A Report on the Situation of Four Women Prisoners Facing the Death Penalty and a Request to Halt the Execution of Women Political and Civil Activists

stop Death Penalty

To:  international human rights institutions of the United Nations

We, a large group of Iranian women activists worldwide in the ‘Campaign to Stop Honor Killings’, stand up for the equal rights and the right to life. We are writing to express our deep concern about the escalating violence against women civil and political activists, particularly those facing the death penalty in Iran.

In recent months, there has been a new wave of issuing and carrying out death sentences in Iran, and at least four women and one man face the death penalty on charges of “baghy“[1] (armed rebellion).

Among them are Pakshan Azizi, a women’s rights activist, and Sharifeh Mohammadi, a labour activist, who have been sentenced to death on charges of “baghy.” Moreover, Vrisheh Moradi and Nasim Gholami Simiari face the same charge and are in danger of the death penalty.

• Sharifeh Mohammadi, a prominent labour activist, was arrested on December 14, 2023, due to her peaceful activism. Initially detained in Lakan Prison in Rasht, she was subsequently transferred to Sanandaj Prison on January 9, 2024, before being returned to Lakan. After three months in solitary confinement, she was moved to a general ward. On June 19, 2024, following a fabricated case, she was sentenced to death by Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Rasht, presided over by Judge Ahmad Darvish Goftar, on the charge of “baghy“.

Fellow labour activists have testified that Sharifeh’s activities were solely confined to labour unions, including her work with the “Committee for Coordination to Assist in the Establishment of Labor Unions.” However, the Islamic Revolutionary Court fabricated charges against her and imposed the death penalty.

The campaign to defend Sharifeh Mohammadi has repeatedly stated that she was subjected to brutal torture in solitary confinement in an attempt to force a false confession

• Pakshan Azizi, a journalist, social worker, and women’s rights activist, was arrested in Tehran on August 3, 2023, along with her family. As she detailed in her letter titled “Concealing the Truth and Its Alternative,” she has been subjected to severe torture during interrogations, including simulated hanging. She has been deprived of books, visits, and basic medical care, to the point where she can no longer walk. She has faced relentless interrogations aimed at forcing her to confess to crimes she has not committed.

This is just a glimpse into the ordeal endured by Pakshan. Her trials took place on June 8 and 27, 2024, and on August 2, 2024, she was sentenced to death by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari. The charges against her included “baghy” and “membership in groups opposed to the regime.” Despite Pakshan’s insistence that concealing the truth and historical distortion are the greatest injustices inflicted on women, Kurds, and marginalized communities in Iran, she has been condemned to death for her beliefs.

Vrisheh Moradi and Nasim Gholami Simiari are two more women facing similar charges of “baghy” and the risk of the death penalty.

• Vrisheh Moradi was arrested by security forces in Sanandj on August 10, 2023. Her first trial, held on June 27, 2024, in Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, was on the charge of “baghy.” She was denied the right to defend herself, and Judge Abolqasem Salavati even denied her lawyers the opportunity to defend her. A second hearing scheduled for August 14, 2024, was cancelled despite the presence of her lawyers. In a letter to the public, she announced that she would not attend the second hearing in protest against the death sentences issued against Pakshan Azizi and Sharifeh Mohammadi.

In her defence, Vrisheh Moradi described the psychological (white) torture and harsh experiences she endured during interrogations, including physical abuse at the time of arrest, psychological warfare, interrogations in solitary confinement without surveillance to prevent the recording of abuse, and public humiliation to break her will. She attributed these abuses to her work in women’s sociology and her study of the unwritten history of women in Iran’s political geography, as she sought to trace the origins of a matriarchal society and find answers to this problem.

She further explained that nearly three months have passed since the recent interrogations, and neither her lawyers have been allowed to review the case file nor has she been allowed to meet with her lawyer. She is currently serving a period of visitation and communication restrictions. In her letter, Vrisheh Moradi wrote, “They called me a savage and said I had lost my femininity. Why don’t you cry? When was the last time you cried? When was the last time you smelled a flower?”

