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34 Women Prisoners on Hunger Strike in Iran

Iranian women walk in the street without wearing a headscarf, in Tehran, Iran, 10 April 2023. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
Iranian women walk in the street without wearing a headscarf, in Tehran, Iran, 10 April 2023. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
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34 Women Prisoners on Hunger Strike in Iran

Iranian women walk in the street without wearing a headscarf, in Tehran, Iran, 10 April 2023. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
Iranian women walk in the street without wearing a headscarf, in Tehran, Iran, 10 April 2023. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

Thirty-four women prisoners went on hunger strike in the Evin Prison on Sunday to mark the second anniversary of the nationwide protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, said the foundation of Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi.

“Today, on the 15th September 2024, 34 female political prisoners in Evin Prison have gone on a hunger strike in commemoration of the second anniversary of the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement and the killing of Mahsa (Jina) Amini,” the foundation said.

Amini was a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd whose death in custody after her arrest for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women sparked the demonstrations.

“On the second anniversary of the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ movement, we reaffirm our commitment to achieving democracy, freedom, and equality and to defeating theocratic despotism,” Mohammadi, who has been in Tehran’s Evin prison since November 2021, said in a statement on her official X account.

Earlier, an Instagram account linked to the jailed activist published an audio clip of female prisoners chanting protest songs and slogans against reformists and conservatives in Iran. They called for the release of prisoners and for an immediate halt to executions in the country.

Meanwhile, Iranian authorities imposed tight security measures in Kurdish-majority cities west the country, fearing disturbances on the anniversary of the protests.

Mohammadi was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her fight for both women's rights and the abolition of the death penalty.

Mohammadi's children received the Nobel Peace Price on her behalf in 2023 while she was incarcerated.

She has spent much of the past decade in and out of jail and has staged repeated hunger strikes.

In June 2024, Branch 29 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Mohammadi to one additional year in prison for “propaganda activities against the state.”

According to her family, her sentences now amount to 12 years and three months of imprisonment, 154 lashes, two years of exile, and various social and political restrictions.

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Putin Orders Military to Boost Troop Numbers by 180,000 to 1.5 million as Ukraine Fighting Continues

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a meeting with government officials via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, March 22, 2021. (AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a meeting with government officials via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, March 22, 2021. (AP
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Putin Orders Military to Boost Troop Numbers by 180,000 to 1.5 million as Ukraine Fighting Continues

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a meeting with government officials via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, March 22, 2021. (AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a meeting with government officials via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, March 22, 2021. (AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered the country’s military to increase its number of troops by 180,000 to a total of 1.5 million, as Moscow’s military action in Ukraine drags on for more than 2 ½ years.

Putin’s decree, published on the official government website, will take effect Dec. 1. It sets the overall number of Russian military personnel at nearly 2.4 million, including 1.5 million troops, and orders the government to provide the necessary funding, The AP reported.

The previous increase in Russian troop numbers came last December, when a decree by Putin set the total number of Russian military personnel at about 2.2 million, including 1.32 million troops.

The most capable Russian troops have been pressing an offensive in eastern Ukraine, where they have made incremental but steady gains in the past few months.

In June, Putin put the number of troops involved in what the Kremlin calls the “special military operation” in Ukraine at nearly 700,000.

After calling up 300,000 reservists in the face of Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the fall of 2022, Russian authorities have switched to filling the ranks of troops fighting in Ukraine with volunteer soldiers, who have been attracted by relatively high wages.

Many commentators have noted that the Kremlin has been reluctant to call more reservists, fearing domestic destabilization like what happened in 2022 when hundreds of thousands fled Russia to avoid being sent to combat.

The shortage of military personnel has been widely cited as a key reason behind the success of Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region launched Aug. 6.

The Kremlin has sought to avoid the redeployment of troops from eastern Ukraine and relied on reinforcements from other areas to stem the Ukrainian incursion. The Russian Defense Ministry on Monday reported reclaiming control of two more villages in the Kursk region from Ukrainian forces.