NCRI – In recent weeks, a large number of prisoners at Gohardasht prison in the Tehran suburb of Karaj have become ill after the prison’s drinking water was heavily contaminated. Prison officials refuse to allow access to medical treatment for the ailing inmates despite the prisoners’ deteriorating condition. They cite as justification the closure of the medical center due to the Iranian New Year holidays of Nowrouz. Despite the passing of several weeks from the incident, the water remains polluted and muddy at the complex, leaving the prisoners with only two hours of access to water, which has in turn worsened the already horrid hygienic situation at Gohardasht prison.
The main cause for such circumstances has reportedly been a sewage leak into the drinking water stream. The high concentration of prisoners, which is several times the prison’s normal capacity, coupled with a lack of sufficient clean drinking water and the most fundamental hygienic requirements, has also led to the spread of various diseases.
In normal circumstances, reports of chronic illnesses are responded to 45 days after a request has been made by the prisoner. However, for a variety of reasons, this response time is now being either ignored or delayed.
The Iranian Resistance calls on all international human rights organizations and authorities to enact urgent measures with regards to the atrocious circumstances prisoners are subjected to in the Iranian regime’s medieval prisons, especially when it comes to political prisoners.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
March 30, 2010
