Kurdish Sunni Prisoners in Critical Health After 30 Days on Hunger Strike

Six Kurdish Sunni prisoners on death row at Ghezel Hessar Prison in Karaj have been on a hunger strike since Monday, November 4, a human rights activist told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Hamed Ahmadi, Kamal Molaei, Jamshid Dehghnai, Jahangir Dehghani, Seyed Hadi Hossein, and Seddigh Mohammadi, all being kept in Unit 3 of Hall 4, are hunger striking to protest their execution and the pressure and limitations imposed on them by officials, the activist said.

Thirty days into their hunger strike, the six prisoners’ health conditions are described as “critical.” They are suffering from low blood pressure, blood in their vomit, burning urination, and other signs indicating their critical state.

According to information the Campaign has received, during this period, prison authorities have attempted several times to transfer the men from their current ward to another ward, but the prisoners have resisted the decision by refusing to leave. Prior to November 4, prison authorities had threatened the prisoners that they would use force and Special Guards forces to transfer them from the ward if they did not comply.

“On Wednesday, November 6, the prison’s Special Guards forces, under supervision of prison authorities, went to the ward and transferred all six death row prisoners on hunger strike to Ghezel Hessar’s solitary cells, even though earlier they had said that only four of them would be transferred. The prisoners were kept in solitary confinement under harsh conditions for 13 days, and after Hamed Ahmadi and Jamshid Dehghani’s conditions became critical when they threw up blood, they were transferred from solitary cells to Hall 1…. During this time, Hamed Ahmadi and Jamshid Dehghani have passed out at least four times as a result of vomiting blood and a drop in their blood pressure. Despite the deterioration of the men’s conditions, prison authorities have remained inattentive and dismissive of the hunger strike,” said the human rights activist.

According to the human rights activist, these prisoners’ families, as well as the families of six other prisoners at Evin Prison, went to Branch 28 of Tehran Revolutionary Court, the lower court that sentenced the men to death, to request a stay on the execution orders of their relatives and a retrial in a fair and public court. However, Judge Moghisseh and his staff have evicted the families after insulting and disrespecting them. On December 1, the families of several Sunni prisoners on death row went to Evin Prison and delivered a letter from the prisoners on hunger strike to a judicial authority in the prison, who advised them he would send the letter to the Head of the Judiciary.

The human rights activist told the Campaign that during a prison roll call on December 1, 29 days into the group’s hunger strike, Hamed Ahmadi and Jamshid Dehghani were found unconscious. After the two men were carried to the prison infirmary, Dr. Rajabi, the infirmary manager, examined the men and described their heath conditions as dangerous, asking the hunger strikers for permission to administer intravenous treatment to them. The prisoners refused to end their hunger strike until their demands have been met. An hour later, four other prisoners who were no longer able to move were also transferred to the prison infirmary for examination. This group refused IV treatment as well.

Earlier, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran published a report on the situation of Kurdish Sunni prisoners on death row inside Rajaee Shahr and Ghezel Hessar Prisons in Karaj, their conditions, and the probability of their imminent execution.