Political prisoner Narges Mohammadi, who is detained in Evin Prison, wrote a letter to Majlis requesting an investigation into the conditions of solitary confinement. In her letter, she stressed that 15 female prisoners who have been kept in solitary were detained with her in Evin Prison. They have been detained for about 140 months overall in solitary confinement and security sections.
This letter reads in part:
“You are certainly familiar with the phenomenon of “solitary confinement” and know that civil activists, political prisoners and prisoners of conscience are held in solitary confinement upon their arrest and under the pretext of ongoing preliminary investigations, for days, months, and even years, and this method has become common practice in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
You know that it is unlawful to keep prisoners in solitary confinement and that security and judicial institutions, without observing any time limit, use solitary confinement at their total disposal…
You are aware that “solitary confinement,” is a well-known form of torture. It is purposeful, has specific effects on prisoners and has victimized many people…
The tragedy has alarming aspects, the minimum of which is:
– Prisoners suffering from physical illnesses and especially mental illnesses
– Obtaining false confessions from prisoners under psychological pressure
– Issuing heavy sentences based on confessions received from prisoners in solitary confinement
– Suppression of the civil society and its activists
– Shocking incidents including the murders of Zahra Kazemi, Zahra Bani Yaghoub and Sattar Beheshti etc…
– Immoral, physical and sexual aggression against prisoners.
