Iran: prisoners deprived of all rights

Access to fundamental rights is not guaranteed in Iranian prisons. Prisoners have to pay for their food themselves because the regime says it does not have the budget to cover these costs. Even water, which is not drinkable in some cities, is at their expense. Prisoners are under pressure: if their families cannot afford the cost of food and water, they are in great difficulty.

Prison overcrowding is a major issue in Iran. In addition to difficulties in accessing food and water, prisoners are not systematically entitled to a bed and must sometimes sleep on the floor.

Torture exacerbates the harshness of detention conditions. Although officially denied by the regime, it is unofficially authorised and even approved.

Irrefutable evidence exists, such as videos. And yet the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a governmental national human rights institution, regularly asserts that there are no human rights violations in Iran.

Although the conditions of detention in prisons are catastrophic, they are still better than those in unofficial prisons. The latter, under the direction of the Revolutionary Guards¹, are places where unchecked power is exercised.

People who enter these prisons have no rights. They can be tortured and killed, and are held in appalling conditions of detention. The regime uses unofficial prisons to terrorise opponents. These facilities do not answer to the judiciary, parliament or the media. They are accountable only to the Supreme Leader.

There is no monitoring body to which detainees can file complaints about violations of their rights. Everything is designed to defend and support the regime. The law, the courts, the judges.

The judicial system is not independent: even the bars are under pressure. Last month, at least 15 lawyers were arrested for defending prisoners.

The Guardian Council, which is responsible for judging the conformity of the law with the Constitution and the Coran, is no longer independent. Of its 12 members, six are clerics appointed by the Supreme Leader. Although the regime claims to be based in law, there are close links between legal positivism and Islamism: the interpretation of the law by the members of the Constitutional Council is first and foremost religious. When you are an opponent of the Islamic regime, an opponent of Allah or an atheist, you have no rights. The regime grants itself absolute power to violate your rights as a prisoner.

Prisoners cannot report to the media about being subjected to torture because the media is censored. Iran’s national television actively collaborates with the judiciary. Forced confessions or falsified reports are broadcast to give the impression of perfect detention conditions.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly requested entry into the country. Their requests have systematically been denied. Current information on respect for human rights in detention comes from detained activists, journalistic reports and NGOs.

The fire in Evin prison shows, for me, how the regime uses human rights violations to get rid of politicians, human rights activists, professors and dissidents, without having to be held responsible. The fire, accompanied by shooting at prisoners who took refuge in the prison yard, left several dead. The regime denies any responsibility in the matter, all while taking advantage of the situation. How can we expect the situation of the prisoners to improve in such a system? It is impossible.