Photo credit to IranNewsWire-
Soheil Arabi, a political prisoner on hunger strike in Fashafuyeh Prison in protest to poor prison conditions, violent mistreatment of prisoners by prison guards and officials. Arabi has been on hunger strike for the past 30 days-July 17 2019

The human rights situation in Iran continues to worsen amid deteriorating prison conditions and an increase in executions. Nine prisoners were executed over a two-day period this week, and conditions inside Iranian prisons have become so dire that a number of inmates have been forced to go on life-threatening hunger strikes to protest for basic rights.

Executions

A total of nine prisoners were hanged on July 16th and 17th in Iran. Two of the prisoners were executed publicly.

On Tuesday morning, a prisoner was publicly executed in the city of Khandab, central Iran. On Wednesday morning, authorities conducted another public hanging in Bandar Mahshahr, southwest Iran.

Four prisoners were hanged on Tuesday in Urmia prison in northwestern Iran, and another two were executed on Wednesday. A woman was also executed on Wednesday in Nowshahr prison, northern Iran.

Hunger Strikes

Hunger strikes have become more common as a form of protest among Iranian political prisoners due to the mullahs’ crackdown on political dissent, which has caused massive overcrowding and subhuman conditions inside the regime’s prisons.

Political prisoner Sanaz Allahyari was beaten by violent inmates in Evin Prison after the twelfth day of her hunger strike. After the beating, she was transferred to another ward of the prison as punishment for the attack. Ms. Allahyari was suffering from severe weakness at the time of the beating due to her hunger strike. She has also been sick from an unknown illness for over two months, which has caused stomach pain, weight loss, and trembling in her extremities.

Ms. Allahyari’s husband, Amir Hossein Mohammadi Fard, wrote a letter to the head of the 28th Branch of the Tehran Revolutionary Court on July 2nd asking for medical treatment for his wife. He also demanded the release of Ms. Allahyari and the other detainees who were arrested for their support of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Factory workers’ strike. When his demands were not met, he joined Ms. Allahyari on her hunger strike.

Political prisoner Soheil Arabi was taken to a hospital after he had a seizure along with a severe drop in blood pressure in Fashafuyeh Prison. Arabi has been on a hunger strike for 30 days and has lost 10 kilograms. Reports from the MEK network indicate that he was returned to prison shortly after his condition was stabilized.

This is Mr. Ahabi’s third hunger strike in protest of substandard prison conditions and violence by prison employees.

MEK sources report that six political prisoners in Evin Prison have started a hunger strike in protest of the violation of their rights as political prisoners. The prisoners, Hossein Sarlack, Morteza Nazari Sadhi, Mohsen Aminpour, Reza Bazazadeh, Behrouz Zare and Reza Mohammad Hosseini, issued a statement listing the following demands:

• the separation of political prisoners from other prisoners;
• the conditional release of all political prisoners;
• the recognition of political prisoners as “political” prisoners and not “security” prisoners by the regime;
• the right to a lawyer in all legal proceedings.

Staff writer