Prisons don’t meet UN minimal requirements for the remedy of prisoners
200 inmates of Ward 5 of Garchak Prison for Women within the Iranian metropolis of Varamin have written an open letter to the pinnacle of the National Prison Organization in Tehran province protesting the inhumane residing circumstances within the jail.
The Farsi-language letter, translated by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) and dated August 17, 2019, states: “Most of us… can not afford to satisfy our primary wants corresponding to meals, consuming water, clothes and sanitary merchandise. “it’s written like this. “Don’t we prisoners have primary rights?”
The letter famous that the signatories started refusing lunch parts to protest the dearth of consuming water obtainable on the jail, inedible meals, insufficient sanitation services and unaffordable commissary gadgets.
The State Prison Organization (SPO), which is accountable for the security and welfare of prisoners and studies to the judiciary, stated its director-general, Heshmatullah Hayatulgaib, had not met with prisoners throughout a “tour” of the power a month in the past. The letter states that the request was refused.
Transsexual and lesbian prisoners are notably susceptible to violence and discrimination in jail.
In addition, incarcerated moms and their youngsters will not be supplied with important provides or ample medical care, and inmates should not have entry to telephones.
Although Iranian regulation requires the segregation of prisoners primarily based on the character of their convictions, political prisoners in Garchak are illegally held in the identical wards as prisoners convicted of violent crimes.
CHRI interviewed a number of girls who served time at Garchak over the previous three years. The following testimonies spotlight the insupportable residing circumstances in prisons that proceed to this present day.
lack of temperature regulation, overcrowding
In June 2019, “Marzier” instructed CHRI that a number of prisoners have been sleeping on the ground each evening as a result of there weren’t sufficient beds.
“Typically, there are three or 4 prisoners sleeping on the ground subsequent to every room,” she identified.
These circumstances are far under the minimal requirements for the remedy of prisoners set by the United Nations.
“Where sleeping areas are in particular person cells or rooms, every prisoner shall occupy the cell or room alone through the evening. Exceptions to this rule could also be made by the Central Prison Administration for particular causes, corresponding to momentary overcrowding. It is undesirable to have two prisoners in a single cell or room whether it is mandatory to offer
Marzier added that political prisoners are additionally illegally held within the wards that home prisoners convicted of violent crimes.
In July the judiciary’s state information company Mizan reported that the federal government applied a plan to separate prisoners convicted of “minor” crimes from these with “severe” convictions.
In January 2019, 5 imprisoned members of the Sufi Gonabadi sect, a persecuted spiritual minority in Iran, wrote an open letter asking jail wardens to isolate them from prisoners with infectious illnesses and histories of violence. , however the name was ignored.
Several former inmates additionally instructed CHRI that the jail’s giant warehouse construction lacked ample heating, air flow, and air-con expertise to manage the intense temperatures contained in the constructing throughout winter and summer time. Ta.
“I developed pneumonia within the winter and extreme warmth stroke in the summertime,” former Garchak prisoner Gonche Gabami recalled in April 2018.
Air high quality within the constructing can also be stifling with poor air flow on account of unregulated smoking and a constant putrid odor from a malfunctioning and unsanitary sewage system.
Zira Baniyaghoub, girls’s rights activist and former Garchak inmate tweeted In June 2018, after she filed a criticism, she stated the safety guard instructed her, “Don’t trouble me, they will not repair it as a result of we do not have the price range.”
Testimony exhibits a violation of the requirements set by the United Nations for all member states. The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners states that every one jail wards should meet “all well being necessities, with due regard to weather conditions, specifically air quantity content material, minimal flooring space, lighting, heating and air flow. have to be met.”
Further, “In all locations the place prisoners are required to stay or work, (a) home windows have to be giant sufficient to permit prisoners to learn or work in pure mild, and contemporary air have to be offered; It have to be constructed in such a manner that it may be entered.” Deliver air with or with out synthetic air flow. (b) Sufficient lighting have to be offered to allow prisoners to learn and work with out impairing their imaginative and prescient. ” It additional provides that “all elements of the power commonly utilized by prisoners have to be correctly maintained and saved meticulously clear always.”
Unsafe consuming water and poor meals high quality
“The water in Garchak is so salty that prisoners have to purchase bottled water from outlets at 3 times the traditional value,” former Garchak prisoner Shohreh Ebrahimi stated in February 2019 at Majizuban. He stated this in an interview on Noor’s web site.
The water is salty as a result of the jail’s filtration system is insufficient. The lack of obtainable consuming water has created friction between inmates who should buy costly bottled water on the commissary and people who can not.
