Regardless of what you may think of the death penalty, and Oct. 10's World Day against the Death Penalty, it's a very real awfulness for 2,320 brave death row prisoners in Iran.  For this occasion, they issued a statement:

– While 176 prisoners were executed during the first half of 2018

– While the Iranian regime has executed prisoners despite repeated international calls, including three Kurd political prisoners, Ramin Hossein Panahai, Zaniar Moradi and Loghman Moradi, to intimidate the public in fear of the spread of protests and the anger and frustration of the people;

– While the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Michelle Bachelet condemned the execution of juveniles;

– While Iranian truckers have been on strike since September 23 which has spread to more than 310 cities;

 – While the government has threatened truck drivers to death and has arrested 250 truck drivers;

– While we are among the thousands of prisoners across Iran awaiting our death, and like Zaniar Moradi, who wrote before his death: "Nine years have passed.  Nine years in which I languished in prison while being sentenced to the inhumane death sentence.  During these long years... I dreamed of being hanged by the noose.  I've spent these nine years thinking about the gallows and the noose and that they will hang around my neck... Every time a young person was hanged in this country, I felt as though it was my turn to be hanged ...

In recent years, these brave death row prisoners, in Iran, especially the political prisoners who are singled out for harsh treatment, which often includes denial of medical care, are speaking out.  In the central prison of Ardebil, or Orumeih, they remain especially active, despite threats and harassment.  They are determined to continue their fight against despotism and make their legitimate demands incessantly.  One of them is a man named Sohail Arabi.  His picture is here:

Sohail Arabi.

He's an activist who has been imprisoned since November 2013.  In prison, he's been outspoken against the atrocities there and was subjected to the most severe torture during these years in the Great Prison of Tehran.  He tells his fellow inmates: "Do not ask me to be silent.  At that moment, being silent is the greatest of betrayals."

Abloghasem Fouladvand is another human rights activist.  He went on a hunger strike to support Iran's nationwide strike led by the truck-drivers as well as the general uprisings in recent months.

Abolgasem Fouladvand.

There are also political prisoners at Gohardasht Prison in western Tehran, in which political prisoner Mehdi Farahi Shandiz wrote, "The mercenaries cannot achieve their objectives by intimidating and harassing the political prisoners and human rights activists."

Mehdi Farahi Shandiz.

Another example is political activist Majid Asadi, who was detained without charge in Evin Prison's Ward 209 under the control of Iran's Intelligence Ministry since February 2017.

Majid Asadi.

Another resistant political prisoner is human rights-defender Atena Daemi, who recently sent out a letter from Evin Prison on May 25, 2018.  In this letter, she condemned the death penalty, which is heavily utilized by the mullahs.

Atena Daemi.

They are all known for their bravery in the face of the murderous mullah regime, which employs the death penalty at one of the highest rates on Earth.

Amnesty International said, "By detaining dozens of prisoners of conscience after grossly unfair trials, the Iranian authorities are already shamelessly flouting their human rights obligations. These are people who shouldn't even be behind bars in the first place, yet instead of being released from custody they are being punished further by being held in appalling conditions."

On Jan. 30, 2018, Amnesty International said it was outraged by reports that the Iranian authorities executed a young man who was only 15 years old at the time of the crime.

"By carrying out this unlawful execution, Iran is effectively declaring that it wishes to maintain the country's shameful status as one of the world's leading executers of those who were children at the time of their crime," said Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa deputy director.

In their statement, Iran's "Death Row Prisoners" continued to say:

– We request that the 40 years of execution, public execution and systematic killings be stopped in Iran.  Currently executions have turned into an instrument in the hands of the authoritarian rulers of Iran to consolidate their rule and suppress the people.  We consider the execution of prisoners as systematic killings carried out by the government.  The gallows are not the solution to the Iranian people's problems.

– As prisoners who have faced death and execution throughout these years, we call on the families of all death row prisoners, political prisoners and all political and human rights activists to unify and become the voice for the annulment of the death sentence and to aid the people of Iranian in countering this historical calamity.

Image credit: World Coalition Against the Death Penalty via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.