One of Vrisheh’s friends, after reading this letter, told the ‘Campaign to Stop Honor Killings’ that the most impactful part for her was the part about flowers, as she knew Vrisheh closely. She recalled that Vrisheh always called her children by the names of her favorite flowers, and their daily conversations often revolved around the flowers they had planted in the workplace.

• Nasim Gholami Simiari was arrested on May 28, 2023, along with seven other protesters by the Intelligence Ministry’s forces. She was initially transferred to Ward 1A, one of the Ministry of Intelligence’s detention centres, where she was subjected to physical and psychological torture to force a coerced confession. This political prisoner, who was arrested solely for participating in protests, was charged with assembly and collusion, propaganda against the regime, and “baghy” by the Investigating Magistrate Nasser Jalayer-Sertqi five months after her arrest and is now facing the death penalty. In November of the previous year, she went on a hunger strike to protest her indefinite detention, consuming only water, sugar, and salt. She also wrote a letter explaining the reasons for her hunger strike.
• Also The death sentences of six male political prisoners—Malik Ali Fadaei Nasab, Farhad Shakri, Isa Eidmohammadi, Abdul Hakim Azim Gergij, Abdul Rahman Gergij, and Taj Mohammad Kharmali in Vakil Abad Prison in Mashhad have been confirmed by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court.

The ‘Campaign to Stop Honor Killings’ considers the issuance of death sentences and the framing of women’s rights activists—who have struggled for women’s freedom and humanity in the face of systematic gender, ethnic, economic, and political discrimination—as illegal, unjust, and a violation of human rights. We demand the immediate revocation of these sentences.

It is clear to all that these women, as they have emphasized in their letters, have been fighting for social freedom and the right to life, especially for women. The pressures exerted by the government and the issuance of harsh sentences by the Islamic Republic and the judiciary are merely retaliation against the Woman, Life, Freedom movement and its ideals, aimed at intimidating women activists and preventing the continuation of their just struggle.

Numerous individuals and groups have issued statements condemning these cruel sentences against women, hoping to draw the attention of decision-makers. In a protest statement, female prisoners in Evin Prison criticized the Iranian government’s repressive policies, stating: “They want to silence the voices of protest and demands that reached a significant level with the 2022 revolutionary uprising and intimidate women who have stepped into the arena of rights advocacy with a louder voice than before, forcing them to retreat.”

We firmly believe that the charges against women’s rights activist Pakshan Azizi, labour activist Sharifeh Mohammadi, and activists Vrisheh Moradi and Nasim Gholami Simiari are completely unfounded. Their death sentences must be immediately revoked by the Supreme Court.

We, the ‘Campaign to Stop Honor Killings’ and other signatory organizations:

Call upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately and unconditionally revoke the death sentences imposed on Sharifeh Mohammadi and Pakshan Azizi and to drop all charges against them.

We demand that the trials of Vrisheh Moradi and Nasim Gholami Simiari, who face charges of “baghy” and await sentencing, be nullified.

We demand an end to the systematic harassment of women human rights defenders and respect for peaceful assembly and the right of women and workers to organize in civil society organizations.

We call for the release of all women’s rights activists, political activists, and civil activists.

We demand an end to the use of the death penalty, which is often used to instil fear among government opponents and is imposed without due process in courts.

• Stop Honor Killings Campaign
• Iranian Culture and Art Club of Fresno
• Gender equality, the solidarity of the Republicans of Iran
• Collectivo donnd,vita,liberta Rome
• Sustainable independence and equality of women (WISE)
• Left Women’s Union
• IKWRO- Women’s Rights Organisation
• Iranian- German Women’s association,Cologne,Germany
• Associazione donne libere Iraniane
• Iranian Circle of Women for international Networking
• Feminism Everyday
• HGBTQ MANAV Org

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[1] Baghy is the crime of armed rebellion against the state with the intent to overthrow or undermine its authority. It involves the use of force or the threat of force to achieve this goal.