The families of some of the prisoners in the women’s ward of the Juvenile Detention Centre in Kermanshah spoke to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) about the grave situation in the prison.

The families say about 70 women and a child are currently being held in the ward’s five rooms. Most of these prisoners are forced to sleep on the floor due to the lack of beds.

Also, despite the overcrowded prison population in unsanitary closed spaces, toilets and bathrooms without doors, and the lack of air conditioners in the ward, prisoners were allowed to use the prison yard only two hours a day from 1700 to 1900 local time by order of Edris Abdi, the head of the prison.

According to the families, the quality of the prison’s food is poor, and the food in the shop is sold to inmates several times their original prices outside the prison. In case of an objection, the prison head Abdi and a prison officer named Hajar Kourani insult and beat prisoners, and in some cases, take them to solitary confinement in handcuffs and fetters.

Reportedly, in order to put more pressure on female prisoners, the prison head has recently been forcing them to attend cultural and religious classes. Prisoners who refuse to attend these classes are denied the right to receive weekly family visits.

In addition, there are not any specialist doctors in the prison and regular staff members are present in the infirmary on a daily basis, prescribing only painkillers for sick prisoners.

In emergencies, the transfer of sick prisoners to the hospital is delayed by several hours, and sometimes several days, due to the lack of an ambulance.

The Juvenile Detention Centre is located a few kilometres from Kermanshah and on the road to Sanandaj.

The prison is divided into two sections; a section for women and one for children.