Qarchak Prison

Last updated • 2 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Qarchak Prison
Qarchak women's prison 2021-03-31 24.jpg
Qarchak Prison (2021)
Qarchak Prison
Location Varamin
Coordinates 35°28′05″N51°33′25″E / 35.468°N 51.557°E / 35.468; 51.557
StatusOperational
Opened2010;14 years ago (2010)
Managed by Judicial system of Iran; IRGC
Warden Soughra Khodadadi
City Talebabad, Tehran
County Ray
Country Iran
Notable prisoners
Yasaman Aryani
Atena Daemi
(Jan 2018-May 2018:returned to Evin)
Marjan Davari
Atena Farghadani
(2015-16)
Ghoncheh Ghavami
(2014)
Bahareh Hedayat
(Feb 2020)
Soheila Hejab
Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee
(Jan 2018-May 2018: returned to Evin)
(Nov 2019-Dec 2020: returned to Evin)
Noushin Jafari
(16 Feb 2021- )
Zeynab Jalalian
(April 2020-June 2020: transferred to Kerman Prison)
Saba Kord Afshari
(Aug 2018-Oct 2018: transferred to Evin)
(June 2019-Aug 2019: transferred to Evin)
(Dec 2020-)
Leila (Khadijeh) Mirghafari
(Apr 2020)
Kylie Moore-Gilbert
(July 2020-Oct 2020:transferred to Evin)
Sepideh Qolian
Shaparak Shajarizadeh
(Feb 2018-Apr 2018)
Nasrin Sotoudeh
(Oct 2020-)
Shokoufeh Yadollahi
(Feb 2018-Jul 2019:Transferred to Evin)

Qarchak Prison (Persian : زندان قرچک, romanized: Zendân-e-Qarchak) is a prison for women located in Qarchak, in Qarchak County, previously part of Varamin County, Tehran Province, Iran (30 km SSE of the capital). It is also called Persian : زندان زنان ری, romanized: Rey Women Prison (Shahr-e Rey prison), "Gharchak Women’s Prison", Rey Penitentiary or Varamin prison.

Contents

Health and sanitation conditions

Health conditions are very poor inside Qarchak. There is no proper sewer. [1] According to the NCRI Women's Committee, the prison infirmary was ill-equipped to deal with outbreaks of coronavirus and did not have masks or sanitary supplies for inmates. [2]

Prisoners

The prison's seven sections contain more than 1400 prisoners, which is twice the nominal capacity. [3]

As of July 2020, 17 female political prisoners are being detained in Qarchak prison. [4]

On 23 May 2020, Soheila Hejab (Persian : سهیلا حجاب, romanized: Soheila Hijab), a 30-year-old law graduate sentenced to 18 years in prison for forming a group for women's rights and who had been summoned for that day to the Court of Appeals, was brutally arrested on leaving the hearing by IRGC agents, and taken to Qarchak. [5]

In June 2020, it was reported that political prisoners in Qarchak had been infected with COVID-19. [6] [7]

On 26 July 2020, the Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert was moved from Evin to Qarchak. [8] Moore-Gilbert was later returned to Evin and freed in November 2020.[ citation needed ]

On 20 October 2020, human rights activist and lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was moved to Qarchak from Evin prison. [9]

Reactions

Qarchak prison is listed under Section 106 of the US's Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) on the basis of extrajudicial killings, torture and other violations of human rights. [10]

On 7 December 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury added Soghra Khodadadi (described as "the current director of Qarchak") to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. Individuals on the list have their assets blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them. The listing said Khodadadi "was responsible for ordering and directly participating in a violent attack on December 13, 2020 against prisoners of conscience in Ward 8 along with at least 20 other guards. According to publicly available reports, prison guards beat these female prisoners of conscience with batons and stun guns. Khodadadi ordered this attack in retaliation for the prisoners exercising their right to freedom of expression." [11] [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evin Prison</span> Prison in Iran

Evin Prison is a prison located in the Evin neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. The prison has been the primary site for the housing of Iran's political prisoners since 1972, before and after the Iranian Revolution, in a purpose-built wing nicknamed "Evin University" due to the high number of students and intellectuals detained there. Evin Prison has been accused of committing "serious human rights abuses" against its political dissidents and critics of the government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran</span> State of human rights in Iran since 1979

The state of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran has been regarded as very poor. The United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Commission have condemned prior and ongoing abuses in Iran in published critiques and several resolutions. The government is criticized both for restrictions and punishments that follow the Islamic Republic's constitution and law, and for "extrajudicial" actions by state actors, such as the torture, rape, and killing of political prisoners, and the beatings and killings of dissidents and other civilians. Capital punishment in Iran remains a matter of international concern.

