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October 1, 2018 \u2013 Iranian authorities should immediately free political prisoner Arash Sadeghi so he can receive medical care for serious health issues that require urgent and sustained care, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said in a statement today.<\/p>\n
\u201cArash Sadeghi shouldn\u2019t be in an Iranian prison in the first place, let alone struggling to access medical care for life-threatening health problems,\u201d said CHRI\u2019s Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the responsibility of Iran\u2019s State Prisons Organization and the judiciary to safeguard the well-being of all detainees in Iran, but they are failing to protect political prisoners, including Sadeghi, from suffering irreparable harm,\u201d added Ghaemi.<\/p>\n
Sadeghi\u2019s father informed CHRI on September 28, 2018, that his son may have Chondrosarcoma, a cancer that causes bone tumors, and that he is awaiting test results to determine whether a bone tumor on Sadeghi\u2019s arm is malignant or benign.<\/p>\n
A doctor in a hospital outside the prison\u00a0discovered the tumor<\/a>\u00a0in June 2018 but prison authorities have consistently prevented him from receiving specialized medical treatment. After Sadeghi underwent the biopsy and was returned to\u00a0Rajaee Shahr Prison<\/a>\u00a0in the city of Karaj, he developed a serious infection.<\/p>\n \u201cHis arm has gotten infected and they\u2019re giving him high doses of antibiotics,\u201d Hossein Sadeghi told CHRI after visiting his son in prison on September 26.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s because on Saturday [September 22] they deliberately took him to the hospital when it was late and his doctor wasn\u2019t there and so he was seen by a resident [student physician],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey should have listened to the doctors\u2019 orders and kept him hospitalized but Mr. Rostam [first name unknown], the prison\u2019s judicial representative, and [Alireza] Ziaie, the prison\u2019s director, refused and he was sent back to prison two days after the biopsy\u2014and his own doctor has still not visited him,\u201d added Hossein Sadeghi.<\/p>\n Sadeghi told CHRI that his son\u2019s bandages were not being replaced every day as required and that the prison\u2019s\u00a0unhygienic conditions<\/a>\u00a0had made the infection worse.<\/p>\n Since June 2016, Sadeghi, 32 has been serving a\u00a015-year prison sentence<\/a>\u00a0for engaging in peaceful human civil rights activism. He was imprisoned under the charges of \u201cassembly and collusion against national security,\u201d \u201cpropaganda against the state,\u201d \u201cspreading lies in cyberspace,\u201d and \u201cinsulting the founder of the Islamic Republic.\u201d<\/p>\n His wife,\u00a0Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee<\/a>, has also been serving a five-year sentence in Evin Prison since 2016 for writing an unpublished story about the practice of stoning in Iran and for the content of some of her personal Facebook posts.<\/p>\n Political prisoners in Iran<\/a>, including\u00a0elderly inmates<\/a>, are singled out for\u00a0harsh treatment<\/a>, which often includes\u00a0denial of medical care<\/a>. The threat of\u00a0withheld medical care<\/a>\u00a0has also been used as an\u00a0intimidation tool<\/a>\u00a0against prisoners who have challenged the authorities or filed complaints.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s State Prisons Organization and the judiciary are responsible for ensuring the safety and well-being of all detainees held in state custody. The State Prison Procedures state in Article 120 that \u201cThe head of the prison\u2019s infirmary is required to \u2026 [ensure] that they receive adequate care from doctors and nurses, [and] he must supervise the patients\u2019 proper diet and recovery completely and continually.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the UN\u2019s Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, which all UN Member States are expected to abide by, \u201c\u2026Sick prisoners who require specialist treatment shall be transferred to specialized institutions or to civil hospitals.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet no Iranian official has been held accountable for the multiple\u00a0documented<\/a>\u00a0cases of death or irreparable harm suffered by political prisoners due to the lack of proper medical care in prison and the authorities denying them adequate recovery time or outside medical treatment and care.<\/p>\n The case of former political prisoner\u00a0Alireza Rajaei<\/a>, who lost part of his face in August 2017 due to sinus cancer that was left untreated in Evin Prison, put the spotlight on the ongoing\u00a0denial of medical care<\/a>\u00a0to political prisoners in Iran.<\/p>\n Three months later, in October 2017, labor activist Mohammad Jarrahi\u00a0died<\/a>\u00a0from thyroid cancer that was left untreated while he was held as a political prisoner in Tabriz Prison. Fellow labor activist\u00a0Shahrokh Zamani<\/a>\u00a0had also died of a\u00a0heart attack<\/a>\u00a0in September 2015 after being denied medical care in Rajaee Shahr Prison.<\/p>\n Political prisoner\u00a0Omid Kokabee<\/a>\u00a0was diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer in 2016 after years of repeatedly being denied treatment for his symptoms in Evin Prison.<\/p>\n \u201cIran claims it doesn\u2019t torture political prisoners but it has a documented history of denying them critical medical care,\u201d said Ghaemi. \u201cThe lives lost and the serious and permanent health damage suffered are tantamount to torture.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIran should immediately free Arash Sadeghi so this young man can go home and receive the care that is his right under Iranian and international law,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n For interviews, contact:
\nHadi Ghaemi
\n+1-917-669-5996
\nhadighaemi@iranhumanrights.org<\/a><\/p>\n