A report on the situation of women prisoners, incarcerated in Qarchak Prison of Varamin

Human Rights in Iran – Thursday, April 16th 2020 The urban prison known as penitentiary in this city, is located in Qarchak of Varamin, and over the years many politcal and non-political women prisoners with long term convictions are transferred to this notorious prison. As well during the recent years a large number of politcal women prisoners who had been imprisoned in women’s ward of Evin Prison, are transferred to this prison in punitive measures. The hygiene and treatment condition for the women kept in ward 1 of this prison is reported grave.

According to the Human Rights in Iran- Thursday, April 16th 2020, the women, prisoned in ward 1 of Qarchak Prison in Varamin, are serving their sentences without observing the principle of separation of crimes, in deprivation of their citizenship rights and the access to some facilities such as calling to their families, proper food, in-prison family visits, as well as an expanded restrictions on health care and treatment. Distribution of some sleeping pills such as Largardine, Gabapentin, Clonazepam, Alprazolam and also 2 Sodium pills among the prisoners jailed here, has caused psychiatric and mental diseases among the prisoners. Despite the documentary accounts given about the situation of women prisoners in this prison, however Heshmat-ol Allah Hayat-ol Gheib , the head of prisons organization has denied the women’s deprivations, claiming that situation of providing facilities for the prisoners in Varamin Qarchak Prison is in good condition.

According to an informed source who was once a prisoner in the women’s ward of Qarchak Prison in Varamin, while talking to the reporter of Human Rights in Iran, she said: ” Despite the outbreak of COVID-19 in Iran, normally some essential items such as masks, sanitary gloves and disinfectants should be available for prisonesrs and the prison officials should sterilize the environment of prisons, but no action is taken to solve such problems. About 20 of these women prisoners who are held in ward 1 of this prison have the symptoms of coronavirus, but they do not have access to masks, sanitary gloves and other medical cares. On one hand they are among another prisoners, on the other hand they should be dispatched immediately out of the prison to the hospitals. These women prisoners kept in Qarchak Prison in Varamin, are suffering from diseases in the forms of skin fungus and infections on their bodies. Skin diseases are caused by salinity of the water used to wash clothes, bodies and utensils. Regarding the approval of doctors, even the illness of the prisoners who are sent out of prison, will be worsened. The duty guards who are working in the clinic section of Qarchak Prison in Varamin by receiving 50 to 100 thousand Tomans, provide a pill named Largardine to the prisoners, which in many cases using this pill has caused coma and even death of the prisoners “.

This informed credible also added: ” Women who are being held in Qarchak Prison of Varamin do not have proper nutrition, and the quality and quantity of their daily meals is very low. One of the reasons for the poor quality of food in Qarchak Prison of Varamin is the use of soy (soya) instead of meat in the daily meal, with fried onions which is served with tomato paste and rice. But the healthiest food given at dinner to prisoners jailed in Qarchak Prison is potatoes and eggs boiled in water. Drinking water in Qarchak Prison of Varamin is salty, and the prisoners who can not afford buying purified water must use the same water to drink. “

This informed source continued: ” The warm water in Qarchak Prison of Varamin is so little, and the prisoners should do the washing in bathrooms by 2, in less than 5 minutes. Also the prisoners kept in this prison, have many problems for their calls, including the placement of telephone kiosks in inappropriate places, which cause problems for prisoners in different seasons of the year, due to the heat of sun or rainy days in contact times. The prison’s store hall is located at the end of its aeriation yard, where inmates (should) wait in line for at least 30 to 45 minutes to be able to buy their needed Items. On the other hand, due to the distance between the store and the prison’s ward, in many cases, elderly people face problems such as slipping in the cold seasons of the year.”

This informed credible announcing that between 16 to 18 women, prisoned in ward 1 of Qarchak Prison in Varamin are living with their children, said: ” Usually, the prisoners are women of crimes like drugs and thef, and their husbands are serving in another prisons with the similar crimes. The children of these women are deprived of the right for education, and the kindergarten in this prison is at a very low level in terms of the quality of education.”

Despite these restrictions on prisoners held in the women’s ward of Qarchak Prison in Varamin, the Islamic Republic’s Judiciary News Agency, quoted Heshmat-ol Allah Hayat-ol Gheib, the head of prisons organization in the country, as claiming: ” Following the publication of a strange claim in one of the medias that there are 2000 prisoners in Shahr-e Rey Prison without any visitation, and also the sale of washing liquid at a price of 75,000 Tomans in the store of this prison, the director general of Tehran province denied this news and stated the allegations as baseless.”

Heshmat-ol Allah Hayat-ol Gheib stated that regarding the pre-New Year leaves, the total number of prisoners in Shahr-e Rey Penitentiary is much less than half the whole number The health care and treatment services in Qarchak Prison of Varamin are more than what is indicated in Health Protocols, and also he acclaimed that the actions taken in prisons, especially in Qarchak Prison of Varamin, for fighting against coronavirus are unique.

Hayat-ol Gheib also claimed: ” Every day all places of prison are disinfected by the forces trained by the health and treatment unit of the penitentiary, and the necessary facilities including masks, disinfectants and disposable gloves are provided regularly and free of charge for the prisoners.”

The individuals’ accessibility to the right of a fair judgement by an impartial court is one of the emphasized cases in International Instrument of Human Rights, Article 10 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as in Article 14 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted on December 16th 1966.

Likewise the issue of arbitrary detainment of persons without the justification of their charges, and the culprits’ inaccessibility to a lawyer are some cases of violations of Principles noted in International Instrument of Human Rights, Article 9 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 9 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted on December 16th 1966.

The individuals’ accessibility to the right of a fair judgement by an impartial court is one of the emphasized cases in International Instrument of Human Rights, Article 10 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as in Article 14 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted on December 16th 1966.