“Death in custody on account of the deliberate refusal of medical care constitutes arbitrary deprivation of life and a critical violation of human rights below worldwide regulation. Furthermore, finishing up the demise penalty in custody the place these accountable meant demise or have been totally conscious that demise was an inevitable consequence of their illegal acts constitutes the crime of extrajudicial execution below worldwide regulation.”
The report particulars the circumstances of 92 males and 4 girls who’ve died in custody in 30 prisons in 18 provinces throughout Iran since January 2010, and is predicated on a complete assessment of a number of instances collected by Amnesty International, a long-term investigation into the deliberate denial of entry to ample medical care in Iranian prisons, and studies by impartial human rights organizations.
The 96 instances reviewed are illustrative slightly than exhaustive, because the precise variety of deaths in custody is probably going a lot larger, as human rights violations in Iran typically go unreported on account of well-founded fears of retaliation.
This record of instances doesn’t embrace deaths in custody accompanied by credible studies of bodily torture or using firearms, which Amnesty International coated in a separate report in September 2021.
Sick prisoners are pushed to demise
Amnesty International has documented the lethal penalties of the routine apply by jail officers of refusing or delaying the switch of severely sick prisoners to hospital.
The group additionally documented that jail officers ceaselessly deny inmates entry to correct medical care, together with diagnostic testing, routine check-ups and post-operative care, all through their incarceration, resulting in the worsening of well being issues, inflicting extra ache and struggling to sick inmates, and in the end inflicting or contributing to their untimely deaths.
In Iran, jail clinics are usually not outfitted to take care of advanced well being points and are sometimes understaffed by certified normal practitioners, not to mention specialists, who solely see prisoners “on an as-needed foundation,” for one or a number of hours every week. As a outcome, prisoners who expertise a medical emergency and require specialised medical care should all the time be instantly transferred to an out of doors medical facility.
Abdel-Bahed Gomshazehi died in Zahedan Central Prison in May 2016. Prison docs had warned him he wanted hospitalization, however authorities had refused. Human rights teams say the 19-year-old, who was a toddler on the time of his arrest, died from a blood clot in his mind that was left untreated on account of beatings he suffered throughout his arrest and interrogation two years earlier. During his incarceration, he repeatedly requested medical therapy however was denied it.
Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International
Of the 96 prisoners surveyed by Amnesty International, 64 died in jail, many in solitary confinement, that means they lacked fundamental medical supervision of their remaining hours of life. Some died whereas in custody in poorly outfitted and understaffed jail infirmaries.
At least 26 inmates died throughout switch or shortly after being admitted on account of deliberate delays by jail medical employees and jail officers, which turned lethal.
In many instances, each medical employees at jail infirmaries and jail authorities accused inmates experiencing medical emergencies of “faking” or “exaggerating” their signs.
For instance, Nader Alizehi was accused of “faking” an sickness by the pinnacle of the clinic at Zahedan Central Prison. He died in November 2017 on the age of twenty-two. Human rights teams say Nader was denied specialised medical look after his coronary heart situation and was turned away by clinic employees who prescribed him abdomen remedy.
A life lower quick
The majority of those that have died have been younger or middle-aged – 23 have been between 19 and 39 years outdated and 26 have been between 40 and 59 years outdated – additional elevating considerations that their lives are being shortened by an absence of entry to medical care.
This is especially evident in prisons with massive populations of oppressed ethnic minorities: 22 of the 96 recorded deaths occurred in a jail in Urmia, West Azerbaijan province, the place nearly all of prisoners are from Kurdish and Azerbaijani Turkish minorities, and 13 deaths have been recorded in the principle jail in Zahedan, Sistan-Baluchestan province, the place nearly all of prisoners belong to Iran’s oppressed Baluchi ethnic minority.
At least 11 inmates have died from lack of ample medical look after traumatic accidents ensuing from particular incidents throughout their arrest or incarceration, and 85 different inmates have died from lack of ample medical look after critical medical emergencies, together with coronary heart assaults, strokes, gastrointestinal problems, respiratory problems, kidney issues, COVID-19, or sudden onset or different infections associated to pre-existing circumstances for which they didn’t obtain ample specialised medical care whereas incarcerated.
The instances of 20 prisoners have been political in nature; the remaining prisoners had been convicted or charged with non-political crimes.
Disclaimer
The widespread disaster of institutional impunity in Iran has emboldened jail authorities to proceed denying lethal medical care to inmates.
In gentle of this, Amnesty International reiterates its name for the UN Human Rights Council to ascertain an investigative and accountability mechanism to gather, protect and analyse proof of essentially the most critical crimes below worldwide regulation and human rights violations dedicated in Iran, with the intention to facilitate honest felony proceedings.
“The shadow of demise will proceed to hold over Iran’s ailing prisoners till efficient, thorough, clear, neutral and impartial investigations are carried out to find out the circumstances surrounding these deaths in custody and the accountability of these accountable,” Diana Eltahawy stated.
The shadow of demise will proceed to hold over Iran’s ailing prisoners till efficient, thorough, clear, neutral and impartial investigations are carried out to find out the circumstances surrounding these deaths in custody and the accountability of these accountable.
Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International
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