Iran | Rights Group Warns of Execution Risk for Over 200 Ghezel Hesar Drug Death-Row Prisoners Amid Transfer Plans

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 19 October 2026: Authorities at Ghezelhesar Prison have verbally notified drug death-row prisoners in Unit 2 that those from provincial towns and cities are to be transferred to their home jurisdictions, a move detainees fear is intended to facilitate their executions. This push to disperse the ward follows two successful strikes staged by Unit 2 prisoners in October 2025 and July 2026, which forced authorities to temporarily halt drug-related executions at the prison.

IHRNGO condemns the planned transfers as an apparent attempt to break the prisoners’ collective resistance and pave the way for their executions.

IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam stated, “The people in Unit 2 of Ghezel Hesar Prison have twice succeeded in halting executions through collective action. The authorities now appear to be trying to break their solidarity by dispersing them to other prisons, where the transferred death-row prisoners may face execution with less scrutiny. We fear these transfers could pave the way for a new wave of executions. The international community, the UNODC in particular, must take urgent action to stop these executions.”

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, on the morning of 19 October, authorities at Ghezel Hesar Prison verbally notified drug defendants with enforceable death sentences in Unit 2 that more than 200 prisoners originating from provincial towns are to be transferred to their home jurisdictions. 

An informed source told IHRNGO, "The head of Unit 2 summoned the prisoners because an official letter had arrived listing every prisoner from provincial towns whose death sentence had been upheld by the Supreme Court. The duty officer told the prisoners that this transfer is compulsory, stating that orders have come down requiring everyone to be transferred to their home provinces. Because prisoners in Ghezel Hesar have mobile phones and direct access to the outside world, they publicise every development immediately. The authorities fear this coverage because they cannot control the narrative. This transfer policy is driven entirely by that fear, particularly because Ghezel Hesar prisoners stand far more united than anywhere else."

Regarding the number of people being transferred, the informed source said, "Unit 2, which houses drug defendants, has four halls, and there are roughly 50 or possibly more prisoners with confirmed death sentences in each hall. Across all four halls combined, there are around 200 or more inmates from provincial towns whose death sentences are enforceable. Around 50-60 others were previously moved to Unit 1, which houses those convicted of murder and serving life sentences for drug-related offenses."

Discussing the violation of due process and fair trial rights in drug cases, the source said: “Anyone who has had dealings with their courts knows that the verdicts handed down are dictated from above; they are purely performative rulings with no semblance of a genuinely fair trial. Forced confessions are standard practice. In many cases, officials tamper with the files at every stage of the legal process and during initial interrogations, deliberately fabricating heavier charges to claim bounty bonuses and secure career promotions."

“As for the families on the outside, they are understandably terrified. They live in fear of making matters worse, desperate to ensure that things do not deteriorate further for their imprisoned sons, brothers, or husbands. They rarely dare to take any action. For the death row prisoners behind bars, however, they have nothing left to lose,” the source concluded.

The planned transfer follows a sustained wave of collective resistance in Unit 2 that has halted drug-related executions at the prison for the past year. In October 2025, more than 1,500 prisoners on death row for drug offences in Unit 2 staged a historic six-day strike, with some sewing their lips shut, while their families protested outside parliament in Tehran, successfully pressuring authorities to halt executions. Defiance erupted again on 13 July 2026, when Unit 2 launched a seventeen-day hunger strike after six drug death-row prisoners were transferred to pre-execution solitary confinement. By releasing daily video reports that gained global media coverage, the prisoners once again forced officials to temporarily suspend drug-related executions. In an apparent reprisal just two weeks later, prison authorities launched a scheme to disperse Hall 4 under the guise of maintenance work and coerced voluntary transfers, a manoeuvre prisoners denounced as a calculated effort to isolate organisers and dismantle collective solidarity before resuming hangings.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, October 20, 2026

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