The new head of Iran’s Naqadeh Prison on 26 December ordered the closure of the meeting hall, prohibiting prisoners from receiving family visits.
On his second day as prison head, Habib Mohammadi has denied prisoners face-to-face and cabin visits with their families.
Mohammadi has also ordered the closure of two rooms that prisoners had built at their own expense for conjugal visits. He has announced that the rooms would be used as rest areas by prison officers.
In response to the prisoners’ objections, the prison head claimed that prisoners did not have the right to family visits.
However, according to the executive regulations of Iran’s State Prisons and Security and Corrective Measures Organisation, prisoners have the right to receive visits by their family members at least once a week.
Naqadeh Prison consists of seven public wards in a large hall. It currently holds about 190 people.
One of the prisoners who was recently released from the prison told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN): “The health condition and facilities of this prison are like a normal detention centre. The prison infirmary does not even have ordinary drugs to prescribe. The bathroom, heating, cooling, and ventilation systems of the prison are completely below standards.”
