UN Special Rapporteur Gina Romero joins hunger strike of Iran's political prisoners

Gina Romero, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, went on a one-day hunger strike on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, in solidarity with Iran's political prisoners and the "No to Execution Tuesdays" campaign, joining from outside prison the prisoners' weekly protest against death sentences.

Ms Romero announced her decision on Sunday, 11 October, in a video and a thread on X. She condemned the executions of protesters and political activists in Iran and said the Islamic Republic uses the death penalty to suppress freedom of expression, assembly, association and political participation. According to her, at least 46 protesters have been executed in Iran since February–March 2026, the highest number of political executions in nearly four decades. She also condemned unlawful detentions and violations of fair-trial principles, and called for an end to executions and for independent monitoring of the condition of prisoners on death row.

Reaction from Mai Sato

Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, reposted her colleague's message and called it an important one. Ms Sato has repeatedly supported the prisoners' campaign before and called for an end to executions in Iran.

The "No to Execution Tuesdays" campaign in its 142nd week

The "No to Execution Tuesdays" campaign began in January–February 2024 with a hunger strike by a group of political prisoners in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj, and gradually spread to other prisons. The participating prisoners go on hunger strike every Tuesday in protest against death sentences. On Tuesday, 6 October, the campaign held its 141st week with prisoners in 66 prisons taking part, and on Tuesday, 13 October it reached its 142nd week.

A UN rapporteur joining the strike comes in a week when the wave of political executions in Iran has intensified. On Wednesday, 14 October, the Islamic Republic's judiciary executed Alisina Mostafavi, a mountaineer and political prisoner from Kerman, and Amnesty International had earlier called the execution of five protesters of the Dey uprising in one week a tool of intimidation. In these same days, Hamzeh Savari, a political prisoner in Ghezel Hesar, also went on hunger strike.

The protest of prisoners who go hungry every Tuesday now has a UN rapporteur at their side.