Three death row prisoners from Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority, Ali Khasraji, Hossein Silawi and Jasem Heidary, have sewn their lips together and been on hunger strike since 23 January 2021 in Sheiban prison in Ahvaz, Khuzestan province, in protest at their prison conditions, denial of family visits, and the ongoing threat of execution. A fourth Ahwazi Arab prisoner, Naser Khafajian, has been forcibly disappeared since April 2020, putting him at risk of torture and secret execution.
