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Iran-HRM – Some 45 Sunni prisoners in Rajaei Shahr Prison of Karaj who have contracted coronavirus are being denied medical care and admittance to hospital.
Prison authorities have also refused to provide medicine and oxygen capsules to sick prisoners who are being held in Hall 11 of Ward 4.
Only one of the sick prisoners, Abdol Wakil Rahmani, was taken to a hospital outside the prison after his condition deteriorated and other prisoners protested.
Seven of these people who had been transferred to solitary confinement in the “Safe Ward” of the prison in the past few days, were returned to Hall 11.
There have also been reports that prisoners in other wards have contracted the virus including two in ward 7 and one in ward 12.
The Covid-19 case has also created greater risk of infection for political prisoners in Rajaei Shahr Prison.
Political prisoners with serious illnesses are detained in this prison and are in greater danger of contracting the disease after diagnosis of the new Covid-19 case.
They include Arash Sadeghi who suffers from chondrosarcoma (bone cancer), Afshin Bayemani and Abolqassem Fouladvand who have a heart condition. These political prisoners have already been denied of access to adequate medical treatment.
Allah Karam Azizi, the warden of Rajaei Shahr Prison, also known as Gohardasht, and Amin Vaziri, the supervisor for political prisoners, are notorious for hindering medical treatment of detainees and their dispatch to civic hospitals.
Iran’s prisons have detention conditions that fall far short of international standards, including with respect to overcrowding, poor ventilation, limited hot water during the winter season, inadequate food, insufficient beds and insect infestations.
Leaked official documents obtained by Amnesty International reveal that the Iranian Government has ignored repeated pleas by senior prison officials for additional resources to control the spread of COVID-19 in the country’s prison system.
Amnesty International revealed in July 2020 that the Iranian regime has ignored repeated pleas by prison officials for resources to control the spread of COVID-19 in the country’s prison system.
“Overcrowding, poor ventilation, lack of basic sanitation and medical equipment, and deliberate neglect of prisoners’ health problems, are making Iranian prisons a perfect breeding ground for COVID-19.
“The Iranian authorities must stop denying the health crisis in Iran’s prisons and take urgent steps to protect prisoners’ health and lives, “ Amnesty International said.
