Amnesty International: Security forces killed 36 prisoners in recent protests in Iranian prisons
Amnesty International announced in a report that it believes that around 36 prisoners may have been killed as a result of deadly actions by security forces to suppress prisoner protests.
An Amnesty International report published on Thursday, April 11, states: "It is feared that up to 36 prisoners have been killed as a result of deadly security forces' actions to suppress prisoner protests; these protests were held to express concerns about the spread of the coronavirus in prisons."
Following the outbreak of the coronavirus and concerns about the spread of the virus in Iranian prisons, prisoners in several different prisons in Adelabad, Shiraz, Aligudarz, Tabriz, Saqqez, and Hamedan protested.
Amnesty International reported the protests by thousands of prisoners in at least eight prisons in different parts of the country, writing: "These protests have been met with a deadly response from prison officers and security forces."
Amnesty International’s report states: “According to reports from several credible sources, the use of lethal ammunition and tear gas to suppress protests in several prisons has resulted in the deaths of 35 prisoners and the injury of hundreds more. In at least one prison, security forces have beaten protest participants, and it is possible that one prisoner may have died as a result of these actions.”
Amnesty International also called on the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising their rights, despite the Islamic Republic’s refusal to release the vast majority of prisoners of conscience despite the coronavirus outbreak.
“It is appalling that instead of responding to prisoners’ legitimate demands for protection from the coronavirus, Iranian authorities have once again resorted to killing people to silence their voices of protest,” said Diana Al-Tahawi, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a press conference on Wednesday, April 26: "We have asked not only Syria, but also the Islamic Republic of Iran to release not only American citizens, but all those who have been unjustly imprisoned in these circumstances. This is a humanitarian act, and apart from the fact that these people have been illegally imprisoned, in these circumstances the principle of humanitarianism dictates that they be released from prison."
However, a large number of prisoners in various Iranian prisons, including political and ideological prisoners whose sentences exceed 5 years, are still being held in Iranian prisons.
Source: Voice of America
