
Image accompanying this article online: Neon sign that says “Pharmacy, Day or Night.” The Farsi word at the top of the sign can mean either “Pharmacy” or “Noose”. The sign can be read either as "24/7 Pharmacy” or “24/7 Gallows.” Graphic: cpimlm.org
Society’s passivity over the increasing wave of executions and the growing number of political prisoners—passivity of even the progressive and justice-seeking members of society [in Iran]—has reached an alarming level. Gatherings in front of Evin and other prisons by opponents of execution have provoked little response, and we do not see any movement at the universities, which should be the platform for people’s struggle against the crimes of the regime.
Golrokh Iraee put it like this:
We have become numb to the death sentences…. We look at them, sometimes with tears in our eyes. We who oppose the executions should step outside our comfort zones, from the freedom and safety of our homes where we monitor all aspects of the security of our phone lines at home or work, lest we be identified. We cannot be oblivious to the fact that what we do behind closed doors in the safety of our homes is futile. In order to abolish the death penalty, to end the cycle of systematic killing which is one of the pillars of the Islamic Republic, we must line up at the prison gates and, face to face with the dictator, raise our voices against execution.1
We hear the words of a mother protesting in front of the prison just before her young son was executed. “You always said that the trials were unfair, but I didn't believe it... Today it is my turn, tomorrow it may be your turn. Please be my voice.” It is tragic and shocking to see what a small number of people are protesting executions in front of the prisons. Most of the time, there are only a few people standing with the family members of prisoners about to be executed.
What is our responsibility to the prisoners whose lives are ended on the gallows of this killing machine? Why are we witnessing such societal passivity in the face of these crimes?
To answer the question “why,” we need to understand the overall situation—including the political tendencies that currently exist among the people.
1. Desperation and despair:
Generally, after the ebb of any uprising (and specifically, after an uprising at the scale and intensity of the 2022 [Woman, Life, Freedom] uprising), the prevailing outlook and sentiment in society is: “The uprising failed. This shows that nothing can be done....” This, in turn, is related to the delusional perception about spontaneous popular uprisings—that they supposedly should lead to fundamental changes, spontaneously and without conscious intervention as part of a plan to achieve the goal of revolution. When these expectations are not realized, then despair and pessimism about any possibility of change spreads throughout society, and people become “indifferent.” (They “get into their own heads,” as the saying goes.)
2. Habit:
As [Karl] Marx put it, changing people’s habits is quite difficult. Habits are a significant obstacle to any people's movement for fundamental change. Society has become habituated to the crimes of the Islamic Republic [IRI], and the regime is working to institutionalize this habit. Despite society-wide anger over the execution of young people, the IRI repeatedly executes people—so many and so frequently, that people become numb to what’s happening. Among political activists, this often takes the form of no longer even trying to change the situation. That, in turn, signals to people that “nothing can be done.”
3. Interests and points of view that coincide with policies of the regime:
It is an important fact that people hate the IRI and want it gone. At the same time, the IRI has convinced large sections of society that its policies coincide with what they perceive to be in their own self-interest. The IRI relies on this to get the people to side with the regime, or at least go along with it, as they have for executions of people for drug-related charges, executions for people’s ideological or political beliefs, and executions of people from oppressed nationalities in regions such as Baluchistan and Kurdistan.
For example, take the growing number of executions of people from Baluchistan, almost all charged with drug trafficking. Iranian society ranks first in the world in the percentage of a country’s population that is addicted to drugs. Addiction has devastated countless families. To them, the regime says, “It is the Baluch youth who are responsible for your misery,” despite the fact that no such evidence was presented at trial. In fact, these accused youth never had any chance of getting a fair trial. Their lawyers were not even allowed to see the contents of the case files—any open and fair trial would have revealed how drugs are actually being transported, and by whom. The real drug lords are the IRI’s security and military apparatus, not people without shoes to wear or even a birth certificate.
In this way, the IRI not only creates a sense of indifference to executions, but in some strata of society it also instills a perverse sense of satisfaction and security.
