Hengaw’s report regarding the death of prisoners inside the Iranian prisons during the first six months of 2023

Hengaw: Tuesday, July 4, 2023.
 

Based on the statistics registered in the Statistics and Documents Center of the Hengaw, during the first six months of 2023, at least 20 prisoners died in Iranian prisons, 13 of them equivalent to 65% of the total cases were Kurdish prisoners.

According to this report, in addition to 13 Kurdish prisoners, at least 4 Baloch prisoners also lost their lives in Zahedan, Zabul, and Golestan prisons, which is equivalent to 20% of total cases. At least three prisoners from Gachsaran, Kohdasht, and Tabriz also died in Iranian prisons during this period.

Out of the total of 20 prisoners, at least 4 prisoners were killed under the torture of Iranian government agents and 7 prisoners died due to illness and delay in transfer to medical centers. Also, three prisoners died due to suspicious reasons, including poisoning. 4 prisoners were also killed as a result of clashes with other prisoners.

It is worth mentioning that in the past three months, at least three political prisoners who were arrested in connection with the recent nationwide protests in the cities of Bukan, Zahedan, and Gachsaran have been killed under the torture of Iranian security agencies.

The names of the deceased prisoners are:

1- Sediq Rasoulian, 45 years old,  from Bukan, died suspiciously on January 14, 2023, in Bukan Central Prison. He was arrested for financial charges.

2- Ahmad Salehi, 35 years old, from Sanandaj, died under torture on January 25, 2023, in the detention center of The Iranian Intelligence in Sanandaj. He was arrested for drug-related charges.

3- Saeed Salimifar, 39 years old, a native of Urmia, died on February 20, 2023, due to a delay in his transfer to medical centers. He was previously arrested for drug-related charges and imprisoned in Urmia Central Prison.

4- Majid Shahwaisi, 35 years old and from Kermanshah, was killed on February 22, 2023, in Kermanshah Central Prison during a fight between prisoners. He was arrested on charges of common crimes.

5- Ebrahim Rigi, a 24-year-old doctor from Zahedan and one of the detainees of the recent nationwide protests, died on February 22, 2023, after being detained under torture by the Iranian police forces in Zahedan.

6- Sadegh Fuladivand, 29 years old, from Gachsaran, and one of the prisoners of recent nationwide protests was killed under torture by Iranian security forces in the Gachsaran intelligence detention center.
7- Seyedah Ameneh Ahmadi, 47 years old, a native of Sanandaj, died on March 2, 2023, due to the delay in being transferred to medical centers in the women's ward of the central prison of this city. She was arrested for drug-related charges.

8- Farhad Naghizadeh, a 47-year-old prisoner from Urmia, died on March 8, 2023, due to the delay in being transferred to medical centers. He was previously arrested for drug-related charges and imprisoned in Urmia Central Prison.

9- Shirzad Ahmadinejad, a 41-year-old citizen from Bukan and one of the detainees of the recent nationwide protests, died under torture by the Iranian intelligence officers of the Urmia Corps on March 15, 2023.

10- Mehdi Karimi, a prisoner from Islamabad-e-Gharb was killed on March 23, 2023, as a result of a fight with other prisoners in Dizelabad Prison, Kermanshah.

11- Abuzar Safari, 27 years old, from Kohdasht, was killed on April 2, 2023, in a fight with other prisoners in Qezelhesar prison in Karaj.

12- Abdullah Badawi, 65 years old, from Urmia, died on April 15, 2023, due to a delay in being transferred to medical centers. He was previously arrested for drug-related charges and imprisoned in Urmia Central Prison.

13- Majid Diyargar, a Baloch prisoner, was poisoned suspiciously in Golestan Central Prison on April 29, 2023, and died.

14- Mahmoud Sabetzadeh, a Baloch prisoner, was poisoned suspiciously in Golestan Central Prison on April 29, 2023, and died.
15- Nasser Hasanpour, a 37-year-old prisoner from Urmia, died on May 1, 2023, in the central prison of Urmia due to lack of medical attention. He was arrested for financial charges.
16- Saman Darvishi, a 31-year-old prisoner from Harsin City, was killed on May 8, 2023, under torture by the Iranian officers of the Tehran prison. He was arrested for theft.
17- Milad Bahmanzadeh, a prisoner from Tabriz, suffered a heart attack and died on May 21, 2023, due to the fear of being transferred to solitary confinement to for getting executed. He was sentenced to death for murder.

18- Salah Hejrani, a 50-year-old prisoner from Marivan, committed suicide and ended his life in Kamiyaran Central Prison on June 11, 2023, for unknown reasons.

19- Irfan Bebrizadeh, 26, from Urmia, died in June 2023 as a result of a fight with other prisoners. He was arrested for theft.

20- Hasan Hashemi Moghaddam, a prisoner from Zabul, died on June 29, 2023, due to a delay in being transferred to medical centers. He was arrested for drug-related charges and imprisoned in Zabul prison.

It needs to be clarified that during the past years, the Islamic Republic has always opposed allowing independent international human rights institutions to visit prisons.

The main concern is regarding secret security detention centers and prisons, which are not even registered in the official prison list of the Prisons Organization and are mainly managed under the supervision of security-military institutions without any judicial or administrative control.