Upright in Life, Condemned to a Slow Death: Female Political Prisoners Denied Medical Care in Iranian Prisons
In Iran, under the iron grip of the clerical regime’s authoritarian rule, silencing dissent is not just a tactic—it is a deeply embedded mechanism for maintaining power. Arrests, torture, and lengthy prison sentences for human rights defenders form just one layer of the state’s sprawling machinery of repression, designed to crush even the most basic calls for dignity and justice.
Among the regime’s cruelest tools is the systematic denial of medical care to political prisoners—a deliberate policy that condemns inmates to a slow, silent death.
For women behind bars, this cruelty is compounded. In a regime built on misogyny, female political prisoners face a double punishment. Alongside harsh sentences and constant surveillance, they endure deliberate and calculated medical neglect, targeting their health and stripping them of the most fundamental care.
As May draws to a close, we turn our attention to the plight of several female political prisoners who have become victims of this systemic abuse—women whose bodies are caged, but whose voices remain defiantly unbroken. Despite illness, confinement, and relentless pressure, they continue to embody the unyielding demand for justice.
Maryam Akbari Monfared: Fifteen Years Behind Bars, Now Facing Paralysis
Maryam Akbari Monfared, a resilient political prisoner, is currently held in Qarchak Prison in Varamin—one of Iran’s most notorious detention centers—among inmates convicted of violent crimes, in clear violation of the principle of separating prisoners by category of offense.
After enduring over 15 years of imprisonment without a single day of medical furlough, the 50-year-old has developed multiple serious health conditions.
Maryam now suffers from severe spinal cord damage and degenerative disc disease, placing her at imminent risk of paralysis. In recent months, she has experienced repeated numbness in her legs and impaired knee function—alarming symptoms which, according to medical professionals, are signs of progressive nerve and spinal cord injury. She is in urgent need of specialized medical treatment.
Five medical experts—including a neurosurgeon, an orthopedic specialist, and forensic physicians—have unanimously recommended immediate surgery on her spine and knees. Yet prison authorities have taken no action, nor have they provided any formal response to Maryam’s repeated appeals for treatment.
Delays in addressing her condition could lead to irreversible complications, including loss of mobility and urinary incontinence. Although her medical records were recently resubmitted to the Legal Medicine Organization, neither Maryam nor her lawyer has received any response.
In addition to her spinal condition, Maryam also suffers from hypothyroidism and liver complications.
Having completed her original 15-year sentence on October 11, 2024—served without a single day of leave and following a period of exile to Semnan Prison—Maryam should have been released. Instead, on October 22, she was transferred to Qarchak Prison under a newly fabricated case and sentenced to an additional two years, once again placed among non-political prisoners. This alarming development has raised serious concerns about her physical safety and psychological well-being.
Marzieh Farsi: A Cancer Patient Denied Care Behind Evin’s Walls
Sixty-year-old political prisoner Marzieh Farsi is fighting for her life inside Tehran’s Evin Prison, where she remains deprived of proper medical care despite battling cancer. Detained in the women’s ward, she faces not only a life-threatening illness but the state’s deliberate neglect.
Marzieh suffers from persistent, debilitating dizziness that urgently requires specialized medical attention. Yet the harsh restrictions of prison life—and the total absence of access to adequate healthcare—have halted her treatment entirely. Although a prison doctor has prescribed medication to help manage her symptoms, authorities have refused to deliver the drugs.
This intentional medical negligence has not only intensified her suffering but also placed her life in immediate danger. Alongside her cancer diagnosis, doctors have also confirmed signs of heart complications. Still, her condition has been allowed to deteriorate behind bars, unchecked and untreated.
Born in 1965 and a mother of two, Marzieh Farsi is a Tehran resident. She was re-arrested on August 21, 2023—on the anniversary of the 2022 nationwide protests—just a few months after a previous release from prison.
