‘Panic and fear’: Iran’s political prisoners face increasing danger amid US-Israel war

In the Iranian capital of Tehran, the streets have fallen largely silent since the US and Israel began launching strikes against the country over the weekend.

Many residents took the advice of the Israeli authorities and US President Donald Trump, who urged Iranians to seek shelter, fleeing the capital for the northern provinces.

But some could not leave. In north Tehran, detainees in the country’s notorious Evin prison have been kept locked up during air strikes and refused food since the beginning of the conflict, human rights groups have reported.

“The internal situation of Evin Prison has been described as chaotic,” read a report from Iran Human Rights Society on Sunday. “It is said that prison administrative staff have closed the prison gates and left the premises.”

Prisoners had only a limited amount of bread to eat, and in some wards, including the women’s ward, food was no longer being distributed at all, the organisation said.

Unconfirmed reports stated that Iran’s counter-terror force had taken over control of the prison from the police.

Read moreFormer hostage Louis Arnaud discusses life in Evin prison – and his fears for Iran’s future

Then, on Tuesday, part of the prison wall was destroyed by an air strike. Families of prisoners gathered outside the compound but were unable to get information on whether anyone had been killed or injured – although some prisoners later managed to make phone calls.

"He told me they don't have food, the situation is really bad, and they are afraid of what will happen," Vida Mehrannia, wife of political prisoner and Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali, told AFP.

‘Hopeless’

Mehrannia said she was able to have a call “for two minutes” on Tuesday with her husband, who was sentenced to death in 2017 on espionage charges and was granted Swedish nationality while behind bars.

Djalali confirmed that prisoners had been left with only bread to eat, and although guards were still posted outside the prison, "inside the jail, they locked the door and left".

He told his wife that the prison inmates felt "hopeless".

The son of detained British couple Lindsay and Craig Foreman was also able to speak to his parents.  

"They're hearing the jets going over. They're hearing the bombs hitting surrounding ​areas outside of Evin," Joe Bennett told Reuters on Tuesday. "One of the bombs was ‌so close to the prison that it actually... punctured the windows and the ceiling," he added.

As well as housing political prisoners – who are routinely subject to torture and summary execution – Evin prison is typically where foreign nationals detained on security and espionage are held.

The Foremans were sentenced to 10 years in Iran on spying charges after the authorities accused ‌them of gathering information in several parts of the country, which they denied.

Bennett said the couple were able to make a short call to him from a communal landline during which they said that they were scared.

They said that the atmosphere in the prison was increasingly tense, with more detainees being brought in after protests in the city.

‘Panic and fear’

Across Iran it is thought that tens of thousands of political detainees could be held in the country’s prisons, many of whom were arrested during nationwide anti-government protests in January.

The foundation of Nobel prize winner Narges Mohammadi on Sunday verified similar reports of crises at Qezelhesar prison, northwest of Tehran, and Lakan Prison near the Caspian Sea, “characterized by food shortages, closure of commissaries, and diminished access to medical care”.

It warned that “humanitarian disasters” could be unfolding in prisons across the country.

Amnesty International, which is conducting an ongoing investigation into the current conditions in Iran’s prisons, has received reports that prisoners across the country have heard and felt explosions.  

“The sense of panic and fear amongst prisoners, from what we understand, is increasing day by day,” said Nassim Papayianni, senior campaigner on Iran at Amnesty International.

“They don’t know what will happen next: if there will be more explosions and what they should do if there are, because prisons don’t have shelters.”

At the same time, prisoners “remain largely in the dark about the ongoing military developments”, according to a report from the Centre for Human Rights in Iran.

Iran’s general population has been subject to a national communications blackout that has almost entirely shut down the internet for more than 120 hours, online monitor Netblocks said on Thursday.

Prisoners have even less access to information than the general public and while some inmates have been able to make contact with loved ones, others haven’t.

“There doesn't seem to be any clear indication as to how some prisoners have some access to phone calls and some don't,” Papayianni added.

The lack of contact puts some prisoners at great risk.

The Narges Mohammadi Foundation said on Sunday that it was “profoundly worried” about the human rights activist – who is currently being held in Zanjan General Prison in north Iran – as her siblings in Iran had lost all contact with her.

It said it had “grave concern that, amidst continued blackout, death sentences may be carried out in secrecy without notification to lawyers or families of detainees”.

‘The shadow of war’

As the conflict between Iran, the US and Israel shows no signs of slowing, rights groups have warned that the Iranian regime may use the chaos of war to cover up how it treats prisoners

“The Islamic Republic has a history of using the shadow of war and crises to carry out abuses in prisons and retaliate against political prisoners,” the Centre for Human Rights in Iran said.

“Judicial and prison authorities may escalate mistreatment, particularly against those held on politically motivated charges.”

This was the case during the 12-day war on Iran launched by Israel and the US in June, when hundreds of prisoners were evacuated from Evin prison after a deadly Israeli attack on the compound.

After they were moved, the regime refused to confirm some of their new locations or if they were still alive, “ which amounts to enforced disappearances and places them at risk of torture”, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported.

Other inmates were moved indefinitely to compounds unfit for human habitation, with HRW reporting “walls stained with vomit and faeces”, “severe insect infestations”, “poor-quality and insufficient food, and a shortage of beds forcing many to sleep on the floor”.

Prisoners had not been evacuated from Evin prison before the strikes – despite being kept in buildings lacking emergency stairs or fire extinguishers – even though Iranian prison regulations stipulate that some non-violent prisoners may be released in “times of crisis” that could include war.

Under these terms, rights groups called this week for the Iranian regime to release political and ideological prisoners.

“Prisoners have no ability to defend themselves against aerial or missile attacks,” said Iran Human Rights Society. “Any delay in decision-making can have irreparable human consequences.”

Prisoners “are facing both the possibility of attacks from air strikes and bombs, but also intensified repression from prison authorities as well”, Papiayanni added.

“Many of these individuals are already victims of human rights violations serving unjust prison sentences, and now they are facing potentially more violations, including to their right to life.”