Transfer of Evin Prison Inmates to Fashafuyeh; Unknown Fate of Evin Prison and Its Inmates
The transfer of a large number of inmates from Evin Prison to Fashafuyeh Prison has raised concerns about the fate and current condition of these inmates as well as Evin Prison itself. An informed source close to the Iran Human Rights Campaign has stated that apart from security detention centers and two general wards, other inmates from various wards of Evin Prison have been transferred without any explanation to Tehran’s Grand Prison (Fashafuyeh).
According to this informed source, “evidence suggests the preparation of Evin Prison for potential protests, and as some officials have previously stated, they apparently want to transform Evin Prison into a large detention facility that would have capacity to hold detainees during times such as public protests when the number of arrests becomes very high. In a sense, the November protests and the large number of arrests—which forced authorities to release some due to lack of detention facilities and holding spaces—served as a lesson for them, and they anticipate larger and more widespread protests, preparing detention space in advance for protest detainees.”
Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the former Justice Minister during Hassan Rouhani’s administration, stated on July 7, 2017, that “there is a need for a large detention facility within Tehran for temporary detention, as during case investigations at the prosecutor’s office or court, one cannot constantly transfer offenders from a 40-kilometer distance to these facilities.” Although he had said no final decision had been made, now after more than two years have passed and with the transfer of Evin Prison inmates to other prisons, official judicial and security authorities have provided no explanation about these transfers.
An informed source told the Campaign: “They started transferring inmates ten days ago, and now only a limited number of inmates remain in Ward 2 and Hall 7 of Ward 8 and Hall 12 of Ward 7, most of whom are political, ideological, and security prisoners. Other wards have been closed and locked, and it is unclear what specific plans they have.”
Saeid Malekpour, a former political prisoner who spent more than eleven years in Evin Prison, announced on his personal Facebook that “all the trees in the yards of Wards 7 and 8 have been cut down. The shade and large trees that were the only comfort for inmates in the yard. Ward 8’s gym has been closed and inmates are not allowed to exercise in the gym. The emptied halls are under construction and for the first time since the 1980s, metal doors are being installed on rooms.”
According to Malekpour, “all evidence shows Evin Prison is being transformed into a security detention facility like Ward 2A and Ward 209. All cameras have been replaced and the number of cameras has been increased. Walls have been made higher and everywhere is fitted with barbed wire and electric fencing.”
Ward 209 is a security ward belonging to the Ministry of Intelligence, and Ward 2A is a security ward belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. An informed source regarding changes in Ward 2A of the Guards told the Campaign: “After the 2009 protests, Ward 2A of the Guards became the main detention facility belonging to the Guards, where detainees were interrogated and tortured by the Guards. However, since last year, another detention facility has been established by the Guards outside Evin Prison, and simultaneously with the use of Ward 2A of the Guards, some detainees have been transferred to that detention facility.”
This source told the Campaign that “according to some detainees, this new detention facility apparently is newly built and recently constructed. However, it is still unclear where it is located, and in a way it is a secret detention facility.”
At Evin Prison, however, apart from the security detention centers of the Guards and the Ministry of Intelligence, Ward 240 belonging to the Judiciary Protection Organization is also a security ward. Alongside these wards, female political prisoners are also held in the women’s ward of Evin Prison. Female non-political prisoners were previously transferred to Qarchak Varamin Prison.
An informed source told the Campaign that changes at Evin Prison are not unrelated to the leadership of Gholamreza Zia’i at this prison: “Roughly from the time Zia’i came to Evin from Rajai Shahr and became the director of Evin Prison, changes have begun to occur at Evin Prison, and it is said that the plan to transfer inmates and prepare Evin for arrested protesters is Zia’i’s plan being executed.”
Gholamreza Zia’i, who was appointed as director of Evin Prison in early August this year by order of the General Director of Tehran Province Prisons, has played an important role in increasing pressure and imposing illegal restrictions on inmates in this prison. Zia’i previously served as director of Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj, which is known for unsuitable conditions for inmates. He was also the director of this detention facility in 2009 when the Kahrizak crimes occurred, which resulted in the killing of several protesters against election results.
However, Evin Prison inmates who have been transferred to Tehran’s Grand Prison (Fashafuyeh) are not in good condition according to Campaign sources. The prison does not have the capacity for the number of inmates held there, and the inmates transferred from Evin, after quarantine, are distributed in different wards of this prison with no sleeping space available.
Hassan Khalilabadi, the head of Rey City’s Islamic Council, had announced during the transfer of November protest detainees to Fashafuyeh Prison that Fashafuyeh Prison lacks necessary facilities and housing this number of detainees there is difficult, and Fashafuyeh Prison cannot accommodate this volume of detainees.
A former inmate of this prison told the Campaign: “Fashafuyeh Prison is really terrifying. There is virtually no drinking water or tap water—it is literally salt and undrinkable. Inmates have to buy water, and water is supplied in very limited quantities, even leading to water smuggling. Crime segregation makes no sense whatsoever, and it is a very scattered place in the middle of the desert that is extremely difficult for inmates’ families to access. From a sanitary perspective, it is very poor, food quality is really very low—even mouse feces have been found in food. Meat and fruit in this prison are a joke. In regular wards, inmates must pay for everything they want to do, from sleeping space to making phone calls to their families. It is in such a state that each hall has inmates several times its capacity, and each inmate finds space according to the money they have and can pay. Some inmates sleep in front of the toilets due to lack of space. At the same time, drugs are literally traded and are so common that some inmates exchange drugs instead of paying money, for example to obtain a phone card. Overall, this prison is susceptible to disaster, and if it continues this way, anything can happen in this prison.”
Nader Fathurachi, a journalist who was arrested on Sunday, August 28, following a complaint from the producer of the series “Shahrzad” and spent one day in Fashafuyeh Prison, described the conditions of this prison as “inhumane and anti-human” through a critical post, no less than “hell.”
Source: Iran Human Rights Campaign
