Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, October 17, 2020—According to reports obtained from inside Iran, the health conditions of political prisoners in Ahvaz’s Sheyban prison are deteriorating. The prisoners have no access to food and prison authorities have closed the prison store, the only place where prisoners can purchase food items. Also, the prisoners have been deprived of access to doctors and medical services.
One example is political prisoner Gholamhossein Kalbi, whose ears have been infected for a long time. As a result, he has lost hearing in one of his ears. This prisoner is currently being held in Ward 7 of this prison, which is a ward for thieves with previous record, and is deprived of minimum medical care. It is a common practice for regime authorities to transfer political prisoners to the wards of dangerous criminals to persecute them.
Another political prisoner, Massoud Massoudi, who was shot and wounded in March during a prison riot, is suffering from infection to his wounds. He does not have access to medical care.
Ayub Parkar, another political prisoner, is also ill and in a worrying conditions. He reportedly suffered a stroke but was denied basic medical care and visits from his friends and family.
Due to his physical condition, he is not able to eat the prison food, and he has no means to buy food because of the closure of the prison store.
Four political prisoners from the city of Ahvaz, including Ali Khosraji, Hossein Silavi, along with two other prisoners on death row, have been held in solitary confinement for three weeks and are being tortured and pressured.
The situation of these inmates, who are deprived of contact with their families, is unknown and their families are worried about them. The lives of political prisoners in Sheyban Prison in Ahvaz are in danger.
Earlier reports from this prison pertain that the regime is not taking precautionary measures the prevent the spread of coronavirus and as a result, many inmates have contracted the virus.
The increased pressure against these political prisoners comes against the backdrop of similar measures by the regime across Iran. Very recently, the regime executed two political prisoners on charges of taking part in nationwide protests. One of them, Navid Afkari, was brutally tortured and forced to confess to crimes he had not committed. His execution was carried out without prior notice to his lawyer and family and despite an international campaign for sentence to be revoked. He was later buried under severe restrictions to prevent further protests.
A few weeks earlier, the Iranian opposition obtained reports from repressive measures in other prisons, including the violent displacement of political prisoners in Urmia Central Prison.
In September, the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) warned about the conditions of female political prisoners in various prisons across Iran, some of whom have contracted Covid-19 as a result of the regime’s intentional negligence to their conditions.
International human rights bodies and activists have warned against the mounting pressure on political prisoners in Iran. The regime, which is in constant fear of the reemergence of nationwide protests, is trying to cause intimidation and fear among the population through the persecution of arrested protesters.
The Iranian Resistance has time and again called on the United Nations Human Rights Council and other international bodies to intervene, inspect Iran’s prisons, and protect the rights and health of political prisoners.
