Middle East
Middle East
Foreign prisoners
Access to legal rights
Justice
Death penalty
United Arab Emirates
Twenty-five Indian nationals have been awarded the death sentence in the United Arab Emirates, the Union government told Parliament. However, the judgements were yet to be implemented. In all, 49 Indians have been sentenced to death in eight different countries, the government said.
A chain of imprisonment
Testimonial
Middle East
Long-term prisoners
Material conditions
Death penalty
Torture
Violence
Work
Iran
Soheil Arabi is an Iranian blogger and photojournalist. He has been imprisoned for several years for his activism. Some time ago, Soheil contacted us to tell his story. We share it with you here.
Crises
Women
Middle East
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Torture
Violence
Work
Syria
Syrian journalist Hanin Gebran details the horrific conditions she endured in Assad’s prisons, shedding light on the gendered violence and torture faced by women journalists under the regime.
Middle East
Access to legal rights
Health
Social ties
Iran
An incarcerated person has died in an Iranian jail after officials denied him medical treatment and placed him in quarantine as punishment for protesting his lack of care. Hassan Damani, 33, died on February 12 in Lajvardi Prison in Iranshahr, according to human rights groups.
Crises
Middle East
Foreign prisoners
Health
Overcrowding
Lebanon
More than 100 syrians incarcerated in Lebanon’s central prison have begun an open-ended hunger strike demanding to be sent home to complete their trials and prison sentences.
Crises
Middle East
Death penalty
Social ties
Iran
Two incarcerated people were executed at dawn on Thursday at Isfahan Central Prison without prior notification to their families or an opportunity for final visits.
Crises
Middle East
Drugs
Death penalty
Iran
Five men were executed on Wednesday in Shiraz Central Prison after being convicted of premeditated murder.
Crises
Minors
Middle East
Mental health
Material conditions
Violence
Iran
A teenage girl arrested this autumn for taking photos at a government event in Ahvaz spent over three weeks in detention, including 15 days in solitary confinement, IranWire has learned.
Crises
Middle East
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Death penalty
Torture
Social ties
Syria
From the Raid Department that falls under the Military Security’s Branch 215—commonly referred to as the “Branch of Death”— Asharq Al-Awsat began its tour of the prisons of the ousted Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.
Crises
Middle East
Death penalty
Torture
Religion
Syria
Inside Syria’s infamous prisons once controlled by Bashar al-Assad, haunting graffiti etched by tormented imprisoned people bears witness to their anguish, defiance, and love.
Crises
Middle East
Access to legal rights
Justice
Violence
Israel
Currently, around 6,800 Palestinians are being held by Israel without standard trials, according to numbers provided by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) and Hamoked.
Crises
Middle East
Access to legal rights
Health
Suicide
Iran
A former Iranian bodybuilding champion imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin prison attempted suicide. The act of protest was in response to what he described as inadequate medical care for his deteriorating health conditions.
Crises
Middle East
Health
Material conditions
Torture
Violence
Iran
Mohammad Davari, a prominent labor activist, has been returned to Shiraz’s Adilabad Prison, showing visible signs of torture following a 17-day detention at the Intelligence Ministry’s “Block 100” facility, according to his attorney, Fereshteh Tabanian.
Elderly prisoners
Middle East
Health
Material conditions
Facilities
Suicide
Torture
Violence
Social ties
Egypt
The horrific Sednaya Prison in Syria has thrown the spotlight on the reality of Egypt’s prisons, the files of those forgotten behind bars, and the fate of the victims of torture and forced disappearance during the rule of current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.
Crises
Middle East
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Death penalty
Torture
Violence
Social ties
Iran
Inside one of Iran’s most notorious prisons, over 2,000 incarcerated people are crammed into cells meant to hold just a few hundred. Days after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, as the world recoils at images of Syria’s Seydnaya prison, Iranian survivors recognize a horror all too fami…
Middle East
Access to legal rights
Health
Material conditions
Social ties
Iran
As Iran grapples with widespread gas and electricity shortages, behind prison walls, incarcerated people face a desperate struggle against the winter cold. In northern Rasht’s Lakan Prison, 163 women huddle together, their collective breath the only source of warmth in cells left dark and freezing…
Crises
Women
Minors
Middle East
Facilities
Death penalty
Torture
Violence
Social ties
Syria
The Syrian civil defence group known as the White Helmets says it is investigating reports from survivors of the country’s notorious Saydnaya prison that people are being detained in hidden underground cells.
Africa
North America
Central America and the Caribbean
South America
Asia
Europe
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Activities
Social ties
How can the complexity of information on prison conditions be made accessible and used to support change? The Prison Life Index is the result of a multidisciplinary collaboration between academics and members of civil society.
Crises
Middle East
Justice
Death penalty
Iran
On Tuesday, incarcerated people in at least 25 prisons participated in the hunger strike, which has been ongoing for 45 weeks. The campaign has gained momentum, with 68 Iranian and international human rights organizations endorsing it over the past few weeks.