Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic
of Iran A/HRC/43/61 para 70(c)
Full recommendation:
The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government, the judiciary and the parliament, as
appropriate: Ensure that all prisoners requiring specialist or any other treatment not available
within prison are transferred free of cost to specialized institutions or outside hospitals to
receive such treatment and that they remain in those institutions or hospitals for as long as the
treatment is deemed necessary by specialist doctors;
Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators1
Iran’s Prison Regulations provide for the management and supervision of all prisons and
detention centres in the country. This management and supervision include the conditions of
detentions such access to adequate food, water, medical care for detainees, and visits and
communications with the family. The Regulations specify that all prisoners should have access to
medical care, including regular medical check-ups, and that their medical needs should be
addressed to the fullest extent possible, unless transfer to treatment centres outside the prison is
considered necessary. According to Article 216 of the Prison Regulations, a prisoner may be
granted medical furlough for hospitalization if a prison doctor considers it necessary. Medical
furlough may be extended beyond a month if the hospital and the Legal Medicine Organization
of Iran confirm the need for continued hospitalization. 2 3
The prison administration is responsible for medical expenses, including regular check-ups and
treatment of ill prisoners.4 However, Article 104 of the regulations stipulates that prisoners
should pay the medical treatment of conditions and illnesses that do not require urgent or
immediate care or are “their own fault”, in breach with international standards.
In its 2019 National Report to the Universal Periodic Review, the Government of the Islamic
Republic of Iran reported that the Citizenship Rights Watch Board conducts periodic inspections
within prisons and detention centres. According to the Government, the Board has “received and
handled 3,275 complaints and reports, through the complaint system, in relation with civil rights
violations. Between 2015 and 2018, a number of 28,504 inspections were carried out to
1
CCPR.10.1.S.1
CCPR.10.3.P.2; CCPR.10.3.P.3
2
See more: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/rights-disregarded-prisons-in-the-islamic-republic-ofiran/
3
See more: Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1341962016ENGLISH.PDF
4
Article 118, Regulatory Code of 11 Dec. 2005 (Governing the Prisons Organization and Security and Corrective Measures),
available at http://www.prisons.ir/index.php?Module=SMMPageMaster&SMMOp=View&PageId=27
1