Despicable Report of Torture and Ill-Treatment in Southwestern Iranian Prison

Political Prisoners
Situation Regarding Political Prisoners in Iran is Alarming. Maryam Rajavi: Silence and inaction give a green light to and are considered as complicity in these crimes.

Political Prisoners

The  People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran), and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reported that a human rights organization called “No to Prison – No to Execution which has just released a horrific report by eyewitnesses related to the torture in Ward 1 of Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz city, in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province.

The report states that Ward 1 is set aside for solitary confinement where prison staff can torture and harass prisoners in secrecy. The prisoners who are sent there need to be tortured more than other prison inmates. The kind of torture is both sexual and physical. They are confined in cells that barely measure two by three meters. On entry, the prisoners are denied access to the right food, a regular shower, and clean clothes.

COVID-19 has made the situation worse as many inmates are malnourished and have not been provided with basic safety equipment to ensure they live in hygienic conditions.  Due to fear of COVID-19 many inmates have protested and have managed to escape while the unlucky ones were shot and killed. Over 184,000 people have died of the coronavirus in Iran, according to reports by the Iranian opposition the  People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran), and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

Covid-19
The coronavirus has taken the lives of more than 159,000 people throughout Iran, according to (PMOI / MEK Iran).

An outspoken prisoner supporter of the (PMOI / MEK Iran) said that “torturers such as Lalehzar, Abdeveis, Zare, and Zolfaghari trample prisoners’ dignity with beatings, insults, and humiliating acts.”

Abdol Hossein Gholam-Nejad, who was at the time chief of Ahvaz Central Prison Protection and current chief of Sheiban Prison Protection, injured many inmates in April.

Prison officials deliberately confined inmates accused of murder and rape with other prisoners in solitary confinement. One prisoner said that Moradi who was a prison official had personally raped an inmate in solitary confinement. A further report stated that a prisoner with the acronym “A.A.” was sexually abused.

Prisoner “H.S.,” after 45 days in solitary confinement reported that the cells were called ‘dog kennels.’ And they not only smelled but lacked hygienic facilities so were a health hazard.

Another supporter of the (PMOI / MEK Iran) prisoner called “M.A.,” who spent 2 months in solitary confinement said that throughout Ahvaz’s almost unbearable summer, many prisoners died of heat, lack of food, illness, and thirst. The authorities’ clinical officials prescribed methadone for prisoners who were suffering from chronic diseases.

Many of the released prisoners despite being healthy became aggressive and nervous. Prisoners portray the clinic as a place for torturing, insulting, and humiliating prisoners because of the guards’ violence and embarrassing behavior. Too often an inmate loses his/her life.

In the summer, the guards forced many prisoners into these cells. They gave methadone to prisoners which caused convulsions and death due to the high temperature. In fact, according to one report methadone is the medicine of death in solitary confinements.

Prisoners have recently urged all human rights organizations and international bodies to put pressure on the Iranian government and judiciary system aimed at putting an end to systematic crimes in Sheiban Prison, which was mainly in solitary confinement cells of Ward 1.

MEK Iran (follow them on Twitter and Facebook)

and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTube