With regards to the conditions of detention, Article 39 of the Constitution of the Islamic
Republic of Iran stipulates that “All affronts to the dignity and repute of persons arrested,
detained, imprisoned, or banished in accordance with the law, whatever form they may take, are
forbidden and liable to punishment.”12
Iran’s Prison Regulations provide for the management and supervision of all prisons and
detention centers in the country, including the supervision of conditions within those centers,
particularly concerning the access to adequate food, water, and medical care for detainees, as
well as access to visitation and communication with family members. However, numerous
reports received by OHCHR have indicated that detainees are regularly kept in very poor
conditions in Iranian prisons due to overcrowding and deficiencies in the provision of basic
hygiene or food and water, as well as denial of access to medical care.13 The Special Rapporteur
on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran received numerous reports of
torture used to extract confessions, the refusal of medical treatment until a confession was made,
and the use of solitary confinement.14 Numerous reports have documented deaths and cases of
ill-treatment of persons detained during the November 2019 protests, 15 including children.16 17
A report published by the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center in partnership with the Human
Rights Activists News Agency found that conditions of detention have further deteriorated since
the COVID-19 pandemic started. Prisons’ overcrowding facilitated the proliferation of COVID19 cases in several prisons.18 Such concerns have been echoed by the Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran in his report published in July 2020.19
Documents leaked to Amnesty International in July 2020 indicate that Iran’s Ministry of Health
has repeatedly ignored urgent appeals from the Prisons Organization to remedy the widespread
shortages of the protective equipment, disinfectant products, and medical supplies needed to
fight the pandemic.20
12
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, English Translation, Iran Data Portal, https://irandataportal.syr.edu/wpcontent/uploads/constitution-english-1368.pdf
13
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, July 2020,
https://undocs.org/A/75/213
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, January 2020,
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IR/Report_of_the_Special_Rapporteur_on_the_situation_of_human_rights_in_the_
Islamic_Republic_of_IranA4361.pdf
14
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, January 2020,
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IR/Report_of_the_Special_Rapporteur_on_the_situation_of_human_rights_in_the_
Islamic_Republic_of_IranA4361.pdf
15
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, January 2020,
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IR/Report_of_the_Special_Rapporteur_on_the_situation_of_human_rights_in_the_
Islamic_Republic_of_IranA4361.pdf
16
Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/2891/2020/en/
17
Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://iranhumanrights.org/2020/02/detained-protestors-in-iran-beaten-tortured-forced-toconfess/
18
HRANA, https://www.en-hrana.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/COVID19_FEAR_IN_IRANS_PRISONS_.pdf
19
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, July 2020,
https://undocs.org/A/75/213
20
Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/07/iran-leaked-letters-reveal-state-denial-of-covid19crisis-in-prisons/
2
Commented [HS1]: Do they manage and supervise the
conditions?
If so, maybe: "...including the supervision of conditions
within those centers, particularly concerning the access to
adequate food, water, and medical care for detainees, as well
access to visitation and communications with family
members."