Prison populace increased five times that of general population, according to prison chief
On May 19th a young prisoner by the name of Ali Shahsavari, held in a ward known as the “Correction Center” of Zabol Prison (southeast Iran), committed suicide protesting the Zabol public prosecutor refusing to provide him furlough at the end of his sentencing. Gholamreza Rezai, head of the prison security, ordered his hands and feet cuffed and transferred to the quarantine section. He was also ordered to be tortured in the office of the prison guards’ commander. A week earlier this prisoner had committed suicide after prison authorities refused to allow him to meet his family who had travelled from the city of Kerman to see him. He was saved by his friends.
On May 16th Rezai had insulted and thrown a prisoner by the name of Ramezan Koohkan from his third-level bed while he was asleep. Koohkan suffered a brain concussion that led to his immediate death. Fearing the anger of other inmates the officials claimed he suffered a brain stroke. Rezai is one of the leading elements behind drug smuggling and distribution inside this prison.
Food quality and hygiene conditions in this prison are very poor, and any prisoner protesting is immediately beaten and sent to solitary confinement. During the past month winged ants have flooded the prison wards due to the insanitary circumstances and poor water and air conditions.
Gohardasht Prison of Karaj, west of Tehran, the prisoners are constantly faced with water being cut off. However, the prison officials, in the utmost obscenity, have literally demanded the prisoners themselves resolve this problem and each provide 5 million tomans (around $1,430) to repair the prison’s water heating system.
In Sanandaj Central Prison, western Iran, the prisoners are deprived of medical and hygiene services. They also face lack of access to drinking water, poor food quality and a gas system that is constantly down. From March to this day 28 prisoners have been diagnosed with hepatitis.
Iranian Prison Organization chief Asghar Jahangir emphasized 70% of all prisoners are under the age of 40, adding while the country’s population has increased 66% in the past 30 years, the number of prisoners have increased 333%. This is around 4.5 times higher, meaning the number of prisoners has increased five-fold. (Young Journalists website, affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards – May 22)
The Iranian Resistance calls on all international human rights organizations to condemn the catastrophic conditions in Iran’s medieval dungeons and calls for a fact-finding mission to be sent to investigate about the truth and follow up on the circumstances of Iran’s prisons.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
May 23, 2017
