Kurdish political prisoner’s health deteriorates on month-long strike: watchdog
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Kurdish political prisoner Qader Mohammadzadeh’s health has deteriorated after being on hunger strike for 36 days demanding temporary leave after 16 years of imprisonment, a human rights groups said.
"Qader Mohammadzadeh has suffered from low blood pressure and severe weight loss due to a long hunger strike, and many of his daily affairs are performed by his inmates,” Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said, quoting a source familiar with Yazd prison, where he is imprisoned.
The prisoner is demanding temporary bail after having served 16 years in prison with no leave. He has been serving an 18-year sentence in Urmia and Yazd prisons.
"Unfortunately, despite the fact that we prepared the bail and handed it over to the Mahabad judiciary, Mahabad prosecutor Mehrab Akbarpour personally opposed the granting of leave to Qader Mohammadzadeh,” the family of the prisoner told Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
His family added that there are no legal obstacles to his case, but that the public prosecutor has refused to grant him leave.
"Court and Yazd prison officials have accepted the request for a temporary leave, and we even prepared a [...] bail, but since the Mahabad Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal has handed down its verdict, Yazd judicial officials have also taken the Mahabad public prosecutor’s decision into account. Unfortunately … Mehrab Akbarpour, the public prosecutor of Mahabad, refused to give Qadir Mohammadzadeh a temporary leave of absence,” added the family.
According to Mohammedzadeh’s family, his health has started to deteriorate on the 33rd day of his hunger strike and he was transferred to Yazd’s hospital. “He said [..] he is not ready to end his strike until he will get the smallest of his demands accepted, which is temporary leave after 16 years of imprisonment.”
Mohammedzadeh is from Bokan. He was arrested in December 2005 on charges of “membership of the Kurdish opposition parties” and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Tens of thousands of political prisoners are jailed in Iran over various charges including advocating for democracy and promoting the rights of women, workers, and ethnic minorities.
Ethnic minority groups including Kurds and Azeris are disproportionately detained and more harshly sentenced for acts of political dissidence, according to a July 2019 report from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran.
International monitors are concerned that human rights could further erode in Iran under President Ebrahim Raisi who played a role in a 1988 prison massacre.
More than 640 civil and political activists earlier in March signed a letter to UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran Javid Rahman on the mistreatment of political prisoners.
In early March, the UN human rights chief condemned Iranian state violence against Kurds and Balochis, and expressed alarm over the crackdown on minorities.
"Qader Mohammadzadeh has suffered from low blood pressure and severe weight loss due to a long hunger strike, and many of his daily affairs are performed by his inmates,” Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said, quoting a source familiar with Yazd prison, where he is imprisoned.
The prisoner is demanding temporary bail after having served 16 years in prison with no leave. He has been serving an 18-year sentence in Urmia and Yazd prisons.
"Unfortunately, despite the fact that we prepared the bail and handed it over to the Mahabad judiciary, Mahabad prosecutor Mehrab Akbarpour personally opposed the granting of leave to Qader Mohammadzadeh,” the family of the prisoner told Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
His family added that there are no legal obstacles to his case, but that the public prosecutor has refused to grant him leave.
"Court and Yazd prison officials have accepted the request for a temporary leave, and we even prepared a [...] bail, but since the Mahabad Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal has handed down its verdict, Yazd judicial officials have also taken the Mahabad public prosecutor’s decision into account. Unfortunately … Mehrab Akbarpour, the public prosecutor of Mahabad, refused to give Qadir Mohammadzadeh a temporary leave of absence,” added the family.
According to Mohammedzadeh’s family, his health has started to deteriorate on the 33rd day of his hunger strike and he was transferred to Yazd’s hospital. “He said [..] he is not ready to end his strike until he will get the smallest of his demands accepted, which is temporary leave after 16 years of imprisonment.”
Mohammedzadeh is from Bokan. He was arrested in December 2005 on charges of “membership of the Kurdish opposition parties” and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Tens of thousands of political prisoners are jailed in Iran over various charges including advocating for democracy and promoting the rights of women, workers, and ethnic minorities.
Ethnic minority groups including Kurds and Azeris are disproportionately detained and more harshly sentenced for acts of political dissidence, according to a July 2019 report from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran.
International monitors are concerned that human rights could further erode in Iran under President Ebrahim Raisi who played a role in a 1988 prison massacre.
More than 640 civil and political activists earlier in March signed a letter to UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran Javid Rahman on the mistreatment of political prisoners.
In early March, the UN human rights chief condemned Iranian state violence against Kurds and Balochis, and expressed alarm over the crackdown on minorities.