Poor and low-income prisoners are compelled to take low-paying jobs inside prisons to earn sufficient cash to purchase requirements in shops.
“We got nothing. We had to purchase all the pieces,” Mariam stated. “If my household did not give me cash, I needed to work.”
“Some households of prisoners might present help for the primary few years, however after that they could not be capable of afford it,” she added.
Former prisoners in Garchak province who spoke to CHRI stated jail meals lacks important nutritional vitamins and vitamins, is poorly ready and is normally inedible.
“You cannot think about how unhealthy it was. I felt nauseous,” stated “Mariam”, who was launched from Garchak in April 2019, in an interview with CHRI. “They made a meat stew utilizing soybeans as an alternative of meat and did not add tomato paste. Just smelling it made me sick.”
“We primarily ate bread with cheese or tuna,” she added.
“It was a horrible catastrophe. I’m not exaggerating,” Marzier stated.
“Lunch consisted of rice and lentils, soybeans and rice and tomatoes, inexperienced stew with no macaroni or purple meat, and generally a bit of rooster,” she added. “These meals have been consistently repeated, generally for 3 days in a row. For dinner we had soup, beans, and lentils.”
As these testimonies display, Garchak’s dietary requirements are considerably under the necessities of each Iranian and worldwide regulation.
The rules concerned in Iranian state jail procedures are clear. Article 93 stipulates that prisoners have to be fed “meals containing enough energy and nutritional vitamins,” and article 95 states that “a minimal menu shall embrace bread, cheese, tea, contemporary or dried greens, rice, potatoes, onions, legumes, numerous dairy merchandise, eggs, and weekly seasonal fruits, [and] Prisoners will probably be supplied with meat for lunch or dinner at the least 3 times per week. ”
Furthermore, Article 98 of the Procedure states that in each jail “there shall be a commissary, the value of which shall be primarily based on a good charge.”
The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners states: “Every prisoner shall be supplied with meals of nutritious and healthful high quality, adequately ready and offered by the managing authority for well being and energy.” shall be offered at common hours.”
unsanitary residing setting
Several former prisoners stated they have been denied the suitable to primary hygiene on account of insufficient rest room and bathing services.
“There have been 10 bathrooms for each 100 to 150 prisoners in every ward, however solely three or 4 of them have been usable,” Mariam, who spent seven years in Garchak, instructed CHRI.
She continued: “There have been only some bathe stalls that have been used on a rotating foundation. Sometimes there wasn’t sufficient sizzling water and all of the prisoners needed to be rationed. Suddenly, at 5 a.m., we have been instructed it was our flip to take a bathe. At instances, circumstances have been so dire that 100 inmates have been ready to take a bathe on the similar time. There have been instances when three or 4 of us needed to bathe collectively in the identical cubicle.”
“Marziye” echoed Mariam’s testimony and added:
“At the start of the month, every prisoner was given one pack of sanitary napkins, which has not too long ago been lowered to 1 pack each two months. This places stress on prisoners who haven’t got a lot cash. turns into bigger [to buy supplies from the commissary] Because the standard of the pads could be very poor and I’ve to purchase different manufacturers from the shop. During my time at Garchak, I by no means noticed bar cleaning soap. ”
Refusal of medical remedy
The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners states: Properly educated cops. ”
Iran’s National Prison Regulations are additionally clear concerning medical care, with article 118 stating that “the examination and, if mandatory, remedy of sick prisoners is the duty of the jail or coaching facility.”
However, the grossly insufficient nature of this “remedy” is illustrated within the following testimony.
“It was extraordinarily troublesome to get permission from safety to see a physician whereas ready in line,” Mariam stated. “But going to the physician did not change a lot, as a result of the physician would simply offer you ibuprofen, whether or not you had most cancers or a headache. All they gave you was That’s it. There was nothing else.”
Hospitalization was almost not possible, she added.
“It took about two years of writing letters to varied regulation enforcement officers earlier than she was transferred,” she added. “Doctors stated if she had are available in late, she might need developed most cancers. They ended up having to have her uterus eliminated.”
Marzier instructed CHRI that prisoners who misplaced consciousness have been additionally denied well timed care.
“One evening, one of many prisoners fainted and his cellmates begged the jail employees to come back and take him to the clinic,” Marzier stated. “But they stated they’d wait till the morning. When they realized the state of affairs was severe, they stated they needed to name a nurse and if the nurse thought I ought to go to the clinic, I’d be allowed to go.” Eventually they allowed the poor lady to be bodily transported to the clinic, however have been instructed that they might solely take the chador together with her, even when she was unconscious.”