Exclusive: Three Political Prisoners Protest Water Rationing, Phone Disconnections, and Censorship in Qazalhessar Prison

Reza Mohammadi, Zartosht Ahmadi Raghb, and Mostafa Ramazani, three political prisoners held in Qazalhessar Prison, have protested against the violation of prisoners' rights, including 'disconnection of phone calls, censorship and repression, fabrication of cases, and also water rationing causing health issues for all prisoners.' Several audio files provided to Voice of America on Wednesday, June 13, show that the phone calls of these political prisoners are frequently disconnected while they are speaking with their relatives. In their messages, Reza Mohammadi, Zartosht Ahmadi Raghb, and Mostafa Ramazani express their objection to 'the increasing pressure and repression on political prisoners through phone call disconnections and censorship.' According to them, 'eavesdropping, censorship, and case fabrication against political prisoners to silence their voices continue,' and 'after the Mahsa movement subsided, security and judicial institutions have increased their repression of activists and political prisoners by invading personal privacy, with clear eavesdropping and repeated phone disconnections that aim to continue censorship by cutting off prisoners' numbers during conversations with family, relatives, and friends, which is done illegally and constitutes behavior aimed at pressure and violating human dignity.' These political prisoners emphasized: 'These blatant law violations, which are a clear example of human rights violations in prisons against imprisoned activists, continue unabated. The repressive dictatorship does not want any voice from political prisoners to emerge for enlightenment.' The message also refers to the 'fundamental problem of water shortage' in Qazalhessar Prison, which these prisoners had previously experienced in Rajai Shahr Prison. They stated, 'The situation of water disconnection in Qazalhessar Prison has reached a crisis level, and even before summer arrives, water has been rationed, and the existing wards in the prison have been informed that they will face water disconnection for about six hours every 24 hours.' The three political prisoners emphasized that the water rationing crisis and its impact on the health status of all prisoners, including those convicted of general crimes and drug offenses, is exacerbated by the 'large number of prisoners,' and given that 'this problem and shortage have existed for years' in this prison, 'political prisoners have repeatedly expressed their objections regarding this issue as it endangers the health of prisoners.' According to the statements of these three political prisoners, 'this harmful trend continues, and there is no will among the officials of Qazalhessar Prison, including Allah-Karam Azizi, the prison chief, Hassan Ghobadi, the deputy warden, and Sadat Rasoul, the head of prison security, as well as others who were the same officials from Rajai Shahr Prison who have now come to Qazalhessar, to solve this problem.' The three imprisoned activists stated that Qazalhessar officials 'are making every effort to pressure political prisoners.' Reza Mohammadi, Zartosht Ahmadi Raghb, and Mostafa Ramazani have emphasized that they have 'protested against the phone disconnections' and are 'pursuing the issue,' as this act constitutes 'an invasion of our privacy and that of our families.' On Tuesday, Ali Sharifzadeh, a lawyer, announced that Qazalhessar prison officials are 'deliberately and repeatedly' disconnecting the phone calls of his client, Reza Mohammadi, preventing him from contacting him, which constitutes a 'violation of the privacy' of this political prisoner.