The Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reported today that on July 12, prison authorities in Iran launched a repressive raid on the women’s ward of the notorious Evin Prison. By doing so, prison authorities seek to isolate female political prisoners.
According to the report, prison guards entered Ward 6 and forcibly transferred approximately 50 female prisoners convicted of non-political and financial offenses to the upper floor of the ward. This section currently houses female political detainees swept up in the January uprising.
The sudden transfer is a flagrant violation of the principle of the separation of crimes. Witnesses reported that prisoners began chanting “Death to the dictator,” which led to physical clashes between the guards and the inmates. Two of the protesting prisoners were violently taken to solitary confinement.
Prison authorities have deprived the newly relocated financial prisoners of basic access to food and water, leaving them in highly precarious conditions amidst extreme summer heat.
Conspiracy to Force Exile Political Prisoners to Qarchak Prison
The NCRI statement said these measures are part of a broader, deliberate plan to completely isolate the female political prisoners of Evin. Regime authorities have announced their intent to convert Ward 6 entirely into a facility for financial prisoners, while exiling the current political prisoners to the notorious Qarchak Prison in Varamin.
Currently, about 60 recently detained individuals are being held in the quarantine section of Qarchak Prison. Reports coming from the facility describe inhumane, highly confined conditions. Detainees there are facing a complete lack of medical facilities and basic hygiene, agonizing desert heat with zero climate control, and total communication barriers, which is a calculated attempt to cut off political prisoners from their families and the outside world to inflict maximum psychological pressure.
International Calls for Action
In light of the escalating crackdown within the prisons, the Iranian Resistance has issued an urgent appeal to international authorities and human rights organizations. They are calling for immediate intervention to stop the forced exile and ongoing abuse of political prisoners.
The NCRI is specifically urging the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran to conduct an immediate, independent visit to both Qarchak Prison in Varamin and the women’s political ward at Evin Prison.
