8 Inmates at Qarchak Prison Contract Coronavirus; No News of Zeinab Jalalian’s Condition
Ali Jalalian, the father of Zeinab Jalalian, a Kurdish political prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment, said in an interview with Human Rights Campaign in Iran that he has no information about his daughter who is imprisoned in Qarchak Prison in Varamin, and he is deeply concerned about the health condition of this political prisoner following reports of her contracting coronavirus.
Meanwhile, some reports have indicated that several inmates have contracted coronavirus at Qarchak Prison in Varamin and have been transferred to inadequate conditions without medication or treatment.
Mr. Jalalian told the campaign that Ms. Jalalian has had no contact with her family since last week and he does not know what condition his daughter is in.
Zeinab Jalalian, a Kurdish political prisoner born in 1982, has the heaviest sentence (life imprisonment) among female political prisoners in Iran. She was arrested in December 2007 and in 2009 was sentenced to one year of punitive imprisonment on charges of illegal exit from the country and to execution on charges of warfare through membership in PJAK. Her death sentence was confirmed in the court of appeals and the Supreme Court, but following the efforts of her lawyers, Ms. Jalalian’s sentence was commuted and reduced to life imprisonment.
Ali Jalalian, Zeinab Jalalian’s father, said in an interview with the campaign: “Zeinab contacted her mother a week ago; unfortunately, she cannot contact me and is only permitted to contact her mother. She said she was not feeling well and had symptoms of coronavirus, and after that she did not call again. We are worried but don’t know what to do. They took Zeinab to Qarchak Prison and we don’t have the ability to travel and visit her. I have just had surgery and both I and Zeinab’s mother are elderly and sick and cannot travel.”
Zeinab Jalalian was previously imprisoned in Khoy Prison in the city near her family’s residence, but in May of this year she was transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin without informing her family. According to Iranian law, the prison organization is obligated to transfer prisoners to the nearest prison to their family’s residence. Paragraph one of Article 234 of the Prison Organization Regulations states that this organization “must make arrangements for convicts to serve their sentences, upon personal request, in the nearest prison to their family’s place of residence.”
Concerns about the health of political prisoners and their non-release on bail in these dangerous conditions amid the spread of coronavirus continue. Although judicial authorities have claimed the conditional release of one hundred thousand prisoners in the country, most political and ideological prisoners remain in prisons. On March 11, officials from the United Nations, including Javaid Rehman, UN Special Rapporteur, demanded that the Iranian government immediately include political and ideological prisoners in these releases.
UN human rights experts called on Iran on April 19 to include ideological, dual national, and foreign prisoners who remain at risk of contracting COVID-19 in the temporary prisoner release guidelines. In a statement, they announced that “Iranian prisons have long faced health and treatment problems and their prisoner populations have exceeded capacity. We strongly urge Iranian authorities to comply with the commitments of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, take necessary measures, treat those deprived of liberty humanely and respect their inherent dignity and right to life.”
Zeinab Jalalian has been denied furlough for more than 13 years. This is while according to the Prison Organization Regulations, convicts with sentences of more than fifteen years and life imprisonment can use furlough after completing at least three years of their sentence. Amir Salar Davudi, Ms. Jalalian’s lawyer who is also currently imprisoned, previously said in an interview with the campaign that individuals from the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards have continued to approach his client and demand that she appear before cameras and give interviews against herself. According to Mr. Davudi, “the view of Iranian security officials toward Zeinab Jalalian is a security view and from the perspective of sovereignty is dangerous, and they consider her as a terrorist and a member of PJAK in their opinion and think that her being outside prison could be dangerous for them. That is why they have not given her even one day of furlough so far.”
Concerns about Zeinab Jalalian’s condition at Qarchak Prison in Varamin come as some reports indicate that several inmates have contracted coronavirus at Qarchak Prison in Varamin and have been transferred to inadequate conditions without medication or treatment. Zhila Bani Yaqoob, a journalist, reported on her personal Twitter that “eight inmates tested positive for coronavirus in the female Qarchak Prison in recent days; they were transferred to the prison’s gym which is an unhygienic environment with no ventilation and left without any care, medication or treatment. According to several inmates, they contracted coronavirus from an inmate who returned from furlough.”
According to Ms. Bani Yaqoob, “this inmate was not quarantined despite showing coronavirus symptoms and was transferred to the ward. After her test came back positive, eight volunteer inmates were tested and all tested positive; the remaining inmates in the ward refuse to be tested even with symptoms because they are afraid of what happened to those who tested positive—being left without treatment and medication in inadequate conditions. Even today, the quarantined inmates were not given food until five o’clock because the guards are afraid to enter that area.”
Fateme Khoshavand, known as Sehar Tabar, who has been in detention since September 2019, is another inmate at Qarchak Prison in Varamin, and her lawyer previously reported in an interview with the campaign that she had contracted coronavirus.
Source: Human Rights Campaign