Bahareh Hedayat is an Iranian activist and campaigner for women's rights. She was one of the activists who worked on the One Million Signatures campaign to change laws that discriminate against women in Iran. She has been arrested and imprisoned several times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammad Ali Dadkhah</span> Iranian human rights lawyer

Seyed Mohammad Ali Dadkhah is an Iranian human rights lawyer. He is a co-founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), which has been repressed by the Iranian government. In the aftermath of Iran's disputed June 2009 elections, Dadkhah represented several jailed political and human rights activists. In July 2011, he was sentenced by the Iranian judiciary to nine years in prison for attempting to overthrow the ruling system, among other charges. His sentence was upheld in April 2012, and on 29 September, he was called to prison to begin his sentence.

Zeynab Jalalian is a Kurdish Iranian who has been convicted a mohareb and sentenced to death by an Islamic Revolutionary Court for allegedly being a member of the Kurdish militant group PJAK, which she denies. Jalalian's sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment.
Human rights organizations have condemned Jalalian's verdict, torture, conditions of incarceration and the inattention to her medical care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nasrin Sotoudeh</span> Human rights female lawyer in Iran

Nasrin Sotoudeh is a human rights lawyer in Iran. She has represented imprisoned Iranian opposition activists and politicians following the disputed June 2009 Iranian presidential elections and prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors. Her clients have included journalist Isa Saharkhiz, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, and Heshmat Tabarzadi. She has also represented women arrested for appearing in public without a hijab, which is a punishable offense in Iran. Nasrin Sotoudeh was the subject of Nasrin, a 2020 documentary filmed in secret in Iran about Sotoudeh's "ongoing battles for the rights of women, children and minorities." In 2021, she was named as of Time's 100 Most Influential People in the World. She was released on a medical furlough in July 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zahra Bahrami</span> Executed dual Dutch-Iranian citizen

Zahra Bahrami, also spelled Sahra Baahrami, was a dual Dutch and Iranian citizen who was executed in Iran after being arrested during a political protest, and later convicted by the Islamic Revolutionary Court for drug trafficking. She was initially arrested in December 2009 for participating in the Ashura protests and charged with national security offenses as well as for being a member of Kingdom Assembly of Iran. However, according to the Iranian Judicatory, a subsequent search of her house uncovered 450 grams of cocaine, 420 grams of opium, and several forged passports. Subsequently, the Tehran prosecutors charged her with drug trafficking and being a member of an international drug-trafficking network, for which she received a death sentence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vahid Asghari</span> Iranian technology student

Vahid Asghari, is an Iranian political prisoner, advocate for freedom of expression and a women’s rights activist. He was detained by a group of Islamic Republic Guards Corps (IRGC) commandos on May 8, 2008, on his way to the Imam Khomeini International Airport, because of his human rights activities and held in solitary confinement for two years without trial. He was sentenced to death twice by the chairman of the 15th Chamber of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, Judge Abolqassem Salavati, in 2011 and 2012, without participating in the court proceedings and without the freedom to choose his own lawyer. International human rights organizations are following Asghari’s case as he remains in custody.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mehdi Rajabian</span> Iranian musician and composer (born 1989)

Mehdi Rajabian is an Iranian composer and musician. He was imprisoned for pursuing illegal musical activities in 2013. In 2019, he released the album Middle Eastern in collaboration with a number of other Middle Eastern artists. Rajabian as the first composer who received the Minority Award of the United Nations. Rajabian has collaborated with musicians including Harvey Mason Jr., Jeff Coffin, Daniel Ho, Wouter Kellerman, Taylor Eigsti, Nicole Zuraitis, Emmanuele Baldini in different projects.

The Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary is a prison approximately 32 km (20 mi) south of Tehran. Sometimes called Tehran Central Prison, it is a large prison, also known as "فشافویه ", "Fashafuyeh" or "Hasanabad-e Qom Prison". It was built in 2012 in the Hasanabad region south of Tehran, in the deserts of the Tehran to Qom highway.
Several thousand prisoners have been or are being transferred to the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary from Evin, Gohardasht and Ghezel Hessar prisons.
With an official capacity of 15,000 inmates, the prison is the largest detention facility in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atena Daemi</span> Iranian civil rights activist

Atena Daemi Khoshknudhani is an Iranian civil rights activist, children's rights activist, human rights activist and political prisoner in Iran. Daemi was last arrested in November 2016 and sentenced seven years prison sentence. Peaceful activities for which she was charged include distributing anti-death penalty leaflets and making posts on Facebook and Twitter criticising Iran's execution record. Later, Daemi and her sisters were arrested and sentenced on charges of having "insulted officers on duty". Subsequent appeals have overturned that conviction and reduced Daemi's original sentence.

Marjan Davari is an Iranian researcher, translator and writer who has been studying, teaching, translating and researching new age material, philosophical and metaphysical texts for more than 26 years.

Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee or Golrokh Iraee is an Iranian writer, accountant, political prisoner and a human rights defender who advocates against the practice of stoning in Iran. As a religious prisoner of conscience she was represented by Vice Chair of the USCIRF Gayle Manchin.

Farhad Meysami is an Iranian physician, teacher and civil activist. He believes in non violence and civil disobedience. He was sentenced to five-year sentence in August 2018 for crimes such as "spreading propaganda against the regime". He was released in February 2023 after a four-month hunger strike that grew international attention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amirsalar Davoudi</span> Iranian human rights lawyer

Amirsalar Davoudi is an Iranian human rights lawyer born on 21 June 1981. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison and 111 lashes for his human rights work.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert is an Australian-British academic in Middle Eastern political science. She was employed as a lecturer at the University of Melbourne's Asia Institute and has carried out research into contemporary political developments in the Middle East. The subject of her PhD research was post-Arab Spring Bahrain.

Yasaman Aryani is an Iranian political prisoner. She appeared without a head scarf, and talked about it on social media.

Shaparak Shajarizadeh is an Iranian women's rights activist and a former political prisoner. She is also a member of women's committee of Iran Transition Council. Shajarizadeh is well known for her efforts in empowering Women's rights in Iran and activism against Iran's contemporary compulsory hijab law. She possess anti-headscarf sentiments and also pioneered online campaigns such as "Girls of Revolution Street" and "White Wednesdays" as a part of the protests against compulsory hijab in an effort to encourage both men and women in Iran to post images in the social media platforms of themselves without wearing headscarves. She was arrested and imprisoned twice for defying Iran's laws about compulsory hijab laws.

Soheila Hejab Bidsorkhi is an Iranian lawyer, political activist, and civil rights activist.

Raheleh Ahmadi is an Iranian political prisoner and the mother of Saba Kord Afshari. She was arrested on 10 July 2019 after protesting the arrest and treatment of her daughter, who had been arrested a month earlier for protesting Iran's compulsory hijab law.

References

  1. ""Unbearable": Reza Khandan, Husband of Nasrin Sotoudeh, on the Ground in Iran's Qarchak Prison - Ms. Magazine".
  2. "A look into the tragic conditions inside Qarchak Prison for women". NCRI Women Committee. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  3. en-hrana.org (2 March 2020). "Qarchak Prison; a List of Political Prisoners and Prison Conditions" . Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  4. united4iran.org (14 April 2020). "Qarchak Prison - Varamin" . Retrieved 28 July 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. iran-hrm.com (25 May 2020). "Human rights lawyer violently transferred to Qarchak Prison" . Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  6. iranhumanrights.org (14 July 2020). "Kurdish Political Prisoner Not Heard from for Weeks Since Announcing COVID Symptoms" . Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  7. Abdorrahman Boroumand Center (21 April 2020). "COVID-19 Fear in Iran's Prisons: Iran Must Do More to Protect Prisoners" . Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  8. iranhumanrights.org (28 July 2020). "Australian Kylie Moore-Gilbert Moved to Notoriously Inhumane Prison in Iran as "Punishment"" . Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  9. fidh.org (20 October 2020). "Unexplained Transfer of Nasrin Sotoudeh to Qarchak Prison" . Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  10. Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (1 June 2020). "Report to Congress List of Persons Who Are Responsible for or Complicit in Certain Human Rights Abuses in Iran". U.S. Department of State . Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  11. "Treasury Targets Repression and the Undermining of Democracy". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  12. "Global Magnitsky Designation; Iran-related Designations; Syria Designations; CAATSA - Iran-related Designations". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Retrieved 22 December 2021.