Report on the Latest Condition of Atena Daemi and Golrokh Iraei in Qarchak Prison

Golrokh Iraei, a civil activist detained in Qarchak Prison in Varamin, continues her protest hunger strike after 28 days and is in poor physical condition; this prisoner, who is held in quarantine at Qarchak Prison along with Atena Daemi, has experienced a drop in blood pressure and a 10-kilogram weight loss. These two prisoners have had irregular and arbitrary contact with their families by the prison authorities for approximately the past ten days.

According to Hrana news agency, the news organ of the Iranian human rights activists collective, Golrokh Iraei, who began a hunger strike on February 4, 2018, in protest of violations of the crime separation law and illegal transfer from the women’s ward of Evin Prison to Qarchak Prison in Varamin, continues her hunger strike after 28 days have passed.

Ms. Iraei spent 6 days of this strike with Atena Daemi in a dry strike (abstaining from drinking liquids).

An informed source regarding the condition of these two prisoners told Hrana’s reporter: “Atena today, Thursday, March 1, was able to contact her family in the presence of guards, and Golrokh’s physical condition remains poor; we are concerned about her condition. In addition to her poor physical state, prison authorities told Atena a few days ago that she can only contact her family once a week and can only talk about her current condition and must not discuss anything else; they remain in the quarantine ward of Qarchak Prison and are also deprived of access to the prison yard and the prison shop.”

This informed source also explained about Golrokh Iraei’s condition: “Golrokh’s condition remains poor and is getting worse day by day, and to date she has lost ten kilograms. She constantly has low blood pressure and at the same time faces severe restrictions; we are very concerned about Golrokh and Atena’s condition. Over the past ten days, apart from limited contact today, they have had no other contact.”

Following the cut-off of telephone contacts between Atena Daemi and Golrokh Iraei from last week, considerable concerns have arisen regarding their health status, particularly that of Ms. Iraei, who is on a hunger strike. Hrana had previously reported on the disconnection of telephone contacts for these two civil activists.

The follow-up efforts by the families of these two civil activists have not led to any clear results. Officials at Qarchak Prison merely confirmed that, by order of their superiors, telephone calls for these two individuals have been reduced to once per week. This issue, combined with the continuation of Ms. Iraei’s hunger strike and the poor health condition of Ms. Daemi, has caused considerable concern.

In its previous report, Hrana had described Golrokh Iraei’s condition as critical. It is reported that she, who had suffered from a serious illness even before prison, lost consciousness on the night of January 31, and medical attention to her has been reported as limited to “splashing water on her face and slapping her.”

Despite the passage of time and the severity of this prisoner’s condition, the prison organization authorities and judicial bodies continue their policy of disregarding her condition and legal demands, ignoring the consequences.

It should be recalled that these two civil activists began a protest hunger strike from February 4 following their transfer to Qarchak Prison. On March 17, a group of female civil activists, through the publication of an open letter, urged these two human rights activists to end their hunger strike to preserve their “health.” Although this request was accepted by Ms. Daemi, Ms. Iraei merely changed her strike from a dry strike (abstaining from all intake) to a wet strike (drinking liquids while abstaining from food).

Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraei, a detained human rights defender, was arrested on September 6, 2014, along with her husband (Arash Sadeghi). She was subsequently sentenced to 6 years imprisonment on charges of insulting sacred values and propaganda against the state by Branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court in May 2015, a verdict that was upheld without her presence by Branch 54 of the appeals court.

Ms. Iraei was transferred to Evin Prison on October 25, 2016, by security forces to carry out the sentence without receiving a written summons.

This human rights activist was charged with insulting sacred values based on an unpublished story criticizing stoning and treating stoning as sacred. Other examples of her charges include removing her hijab and promoting going without hijab by posting photos without a headscarf alongside her husband on Facebook, opposing the death penalty ruling, signing statements opposing capital punishment, participating in gatherings in support of political prisoners, and visiting political prisoners.

Ms. Ebrahimi Iraei, who had previously suffered from a serious illness, went to prison without completing her full course of treatment and currently requires medical care.

Golrokh Iraei, together with Atena Daemi, was transferred from the women’s ward of Evin Prison to Qarchak Prison in Varamin on February 4 of this year along with beatings.

She is currently serving her sentence in prison. With the reduction of her sentence on the occasion of Nowruz, her sentence was reduced from 60 months to 30 months.

Source: Hrana