Inmates in the women’s ward of Evin are contracting Covid-19

Iran-HRM – There have been reports of a Covid-19 outbreak in Evin Prison’s women’s ward.

According to reports from Iran, inmates in the women’s ward of Evin Prison are contracting the Covid-19 disease. Those tested positive are locked up in a room and not attended to.  

Sadra Abdoallahi, whose wife Aliyeh Motallebazadeh is imprisoned in the women’s ward of Evin, published an audio file from his wife on Saturday, July 17, indicating that inmates in the women’s ward of Evin Prison are contracting the Covid-19.

Motallebzadeh, a photographer and a women’s rights activist, said at least three inmates have been transferred to the quarantine over the past four days. They have been locked up and abandoned without any medical care or treatment.

Previous reports said Nahid Fat’halian, Zeinab Hamrang, and Sepideh Kashani had tested positive. Evin Prison authorities have not tested all inmates despite some having the symptoms.

Arezoo Ghassemi, Zahra Jamali, and Mojgan Kavousi are among those showing symptoms of Covid-19.

Ms. Motallebzadeh told the deputy warden of Evin, “As if you have packed everyone in here and closed the doors, leaving them all to die.” He answered: “Outside is the same. People are dying there. What is the difference? You will die, too.”

Following the outbreak of the virus in the women’s ward of Evin Prison, the atmosphere has become chaotic. Inmates do not clean up and the ward has become very unsanitary. Growing concerns over infection of more inmates coupled with lack of medical care have upset the inmates.

Inmates are deprived of the right to call their families and this has caused further concern among the families of prisoners, as well.

Notably, in the beginning of this audio file, one can hear the cries and weeping of Raheleh Ahmadi who was not granted a brief furlough to attend her mother’s funeral after she passed away. After her request for leave was turned down by the prison authorities, Raheleh Ahmadi suffered nervous stress and her lumbar disc pain aggravated.

Just as most of the world has been vaccinated, the Coronavirus pandemic is ravaging the people of Iran with its variants. The situation in prisons is especially worse because of overcrowding and the lack of hygienic resources. 

Iran Human Rights Monitor calls for the release of prisoners, particularly political prisoners until the Covid-19 pandemic is over.