She was transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison, a section controlled by the Ministry of Intelligence, and later sentenced by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court to 15 years in prison on charges of baghy-e (armed rebellion) and alleged ties to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI).
Azar Korvandi: Imprisoned with a Failing Heart, Denied Care in Evin
Azar Korvandi, a 63-year-old political prisoner currently held in Tehran’s Evin Prison, is suffering from a range of serious health conditions, including heart disease, a torn shoulder tendon, and chronic joint and bone pain. Despite doctors recommending urgent surgery, prison authorities continue to deny her access to the necessary medical treatment.
With a history of cancer, Azar requires regular medical monitoring and specialized checkups—care that she is systematically denied. Her deteriorating health has left her unable to carry out basic daily tasks, and she has lost at least five kilograms due to her worsening condition during March.
Although her need for consistent medical follow-up is critical, particularly in light of her cancer history, her access to healthcare remains severely restricted. Adding to her ordeal, the Ministry of Intelligence—acting as the authority in her case—has refused to approve even a temporary medical furlough.
Born in 1962, Azar Korvandi is married and the mother of two. She is a former political prisoner from the 1980s and endured her first imprisonment while pregnant. Under harsh prison conditions, she gave birth to her child behind bars.
Today, decades later, Azar is once again imprisoned—this time sentenced to five years on charges of “collaboration with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI).”
Zeynab Jalalian: Denied Treatment Despite Serious Eye, Kidney, and Digestive Illnesses
Zeinab Jalalian, a 44-year-old Kurdish political prisoner serving a life sentence, is being held in exile in Yazd Prison under dire conditions. Denied access to specialized medical care and imprisoned in violation of the principle of separating inmates by category of offense, her health is steadily deteriorating.
Jalalian suffers from serious kidney, gastrointestinal, and eye disorders. Yet, persistent obstruction by prison authorities has deprived her of consistent and necessary medical treatment. Despite undergoing tests and medical imaging in late October 2024, prison officials have withheld the results, effectively halting any follow-up care.
Further compounding her isolation and suffering, she has been barred from family visits since September 22, 2024—a restriction reportedly imposed by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, and still in effect after several months.
Arrested in 2007 and sentenced in 2009, Zeinab was initially handed the death penalty on charges of moharebeh (enmity against God) for alleged affiliation with an opposition group, as well as a one-year sentence for “illegal exit from the country.” Though her death sentence was upheld by both the appeals court and the Supreme Court, it was later commuted to life imprisonment.
During her arrest and interrogation, Jalalian was subjected to brutal torture, including beatings on the soles of her feet, blows to the stomach, having her head slammed against a wall, and threats of sexual violence—methods she has described in detail.
Now in her 18th year of incarceration, Zeinab Jalalian remains one of the longest-serving female political prisoners in Iran.
Raheleh Rahemipour: A 72-Year-Old Prisoner with a Brain Tumor
Raheleh Rahemipour, 72, remains in Evin Prison in a critical state of health. Despite suffering from multiple serious medical conditions—including a brain tumor, heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes—she has been systematically denied access to appropriate medical care. This, despite clear warnings from the Legal Medicine Organization that she requires urgent treatment.
Her physical condition has become so fragile that she frequently experiences extreme fatigue and weakness, alarming her fellow inmates. Nonetheless, judicial authorities have not only refused her transfer to a hospital but have also denied her request for conditional release.
Medical evaluations have explicitly stated that Ms. Rahemipour is medically unfit to endure imprisonment and that her continued detention in the high-stress environment of Evin Prison could further endanger her life. Yet, according to reports, the Prosecutor’s Office has told her directly that, due to her participation in in-prison protests, her case will not be reviewed, and no steps will be taken to address her medical needs.
Raheleh Rahemipour was first arrested in November 2019 and later released. In 2020, the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced her to six years in prison. She was re-arrested in November 2023 after appearing at the Evin Prosecutor’s Office and was sent back to prison to serve her sentence.
