Prisoners of the secret wards of Urmia prison, we are hopeless, help us
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network has published a letter from a group of prisoners in Urmia Central Prison warning of the consequences of the harsh conditions in the prison’s secret wards.
In their letter addressed to the head of the Iranian Prisons Organization and international human rights bodies, these prisoners state that they have been illegally transferred for punishment to secure and special wards, each measuring 30 meters, which are so crowded that the prisoners cannot sleep.
The Human Rights Network says that 20 prisoners in the secure ward and 19 in the special ward wrote this letter.
These prisoners say they are deprived of visitation rights and only have limited access to contact their families in the secure ward.
According to these prisoners, some of them have been confined in these crowded 30-meter wards for 6 months, their families have no information about their condition, and no officials visit these wards.
The letter states that prisoners who protest the conditions of the ward are subjected to torture and no medical staff visit for treatment.
These prisoners say we have lost hope in life and even see comfort in death.
The 39 prisoners who wrote this letter have asked the officials of the Iranian Prisons Organization to send an inspection to observe the conditions of these two wards. They have also requested the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights to make their protest heard by the public and human rights organizations.