Tehran (AsiaNews) - There are 470 prisoners of conscience in Iran, that is, persons imprisoned for their opinions, political or otherwise, written or otherwise expressed. Among those detained, there are 39 women and 28 men sentenced to death. A long list announced by Reporters and Human Rights Activists in Iran (RAHANA), which states that the prisoners are divided among 25 different prisons and 268 of them do not know the charges against them are for which they are deprived of their liberty. And the list, adds the report, is not complete because "it does not include the names of all prisoners of conscience in Iran."
Violations of fundamental human rights, in short, continues to rage in the country of the ayatollahs. There are people, says Rahana, who are imprisoned only for their opinions and beliefs or for criticizing the regime.
The section of the organization that deals with the rights of prisoners - RAHANA's Prisoners' Rights Units - specifies that of the 470 prisoners whose name is known, 120 are Kurds (who represent approximately 7% of the Iranian people), 101 are political activists, 59 are students, 49 journalists or bloggers, 43 belong to religious minorities, particularly the Bahai minority. The notorious Evin prison (pictured) is where the largest number of political prisoners are held, followed by Orumiyeh Central Prison (34 political prisoners), Sanandaj Central Prison (33) and Rajai Shahr Prison (28).
There is no information of the fate of 134 people and in some cases the report limits itself to the name of the prisoner and the prison.
The names of Farzad Kamangar, Shirin Alam Hoole, Mehdi Eslamian, Ali Heydarian and Farhad Vakil, have been removed from the list following their execution two weeks ago. Their fate is especially worrying because it is seen as the current attitude of the judiciary. "We hope that in the future - Rahana states - the only names removed will be those of persons who have been released”.