Hunger Strike of 7 Political Prisoners in Ahvaz in Protest Against 14 Months of Uncertainty

Seven political prisoners in Shiban Prison in Ahvaz have gone on hunger strike since Saturday, October 20, in protest against more than a year of uncertainty regarding their legal status. Following this action, prison officials transferred them to solitary confinement. A source close to the families of these political prisoners told HRANA, the media organ of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, on Sunday, October 21, that 'Ramin Mohammadi, Farshid Kazemi, Maziar Nikoui, Rouhollah Khosravi, Reza Karimnejad, Ashkan Mohammadi, and Houman Almasi' have gone on hunger strike to protest 'the continuation of their detention and lack of attention to their legal cases.' According to the report, these political prisoners have been held in Shiban Prison in Ahvaz for over 14 months without a trial. All of these prisoners are from Izeh and were arrested by agents of the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence in the city of Khuzestan province in July and August 2023. After interrogation at the Intelligence Department's detention center in Ahvaz, they were transferred to Shiban Prison in the provincial capital. The report states that the case of these activists is ongoing in one of the branches of the Izeh Prosecutor's Office, and they have been charged with 'national security-related crimes,' although the exact nature of these charges remains unclear. The seven protesters imprisoned in Shiban Prison had also gone on a dry hunger strike in July to protest their ongoing uncertainty. Previous reports indicate that at least Rouhollah Khosravi has been subjected to torture and continuous interrogation during his detention and has been denied access to a chosen lawyer. Additionally, according to the 'Freedom House' report, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been identified as one of the violators of freedom in the past year, and Iran continues to be classified as a 'not free' country in terms of freedom indicators. Previously, Javaid Rehman, the former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, described the human rights situation in Iran as a 'bitter reality' and urged the international community not to remain silent in the face of widespread human rights violations in Iran. It has also been reported that Eman Jalalizadeh, Jafar Salmanzadeh, and Mehdi Memar, who are imprisoned in Shiban Prison on charges of 'propaganda against the regime and membership in opposition groups,' remain in uncertainty and do not have access to a lawyer.