Evin Prison Management Under Former Karaj Prison Head, Illegal Restrictions on Political Prisoners Increase
Under the management of Gholamreza Ziaii, former head of Rajaei Shahr Prison and Kahrizak detention facility, multiple illegal restrictions have been imposed on inmates at Evin Prison, particularly political prisoners. According to an open letter from Farhad Meysami and Mohammad Habibi, two Evin Prison inmates released on October 7, “reducing in-person visits for all political prisoners and eliminating the special visiting day for mothers of inmates with their children, illegal prohibition of receiving books and authorized publications, and restrictions on phone calls” are examples of these new restrictions.
In response to these illegal restrictions, civil activist Farhad Meysami and teachers’ trade union activist Mohammad Habibi declared in their protest letter addressed to “policy makers of the judicial branch and the prison organization” that until illegal restrictions on inmates are halted, they will refrain from complying with prison regulations, including daily roll call and mandatory morning ceremonies. In explaining their reasons for this protest action, they wrote: “Given the clear violation of numerous provisions of the prison organization’s executive regulations and other current laws of the country regarding inmates’ rights, and the prison director’s failure to respond to repeated requests from inmates for dialogue on this matter, we hereby consider ourselves no longer bound to comply with arbitrary rules of your prisons.” According to the Haft-Tappeh Prisoners Defense Campaign, by October 18, sixteen other political prisoners have joined this protest action.
One of the victims of the arbitrary and illegal new restrictions at Evin Prison is Narges Mohammadi and her family. Taghi Rahmani, husband of Narges Mohammadi, told the Iran Human Rights Campaign that this imprisoned activist has been deprived of phone access to speak with her children over the past two months, and her transfers outside the prison for medical treatment have also been stopped. Taghi Rahmani said: “They have cut off her phone calls with the children for two months. At the same time, they are not carrying out her transfers and are delaying book orders. All of this is under the pretext that the prosecutor and prison director have changed and these simple tasks are not being done. While she needs regular medical transfers and should be able to speak with her children by phone. This is the children’s right.”
Another example of worsening conditions and imposition of illegal restrictions is the cutting off of visits between Amirhossein Mohammadi-Far and his wife Sanaz Elahi, both activists of the Gam publication. According to the Haft-Tappeh Detainees Defense Campaign report, “Amirhossein Mohammadi-Far has threatened to declare a hunger strike in protest of this action.” This is while “Ziaii, the director general of Evin Prison, Salmani, the executive deputy of Evin Prison, and Vahidpour, the head of Ward 4 of Evin Prison, had promised cooperation when Amirhossein Mohammadi-Far was on a dry hunger strike, that his visits with family and Sanaz Elahi would continue as previously scheduled on Mondays and Tuesdays in their ward.”
Sodabeh Pakpamirpour, board member of the Tehran Teachers’ Trade Union, in a series of tweets described “details of restrictions imposed on political prisoners at Evin Prison” as follows: “Since Ziaii was appointed as the new head of Evin Prison, restrictions have been imposed on political prisoners. In this regard, Ziaii has ordered that one round of in-person visits for these prisoners be cancelled and in-person visits be allowed to political prisoners once every two months. In another measure, sending books and magazines by families of inmates has been prohibited. Political prisoners’ participation in prison internal administration, which is the responsibility of inmates, has been prohibited and they cannot be elected as ward advocates, room supervisors, cultural representatives, etc. In some cases, restrictions go beyond political prisoners to all inmates, which is a clear violation. One example is the commercialization of inmate medical treatment, which has prevented poor and destitute inmates from being transferred to hospitals due to illness.”
This is while according to Article 180 of the prison organization regulations, “all convicts and accused persons under full supervision and in accordance with permitted regulations have the right to have contact with their relatives and acquaintances…” In other words, visits with family members and children are the right of all inmates and in cases like that of Narges Mohammadi, whose children do not have the opportunity for in-person visits with their mother due to living abroad, maintaining continuous phone contact with children is a substitute for the right to visit.
According to the same regulations, depriving an inmate of visits is only possible in two cases: First, when according to the note of Article 180, the judge handling the case deems in writing that a visit with the accused or his correspondence would be contrary to the proper conduct of the case and prohibits it. In this case and during the period of prohibition, visits with the convict or his correspondence are only permitted with written permission from the competent judicial authorities.
The second case is deprivation of the right to visit as a disciplinary punishment. According to Article 175 of the prison organization regulations, the prison disciplinary council can deprive an inmate of visits for a maximum of three times, but deprivation of phone contact as punishment is not provided for in the regulations.
Disruption of the right of parents of imprisoned children to maintain continuous contact violates not only their rights but also those of their children. The imprisonment of one or both parents does not deprive them of the right to parenthood, nor does it deprive their children of the right to have parents.
Taghi Rahmani, husband of Narges Mohammadi, regarding the reason for recent restrictions, told the campaign: “Apparently these restrictions have increased for other inmates as well. The excuse is that the prison director came and gave no new orders, and the prosecutor who recently arrived has given no new orders either. And they also oppose his furlough. Throughout this entire period, there has been only one furlough in one year and four or five months ago.”
However, as the regulations mentioned above show, an inmate’s visit and phone contact with relatives does not require permission from the prison director or judicial authorities. This right exists for all inmates except when the mentioned authorities, through an official written decision, deprive the inmate of this right. Consequently, changes in authorities or new appointments in no way justify cutting off phone contact with children or halting medical measures.
Gholamreza Ziaii, who was appointed to head Evin Prison in early August of this year by order of the director general of Tehran Province prisons, has played a significant role in increasing pressure and imposing illegal restrictions on inmates of this prison. Ziaii previously served as head of Rajaei Shahr Prison in Karaj, which is known for poor conditions for inmates. He was also the head of the Kahrizak detention facility in 2009 during the Kahrizak crimes.
According to Article 10 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, state parties are required to provide the opportunity for family reunification and contact between parents living in different countries with their children, and facilitate entry and exit of the country for this purpose. In general, safeguarding the best interests of the child should always be a priority in all decision-making regarding the child. Under Article 18 of the Convention, state parties must cooperate with parents in fulfilling their responsibilities towards their children and provide the opportunity for child-rearing by parents.
Source: Iran Human Rights Campaign
