Iran Focus
London, 27 Aug – The families of Rajaeeshahr political prisoners, currently on hunger strike have been harshly, offensively treated by security guards in Iranian regime’s prosecutor’s office, the reports say.
The event took place on Wednesday August 23, when the families of Rajaeeshar’s prisoners of conscience referred to regime’s prosecutor office three weeks after the inmates began a continued hunger strike to realize their basic rights inside prison.
The families were going to hand over a letter to regime’s Prisons Organization describing prison officials’ unlawful conduct towards inmates, but the security guards in prosecutor office treated the families harshly and offensively.
“We, the families, wrote a letter and referred to the Prisons Organization”, says a family member, “Although we were mostly women together with our kids, but the security guards didn’t allow us to get in and didn’t take the letter, either. Meanwhile, head of the security guards in place began insulting us and even threw a mother down the stairs.”
The inmates began their mass hunger strike on July 30, with some others joining them a few days later, after being abruptly transferred to a new ward without being allowed to take their personal belongings with them.
The letter written by families of the inmates says that the inmates were transferred to the new ward while being beaten.
“Using such ‘totally beyond human dignity and inmates rights’ methods like unconventional inspections and handcuffing, dragging on the ground, and beating, the inmates were abruptly and without prior notice transferred to a new section which lacks even the basic facilities”, the letter says.
The families have criticized the fact that “the inmates were not even allowed to bring their personal belongings and necessary medications with them”, adding that “since being transferred to the new section, the inmates are denied of even such basic amenities like fridge, cooker, TV, and cooking stuff, which they used to have while they were in previous section.”
According to the letter, most of these appliances were obtained at the expense of inmates and their families, and since no action was taken despite repeated oral and written protests by inmates and their families, “the inmates eventually decided to go on a mass hunger strike to protest against the current situation.”
Pointing to physical conditions of some inmates and the ‘clear weakness and atrophy’ they’re suffering from, the letter then expresses concern over inmates’ continued hunger strike and refers to seizure of their personal belongings as an act of ‘public plundering’.
“Even the inmates’ cigarettes have been seized”, the letter says, adding “Inmates’ personal photos seized during their transfer to the new ward ended up in trash cans… Going through the past three weeks for some inmates has been more difficult than serving years of prison term.”
Meanwhile, Magda Mughrabi, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director for Amnesty International, said on August 22 “the fact that detention conditions have become so poor that the desperate inmates feel they are forced to go on hunger strike to demand the most basic standards is disgraceful and highlights the urgent need for reforms to Iran’s cruel prison system.”
Despite international, domestic, and families’ concerns over inmates’ continued hunger strike in Evin and Rajaeeshahr prisons, Tehran prosecutor has announced that the judiciary is not going to back down due to inmates’ hunger strike and that such measures are destined to fail.
“We hereby inform the inmates turning to hunger strike and similar measures that such approaches are going to fail”, said Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi on Wednesday August 23.
“The judiciary is not going to give in to such measures”, he added, “inmates’ sentences must be fully enforced and we are not supposed to be affected by such actions like hunger strike.”
