NCRI – Navy Colonel Alborz Ghasemi, a 51-year-old political prisoner, died on January 19, 2010, after spending 20 months in the medieval prisons of the mullahs’ regime under the most brutal forms of torture. He suffered from chronic pain as a result of stomach cancer and died at Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. The regime’s henchmen deprived him of hospitalization and receiving proper medical treatment by specialists. Ghasemi was a former commander of the Center for Expert Naval Training in the city of Rasht and an instructor at one of the Army’s Naval Forces universities.
Ghasemi was arrested on May 12, 2008, and accused of transferring intelligence to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). His brother, Hamid Ghasemi, a Canadian resident, was also arrested after returning to Iran. The two political prisoners were sentenced to death after preliminary hearings on charges of moharebeh (waging war against God). An appeals court later reduced their sentence to life imprisonment.
Ghasemi spent his prison term in solitary confinement at the Army’s intelligence protection detention center as well as Evin’s Ward 240. He was kept in Ward 350 of Evin prison for the past two months. Ghasemi was subjected to cruel torture during his imprisonment.
The regime’s callous henchmen refused to grant Ghasemi the bare minimum medical attention even though he was suffering from intolerable pain as a result of stomach cancer, effects of torture and the excruciating circumstances in solitary confinement.
Hamid Qasemi is currently held in ward 350 of Evin prison under appalling conditions. Like his brother, he has been incarcerated for 20 months, undergone torture and held in solitary confinement.
Currently, a large number of political prisoners in Iran suffer from chronic illnesses, but the regime’s torturers refuse to provide them with proper medical attention, even telling the ailing prisoners: We have not brought you here to save you; we’ve brought you here for a painful death.
The names of some of the ailing political prisoners and their state of health are as follows:
1. Ali Saremi, who has a history of infarction, is now in danger of having another stroke because of high blood pressure;
2. Dr. Mohammad Maleki, former President of Tehran University, suffers from cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure;
3. Ali Moezi is suffering from hydronephrosis (acute kidney ailment) and is in a critical state;
4. Hamed Rouhinezhad suffers from multiple sclerosis and is losing his sight. He can hardly maintain his balance;
5. Mansour Ossanlou, suffering from variety of ailments including severe damage to his eye sight and back pain which affects his legs;
6. Mansour Radpour has severe kidney complications;
7. Misaq Yazdan-nezhad suffers from acute nervous problems;
8. Houri (Fatemeh) Ziai suffering from multiple sclerosis;
9. Behrouz Javid Tehrani’s sight has been damaged due to severe torture and violent blows to the head by heavy objects such as fire extinguisher capsule and chair;
10. Alireza Karami Kheirabadi suffering from acute hepatitis;
11. Hamid Haeri suffering from chronic heart complications;
12. Hadi (Homayoun) Abed Ba-Khoda is facing death due to lack of medical treatment in Rasht prison. He is a political prisoner from 1980s. At the time of his arrest he was shot and his spinal cord fractured. When his condition became very serious, the regime was compelled to send him to hospital for treatment under pressures by international human rights organizations;
13. Abbas Khorsandi has had an operation on his heart and is in need of attention;
14. Farhad Vakili has already suffered from a heart attack and needs special care;
15. Mohammad Hassan Fallahizadeh is suffering from hepatitis.
The Iranian Resistance calls on all international authorities, particularly the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN special rapporteur on torture and working group on arbitrary detentions, as well as physicians’ associations and syndicates to adopt urgent measures to investigate the situation of political prisoners in Iran, especially those who suffer from serious and chronic illnesses.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
February 6, 2010
