Summer 2025 has turned Qarchak Prison into a stark symbol of systemic cruelty and human rights violations against Iran’s female political prisoners.
Verified reports from inside the facility paint a harrowing picture of a humanitarian crisis: prolonged power outages during extreme heat, lack of medical care, and inhumane living conditions have pushed the health and lives of dozens of incarcerated women to the brink of collapse.
In recent days, the electricity in the women’s political prisoners’ ward—referred to euphemistically as the “Club”—has been cut for up to five hours daily during the hottest part of the day. With no air conditioning or even basic fans, this windowless, enclosed space becomes a suffocating inferno, filled with stench and humidity—conditions so extreme that a single day of exposure can pose a serious threat to health. The ward, which houses women exiled from Evin Prison, bears no resemblance to a space fit for human life.
Trapped in Heat, Disease, and Systemic Neglect
In addition to deadly heat and power outages, Qarchak inmates suffer from severe shortages of drinking water and basic hygiene infrastructure. With only three showers and three toilets allocated for dozens of women, the facility’s outdoor sewage system is heavily contaminated and swarming with insects and rodents. Many inmates are forced to endure this pest-infested environment for days on end, even as some struggle with chronic illnesses, old age, and extreme physical frailty.
No trusted physicians or emergency services are available in the prison, and this blatant neglect is putting the lives of these women in direct and immediate danger.
Qarchak Prison in Varamin—long notorious for its abusive practices—has now reached a state of complete humanitarian collapse. Remaining silent in the face of these conditions is tantamount to endorsing white torture and the slow, systematic destruction of Iran’s female political prisoners.
