments reserve for themselves the right to take human life, the rights to organise, establish independent trade unions, strike, and protest become meaningless.

We condemn all political executions, as well as sham and summary trials. The charges brought against political prisoners, social activists, women, students, teachers, young people, and protesting workers are fabricated scenarios pursued particularly during wartime conditions, often without even observing the legal procedures required under the country’s existing laws. Every prisoner, whether political or otherwise, possesses fundamental rights that, unfortunately, are continually violated in our country.

We call on trade unions, transport workers, global federations, and all independent workers’ organisations around the world to be our voice. Demand an immediate ceasefire and an end to the war, an immediate halt to all executions in Iran, the unconditional release of all imprisoned labour and political activists, and the complete abolition of the death penalty.

The death penalty must be abolished immediately!

Political prisoners must be released!

No to war, intervention, military aggression, and warmongering policies!

The solution for workers and working people lies in unity and organisation.

Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company
13 August 2026