Farhad Pezhwan, a Kurdish prisoner serving a life sentence at Orumiyeh Central Prison, has been transferred to solitary confinement after being severely beaten by the prison’s internal director.
The incident has sparked unrest among the inmates, who are now demanding the director’s dismissal.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that Mohammad Fatemi, the newly appointed internal director, and Seyfollahzadeh, the head of Ward 4, assaulted Pezhwan with batons in recent days before transferring him to solitary confinement.
Since the incident, Pezhwan has been denied the right to contact or receive visits from his family.
Prisoners have expressed growing dissatisfaction with Fatemi’s behaviour, accusing him of disrespect and mistreatment, and have staged protests in the prison yard in recent days calling for his removal.
Pezhwan, 32, was arrested several years ago on drug-related charges and sentenced to life imprisonment.
In March 2024, over 800 prisoners held at Orumiyeh Central Prison published an open letter to human rights organisations stating that several prisoners had committed suicide due to the harassment and abuse of prisoners and their families by prison officials.
“Orumiyeh Central Prison has six solitary confinement rooms designed for single occupancy, but at times more than six prisoners are held in each room. In such conditions, even sleeping and breathing become difficult. Prisoners sent to solitary confinement as punishment for hunger strikes, for example, face appalling conditions, including no access to bathrooms or fresh air, and regular beatings on the orders of the prison warden. No one hears their cries”, the letter said.
