On Sunday, August 17, following a mass transfer of death row prisoners to the execution hall of Qezel Hessar prison, the inmates of the prison’s Unit 1 and 2 of Wards 2 and 3 staged a protest and clashed with prison guards and suppressive anti-riot Special Forces, which responded with firearms, as reported by Hrana News Agency the following day. 

Concurrent with the prison protests, the families of prisoners on death row gathered outside Qezel Hessar prison and staged their own protest. The security forces surrounded the area, fired tear gas and used batons and high pressure water cannons to disperse the families. According to reports, at least 19 people were injured and seven others arrested.

On Wednesday, August 13, more than 60 agents of the prison’s protection unit raided Ward 350 of Evin prison under the pretext of conducting an inspection, and destroyed and confiscated prisoners’ belongings. On April 17, the same ward was the target of another raid by the regime’s forces. In that case, henchmen battered and injured several prisoners under the pretence of carrying out an inspection. Political prisoner Gholamreza Khossravi was severely beaten and injured before being transferred to solitary confinement. He was then hanged on June 1 for supporting the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

On August 13, Arzhang Davoudi, political prisoner on death row, was transferred to Gohardasht prison after months of exile, solitary confinement and harassment. Despite completing his original prison sentence, he was recently sentenced to death after the intelligence interrogators produced false documents against him. His home was also confiscated.

On August 13, Mohammad Bibyan, an inmate in Bandar Abbas prison died of a heart attack and lack of timely medical treatment. On August 8 and August 11, Mohammad Amiri and Reza Karami also lost their lives due to lack of medical care in Qezel Hessar prison. Prison authorities often deny medical treatment for inmates in general and political prisoners in particular.

On August 11, Sediq Mohammadi, Sunni prisoner of conscience incarcerated in Ward 3 of Qezel Hessar, was severely beaten by the security agents and transferred to an unknown location because he protested against insults to his faith and harassment by the section warden, Hossein Ghadami.

On August 6, Reza Fallah a 27-year-old prisoner was flogged 100 times in public before being hanged in the city of Karaj.

On August 4, at least 40 inmates were killed in a blaze in Shahr-e Kord prison as the prison authorities locked the main prison doors and prevented firefighters from entering to provide assistance. 

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, has called on the international community to decisively condemn these human rights abuses in Iran. She urged the western government to make human rights issues a main topic in the nuclear talks with Iran. “Turning a blind eye to human rights abuses in Iran on the pretext of engaging in nuclear talks will only embolden the ruling mullahs to perpetrate more atrocities and to continue its disregard for UN Security Council resolutions,” Mrs. Rajavi said.