Exclusive; Continuation of Restrictions on Female Political Prisoners in Vakilabad Prison, Mashhad

Reports received by Voice of America indicate that restrictions against female political prisoners in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad continue. Previously, the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Unions reported the onset of these restrictions on Friday, December 7. A former inmate of Vakilabad Prison who was recently released told Voice of America that these restrictions were imposed 'without any prior notice, following a meeting of prisoners in Ward 6 with Fatemeh Sepahri, a political prisoner, outside of this ward on December 6, and at the order of an officer named Jamileh Rahimzadeh.' She stated, 'The doors of wards 5 and 6 of Vakilabad Prison have been closed since then without any explanation.' She added, 'Access to the minimum prison facilities, including medical care, the store, the kitchen, the gym, and educational workshops, was completely cut off for several days, and none of the female prisoners were allowed to leave. They were told that if they needed anything, they should say so, and it would be purchased or delivered.' According to the report, after a hunger strike by Farzaneh Qareh-Hassanlou, Fahimeh Tashakori, Aghrin Sediqi, and Zahra Kohnekar in Ward 6 protesting conditions such as lack of outdoor time and bathing conditions, Hadi Ismailzadegan, the prison chief, promised to address their demands during a meeting with them. The released prisoner noted, 'However, the only change that has occurred is that now a prisoner can only leave the ward if accompanied by a prison officer; this is after a long period of neglect towards the prisoners.' She further added, 'They have also been told that from now on, this will be the procedure, which will make conditions in prison much harder for them.' The female prisoners in Ward 6 had previously gone on hunger strikes in protest against the mistreatment by prison officers and their conditions. This former inmate mentioned in another part of her conversation with Voice of America that on Saturday, December 8, the families of the prisoners in Ward 6 intended to hold a sit-in in front of the prison, but the prison security forces did not allow them and dispersed them. Regarding these conditions, she told Voice of America, 'Prisoners are under constant psychological pressure from prison security officers, which includes psychological tensions for the prisoners, attempts to poison the communication atmosphere between them, giving false promises of amnesty and pardon, and creating cases against the prisoners.' She emphasized that depriving female prisoners of the minimum facilities is considered both psychological and physical torture. This former inmate also pointed out that the authorities at Vakilabad Prison prevent representatives of monitoring bodies in the Islamic Republic from visiting wards 5 and 6, placing old equipment in front of the ward door and describing them as storage, which has repeatedly led to protests from prisoners, including Farzaneh Qareh-Hassanlou. Meanwhile, the 'Emtidad' channel quoted Mohsen Bayat, the lawyer for Ms. Qareh-Hassanlou, stating that on December 6, his client was transferred to the prison quarantine under severe restrictions. Nevertheless, other reports indicate that Fahimeh Tashakori, a cellmate of Farzaneh Qareh-Hassanlou, has been sent to this ward. A former inmate of Vakilabad Prison told Voice of America that the quarantine of Vakilabad Prison is 'officially a torture chamber.' She mentioned the conditions of Farzaneh Qareh-Hassanlou during her 'exile' to Vakilabad, which involved restrictions such as not being able to have regular visits with her children and family due to the distance for them, stating, 'Even when this political prisoner's brother died, she was not granted leave.' According to this informed source, all these conditions have led to Farzaneh Qareh-Hassanlou suffering from at least two nervous breakdowns so far. Mistreatment of other female prisoners in Vakilabad Prison has a history. An informed source reported in August of this year in a conversation with the Persian section of Voice of America about two instances of protests by female prisoners and severe and brutal repression by the authorities and officers of this prison. According to a family member of one of the prisoners in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, the first protest occurred in the first week of August during the intense heat in Mashhad, and the second protest took place on August 1, with female prisoners in Vakilabad Prison protesting their conditions and breaking 'windows, light fixtures, and cameras.' This informed source, who wished to remain anonymous, explained the reasons for these protests, stating that the main reason was the unbearable heat of the wards and kitchen, which the prisoners compared to hell. She also mentioned the 'terrible food,' the dirty kitchen, the lack of refrigerators and washing machines, the presence of bedbugs, cockroaches, and mice, the absence of heating equipment during cold weather or cooling equipment during hot weather, the dirty blankets, and the overcrowding of prisoners in the wards, adding that the gas stoves are also very few compared to the number of prisoners. She added that the cleanliness of the wards is the responsibility of the prisoners, but they are not even provided with cleaning and disinfecting materials, and on the other hand, since washing machines are not available to the prisoners, they are forced to wash their clothes in the bathroom, toilet, or wherever they wash themselves or their dishes. According to this source, since the building is very old and has not been cleaned for a long time, the walls are moldy and this leads to prisoners suffering from skin diseases, and since skin treatments are considered prohibited drugs in prison, the medical staff does not pay attention to these problems, and prisoners do not receive treatment. Voice of America currently cannot independently verify these accounts due to severe restrictions on the flow of information and the closure of the information space in Iran under the Islamic Republic's rule. However, reports of violence by prison authorities against prisoners have been documented before. In one of the most recent cases, an informed source reported on Tuesday, December 10, to the Persian section of Voice of America about unprovoked violence by the authorities of Qezel Hesar Prison against ordinary prisoners. Sources from Voice of America have previously reported that at the order of the prison protection officials, a special guard has created a 'psychological and threatening atmosphere' in the prison yard and is harassing political prisoners; an action that has led several political prisoners to protest this action with 'anti-government slogans.'