Amnesty International Calls for Release of All Political and Ideological Prisoners in Iran
Amnesty International issued a statement in response to news of pardons granted to those convicted of “security” crimes with sentences of 5 years or less following the spread of coronavirus in Iran, calling for the immediate release of ideological prisoners from Iranian prisons.
Amnesty International on Wednesday, March 19, issued this statement and, while noting that these prisoners should never have been imprisoned in the first place, announced that many of these individuals, including human rights defenders and prisoners detained during December and November protests, are among those not covered by the pardon, and Islamic Republic officials are far from releasing all ideological prisoners.
According to the human rights organization, many of the individuals whom Islamic Republic officials call ideological prisoners are in fact people who were arrested and convicted for political reasons.
Amnesty International also stated in its declaration that, noting no human being should be arrested for the peaceful exercise of their human rights and forced to endure even a single day in prison, called on Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all ideological prisoners.
On Wednesday, March 28, Ebrahim Raisi, Head of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic, issued a new circular ordering limited furloughs for a group of imprisoned convicts while observing certain conditions; a circular that states in one of its provisions that those political prisoners charged with “action against national security” and sentenced to more than 5 years in prison are “exempted from furlough.” This is while most political prisoners with the aforementioned charges have sentences exceeding 5 years.
On the other hand, the spokesperson for the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic on Tuesday, March 27, announced that the Judiciary “sent more than 50 percent of security prisoners” on furlough according to the circular issued by the Head of the Judiciary, this while some political and security prisoners in various Iranian prisons have been on hunger strike since Monday, March 26, due to being denied requests for temporary release or furlough granted by authorities.
The United States has repeatedly condemned violent crackdowns and widespread suppression of protesters and civil activists in various cases, as well as repeated and continuous violations of the rights of Iranian citizens by the regime ruling that country.
Source: Voice of America
