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(January 17, 2013)\u2014The Iranian Judiciary should immediately release imprisoned student activist Bahareh Hedayat before continued imprisonment and lack of adequate medical treatment for her chronic reproductive system problems cause irreversible damage to her health, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today.<\/p>\n
The Judiciary and the Prisons Organization should also release the other activists still imprisoned for their peaceful protests of 2009, as allowed by Article 134 of the new Islamic Penal Code, the Campaign added.
\n\u201cIf Article 134 of the new Islamic Penal Code is used in Bahareh\u2019s case, she can be released after serving half of her [9.5-year] sentence, which is five years,\u201d Amin Ahmadian, Hedayat\u2019s husband, told the Campaign. Hedayat was arrested on December 31, 2009. Ahmadian also told the Campaign that Hedayat has been experiencing serious health issues that could potentially leave her sterile if left untreated. \u201cBahareh suffers from chronic reproductive system problems and the doctors believe that if her treatment is delayed, she may not be able to have children in the future,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cThe fact that by law these prisoners should be released, and yet those laws are not being enforced, exacerbates the unacceptable prison conditions and inhumane treatment of political prisoners in Iran,\u201d said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. \u201cThere has been a pattern of negligence and even of prison officials ignoring prisoners\u2019 health as a form of additional punishment, which has caused permanent damage to a number of prisoners in the past. This must be stopped,\u201d Ghaemi added.
\nThe International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has consistently reported on the deteriorating health of prisoners of conscience inside Iranian prisons, where they are denied access to proper and effective medical treatment, particularly specialized treatment. Bahareh Hedayat is one of several political prisoners facing irreversible health conditions due to their lack of access to proper medical care. In November 2013, Abdolfattah Soltani, an imprisoned lawyer and human rights activist, embarked on a hunger strike together with three other political prisoners to protest the conditions of sick prisoners who need medical treatment and have been refused transfers to a hospital. In at least one case, the case of Hoda Saber, a prisoner died at Evin Prison when prison authorities failed to transfer him to a medical facility in time.
\nAhmadian also told the Campaign that according to Article 134 of the new Islamic Penal Code, convicts with multiple charges should receive only the maximum penalty\u00a0for their most serious charges, rather than consecutive penalties for each lesser charge. Most of the individuals arrested in the post-election unrest in 2009 were charged with multiple interrelated crimes such as \u201cpropaganda against the regime,\u201d \u201cacting against national security,\u201d and \u201cinsulting the Supreme Leader or the President,\u201d combining to form long prison sentences.
\nAmin Ahmadian told the Campaign that currently 15 female political prisoners and prisoners of conscience are being kept inside Evin Prison\u2019s Women\u2019s Ward, but that Article 134 of the new Islamic Penal Code should allow for their release. \u201cIf this article is enforced, many of the current political prisoners will be released. But of course what lies behind these [prison sentences] is not an article of the law alone, but a political will to let them go or not,\u201d he added.
\nLawyer and member of the Defenders of Human Rights Center Mahnaz Parakand described the potential impact of the new Islamic Penal Code on prisoners of conscience in an interview with the Campaign earlier this month. \u201cAccording to the old Islamic Penal Code, if a person was convicted of several crimes, he would have to endure all the related sentences, whereas under the new Islamic Penal Code, if a person commits several crimes, he will only be sentenced to punishment for the crime with the heaviest sentence. After 2009, we have had many prisoners who have been charged with several crimes such as \u2018propaganda against the regime,\u2019 \u2018assembly and collusion against national security,\u2019 and \u2018insulting the Supreme Leader.\u2019 If sentences for all of these charges were to be added together, the individual would receive more than ten years in prison, but no court has so far implemented the new Islamic Penal Code for these individuals. If implemented, many of them should be released now or their sentences would be decreased,\u201d Parakand explained.
\nThe Campaign urges the Iranian Judiciary and Prisons Organization to enforce Article 134 of the new Islamic Penal Code\u00a0also for prisoners already serving time in prisons, allowing for earlier release. \u201cThe Iranian Judiciary circulated the new Islamic Penal Code to the Prisons Organization for enforcement about four months ago, and the Prisons Organization informed prison officials of the new law. Bahareh said that about three months ago, prison authorities asked inmates with multiple convictions to submit requests for enforcement of this article in their cases. As far as I know, all\u00a0political prisoners\u00a0have submitted their requests,\u201d Ahmadian told the Campaign.
\nStudent and women\u2019s rights activist Bahareh Hedayat, now 32, is a former member of the Central Council and the Spokesperson for the nationwide student organization Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat. A Tehran court\u00a0sentenced her to a total of nine years and six months in prison, comprised of two years for \u201cinsulting the Supreme Leader,\u201d six months for \u201cinsulting the President,\u201d and five years for \u201cacting against national security and publishing falsehoods.\u201d She was also sentenced to an additional two years in prison for \u201cacting against national security through holding a protest gathering for women\u201d on June 12, 2006, currently suspended.
\nIranian students see Bahareh Hedayat as a symbol of independent dissident students. In order to pressure her and warn others not to protest, authorities kept her at Evin Prison\u2019s Methadone Ward with prisoners detained on drug trafficking charges and suspended her visitation rights for months at a time. In 2012, Bahareh Hedayat was awarded Sweden\u2019s\u00a0Harald\u00a0Edelstam Prize for her \u201coutstanding contributions and exceptional courage in standing up for active justice against violations of human rights in Iran.\u201d
\n\u201cWe hope that with the changes in the political atmosphere, students who were convicted by virtue of their [2009] elections activities and for protesting the previous administration are released, because that issue has ended. That administration is gone and a new cabinet has begun work and the new government is putting former officials from [former President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad to [former Tehran Prosecutor] Saeed Mortazavi, on trial. Therefore there is no more reason for keeping students who were arrested merely for protesting what was happening back then in prison,\u201d Amin Ahmadian told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
\n\u201cBahareh\u2019s lawyer is also pursuing this matter from outside the prison, but they have not responded to her lawyer yet. If they agree to the request, her case will be forwarded to the lower court, Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court under Judge Moghiseh, for reconsideration,\u201d he added. Asked about Bahareh Hedayat\u2019s health conditions, her husband told the Campaign, \u201cThe doctors have said that she needs to be in a stress-free environment, and this is not possible inside the prison. When she came home on furlough last September she began her treatment, but her treatment was abandoned when she had to return to prison.\u201d
\nThe International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran calls on the Iranian Judiciary to provide adequate health services to prisoners, to enforce the new Islamic Penal Code and release all political prisoners, and to immediately release Bahareh Hedayat to undergo urgent medical treatment.
\n\u201cMs. Hedayat\u2019s case highlights the bigger issue of denial of urgent healthcare in Iranian prisons,\u201d said Executive Director Ghaemi. \u201cThe Iranian Judiciary is responsible for the health of the individuals it sends to prison. Any harm caused by negligence or refusal of care amounts to inhumane treatment, going against domestic and international law,\u201d he added.
\nListen to the Campaign\u2019s Iran Rights Podcast\u2028\u2028For the latest human rights developments in Iran visit the Campaign\u2019s website
\nFor interviews, contact Hadi Ghaemi at +1-917-669-5996
\nFollow the\u00a0Campaign on Facebook and Twitter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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