Amnesty International
9 March 2018, 17:44 UTC
Two women human rights defenders jailed for defending women’s rights and opposing the death penalty are being subjected to escalating ill-treatment in Shahr-e Rey prison, a former industrial chicken farm in Varamin, a town on the outskirts of Tehran, Amnesty International revealed.
The organization is calling for the women’s immediate and unconditional release.
Atena Daemi and Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee are being held in unsanitary conditions in the quarantine section of the prison and their access to the outside world is being severely restricted. People detained in this section are given inadequate food and provided with salty water to drink. Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, who has been on hunger strike for 35 days, is in very poor health…
She is suffering from severe cramping in her muscles, which the prison doctor has confirmed is a result of the hunger strike.
“We are extremely alarmed by reports from Shahr-e Rey prison about the targeting and escalating ill-treatment of Golrokh and Atena. They should never have been imprisoned in the first place, and now it seems the Iranian authorities are deliberately subjecting them to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment because of their outspoken activism and continued human rights work even behind bars,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Their lawyer has lodged an official complaint with the office of the prosecutor in Tehran, arguing that the transfer to Shahr-e Rey prison is illegal under the regulations on classification of prisoners, and places Atena and Golrokh in considerable danger as the prison is used to incarcerate women who have been convicted of serious violent crimes.