Transfer of 20 Prisoners from Qarchak Prison to Solitary Confinement After Assault on Inmates

While the head of the Tehran judiciary described the conditions in Qarchak prison as "normal," the Human Rights Campaign in Iran reported that following the assault on inmates, about 20 prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement and some were moved to Evin prison. On Tuesday, February 23, the website reported, citing an "informed source," that around 20 prisoners from Qarchak prison were transferred to solitary confinement and some to Evin prison. According to the report, gas and electricity in this prison are still cut off, and prisoners had not been provided food for "more than two days." Reports indicate that after a protest by a group of female prisoners at Qarchak prison on Thursday evening, February 18, prison guards attacked the inmates and fired "tear gas in the closed environment of the prison." According to the Majzooban Noor website and Telegram channel, guards also attacked the prisoners again on Friday, beating them. Nevertheless, Gholamhossein Esmaeili, the head of the Tehran judiciary, emphasized on Tuesday that the conditions in this prison are "completely normal" and described the reports as "media manipulation." Some reports, citing the prison chief, indicated that the reason for the protests and unrest was related to news of a pardon for prisoners on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the revolution, a news that was announced a few days earlier by Sadegh Larijani, stating that fifty thousand prisoners would be released or have their sentences reduced for this occasion. Mr. Esmaeili labeled these reports as "manipulation" and explained: "The conditions for pardon are completely clear, and in the announced conditions for pardon, the greatest attention and consideration has been given to imprisoned women." However, he implicitly confirmed the reports, stating: "One or two individuals from within the prison, who are generally among the malicious individuals everywhere, attempted to claim that this pardon did not include women." Qarchak prison in Varamin, which houses female prisoners, was officially reopened in late 2010. This prison, which was previously a poultry farm and later converted into a drug rehabilitation camp, was quickly renovated following a decision by judicial authorities to consolidate all female prisoners from Tehran and Alborz provinces, and before it had the standard facilities of a prison, female prisoners were transferred there in groups from various prisons. Female prisoners are incarcerated in Qarchak prison on charges such as drug offenses and murder, and several Gonabadi dervish women were also transferred there after the winter of 2017. In recent years, guards from Evin, Rajaei Shahr, and Fashafouyeh prisons have repeatedly attacked and beaten prisoners.