Suspicious Prisoner Deaths And Suicides Multiply In Iran
Alireza Khari is not the only political prisoner in Iran who committed suicide under continuous psychological pressure and torture, even after release from prison.
Alireza Khari is not the only political prisoner in Iran who committed suicide under continuous psychological pressure and torture, even after release from prison.
Khari, a young protester in his late twenties from Bandar Gaz in northern Iran, ended his life earlier this week. Rights activists say he was repeatedly called in and threatened by the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) intelligence organization after his release from prison.
Judiciary officials of the Islamic Republic which has always refused to allow international investigations into Iranian prisons claim conditions at these facilities are suitable. The experience of many prisoners, however, proves that prisons and detention centers run by security forces have become “killing grounds” for prisoners, especially dissidents.
Authorities always attribute suspicious deaths in prisons and detention centers, or shortly after prisoners’ release, to suicide and claim they suffered from mental health or had personal problems.
In the past four decades, dozens of political and ordinary prisoners have committed suicide in prison or shortly after their release.
In the past month alone, several political prisoners attempted or committed suicide. These include Mosayeb Yeganeh who was returned to Tehran’s Evin prison from hospital before the completion of his treatment. Shahin Gallehdari, a Kurdish political prisoner was another victim who passed away at the ultra-security ward of the Central Prison of Orumieh in northwestern Iran, and Hasan Omarpour, another Kurdish prisoner self-immolated at the same prison.
In February Amir Shahbazi, a prisoner sentenced to amputation of his fingers for theft, also committed suicide at the infamous Central Prison of Orumieh. He had reached an out of court agreement with the plaintiff to forgo the amputation sentence, but authorities insisted on carrying out the sentence.
Besides Orumieh Central Prison and Tehran’s Evin Prison, suspicious deaths and suicides have recently been reported at Lakan Prison in Gilan Province, the Central Prison of Tabriz in East Azarbaijan Province, and Ilam Prison in Ilam Province.
During and after the Woman, Life, Freedom protests of 2022-2023, several protesters died suspiciously in detention or shortly after freedom. These included Javad Rouhi (35), Maryam Arvin (29), Arshia Emamgholizadeh (16), Yalda Agha-Afzali (19), Mina Yaghoubi (33), Abbas Mansouri (18), and Atefeh Naami (37).
Coroner’s report attributed Rouhi’s suspicious death in hospital a year after his arrest to interaction of the medicines he was taking. Rouhi who was arrested in September 2022, was sentenced to death in a sham trial. His death sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court but continued to be threatened, tortured, and harassed.
Rights organizations said Rouhi was brutally tortured at a Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) detention center and even lost his power of speech.
Arvin, a lawyer who offered advice to prisoners and their families, also died after her release from prison. Her family reject judiciary officials’ claim that she died of suicide and believe she died because of drugs she had been administered in prison.
In some cases, as in Agha-Afzali’s case, authorities attributed the suspicious deaths of prisoners after freedom, to drug misuse. However, in an audio-file before her death, Agha-Afzali had revealed brutal tortures in prison.
Some former political prisoners have revealed that they were forced to take drugs or injections that they suspect could have contained psychoactive substances. These drugs, they say, highly affected their physical and mental health, they say.
Rights organizations and activists say physical and psychological torture and alleged administration of psychoactive drugs could cause such suspicious deaths and suicides.
Torture, as in the case of dissident Rapper Saman Yasin, sometimes include incarceration at mental facilities. In a letter from prison to the Chief Justice, Yasin begged to be executed, because, he said, death by execution was preferable to the tortures he had endured.
A video released by Etemad online, showed prominent cleric Alavi Boroujerdi speaking out against the government regarding the people's challenging circumstances. He protested that "The people are no longer able to endure the economic hardships," and pointed out that "the clerics are being held responsible for all their troubles."
Boroujerdi also criticized the government for the way it is running the affairs of the state. He said: "The people's economic situation is very bad. Bring in a few honest experts to address the problems as people's patience has come to an end."
Meanwhile, in an interview with Rouiydad24 website, labor activist Hassan Sadeghi warned the government about a fast approaching 67-percent inflation rate in the new year. Sadeghi also warned that the price of gasoline is also going to rise in the new year. The latest gasoline price increase by the government in 2019 led to nationwide protests in Iran during which security forces reportedly killed around 1,500 Iranians.
Sadeghi lamented the state of the country's economy, criticizing the decision to entrust economic matters to individuals lacking adequate expertise in the field of economics. He cautioned that with inexperienced non-experts overseeing the nation's economy, the Iranian currency is poised to face further devaluation in the upcoming New Year, beginning on March 20.
Expressing concern, Sadeghi cautioned that these developments could precipitate crises, including widespread protests in Iran in the coming year. He highlighted the anticipated impact of inflation and rising prices, particularly on the most vulnerable segments of the population. Additionally, he noted that the heavy reliance on taxation in the government's budget for the New Year is likely to exacerbate the inflationary pressures.
Furthermore, Sadeghi suggested that the Iranian government should take cues from Turkey's approach and adjust wages to keep pace with the rise in inflation. However, talks between the government and representatives of workers yielded no progress on the eve of the New Year.
In another development, former Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati, who was President Ebrahim Raisi's rival in the 2021 presidential election, wrote in a tweet: "Government officials are lauding each other for achieving a 4 percent economic growth rate, even as the official inflation rate stands at a staggering 42 percent. Hemmati pointed out that "in 2020, despite facing intense pressure from the US and grappling with the pandemic, Iran managed to achieve a 4.2 percent economic growth, with meager oil revenue of only $7.4 billion." This achievement is particularly noteworthy considering that Iran faced fewer obstacles in exporting oil last year, resulting in oil revenues exceeding $30 billion."
In an earlier letter to the Iranian President, Hemmati had told Raisi that "With the plan you called 'economic surgery' you created a triple-digit inflation rate for commodities such as meat, poultry, and dairy products people need on a daily basis.”
He addressed Raisi directly, stating, "You recently expressed your desire for a headline in the press that reflects the government's empowerment of Iran! But can we truly consider the sharp decline in people's purchasing power, in a country endowed with the world's largest oil and gas resources, and the fact that over 30 percent of the population has fallen below the poverty line as indicators of a powerful nation?"
As evidence of the Iranian government's inefficiency, Hemmati highlighted that one year after the conclusion of Iran's 6th development plan, the country's 7th development plan remains unfinished. Additionally, just five days before the end of the current Iranian year, the government has yet to finalize the annual budget bill for the upcoming year.