Political Prisoners Face Increased Pressure in Iran  

London, 27 Sep - On September 26, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) published an article about conditions facing political prisoners in Iran.

They look at the case of 63 year old political prisoner Arjang Davoodi who was sent to Zabul Central Prison on September 24.  The transfer of his personal belongings and his medications were prevented. Davoodi suffers from many illnesses, including heart disease, kidney disease and diabetes. He has been transferred from one prison to another since October 2003, has been tortured, and has spent long periods in solitary confinement. He is currently housed in Ward 2 of Zabul prison, where ordinary prisoners are jailed. 

They also examine the situation of political prisoner Ali Moezzi, father of two PMOI members.  After weeks of uncertainty and and transfers between Evin and Gohardasht prisons, he was finally housed in Gohardasht Prison on September 21. Mr. Moezzi, 67, suffers from various diseases: cancer, kidney failure and severe neck arthritis. He has repeatedly been deprived of the most basic facilities and medical care. 

Mehdi Farahi Shandiz, another political prisoner in Gohardasht prison, has been in solitary confinement for three weeks, according to the NCRI. He and a number of prisoners were severely beaten on September 2, and later he was transferred to solitary confinement. 

The NCRI writes, “In this regards, Mohammad Mardani, criminal head of Gohardasht prison and henchman Dariush Amirian, who is the so-called internal manager of the prison and takes the stools from underneath of the feet of prisoners on gallows, are intent to increase pressure on prisoners continuously and with different methods. This includes banning visits by second degree family members or simultaneous meeting with family members, banning entry of books into prison (the condition for bringing a book into the prison is to take one out), banning any food brought by family members, banning purchase of any electric equipment from the prison store or from outside of the prison, lack of any possibility of repairing of electric equipment…. In addition to these repressive restrictions, a high number of prisoners have long been deprived from family visits and phone calls to their relatives. Prisoners also suffer from the extreme low quality of the food and high cost and lack of quality of goods sold in the prison store, as well as lack of heating and cooling equipment and shutting off all prison apertures.” 

Further, they call on international human rights organizations, “especially the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran and Rapporteurs on arbitrary arrests, torture and the right to life, to take urgent action in relation to the Iranian prisoners, especially political prisoners.”