Varisha Moradi: Denied Urgent Spinal and Neck Surgery
Varisha Moradi, a 40-year-old Kurdish political prisoner sentenced to death, is currently held in Evin Prison in Tehran and has been repeatedly denied access to life-saving medical care outside the prison walls.
She suffers from serious spinal conditions, including herniated discs in both her neck and lower back, and requires urgent surgery.
Despite a specialist doctor issuing a firm recommendation for immediate surgical intervention over five months ago, prison authorities have consistently obstructed her treatment, leaving her in constant pain and growing medical risk.
Moradi was violently abducted by agents of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence on August 1, 2023, and subjected to severe beatings before being transferred, without any medical evaluation, to a detention center. For five months, she was held in solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, the notorious wing controlled by intelligence services. On December 26, 2023, she was finally moved to the women’s ward.
Her continued suffering, exacerbated by the denial of medical care, exemplifies the brutal conditions faced by political prisoners in Iran—especially those from ethnic minority groups such as the Kurds. For Vorisheh Moradi, the regime’s systematic negligence is not only a form of punishment but a calculated threat to her life.
Hoda Mehrganfar: Denied Medical Care While Ill in Adelabad Prison
Over 200 days have passed since the arrest of Hoda Mehreganfar, a 35-year-old electronics engineer and political prisoner, who remains in legal limbo while her health steadily declines behind bars in Adelabad Prison, Shiraz.
Mehreganfar was arrested at 5 a.m. on October 22, 2024, during a raid by security forces on her home in Zarqan, Fars Province. She was taken into custody along with her father without being shown a judicial warrant. Since then, she has been held without access to her chosen legal counsel and without any formal charges or trial.
Before her arrest, Mehreganfar had undergone surgery and required ongoing medical care. However, the unsanitary conditions of the women’s ward in Adelabad Prison have severely compromised her recovery. She has reportedly developed fungal infections and other skin diseases, with her overall condition described as deteriorating due to a lack of adequate medical attention.
Arghavan Fallahi, 25: A Chronic Illness and Denied Medication
Arghavan Fallahi, a 25-year-old resident of Parand, suffers from a chronic medical condition and has been deprived of access to her essential medications since her arrest. Having been recently released from prison only months earlier, she was re-arrested on January 25, 2025, when security forces raided her home and transferred her to Ward 209 of Evin Prison—a notorious detention center controlled by the Ministry of Intelligence.
Her father, Nasrollah Fallahi, who is himself serving a sentence in Evin Prison, has no information about her whereabouts or condition, heightening the family’s distress and uncertainty.
Marzieh Ghafarizadeh: Cancer-Stricken Political Prisoner
Marzieh Ghafarizadeh, a political prisoner detained since February 2025, remains held indefinitely in the women’s ward of Evin Prison. Despite bail having been set for her release, the case authorities have refused to accept it, effectively blocking her freedom.
Ms. Ghafarizadeh is battling cancer and is currently undergoing treatment. Continued detention under harsh prison conditions threatens to severely worsen her already fragile health.
A veteran activist from the 1980s, Marzieh has devoted over 25 years to voluntary community work in southern Tehran. She has been a prominent member of the cultural association “13th of Aban” and has played a significant role in supporting pregnant and nursing mothers, as well as children.
Her fate is not only a personal tragedy, but a stark emblem of the ongoing repression faced by human rights defenders in Iran.
Let Us Be the Voice of Iranian Women in Khamenei’s Prisons
The ruthless clerical regime persistently denies political prisoners access to medical treatment and refuses to grant them even the most basic medical furloughs. This deliberate slow torment, used systematically by the regime, constitutes a blatant violation of human rights.
The Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran urgently calls on the UN Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur, and all human rights organizations—including the European Union, its member states, the European Parliament’s Committee on Human Rights and the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality—as well as other European and international governments, to take immediate action for the unconditional release of ill political prisoners.
The suffering of these women demands our response.
