Iran: insulting and degrading treatment of women prisoners

A recently published report out of the women’s ward of the notorious Evin Prison sheds light on inhumane and degrading treatments of women prisoners.
This report states:
In the women’s ward of Evin Prison where many are suffering mothers, the prisoners remain without any phone calls, their visits are limited and their living conditions are riddled with problems.
The women’s ward in Evin Prison has three rooms and a 25 square meter kitchen with 2 normal 4-flame stoves. As the number of inmates vary, this ward lacks enough beds and many women are forced to sleep on the floor. In various months of the year, around June, the number of prisoners increase. The prisoners of this ward are faced with specific problems, especially during the winter.
In the women’s ward of Evin Prison the inmates of this ward are unable to make contact with the outside world, and this is extremely troubling for prisoners. If the prisoner do ask for phone calls they are forced to issue numerous written requests to various branches of the prison, and this trend may actually take 2 or 3 months to render results. The women’s ward in Evin Prison also lacks adequate recreational and cultural providing. The ward only has a library, of which the books are provided by the prisoners themselves.
The entire ward, other than the restrooms, is under closed-circuit camera surveillance.
The women’s ward of Evin Prison provides visits only on Sunday for just 15 to 20 minutes in cabins and from behind glass walls. In-person visits must have the approval of the prosecutor’s office and are usually provided once every 4 to 6 weeks in large halls.
Security forces react to any report published about the conditions of this ward by banning all visits for the political prisoners held in this ward.
The prisoners are allowed fresh-air time from 9 am to 5 pm, and the hours lessen in the winter. The prisoners in this ward are facing serious malnutrition problems. Due to the low quality food served in the prison, the prisoners prefer to use dry food stuffs (purchased by the prisoners themselves). Despite all this they face hygiene problems, lack of food supplies, expired food stuffs and also lack of access to necessary food items. To add insult to injury, the prices are very high in the prison’s store.
The prisoners are deprived of having adequate rations of red meat and there have been cases where the served white meat has become rotten and expired months before. These issues result in various illnesses amongst the residents of this ward in the long run, including low blood levels and other problems..

(March 20, 2016)