According to reports published by human rights media outlets, approximately 1,500 death-row inmates in Unit 2 of Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj have gone on a hunger strike to protest the carrying out of death sentences.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that the strike began on Monday, July 13. Inmates initiated the protest by refusing prison rations and gathering in the ward hall after six fellow prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement for execution.
Videos released from inside the prison show dozens of inmates sitting in long rows outside their cells, holding handwritten signs reading “No to Execution.” In one video, a prisoner, giving the date as July 20, states that roughly 1,500 inmates in the unit are participating in the hunger strike, adding that the number of death-row prisoners across Iran has surpassed 5,000.
The footage also shows at least eight prisoners who have sewn their lips together while holding placards bearing the slogan “No to Execution” to protest the carrying out of death sentences. In another part of the video, prisoners can be heard chanting “No to Execution” in unison.
This is not the first mass protest by death-row prisoners at Ghezel Hesar. In October 2025, more than 1,500 inmates in the same unit held a six-day hunger strike to protest executions, with several prisoners sewing their lips shut to demand a halt to the death penalty.
