Iran: Increasing harassment, torture of inmates in Bandar Abbas Prison during Ramadan The inhumane clerical regime has increased its harassment and torture of inmates in Bandar Abbas Prison, located in southern Iran, during the holy month of Ramadan. While the summer heat has reached over 50 degrees C, even ill prisoners are not allowed to drink water or eat any food during the day. From the beginning of Ramadan the prisoners’ breakfast rations have been discontinued, bread rations decreased to half the previous amount, and they receive only 2 rations of very low quality and quantity food before and after the fasting hours of the day. These conditions are very difficult both for those fasting and those not fasting. Piling up around 4,000 inmates in this prison that is designed for only 400 inmates, has literally turned this facility into a death camp. At least 300 prisoners are on death row. The inmates are deprived of even minimum medical care in this prison, and the only medication available are psychoactive drug and methadone pills. Despite the spreading of hepatitis amongst the inmates, prison authorities have not only refused to take any action to control the epidemic, in fact they are also declining to provide medical care for those suffering from the virus. Over 500 inmates in ward 10 of this prison are suffering from hepatitis. Instead of separating the inmates suffering from hepatitis, prison authorities are deliberately transferring them to other wards. One 44-year old inmate by the name of Ahmad Bajelani, suffering from hepatitis and tuberculosis, lost his life on July 15th after enduring enormous pains for a week while being deprived from minimum medical care. Another prisoner who was perfectly healthy became ill with hepatitis after being transferred to ward ten and the prison authorities prevented his transfer to a hospital and, in order to blackmail him, conditioned any medical care on paying an enormous price for it. They tell the patient if he doesn’t provide the money “you have to suffer so much until you die”. In this prison, which is more like a death camp, there is no cooling devices and this makes even breathing difficult in the prison cells. The water has a bad odor and taste, and it is contaminated. Furthermore, the prison store only sells expired food stuffs at very high prices to the inmates. The lack of the most basic hygiene supplies, the ward being contaminated with septic water, the atrocious smell throughout the prison, and insidious insects increasing throughout the facility are all part of the catastrophic conditions in this Middle Ages-style prison. In such an environment, the mullahs’ authorities exile political prisoners to this facility in order to increase pressure on them and force them to endure their prison terms amongst ordinary prisoners.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 22:58:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015