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Iran is putting political prisoners' lives at risk by denying them medical care
Iran’s
authorities are callously toying with the lives of prisoners of conscience and
other political prisoners by denying them adequate medical care, putting them
at grave risk of death, permanent disability or other irreversible damage to
their health, according to a new report by Amnesty International published
today.
The
report, Health taken hostage: Cruel denial of medical care in Iran’s
prisons, provides a grim snapshot of health care in the
country’s prisons. It presents strong evidence that the judiciary, in
particular the Office of the Prosecutor, and prison administrations
deliberately prevent access to adequate medical care, in many cases as an
intentional act of cruelty intended to intimidate, punish or humiliate
political prisoners, or to extract forced “confessions” or statements of
“repentance” from them.
“In Iran
a prisoner’s health is routinely taken hostage by the authorities, who
recklessly ignore the medical needs of those in custody. Denying medical care
to political prisoners is cruel and utterly indefensible,” said Philip Luther,
Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
“Prisoners’
access to health care is a right enshrined in both international and Iranian
law. When depriving a prisoner of medical care causes severe pain or suffering
and it is intentionally done for purposes such as punishment, intimidation or
to extract a forced ‘confession’, it constitutes torture.”
Denying medical care to political
prisoners is cruel and utterly indefensible
The
report details 18 appalling cases of prisoners who have been denied medical
care in some form and are at risk of suffering permanent damage to their
health.
Prisoners subjected to a shocking range of abuses
The
report provides a deeply disturbing image of the Office of the Prosecutor,
which in Iran is responsible for decisions concerning medical leave and
hospital transfers. The Office of the Prosecutor often refuses to authorize
hospital transfers for sick prisoners even though the care they need is not
available in prison, and denies requests for medical leave for critically ill
prisoners against doctors’ advice.
Amnesty
International’s research found that in some cases prison officials had also
violated prisoners’ rights to health, or were responsible for torture or other
ill-treatment. In several cases, they withheld medication from political
prisoners or unnecessarily used restraints such as handcuffs and leg shackles
on political prisoners, interfering with their medical treatment, bruising
theirs hands and feet or causing them discomfort and humiliation.
Prisoners
interviewed by Amnesty International also said that prison doctors were
sometimes complicit in the abuse. They said some prison doctors consistently
downplayed or outright dismissed their health problems as “figments of their
own imagination” and treated serious conditions with painkillers or
tranquillizers.
The
report reveals that women political prisoners, at least in Tehran’s Evin Prison
where the clinic is entirely staffed by male doctors and nurses, face
additional barriers to accessing medical care. On several occasions women
prisoners, who experienced health problems, were denied emergency medical tests
or other treatment because it was deemed inappropriate for them to be treated
by male medical staff. Women were also subjected to sexual slurs and harassment
for failing to comply with strict veiling regulations.
The Iranian authorities and in
particular the prosecution authorities have displayed a chilling ruthlessness
in their attitude towards sick prisoners
“The
Iranian authorities and in particular the prosecution authorities have
displayed a chilling ruthlessness in their attitude towards sick prisoners.
They are toying with individuals’ lives with devastating, lasting consequences
to their health,” said Philip Luther.
“Iran’s
authorities must immediately stop using the denial of medical care as a form of
punishment or coercion and ensure all people in custody are able to access
adequate health care without discrimination.”
Treatment withheld to extract ‘confessions’
Zeynab Jalalian, an
Iranian Kurdish woman serving a life sentence in connection with her alleged
membership of a Kurdish opposition group, is at risk of going blind because her
treatment has been withheld. Her family believe she was injured when
interrogators repeatedly hit her head against the wall, fracturing her skull
causing a brain haemorrhage and vision impairment. She urgently needs an eye
operation but the authorities have repeatedly refused to authorize her transfer
to a hospital. Intelligence officers have told her she would first have to
provide “confessions”.
“They
said that if she did so, they would not only reduce her sentence but also take
her to a doctor,” her sister, Deniz Jalalian, told Amnesty International.
Zeynab
Jalalian
“Making medical care conditional on obtaining a statement of
‘repentance’ or a ‘confession’ is not only a shameful exploitation of a
prisoner’s poor health but also a clear violation of the absolute prohibition
of torture and other ill-treatment,” said Philip Luther.
Denial of timely specialized medical care outside prison
Prisoner
of conscience Omid
Kokabee, a 33-year-old physicist serving a 10-year sentence for
refusing to work on military projects in Iran, complained of kidney problems
for nearly five years but the authorities ignored his repeated requests for
medical care. In April 2016, he was diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer and
had to undergo emergency surgery to remove his right kidney.
“He had
been waiting for a long time to be transferred to a hospital… but the officials
wouldn’t agree to it. Prison doctors never even examined him, and kept
prescribing painkillers for him,” a family member said.
A
photograph which recently emerged showing Omid Kokabee chained to his hospital
bed when he was hospitalized on a previous occasion in 2015 caused an outcry on
social media.
Omid Kokabee,
Iranian scientist was chained to his hospital bed
Afshin
Sohrabzadeh, an
Iranian Kurdish political prisoner serving a 25-year prison sentence, was also
repeatedly denied the specialized treatment he urgently needed for an
intestinal cancer which resulted in severe and frequent gastrointestinal
bleeding. The authorities also made his medical leave conditional on an
extortionate bail amount.
“If you
cannot provide a property bond for your medical leave that is not a problem. We
will send your body to a mortuary and your mother and father can go and pick it
up,” Afshin Sohrabzadeh was apparently told.
Afshin
Sohrabzadeh
On 25 June 2016 he was finally granted temporary medical leave.
However, he remains unable to fund his treatment because the intelligence
authorities have confiscated his national identification documents, preventing
him from applying for government-subsidized health care.
The case
of Afif Naimi, a prisoner of conscience and one of
seven imprisoned leaders of Iran’s Baha’i community serving a 10-year prison
term, is another shocking case. He suffers from a severe blood clotting
disorder, which requires regular, specialized medical care not available in
prison. The condition can be fatal if left untreated. He has been deemed unfit
for imprisonment by medical professionals several times but despite this the
Office of the Prosecutor has refused to release him on medical grounds. While
in prison, he has suffered recurrent bleeding and loss of consciousness,
resulting in his frequent hospitalization.
Hunger strikes
Many
political prisoners suffering from health conditions have felt that they have
had no choice but to go on hunger strike to compel the authorities to provide
them with medical care. Hunger strikes are usually greeted with indifference
but in some cases the authorities have eventually granted the hunger striker
short-term medical leave, then forced them to interrupt their treatment by
returning them to prison after a brief period against medical advice.
In some
cases prisoners were punished for going on hunger strike. Prisoner of
conscience Alireza
Rasouli, who is serving a three-and-a-half-year prison
sentence, was sentenced to three additional years after he was convicted of
national security charges such as “spreading propaganda against the system”
including through staging hunger strikes. He suffers from a bone disease in his
leg, which has deteriorated because it was left untreated, causing him severe
pain and restricting his ability to move. He now requires surgery outside of
prison to prevent potentially permanent joint damage.
Amnesty
International is calling on the Iranian authorities to immediately stop denying
prisoners access to adequate medical care, in line with their international
obligations. The authorities must investigate the prosecution authorities and
all other officials – including medical staff – who may be involved in
deliberately denying medical care to prisoners.
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