The IRI sentences [ethnic] Kurds and Arabs to death on political and ideological charges—and followed immediately by announcements that those they executed were separatists who wanted to divide Iran and had endangered national security along Iran’s borders and in its oil region! Never mind that these are improbable and unsubstantiated charges, they galvanize some nationalist groups and their political representatives. When these (fascist or non-fascist) Iranians applaud executions, they become the IRI’s accomplices, and assist the IRI in its socialization of whole sections of the people to the “necessity of these executions”….
In short, the IRI does not advance its policies alone, though it is behind all these crimes. Rather, it relies on reactionary, backward, spontaneous, and ignorant ways of thinking, and reinforces that outlook among relatively large sections of society. In this way, the more the IRI intensifies repression and executions, the more it makes them socially acceptable.
4. Negotiations or war with the U.S.:
This issue affects the atmosphere throughout society, and is a factor that fuels illusions and self-deception among the people: “Let’s wait and see what will happen!… We, ourselves, do not have the power to compel the IRI, but maybe if there is an agreement between the IRI and the U.S., the West will force them to stop these executions…” This type of illusory self-deception completely neuters people’s initiative. In 2022, people acted on their own initiative and took to the streets, declaring with confidence and courage: “We, ourselves, will finish the job!” Pinning people’s hopes on the outcome of negotiations takes the initiative out of the people’s hands and hands the initiative to U.S. imperialism. It instills desperation and passivity in the masses of people, and undermines the struggle to achieve their goals. As far as the IRI is concerned, these negotiations buy them time to fortify their military, and to further intensify their war on the [Iranian] people.
5. The importance of uniting broadly across political and organizational boundaries:
Insisting on the primacy of one’s own political line or organization weakens the needed unity among political forces and individuals in the struggle to Stop the Executions and Free the Political Prisoners. But coming together in a spirit of unity and solidarity in this fight can create an atmosphere of dialogue and much more lively debate across lines and boundaries that will deepen and sustain the struggle against repression and execution.
Protest gatherings in front of Evin Prison to call for the immediate release of political prisoners and an immediate halt to executions should encompass a wide spectrum of the country’s political trends. Human rights activists, former political prisoners from all walks of life, environmental activists, students, people in culture and the arts, athletes, and journalists can all set a good example in this regard. There must be solidarity among the activists, without regard to someone’s party or group affiliation. On their own, particular campaigns—whether in the form of statements, hunger-strikes, sit-ins, etc.—may gain respect and even involve real sacrifice, but separately, they will lead nowhere.
This brings us to “identity politics.” For example: “…worker XX sentenced to execution must be released,” [or] “…imprisoned teacher XX must be released,” [or] “…the imprisoned journalist XX,” [or] “…the imprisoned student XX,” etc. The IRI considers everyone guilty and organizes itself accordingly. Therefore, the slogans related to halting a particular execution, or for the release of a specific political prisoner must be transformed into a general call to “Stop the Executions” and to “Free the Political Prisoners Now.”
6. Intensifying repression:
The security climate and political repression in society are driving important sections of the population to conservatism and into a place of seeking “self-preservation.” For the past 46 years, the middle class of society and its literary, artistic, and political spokespeople have been the promoters of this conservative outlook. Only a few people in the arts, literature and sports have shown courage in the face of the authorities’ suppression and, by their example, promoted courage.
In sum, the outlook of society in general gives the regime a freer hand. Many people see the IRI’s crimes and are angry. But this anger is accompanied by desperation and despair (especially after the ebb of the 2022 [WLF] uprising), and by the huge number of false ideas that exist among the broad masses of people. The combination of these negative factors must be addressed and a united nationwide campaign must be launched to “Stop the Executions” and “Free the Political Prisoners Now.”
We are confronted with a regime organized around the assumption that the people under its rule are criminals. We must fight for the overthrow of this regime and to establish a government which assumes that, in the tension between the state and the people, the people have fundamental rights that must be upheld: a government whose laws on crime and punishment are based on the presumption of innocence for the accused, and not only does not criminalize opposition to the state, but promotes its flourishing, in order to ensure the vitality and intellectual richness of society. These are the principles set forth in Article 3 of the Draft Constitution of the New Socialist Republic of Iran, entitled “People's Rights and the Struggle against the Axis of Oppression and Against Any Form of Exploitation,” and in particular the second part, entitled “Legal Rights, Civil Rights and Freedoms." This draft is available to the public on the cpimlm.org website [in Farsi].