Prison: A Killing Ground or a University? Iran Among the Top Ten Countries in the World by Number of Prisoners

International statistics indicate that Iran has become one of the "prison-heavy" countries in the world over the past 44 years, with currently three times the capacity of the Islamic Republic's prisons being occupied. According to official statistics, 250,000 Iranians are currently serving time in various prisons across the country, while the existing prisons only have a capacity for 80,000 inmates. Consequently, the distribution of basic necessities and adherence to hygiene, alongside justice and fairness, have become rare elements in the Islamic Republic's prisons. Pouran Nazemi, a political activist and former prisoner, described the conditions of the Islamic Republic's prisons, particularly in the program "Prison: University or Killing Ground" on Voice of America, stating: "Evin Prison, which has become the showcase of the Islamic Republic, has reached significantly better conditions than other prisons in the country due to the strong resistance of prisoners, especially female prisoners. Nevertheless, there is minimal evidence of hygiene, basic living facilities, food, and proper health in this prison and other detention centers in Iran." She described the conditions of prisons such as "Qarchak" or Kerman Prison as "disgraceful," adding: "We had to spend our days in a room measuring 2 meters by 3 meters alongside six other prisoners charged with crimes such as murder and drug offenses, all sleeping next to a toilet in plain sight and drinking unsanitary water." Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, a political activist and one of the signatories of the 14-person statement calling for Ali Khamenei's resignation, who was released a month ago after serving four years in Mashhad prison, also spoke on the program. He said: "Torture, verbal violence, and physical violence are inflicted on many prisoners, but the hardest torture I had to endure for 100 days was solitary confinement and complete isolation from sunlight and companionship." He noted: "Cutting off communication with the outside world, canceling visits, and terminating phone calls are other methods of tormenting prisoners, especially political prisoners, which used to be resolvable through hunger strikes. However, prison officials have recently become indifferent to prisoners' hunger strikes and do not pay attention to them." Saeed Dehghan, a human rights lawyer and member of the International Association of Lawyers, also confirmed the existence of discrimination in prisons and the division of defendants into insiders and outsiders in Iran. He stated: "The judicial system in the Islamic Republic has collapsed legally, and for this reason, discrimination, like corruption, is systematically pursued in this system." He mentioned government-associated criminals such as Babak Zanjani, Shahram Jazayeri, Hassan Fereydoun, Judge Mortazavi, or Akbar Tabari, emphasizing: "While ordinary prisoners, especially political defendants, lack the least facilities and pardons, regime-affiliated prisoners enjoy complete comfort and access to all facilities and rights during their sentences, and they are often pardoned quickly. In this regard, most of the Islamic Republic's prisons have a uniform model of systematic discrimination." Saeed Dehghan also stated: "International oversight is ineffective because the Islamic Republic hides the truth from global inspectors and easily lies to them."