Kurdish activist on hunger strike for 'quiet death of prisoners'

For the first time in modern history someone in prison had gone on strike not for their own demands but other people’s cause.

TEHRAN, Iran (Kurdistan24) – On the 30th day of his hunger strike, a Kurdish civil rights activist is suffering from severe health complications after a lengthy period without food in an Iranian prison.

Saeed Shirzad, originally from the city of Kermanshah (Kermashan in Kurdish) was arrested in June 2014 while at work in the Tabriz refinery.

He was first taken to Evin Prison and then transferred to Rajaee Shahr Prison. 

He sat behind bars for over a year under so-called “temporary detention” before his trial, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) reported.

Shirzad, serving a five-year sentence for helping the children of political prisoners pursue education, was accused of “threatening national security.”

He sewed his lips on Dec. 7, 2016.

Despite waiting for the result of his appeal for a year, Shirzad’s protest was for the mistreatment of others.

A protest for “the quiet death of prisoners” because of numerous human rights abuses at the hands of prison officials, he wrote to judicial members.

Iranian prisoners have been increasingly refusing food and liquids or both to highlight their plights.

Another Kurdish prisoner, Hassan Rastgari Majd, Iranian-born and citizen of Turkey held in Uremia central prison for his political activities, was accused of “propaganda against the regime.”

He is serving an 18-year sentence and has been on a hunger strike since Dec. 3, 2016.

Reformist political activist Ali Shariati also began his hunger strike on Oct. 31, 2016, after being taken to Evin Prison to serve his sentence. 

Journalist Shahed Alavi told Kurdistan24 there had been examples of Iran giving-in to prisoners’ demands after hunger strikes.

“Iran is concerned that it will become a common tool of pressure by prisoners to protest their unjust trials,” Alavi added.

“Prison is a tool of suppression, but Iran cannot control prisoners’ power over their bodies, and this frightens them,” the journalist explained.

He highlighted Shirzad’s case, pointing out that for the first time in modern history someone in prison had gone on strike not for their own demands but other people’s cause.

“Shirzad’s courage and humanity should inspire us all,” Alavi concluded.

 

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany