Prison Organization Denies 'Forcing' Inmates to Take 'Any Medication'

The Iranian Organization for Prisons and Security Measures has denied claims of 'forcing' inmates to take 'any medication'. This denial comes after Mahmoud Sadeghi, a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, reported that the family of 'one of the inmates who recently died in prison' stated that 'inmates were forced to take pills that made them feel unwell.' On January 26, Sadeghi tweeted: 'According to the relatives of one of the detainees who died in prison, he expressed during several calls with his family that officials forced him and other detainees to take pills that made them feel unwell...' In response to this news, the public relations department of the prison organization described the claim as 'baseless' and an example of 'spreading falsehoods and disturbing public opinion,' promising that those who raised it would be legally pursued in the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office. The statement continued that all inmates fill out a health status questionnaire upon entering prison, and if they have a 'specific illness,' they are sent to the prison medical unit or, if necessary, to health and treatment centers in the city. The public relations department added that 'no medication is provided to inmates at the entry points.' Human rights sources and activists report that three to five detainees have died in recent protests in Iranian detention centers. Meanwhile, official authorities of the Islamic Republic have only acknowledged 'suicide' and the death of two individuals during this period, claiming they were not detained in connection with the recent protests. Mahmoud Sadeghi mentioned that 'two individuals are confirmed; Mr. Sina Ghanbari in Tehran and Mr. Vahid Heydari in Arak.' According to this member of parliament, 'recently there have been reports from Kurdistan and Sanandaj that two or three individuals have died in detention. However, these reports are unverified.' In this context, Parvaneh Salahshouri, a representative from Tehran, expressed concern about the number of deaths in prisons, holding the prison organization responsible for the lives of inmates and calling for accountability from this organization. According to official sources, during the protests in December 2017, which took place in over 100 cities in Iran, 3,700 people were arrested. Following reports of the deaths of several detainees in recent protests in detention centers, a group of parliamentarians requested to visit Evin prison, but their request has remained unfulfilled. According to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, there are no official medical reports regarding the deaths of these detainees. This campaign has also called for independent investigations to uncover the causes of these deaths.