Report: Iranian authorities ignore prisons' pleas for help in fighting COVID-19
Amnesty International obtained letters from prisons in Iran to the Health Ministry about a lack of adequate supplies in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
A leading human rights organization said July 31 that the Iranian authorities are ignoring cries for help on the bleak coronavirus situation in the country’s prisons.
Amnesty International obtained letters from senior officials in the Islamic Republic’s Prisons Organization. The human rights organization said in a press release that the Prisons Organization wrote four letters between March and July to the Ministry of Health reporting “shortages of protective equipment, disinfectant products, and essential medical devices.” The latest letter the organization obtained, dated July 5, indicates that the pleas had not been answered by that point.
Officials have praised the anti-virus efforts in the prisons and denied poor conditions there, according to Amnesty International.
A judiciary spokesperson said July 14 that the government had “enhanced the health and precautionary measures in penitentiaries” and developed plans with the Ministry of Health to monitor prisoners’ health, according to the state-run Tasnim news agency.
