Some prisoners of violent crimes in the women’s ward of Orumiyeh Central Prison have beaten some Sunni Kurdish prisoners in the ward in the past few days under the pretext that they “insulted the Muharram ceremony of Shiite prisoners”.
The prison officers, who were the driving factor in the incident, have filed a case against some Kurdish woman prisoners.
A source that spoke to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) said: “In the past few days, at the same time as the beginning of the month of Muharram, a number of Shiite prisoners in the women’s ward of Orumiyeh Central Prison, with the instigation of the prison officers, insulted and beat Sunni prisoners in the ward during the mourning ceremonies under various pretexts, such as the non-participation of Sunni prisoners in the ceremonies.”
According to the source, during the incident, the hand of a prisoner from Bukan, West Azerbaijan province, named Leila Shirbeigi was severely injured.
Also, the prison officers summoned five Sunni Kurdish prisoners named Trifeh, Maria, Leila Shirbeigi, Helaleh, and Parastou and said they would file a case against the prisoners for allegedly “insulting sanctities”.
The source added: “In the past few days, by the order of the officials of the women’s ward, Sunni Kurdish prisoners have been denied access to the prison yard and the administrative section of the prison.”
The women’s ward of Orumiyeh Central Prison consists of four separate rooms with 36 beds. At least 40 prisoners are currently being held in each room.
Due to the recently imposed restrictions, female prisoners are kept in these rooms for about 22 hours a day, which have a small area and do not have air conditioning.
