The British newspaper Sunday Times reported on the crackdown on female prisoners in Iran following Israel’s attack on Evin Prison on June 23, during the 12-day war. It wrote that there are concerns that 100 people may be executed on charges of spying for Israel.
The UN Human Rights Office announced on Friday, August 29, that at least 841 people have been executed in Iran this year. According to this report, just last month 110 people were executed in Iran, a figure that has doubled compared to the same month last year.
A former student activist had previously written in a series of Instagram stories that regime agents in Evin Prison, at the time of Israel’s attack, intended for the prisoners to be buried under the rubble of war.
UN Human Rights Office: At Least 841 People Executed in Iran This Year
She explained that after the explosion, the security agents first transferred them to the quarantine section of Qarchak Prison, and after two days, sent them to a safe house belonging to the Ministry of Intelligence at an undisclosed location.
The Sunday Times wrote that it independently confirmed that before Israel’s attack, an early warning had been given to a prison guard at Evin. He, along with some of his colleagues, left the area but did not evacuate the prisoners or other staff.
Asghar Jahangir, spokesperson for the Iranian regime’s judiciary, announced on June 29 that in Israel’s attack on Evin Prison, 71 people were killed, including administrative staff, soldiers, convicted inmates, families of prisoners who had come for visits or legal follow-ups, and neighbors living near the prison.
Possible execution of 100 political prisoners
The Sunday Times added that for the surviving prisoners, the Iranian regime has launched a revenge campaign after the war, seemingly using the prison attack as an excuse to harass and abuse them. Lawyers fear that more than 100 of them may now face execution.
A human rights lawyer from Tehran, who did not wish to be named, told the newspaper that a spirit of revenge dominates the judiciary. “A judge told me: our commanders and officials have been killed and we must take revenge. He didn’t even allow me to speak,” the lawyer said.
The lawyer added that the Iranian regime’s judiciary is confirming executions unusually fast and without following legal procedures. Some of those accused of spying for Israel were initially imprisoned for participating in anti-regime protests, but now, without any evidence against them and solely based on fabricated cases by security agents and confessions extracted under torture, they are being sent to their deaths.
The Sunday Times wrote that Evin Prison is internationally recognized as a symbol of the Iranian regime’s oppression, a highly secure facility notorious for torture and abuse of detainees.
Increased pressure on female prisoners after the Evin attack
According to the Sunday Times, the day after Israel’s airstrike, authorities transferred 61 female political prisoners to Qarchak Prison on the outskirts of Tehran. Qarchak lacks clean water, toilets, ventilation, and medical care.
The women live there in 40-degree Celsius (104°F) heat, with 65 of them crammed into five small rooms in a ward originally designed for temporary holding of new arrivals.
Human rights lawyers believe the Iranian regime is using accusations of spying for Israel as a means to exact revenge on innocent individuals who, under torture by intelligence agencies, have confessed to crimes they never committed.
On August 9, the spokesperson for the Iranian regime’s judiciary introduced 20 citizens arrested after the 12-day war with Israel as “spies and supporters of Mossad,” saying they had been arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence in Tehran and other provinces and that their cases were under review.
In his Saturday press conference, he said that the cases of these individuals were immediately opened and were under review, but he provided no details such as their identities or locations of detention.
Under such circumstances, there is no guarantee of fair trials, especially in cases where defendants have been subjected to physical and psychological torture.
