As human rights organizations warn of escalating repression in Iran, reports indicate that families of political prisoners at Greater Tehran Prison were subjected to degrading treatment and unusual body searches during visitations. Some prisoners protested against this conduct.
On Thursday, July 17, prison agents in some cases forced family members of political prisoners visiting their loved ones at Greater Tehran Prison to strip completely naked.
Informed sources stated that the visitation process involved aggressive treatment and extensive body searches, which provoked strong protests from the families.
A family member who visited their imprisoned relative at Greater Tehran Prison said that this visitation was granted three weeks after prisoners were transferred from Evin Prison. They added that prison guards at the security checkpoints forced families to strip completely.
The source emphasized that officers conducted these searches manually without using scanning devices and added that political prisoners and their families strongly objected to the nature of these inspections during in-person visits.
Political prisoners in various wards of Greater Tehran Prison voiced their protest by chanting slogans such as “No more threats, abuse, or humiliation—they no longer work,” “Political prisoners must be freed,” and “Death to the dictator.”
This is the first time prison agents in Iran have subjected families of political prisoners to such treatment under the pretext of security inspection.
In October 2024, 22 female political prisoners from Evin Prison wrote a letter demanding an end to and investigation into the “sexual abuse” of several inmates during body searches.
In June 2024, female officers at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, under the pretext of “inspection,” subjected the wife of a political prisoner to unprecedented sexual assault, abuse, and humiliation.
In June 2023, several female civil and political activists recounted their time in detention or prison, describing how regime forces forced them to strip completely naked in front of guards or surveillance cameras.
At the time, Mizan News Agency—affiliated with the regime’s judiciary—responded to the revelations about “naked body inspections” and the filming of such procedures by confirming the practice but claiming that “no images are recorded or saved.”
