Report on the Difficulties of Inmates in the Closed Ward of Tehran’s Great Prison

Hrana News Agency – Inmates confined to Ward 1, Section 2 of Tehran’s Great Prison, also known as the Closed Ward, are facing numerous difficulties in various areas. In the following report, some of these problems are addressed, including prolonged and recurring water outages, inadequate sanitary conditions, severe overcrowding of inmates, and deprivation of air conditioning systems in the aforementioned ward.

According to Hrana News Agency, the news outlet of the Iranian human rights activists network, inmates confined to Ward 1, Section 2 of Tehran’s Great Prison are facing numerous difficulties in various areas.

Prolonged and recurring water outages, inadequate sanitary conditions, severe overcrowding of inmates, and deprivation of air conditioning and cooling systems are among the problems faced by inmates confined to Ward 1, Section 2 of Tehran’s Great Prison.

An informed source told Hrana in this regard: “Inmates confined in the closed ward are facing recurring and prolonged water outages. For the past two days, water has been completely cut off and inmates are living in very poor conditions, and prison officials have taken no practical steps to resolve this problem.”

This comes as the warm season approaches, when the need for water for washing, bathing, and air cooling systems becomes greater than ever.

Also, a source close to the family of one of the inmates regarding ventilation problems in this ward told Hrana: “The population density in Ward 1, Section 2 of Tehran’s Great Prison is very high. The air is getting hotter day by day and there is no proper ventilation and cooling system in this ward that can meet the current conditions.”

According to this source, as the air gets hotter, inmates’ problems increase, and due to lack of access to facilities such as clean drinking water and deprivation of ventilation systems and sanitary problems, there is a risk of disease outbreak among inmates.

Previously, following clashes and assaults on a number of political prisoners held in Tehran’s Great Prison, Hossein Ghashghayee, Mehran Delfan Azari, Meysam Gholamami, Hojat Rafaei, Reza Salvatee, Morteza Avalnegi, Shahab Soltanyan, Davoud Abdolahi, Shapoor Ehsani Rad, Poya Qobadi, Ismail Gerami, Akbar Bagheri, Alireza Farshi, and Akbar Faraji were transferred to Hall 1, Section 2 of the prison. The transfer of these inmates to Hall 1, also known as the Closed Ward, took place with the presence of several prison officials and was forced despite non-standard and inappropriate conditions in this hall.

One day after the clashes in Tehran’s Great Prison and the assaults on inmates, Mohammad Mehdi Hajjmohammadi, head of the Prison Organization, in response to published news, while confirming the reports on his personal account on social media, claimed: “Regarding the inaccurate news of clashes in Tehran’s Great Prison suffice it to say that; a prison is not an assemblage of intellectuals but an assemblage of criminals. With the controls in place; conflict and tension between them is not unexpected. In the ward of security-related criminals, for better care and supervision, there is more than 50 percent empty capacity and no other inmates are present.”

Source: Hrana