Hunger Strike by Prisoners in Unit 2, Ward 17 of Ghezel Hesar Prison over Transfers to Solitary for Execution
13-October-2025
Category: Uncategorized
13 October 2025
News group: Prisoners –
Breathing in Confinement – Following the transfer of a group of death-row prisoners to solitary confinement in Ghezel Hesar Prison for imminent execution, a number of prisoners have launched a hunger strike today, Monday, 13 October 2025, refusing their meals in protest at what they describe as a cruel killing spree.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, in the early hours of today, at least eight prisoners from various wards of Ghezel Hesar were moved to solitary confinement for executions scheduled in the coming days. Their identities have been verified by Breathing in Confinement but are being withheld for security reasons. Earlier, on Saturday, 11 October, at least three other prisoners had also been transferred to solitary for execution.
Most of those prisoners were arrested on charges including drug-related offences or moharebeh through armed robbery, and were sentenced to death in opaque proceedings that failed to meet fair-trial standards. Reports indicate that from Unit 2, Ward 17 alone, at least five prisoners were moved to solitary confinement today.
In recent weeks, many death-row prisoners—particularly those convicted on drug-related charges—have been transferred to solitary confinement without public notification or due legal process and have not been returned to the general wards.
The sudden and coordinated escalation of executions in Iranian prisons—especially in Ghezel Hesar—constitutes a clear violation of the right to life and runs counter to the Islamic Republic’s international obligations, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran expresses grave concern over the continuation of these group executions and calls on all international human-rights bodies—including the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, and the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions—to take urgent action to stop this organised killing of prisoners in Iran.
The right to life is the most fundamental human right; no state or official is entitled, under the pretext of enforcing the law, to arbitrarily and unjustly take human life.