“for its own sake and not for traditional disciplinary purposes”, 7 8 9 as the Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention firstly noted during its last visit of the prison in 2003.10 Similarly, Section
240 of Evin Prison, partially under the authority of the Ministry of Intelligence and other security
and intelligence units, has been reportedly used exclusively for holding prisoners in solitary
confinement.11 12 Section 240 of Evin Prison reportedly contains 700 to 800 solitary confinement
cells.13
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions considers that such “prison within a prison” is
“arbitrary in nature and must be ended.”14 The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran noted
in a 2020 Special Rapporteur’s report that solitary confinement “is used only in rare instances
during the judicial investigation, as well as a punitive measure in places of detention”.15 Yet, the
existence of sections within Iranian prisons adapted to the use of large-scale solitary confinement
suggest that solitary confinement is not used in exceptional cases, as a last resort and for as short
a time as possible. Reports of prisoners held in solitary confinement in the Islamic Republic of
Iran are regular.16 17 18 Further, NGOs have reported cases of prisoners held in solitary
confinement solely because they were displaying COVID-19 symptoms.19 20
Recommendation Status:
This recommendation has NOT been implemented.
7
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/rights-disregarded-prisons-in-the-islamic-republic-of-iran/#2.1.1
Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1310212019ENGLISH.pdf
9
En-HRANA, https://www.en-hrana.org/abdul-sattar-sheikh-transferred-solitary-confinement-evinprison?hilite=%27solitary%27%2C%27confinement%27%2C%27evin%27%2C%27prison%27 and Human Rights Watch
https://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/iran0108/iran0108web.pdf
10
Country Visits, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/detention/pages/visits.aspx
11
Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/8000/mde130232014en.pdf
12
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/rights-disregarded-prisons-in-the-islamic-republic-ofiran/#2.1.1
13
Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/iran0108/iran0108web.pdf
14
Country Visits, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/detention/pages/visits.aspx
15
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation 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
Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/06/iran-free-students-long-solitary
17
Iran Human Rights, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/4479/
18
OHCHR News, https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/11/1078522
19
Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/07/iran-leaked-letters-reveal-state-denial-of-covid19crisis-in-prisons/
20
See more : Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, https://www.en-hrana.org/wpcontent/uploads/2020/09/COVID19_FEAR_IN_IRANS_PRISONS_.pdf
8
2