Amnesty International: Mohammad Ali Amouri and Mokhtar Albushoke, prisoners of conscience, need urgent medical attention

Amnesty International issued a statement, noting the urgent need for medical care for Mohammad Ali Amouri and Mokhtar Albushokeh, two Ahwazi Arab prisoners of conscience, and called on Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release them.

The human rights organization announced this statement on Monday, June 23, that another prisoner named Qasem Sanjar, along with these two prisoners, was transferred from a general ward in Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz to an unknown location by plainclothes officers on or around May 23, and before this transfer, all three of them were physically assaulted by the prisoners, and instead of protecting them, the prison officers attempted to further assault them.

According to Amnesty International, the families of these prisoners were informed on May 18 that Mohammad Ali Amori and Mokhtar Albushokeh had been transferred to solitary confinement in Sheiban Prison and had been on a hunger strike since May 10 to protest the behavior of prison officials and prosecutors, including the deputy prosecutor of Sheiban Prison, the conditions of detention, and the denial of access to books.

According to information received by this human rights organization, Mr. Albushoke met with a family member on May 18, and during this visit, he was unable to walk without assistance and said that he was suffering from severe kidney pain and had been deprived of medical care, including the necessary medications for his pre-existing kidney stone problem.

According to an informed source, Mohammad Ali Amouri was also transferred on May 19, first to the Sheiban Prison Medical Clinic and then to an unknown location in a wheelchair, which, according to Amnesty International, raises serious concerns that he is being placed in solitary confinement again and is at increased risk of “torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, including deprivation of appropriate medical care.”

Amnesty International, while calling for the immediate and unconditional release of these three prisoners, warned about Qasem Sanjari's health condition, saying that he is at risk of severe illness or death if he contracts COVID-19.

The human rights organization also called on Iranian authorities to release all three prisoners from solitary confinement and provide them with appropriate medical care, including sending them to medical centers outside the prison to receive treatments that cannot be provided in prison.

In addition, it is said that reports of torture and other ill-treatment against them should be investigated promptly, comprehensively, independently and impartially, and those responsible should be held accountable in fair trials.

Mohammad Ali Amouri and Mokhtar Albushoke, who were sentenced to life imprisonment for their peaceful activities in collaboration with the cultural rights group "Al-Hawar", have been in prison since 2010 and have been repeatedly subjected to torture and other cruel and inhumane treatment.

In May 2020, after unrest broke out in some Iranian prisons, including Sheiban Prison, following the spread of the coronavirus and the negligence of the authorities, which ended with the violent intervention of security forces and the firing of shotgun pellets at prisoners, a number of prisoners, including Mohammad Ali Amouri, suffered head and chest injuries.

According to available information, Mr. Amouri, who was one of the founders of the "Al-Hawar" Cultural Institute, sought refuge in Iraq in 2007 and was accepted as a political refugee by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. However, the Iraqi government arrested him for illegally entering the border and, after serving more than 3 years in prison in Amara and Basra, he was handed over to Iranian government authorities on January 13, 2010.

On January 10, 2012, Branch 23 of the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of this prisoner of conscience and four other Ahwazi Arab activists, including Mukhtar Albushokeh, another founder and active member of Al-Hiwar, on charges of war, carrying out armed operations, and acting against national security. Despite the fact that these activists had stated in numerous hearings that after months of severe torture, they had been forced to make false confessions about their involvement in armed operations and overthrowing the Islamic Republic, this sentence was eventually commuted to life imprisonment with one degree of reduction.

The US State Department has repeatedly and on various occasions condemned the Islamic Republic's repeated and persistent violations of the rights of Iranian citizens.

Source: Voice of America