The lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the prisons of the Islamic Republic of Iran are in serious danger!
Freedom-loving and progressive people are fighting in every possible way to defend the lives of prisoners.
Protests are spreading inside prisons. Prisoners are protesting by not taking food, setting fire to blankets, gathering in the prison grounds, writing letters and statements, rioting and escaping from prison.
Prisoners in Yazd and Ghizil Hesar prisons also joined the protests and riots of the past few days in other prisons. Following the riots in Ahvaz prison, four prisoners named Shahin Zuhairi, Mohammad Tamoli Tarti, Mohd Salamat and Reza Moghinami were killed by security forces.
The Islamic Republic is trying to portray prisoners as danger to society and keep them in prison exposing them to Coronavirus with no access to treatment.
Jafar Azimzadeh, a well-known labor activist who is in prison, said in an interview that if Coronavirus spreads in prison, the casualties would be 70 to 80 percent, and a humanitarian catastrophe is imminent.
Everyone knows that prisoners have no chance of keeping physical distances and Coronavirus can easily spread among them. Prisons must be closed.
The Islamic Republic is directly responsible for the lives of prisoners. With keeping prisoners in prisons, Islamic Republic is actually condemning tens of thousands of prisoners to death. This is a premeditated murder.
We call on all freedom-loving people, international organizations defending the rights of prisoners, political organizations, unions and political parties, to put pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the situation of prisons and prisoners across the country. Prisoners must be protected against Corona virus!
Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran
April 2, 2020