The situation of Keyvan Rashozadeh, a Kurdish political prisoner currently in the seventh day of his dry hunger strike in Orumiyeh Central Prison, has been described as deeply concerning.
Rashozadeh began the strike on 5 September in response to being placed in solitary confinement as a result of his protest against conditions in the political prisoners’ ward.
During a visit by prison officials on 5 September, a group of political prisoners objected to the use of drugs by some other prisoners in the rooms of this particular ward.
Following a confrontation between the political prisoners and prison officials, Rashozadeh and Kamran Ghassemi were taken to the reception area by prison guards.
While Ghassemi was returned to the ward after a few hours, Rashozadeh was transferred to solitary confinement.
Since he went on strike, the prisoner has been denied the right to communicate and meet with his family.
Rashozadeh has announced that he will continue his hunger strike until his request for conditional release is granted.
In response to his demands, the prison authorities in Orumiyeh have threatened him with new charges and exile, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned.
Having served more than half of his seven-year and six-month sentence, he has been denied the right to conditional release due to opposition from the Ministry of Intelligence and prison officials.
Background
On 8 October 2019, security forces arrested Rashozadeh along with four other civilians named Omid Saeidi, Kamran Ghassemi, Nayeb (Massoud) Hajipour and Abdolaziz Golmohammadi.
After a month of interrogation in the Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in Orumiyeh, these civilians were transferred to the juvenile section of Orumiyeh Central Prison.
In December 2020, after a year of uncertainty in prison, Branch 2 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Orumiyeh sentenced them each to 10 years and one day in prison.
It charged the civilians with “acting against national security” through their membership of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan.
The sentence was later commuted to seven years and six months.
In December 2020, Rashozadeh, Ghassemi and Saeidi went on a week-long hunger strike to protest against the uncertainty of their situation, the pressure from the Ministry of Intelligence and the failure of the prison authorities to respect the principle of separation of crimes in the juvenile section of Orumiyeh Central Prison.
