Amnesty International: Injured Prisoners at Ahvaz Prison Should Receive Immediate Medical Care
During the protests on April 1st at Shiban Prison in Ahvaz and following the violent intervention of security forces, a number of prisoners have been injured or transferred to unknown locations. Amnesty International has called for immediate action to provide medical attention to the wounded.
Amnesty International, in a statement released on Thursday, April 30th, has called for medical examinations for “tortured prisoners” at Shiban Prison in Ahvaz. Amnesty International states that a large number of Arab Ahvazi prisoners held in Ward 5 of this prison have been beaten and shot with rubber bullets by security forces after protesting the authorities’ failure to implement health precautions related to coronavirus.
According to the organization, Mohammad Ali Amouri, a minority rights activist, has sustained injuries to his head and chest, and Abdolreza Obeidavi, another prisoner, has lost one eye due to being hit by rubber bullets.
Amnesty International stated that Abdolzahra (Zahir) Halichi, Abdolimam Zayeri, Sajad Delmani, Ali Kaab Amir, Jaber Alboshoukeh, and his brother Mokhtar Alboshoukeh have all suffered from infected wounds.
Restrictions on Visits and Mistreatment of Prisoners
The organization reports that since April 1st, family visits to Shiban Prison inmates have been canceled, and families are only allowed one minute of daily phone contact with their relatives. In a statement citing accounts from prisoners’ families, the organization notes that intelligence and prison officials have subjected dozens of people to mistreatment and torture: “Officials have transferred three prisoners named Hossein Silavi, Ali Khosraji, and Nasser Khafaji to an unknown location since April 1st, and continue to hide their whereabouts and fate from their families. At least seven other prisoners named Jaber Alboshoukeh, Mokhtar Alboshoukeh, Ali Majdam, Moein Khonfari, Jamil Haidari, Jassem Haidari, and Abdolrazaq Obeidavi, who had been in forced disappearance since April 1st, were returned to Shiban Prison on April 16th and have since been held together in solitary confinement, deprived of regular phone contact with their families.”
Amnesty International, citing statements from the families of these prisoners, reports that they began hunger strikes on May 24th. It is stated that most prisoners in Ward 5 of Shiban Prison have been wounded and new criminal charges have been filed against them for their protest in the prison.
“Unrest Suppressed”
Shiban Prison is located in the northeastern part of Ahvaz, outside the city limits. On April 1st, images from the prison were circulated on social networks showing columns of smoke from inside the prison. The commander of the Khuzestan Police Force told the IRNA news agency that prisoners had set fires to trash and garbage bins inside the prison, but the “unrest and chaos” was suppressed with the help of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij.
Families of the prisoners stated that they had protested in response to the lack of medical care and concerns about the spread of coronavirus. Arab activists had previously reported that 80 prisoners held in this prison were transferred to unknown locations following the protests.
Amnesty International has called on human rights defenders to pressure Islamic Republic authorities through letter-writing campaigns and other methods to provide medical care and allow detainees to communicate with their families and lawyers. The organization also called for independent investigations into “forced disappearances” and the torture of prisoners during the April 1st protests.
Source: DW
