Political prisoners in Iran on life-threatening hunger strikes

TEHRAN, Iran (Kurdistan24) – Five civil rights activists are suffering from severe health complications after lengthy hunger strikes in Iranian prisons, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) reported.

Saeed Shirzad, Hasan Rastegari Majd, Arash Sadeghi, Morteza Moradpour, and Ali Shariati are on life-threatening hunger strikes, demanding fair trials.

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.

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

Kurdish prisoner Majd, a Turkish-Iranian citizen and political prisoner of Uremia central prison, was accused of “propaganda against the regime.”

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

Sadeghi, serving a 15-year prison sentence for his civil activities, started the hunger strike on Oct. 24, 2016, when his wife Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee was also imprisoned for a story she never published and posts on Facebook.

Azeri civil rights activist Moradpour, arrested during a peaceful rally in 2009, lost over 50 pounds after refusing food at Tabriz Prison since Oct. 25, 2016.

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

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

Lavin Karimi, an imprisoned Kurdish women, was given medical leave after a hunger strike but some prisoners have lost their lives due to the strikes.

“On July 31, 2006, imprisoned student activist Akbar Mohammadi died in Evin Prison after a weeklong hunger strike,” ICHRI reported.

“Political activist Hoda Saber also lost his life on June 1, 2011, from lack of medical treatment in Evin Prison eight days after starting a hunger strike,” the report added.

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

“However, 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