Continued Suicides of Prisoners in Urmia Prison; A Political Prisoner Ends His Life

Continuing the trend of 'suicides' among prisoners in Urmia Prison, the 'HRANA' website, the news agency of human rights activists in Iran, reported that a political prisoner in this facility committed 'suicide' on the evening of Sunday, March 6, 1402 (February 25, 2024) and ended his life. HRANA identified this prisoner as 'Shahin Goladari', a 46-year-old from Urmia. According to this human rights website, citing an informed source, 'Mr. Goladari had been serving a two-year prison sentence in Urmia Prison since March of last year.' Reports indicate that the body of this prisoner has been referred to the forensic medicine department in Urmia. According to human rights sources, Shahin Goladari was arrested by security forces in 2015 and sentenced to two years in prison by Branch 3 of the Urmia Revolutionary Court in 2020 on charges of 'acting against national security', and he had been in Urmia Prison since March of last year to serve his sentence. This suicide occurred on March 6, just three days after more than 800 prisoners in Urmia Central Prison issued an open letter referring to the increase in the number of suicides among prisoners due to what they described as 'harassment' in this facility, demanding the dismissal of Peyman Khan-zadeh, the head of Urmia Central Prison. The 'Kurdistan Human Rights Network' reported on Friday, March 3, that the letter from the prisoners stated: 'The prison head, Peyman Khan-zadeh, not only creates problems for the prisoners but also sometimes involves their families in difficulties.' According to this human rights organization, the suicide of a prisoner named Amir Shahbazi, who was sentenced to amputation, was due to pressures from the prison head and officials at Urmia Central Prison. The letter emphasized that Amir Shahbazi, despite having obtained the consent of all his complainants and being close to his release, ended his life by suicide and cited the prison head and dormitory supervisor as the reasons for his suicide. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, despite the alarming increase in suicides in recent weeks due to the restrictions and harassment from the prison head, the officials of the General Directorate of Prisons in West Azerbaijan Province have yet to pay attention to the numerous requests from prisoners. In January of this year, human rights organizations reported that a prisoner accused of theft committed suicide in Urmia Prison by taking pills and died. The 'HRANA' human rights website reported at that time that 'Amir Shahbazi' had been in Urmia Prison for four years and ended his life by taking pills in protest against the violent behavior of prison officials who intended to transfer him to solitary confinement. Suicides among prisoners are not limited to Urmia Prison. Previously, news sources reported that a death-row prisoner died after committing suicide in Tabriz Central Prison on Wednesday, February 7. In recent weeks, political prisoner Vahid Chavaran was also hospitalized after attempting suicide in Ilam Hospital. The U.S. Treasury Department announced in October 2020 that Urmia Prison, along with Adelabad Prison in Shiraz, Branch 1 of the Shiraz Revolutionary Court, and Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, were sanctioned by Washington. Mistreatment of prisoners in the prisons of the Islamic Republic has always drawn severe criticism from activists and human rights organizations in Iran and worldwide. The increase in the number of suicides among prisoners; 800 prisoners demanded the dismissal of the head of Urmia Central Prison. Hengaw: In 2023, at least 32 prisoners have died in the prisons of the Islamic Republic. The death of a death-row prisoner in Tabriz Prison following suicide. Exclusive: Mahdi Maskin-navaz committed self-immolation following a ban on contact and visits with his daughter in prison. Reactions to the suspicious death of Ashkan Baluch after a renewed summons: The Islamic Republic killed him. Exclusive: A political prisoner attempted suicide after rejecting a 'cooperation proposal' from the IRGC; Zahra Sarv: I will stand against them with my life. Investigative report: Political prisoners in Iran are subjected to 'medical torture'.