Justice Minister Acknowledges 'Serious Problems' in Prison Health Conditions

On Saturday, August 13, the Justice Minister of the Islamic Republic acknowledged 'serious problems' in the health conditions of Iranian prisons, attributing this issue to the high number of inmates and the spread of diseases due to overcrowding. Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the Justice Minister, stated in an interview with the House of Parliament news agency that the poor health conditions in the country's prisons are due to 'the large gathering of prisoners.' He said, 'When 15 to 20 prisoners live in one room, if one person gets sick, it spreads to all of his cellmates.' Mr. Pourmohammadi also mentioned that the Minister of Health has been informed that 'prisons cannot provide adequate health and necessary treatment with their own budget.' These statements come at a time when the head of the Iranian Prisons Organization recently claimed that the Islamic Republic is 'leading' in terms of respecting prisoners' rights globally, citing 'numerous privileges' provided to prisoners, including 'free medical treatment.' However, the Justice Minister stated that the Ministry of Health is facing its own 'budget problems' and has not yet been able to assist in improving prison conditions. Furthermore, Asghar Jahangir, the head of the Prisons Organization, reported last week a 'decrease in the willingness' of doctors to work in prisons and a 'serious decline' in their presence in the country's prisons. Mr. Jahangir said on Tuesday, August 9, that 'the decline of doctors in prisons can be dangerous and bring serious problems.' This same official had announced in June that Iranian prisons currently house about 220,000 inmates, three times their capacity. In the interview with the House of Parliament news agency, there was no mention of the audio file of Ayatollah Montazeri and his presence in that meeting, and he has not yet reacted to the release of this file. The website of Ayatollah Montazeri published an audio file on Tuesday containing his remarks during a meeting with a four-member committee that decided on the execution of political and ideological prisoners in the summer of 1988, which included explicit criticisms from the then-deputy leader of the Islamic Republic regarding the execution process. Based on this newly released document, Ayatollah Montazeri referred to the 1988 executions as 'the greatest crime in the Islamic Republic,' a crime that in the future would portray Ayatollah Khomeini as 'a ruthless and bloodthirsty figure.' Mostafa Pourmohammadi was one of the members of this four-member committee and was an addressee of Ayatollah Montazeri.