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 address the management and supervision of all prisons and detention
center in the country. These regulations also address the conditions of detentions centers, such as
the detainees’ ability to access adequate food, water and medical care and receive visits and
communications with the family members. 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 within the center, unless transfers to treatment centers
outside the prison is considered necessary. 13
However, numerous reports received by OHCHR have indicated that detainees are regularly kept
in poor conditions in Iranian prisons and are often denied of access to medical care.14 15 The
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran received
reports of Iranian authorities making medical treatments conditional upon confession.16
A report published by the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center in partnership with the Human
Rights Activists News Agency, found that conditions of detention centers have further
deteriorated since the COVID-19 pandemic started. The overcrowding of prisons facilitated the
spread of COVID-19 in several prisons across the country.17 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 2020.18 Documents recently leaked by Amnesty International indicate
that Iran’s Ministry of Health has repeatedly ignored urgent appeals from the Prisons’
Organisation to remedy the widespread shortages of the personal protective equipment,
disinfectant products, and medical supplies needed to fight the pandemic.19
In the 2019 National Report for the Universal Periodic Review, the Government of the Islamic
Republic of Iran reported that the Citizenship Rights Watch Board carries periodic inspections of
12
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, English Translation, Iran Data Portal, https://irandataportal.syr.edu/wpcontent/uploads/constitution-english-1368.pdf
13
See more: Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1341962016ENGLISH.PDF
14
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, January,
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, July 2020, https://documentsdds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N20/190/27/PDF/N2019027.pdf?OpenElement
16
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
17
HRANA, https://www.en-hrana.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/COVID19_FEAR_IN_IRANS_PRISONS_.pdf
18
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
19
Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/07/iran-leaked-letters-reveal-state-denial-of-covid19crisis-in-prisons/
3