On Wednesday, September 30, 2025, thirty political prisoners held in Tehran’s Evin Prison issued a joint statement condemning the “inhuman conditions” faced by female political prisoners in Qarchak Prison, Varamin.
The signatories held the death of political prisoner Somayeh Rashidi directly accountable to the negligence and incompetence of the Iranian judiciary and prison authorities, demanding the immediate transfer of female political prisoners back from Qarchak to Evin.
The statement stressed that the “recurring deaths inside Iranian prisons” are the result of structural dysfunction, lack of independent oversight, and the deliberate denial of the most basic rights of prisoners—a pattern, they warned, that will persist until fundamental reforms in prison policies are enacted.
Key Demands of Evin Prisoners
The political prisoners outlined four urgent demands in their statement:
- The immediate identification and prosecution of those responsible for the death of Somayeh Rashidi.
- The transfer back of female political prisoners who were relocated to Qarchak following the partial destruction of Evin Prison in June 2025.
- The immediate release of sick prisoners whose treatment is obstructed by prison conditions.
- The establishment and proper resourcing of independent medical clinics inside prisons to ensure adequate care.
The statement of political prisoners in Evin warned that silence in the face of suspicious deaths in custody amounts to legitimizing this deadly trend, stressing that the international community bears direct responsibility in addressing these abuses.
The Crisis in Qarchak Prison
Qarchak Prison in Varamin has long been regarded as one of the most notorious detention centers in Iran. Overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, lack of medical facilities, inadequate food, scarcity of safe drinking water, and abusive treatment by prison guards have made Qarchak Prison a symbol of systematic violations of women’s rights behind bars.
Female political prisoners transferred there after the destruction of parts of Evin in June 2025 are being held in conditions far below minimum human standards. The death of Somayeh Rashidi has once again drawn international attention to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Iranian regime’s prisons.
